[Rhodes22-list] Pointing

[Peter Thorn]

Lew and other Rhodies,

I'd like to add a few comments.  My R22 renovation project is just getting underway, and I do not have a lot of R22 experience yet, and it's been more than 20 years since I sailed on my father's 76 R22.

However, I am an avid small boat racer and have lots of dinghy racing experience (current USSA SAYRA Tanzer 16 Circuit Champion, MADS Champion, CSC Legacy Bell Champion, twice past T-16 National Champion).  My Starwind 19 keel/cb cruising boat is somewhat similar to an R22, and I have two years experience with making it go fast.  Lastly, I truly despise a boat that will not point, and am fairly obsessed with making sure my 84 R22 will point reasonably well when she is done.

Most boats will not point their best in either heavy air or light air, so my comments are limited to smooth water and moderate air (10-15) - a/k/a perfect sailing conditions.  

Large Headsails and Sheeting Angle-  For those R22s with very large overlapping headsails (150 and above), I think it will be difficult to obtain maximum pointing (the most the boat is capable of) when the large headsail is fully deployed.  The sheeting angle is to the rail - great for speed but too wide an angle to be close winded.   When furled past 1/3  (i.e. from a 150 to less than a 100), to allow running the sheet to inboard tracks or to the cabin top, such large sails suffer by losing much of their sail shape and do not have their maximum draft far enough aft.  It's a jury rig at best for pointing.  Further, with such a furled monster there's a fairly large column of sailcloth rolled up at the luff, making conditions worse for the flow to attach to the leeward luff of the sail, if on the tack with the furled roll facing to leeward.  A 110 blade headsail, tacked to the cabin top at a 12-15 degree sheeting angle would be much more effective close to the wind in these condition, I would think. 

Has anyone tried a "cutter rig" on an R22, with a tack point just aft of the roller furler?  Furl the big genny and hoist a 110 (or less) headsail 8-10" aft of it with a wire luff, tightened by a halyard winch to 300# or so?  Fine entry, good uncompromised sail shape - should point. 

Or, how about Stan's self-tacking headsail - I'll bet that will point!  Would anybody with one of those care to comment about it?

>From Dr. Stuart Walker's "Advanced Racing Tactics", Chapter 12, "Shifting Gears", the basics of sail trim for pointing in moderate air:

JIB-
jib leads lateral                 inboard
jib lead fore and aft          aft (twist aloft)
jib sheet tension               marked (close hauled)
jib luff tension                  minimal                                                

MAIN-
boom sheeting angle        midline
draft                                decreased  (outhaul tight)
draft position                   aft (Cunningham tight)                          
twist (mainsheet)            very little twist (mainsheet tight, traveler centerline)

Walker remarks that ideal windward performance is a combination of pointing, speed and leeway. You can't point unless moving fast to begin with.  Some inexperienced sailors "pinch" into the wind and travel so slowly over the bottom that lift from the underwater fins begins to stall and then they make large amounts of leeway.  Since it is very difficult to detect leeway while helming a moving boat, the pinching novice skipper thinks he's pointing really high. Actually, his bow is "pointing" high, but the boat is making so much leeway that it isn't really sailing in that direction.  So, start by bearing off at first to develop speed, then slowly head up into a close-hauled heading.  As speed wanes, bear off. As speed builds, head up.  Use very minute adjustments.  "Leeway and speed are opposite faces of the same coin"- Walker.

To maximize lift, the centerboard should be down - but it does not have to be "all the way down".  A big advantage of a keel/cb boat like the R22 is fore/aft cb adjustment -- weather helm can be precisely trimmed.  A little weather helm is good, because it causes the rudder to provide some amount of lift.  Too much weather helm can be removed by lifting the board aft slightly, moving Center of Lateral Resistance aft.  

Heel angle is important too.  The many underwater fins heeled past 15-20 degrees begin to lose lift.  Sometimes you can shorten sail, sail the boat flatter and point much higher.  

I hope these comments help. 

Peter Thorn
S/V Phoenix