[Rhodes22-list] Higher winds

[John Tonjes]

Mark,
A couple of suggestions. First, I'd lower the pop top and lower the boom
and main sail. Then I'd use the traveler. Instead of bringing it to
windward, I'd let it out. This will help with those nasty gusts. I have the
175 genny and when I furl it to a smaller size, I bring the sheets inside
the shrouds and also use an eye mounted on a track alongside the cabin.
I've never had to furl the main, but I know it can be done. Another problem
with those winds and gusts is that the flared hull itself becomes a
problem. Not much you can do about it either. Hope this helps.

Rummy


> [Original Message]
> From: Mark Kaynor <mark at kaynor.org>
> To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Date: 6/2/2003 11:19:50 AM
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Higher winds
>
> I'd be interested to learn how other Rhodies w/ IMF and furling head =
> sail set their sails in windy, gusty conditions.
>
> We had our second regatta of the year last Saturday. At the start the =
> wind was 18 gusting to 25. an hour later it was 23 gusting to 32, =
> finishing up at 17 to 23, gusting to 38. Friends who have been sailing =
> on the lake for many years say they've never seen winds like these on =
> the lake. Going from 17 to a gust of 38 with a 20 degree shift will wake =
> you right up!
>
> Five out of the fifteen boats that started finished the course. Three =
> boats capsized (dinghies all - one Laser actually went over 6 times, but =
> persevered and went on to finish - the other two were towed in), a J/22 =
> lost a crew member overboard (he was recovered safely in about 10 =
> seconds by a nerarby coastguard auxiliary boat), a Seafarer 22's tiller =
> snapped, a Catalina 22 broached pretty dramatically on a spinnaker jibe =
> in the first downwind leg, then continued on to finish. Two 1"x1/8" =
> stainless straps that connect their tiller to their rudder cracked but =
> did not fail completely, though they will require replacement. A =
> homemade canoe rig got swamped before the first mark and had to be towed =
> in. One boat's headstay broke, and several other smaller failures also =
> occurred on other boats.
>
> We didn't break anything on Raven. Julie and I completed the first leg =
> (an exciting wing-on-wing downwind sleighride) and part the second =
> windward leg before deciding to drop out. We had the 135% genoa fully =
> deployed for the downwind run to the first mark, then furled it and the =
> main to slightly more than 1/2 full just before rounding the first mark. =
> We did okay, but the gusts were making the main flog pretty badly, and =
> it wasn't worth it to us to continue if it meant ripping sails or =
> breaking equipment. Several other boats dropped out at this point, so we =
> decided to quit and see if we could help some of the boats that were =
> having real problems.=20
>
> We'd never sailed in winds much over about 20 mph. We knew the boat =
> would handle them - we were the weak link, so we went home and studied =
> up on it. Then we went back out again yesterday (17 gusting to 29) to =
> experiment and mess around. We started w/ the 135% genoa about 2/3 out =
> and no main. We gradually deployed more genoa until we had it fully out, =
> and got the main out to about 1/4. On a beam reach the gusts heeled us a =
> bit, but at no time was the boat out of control. It was a bit trickier =
> on a close reach but still manageable, much more so than when the main =
> was out 1/2 way or more.=20
>
> We were surprised to find that we were able to tack on just the jib from =
> close reach to close reach in about 110-115 degrees. With the main fully =
> deployed we're generally able to do it in 90-100 degrees. The wind died =
> a down bit (to 12-15 or so) and we fully deployed the main. While we had =
> the main fully out on a beam reach one of the highter gusts laid us down =
> pretty well. We headed up, furled the main most of the way, fell off and =
> continued. Succeeding gusts powered us up well, but we didn't bury the =
> rail again. When we came in, we had a nice talk w/ the winner of =
> Saturday's race. He suggested that we also try fully deploying the main, =
> but raise the boom a bit with the topping lift to loosen the leech and =
> let the main twist off up high. We're going to give that a try next time =
> we get a chance.
>
> Mark Kaynor
>
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