[Rhodes22-list] Higher winds

[Mark Kaynor]

Bob,

Thanks for your comments. And you're right about learning something from our
experience w/ Chapmans. I think before our trip we would have been way more
intimidated by those winds than we were on Saturday. As it was, after
reviewing our actions and trying to learn a more effective way of doing
things after the race, we decided to go back out on Sunday in conditions we
previously would have avoided to put what we'd read into practice and see
how we could improve.

It's interesting to me that since the offshore course we have a slightly
different mindset about sailing now. We didn't encounter any high winds or
really stressful situations on our trip, but something happened - we
definitely have more confidence in our abilities than we had before. In the
past, if the winds were outside our comfort zone, we'd likely stay ashore.
Now, we're willing to stretch the comfort zone - we're more confident and
are wanting to practice and learn how to deal with stressful situations so
we'll be safer and more capable sailors. If we got nothing else from
Chapman's, that alone would make the course worth it to us.

Mark Kaynor

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Quinn" <rjquinn at bellsouth.net>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Higher winds


> Mark/Julie:  Kathy and I were out yesterday.  We ran up to Club Med under
> the Genny alone- about four miles.  It was a very fast sail as the winds
> were in the 20 to 25 MPH range.  Coming back down after dinner, we had
both
> the main and Genny up as the winds wound down a bit.  By the time we got
> back to the marina we had the Genny furled to just over 100% and had great
> movement and control.  We have the 150 and she does work well furled down.
> Maybe not a race horse but she sails well.
>
> With jus the Genny you may not be able to point as well as you would like
> but we find that the performance is much better so if we have to make a
> couple of extra tacks, so what?  We're out there to sail.
>
> Many times we have found the boat to be underpowered with just the main
> unless the winds are just right.  I don't know what that just right figure
> is but I do know that right after we got the boat ten years ago a couple
of
> our best sailing days were under main alone.  We probably should not have
> been out as we were screaming along having a ball.  Ignorance can be bliss
> or just short of a disaster.
>
> Sounds like you are putting your Chapman gained skills to good use.
>
> Bob and Kathy on the "NoKaOi"
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Kaynor" <mark at kaynor.org>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 4:10 PM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Higher winds
>
>
> > Slim,
> >
> > Yeah, that's what Julie and I tried to do during the race. When we got
> home
> > w/ consulted The Annapolis Book of Seamanship by John Rousmaniere.
That's
> > where we learned that sailing on the headsail alone is a viable option
(at
> > least in the wind we had yesterday) - we'd just never tried it. I like
it
> a
> > lot better than sailing on the main w/ a scrap of jib.
> >
> > I also learned something else Saturday. We went out again on race day at
> > around 5:00pm - the wind had died down and we just wanted a pleasant
sail.
> > We had both main and jib fully out when we got hit by a surprise 30+
> gust -
> > instant white caps w/ only about 100 yards of fetch from the shore. We
> > furled the headsail and tried sailing on just the main. Every time a
gust
> > hit, the boat rounded up, regardless of what I did w/ the rudder. We got
> > heeled over pretty badly and I dumped the main sheet, then was unable to
> > head up enough to furl it. Every time I tried to pull it back in, we'd
get
> > hammered again. I finally started the motor and, at high RPMs, turned
the
> > motor and the tiller together to have enough power to get us headed up
so
> we
> > could furl the main. It was amazing. I had the tiller hard to starboard
> and
> > the boat rounded up to port. Once we got the main furled we decided we'd
> had
> > enough and motored back to the marina. And the wind died and other folks
> out
> > on the lake continued sailing, the gust having missed them, apparently,
> > probably wondering what had happened to us. But, I've got to say that
not
> > once during the entire day did I feel the Rhodes wouldn't be able to
> handle
> > it if I'd known what to do. We got back and, after we docked Julie
patted
> > the cabin top and said "I love this boat".
> >
> > Mark
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Steve Alm" <salm at mn.rr.com>
> > To: "Rhodes" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 3:36 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Higher winds
> >
> >
> > > Mark,
> > >
> > > I've heard it said that the R22 is manageable in winds up to 27.
Beyond
> > > that, well...you were there.  If it's gusting above 30, I bail out.
But
> I
> > > agree that we should all gain the experience of handling the boat, one
> way
> > > or the other, under those conditions.  I am surprised too that you
were
> > able
> > > to point and tack with jib alone.  I usually opt for just the
> > opposite--full
> > > or somewhat reefed main and only a hanky of a jib.
> > >
> > > Slim
> > >
> > > On 6/2/03 11:19 AM, "Mark Kaynor" <mark at kaynor.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > > 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.
> > > >
> > > > 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.
> > > >
> > > > 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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> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
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> >
> > __________________________________________________
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> >
>
>
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