[Rhodes22-list] Sailing With The Boom In The Lower Position

Wed Aug 11 10:59:53 EDT 2004

Jim,

I never drop the boom to the lower position.  I generally single hand, and always single hand in small craft advisory situations.  I am far more concerned about getting knocked out by a low swinging boom, than being unable to control the boat with the boom in the higher position.

The IMF changes all the rules.  Since it is infinitely variable, you can put out the exact right amount of sail for every situation, single handed, in less than a minute.  Point into the wind while you figure out what you want to do.  Set your sails conservatively--its always easy to let out more.

You won't see examples of what I am talking about in any sailing magazine.  My sail plans look goofy--little hankies, fore and aft, set so that there is almost no heeling at all--15 degrees would be a lot.  The boat will balance perfectly, and if there's enough wind you can get it to partially plane, exceeding theoretical boat hull speed for hours at a time.

I once sailed beside a 35 foot cruising boat for 1/2 hour under these conditions,  their gunwales were in the water and they were hanging on for dear life, I was sailing almost upright, sitting in my captain's chair drinking a diet coke.  We were both doing around 9 kts.  The wind was roaring.  As we approached Long Island they motioned to their radio.  I went to mine (the most dangerous part of the adventure).  They had just one question "How the hell are you doing that?"

"Rhodes-22" was all I had time to reply.  I came about and sailed back to Connecticut--they were going to Oyster Bay.

Single handing in small craft advisory situations is a kick and a half.  You get the whole pond to yourself, you can fly, and you can really learn a lot about how to sail your boat.  The R-22 is up to it, no problem there, and if you play around with sail plans you can go faster, point higher, and heel less than you ever imagined using more traditional approaches.

Bill Effros

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Roger Pihlaja 
To: The Rhodes 22 mail list 
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 6:42 AM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Sailing With The Boom In The Lower Position

Jim,

Normally, when we talk about setting the boom in the lower position, we mean
about 2 feet above the pop top.  There should be a stop on the mast to limit
the travel of the slider on the boom's gooseneck.  Lowering the boom reduces
the length of the moment arm from the mainsail's center of effort (CE) to
the boat's center of gravity (CG).  Reducing this moment arm causes the
mainsail to generate less torque about the CG & thus reduces heeling.  As
you noted, when the boom is lowered to just above the pop top, the geometry
of the mainsheet from the traveller to the aft end of the boom gets very
unfavorable.  You should inspect the tang on the end of your boom.  The tang
is a piece of electropolished stainless steel bar stock that is attached to
the aft end of the boom at one end & to the upper block on the mainsheet
tackle on the other end.  The tang should be straight.  But, operating the
boom just above the pop top may very well have bent the tang.  If the tang
is bent, it will have to be replaced.  Do not try to straighten it.

Yes, the unfavorable geometry of the mainsheet will allow the boom to rise
up & create an undesireably full mainsail shape.  It is better to leave the
boom up a few feet & partially reef the IMF mainsail.  Then, your mainsheet
can exert some downward force on the end of the boom to keep it from rising
up.  I would also expect that you were experiencing fairly severe weather
helm if you had the full mainsail up under these conditions.  This weather
helm severely limited your boat's capability to sail to weather.

The Rhodes 22 hull develops weather helm as it heels over.  The hot setup
for the conditions you were sailing in would have been to reduce the area of
the mainsail down to about 50%.  Put up sufficient genoa sail area such that
the angle of heeling was limited to about 30 deg (rub rail just going under)
in the strongest gusts.  I would guess about 125% would have been about
right.  Now your sailplan would have had more genoa & less mainsail.  The
larger foresail area would have caused lee helm.  But, this lee helm would
have been counteracted by the weather helm developed by the hull as it
heeled over.  With a little experimentation, you will quickly discover
mainsail area & genoa area settings that result in nearly neutral helm under
virtually any conditions.  This setup will get you sailing as efficiently to
weather as possible.  Just remember to reduce mainsail area 1st & keep as
much genoa sail area up as possible.

My Rhodes 22 has the standard mainsail & I have a boom vang.  However, I've
not heard of anyone with the IMF mainsail retrofitting a boom vang.  A boom
vang would have been very helpful in your situation.  I don't know why GBI
doesn't fit a boom vang on the IMF mainsail boats.

Hopefully, this helps Jim.  Good luck!

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

----- Original Message -----
From: <jbconnolly at comcast.net>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 8:54 AM
Subject: Small Craft Warnings (WAS Re: [Rhodes22-list] An introduction)

> About ten days ago I had my R-22 out in what proved to be borderline small
craft warning conditions.  Winds 15-20 out of the NNE (which provides least
shelter in my harbor) with gusts near 30.
> The forecast (NW 10-15 gusts to 20) was in error.  I was single-handing.
When I went out saturday, I was not mentally prepared for the actual
conditions.   I should have set up the boat differently also.  I scared
myself a couple of times, and the best that can be said about it was that
nobody got hurt and nothing broke.
> I went out again on sunday in *slightly* less gusty conditions.  I lowered
the boom to sitting on the pop top and kept the jib furled to about 100%.
Pointing ability was reduced (jib).  Things overall went much better.  It's
nice to verify what you all have said that the boat can handle.
> One thing I noticed was that, with the boom in the lowered position, the
traveler is relatively high compared to the boom end, and the mainsheet
seems to exert less downward force on the boom.  This looks like it would
produce a fuller sail shape, which is not what one might prefer in high
winds.  Is my intuition correct, and, if it is, is there any solution for
this?  In th absence of a vang, is there anything that can be done about
this?
> This past saturday I was out in steady 5-10 kt west wind, cool temps near
70 and dry.  I had my crew with me (nearly 3 year old son and 8 month
pregnant wife).  We all had a lot of fun on a nice easy sailing day.  If I
had had them with me the previous saturday, and been stupid enough to leave
the mooring, I would be sailing single-handed for the rest of my life.
> It's a good boat.  The boat can probably withstand worse conditions than
you can, but you probably won't enjoy the process.
> BTW, I have the vertical batten IMF main that looks the same as Rummy's
though it is about a year older.  I have not sailed the "old" IMF main, so
can't discuss relative performance.
> Jim Connolly
> s/v Inisheer
> '85 recycled '03
> -------------- Original message --------------
>
> > Dennis,
> >
> > The Rhodes 22 will handle small craft warnings on Saginaw Bay or Lake
Erie
> > just fine. Consider that in July of 1991, my 2 sons & I did a week-long
> > loop of western Lake Erie. At the time, Daniel was 8 years old & Gary
was 5
> > years old. We launched from the western side of Sandusky Bay & sailed
out
> > to Kelly's Island. We stayed two days on Kelly's Island & then crossed
Lake
> > Erie over to Pelee Island. After Pelee Island, we crossed Lake Erie
again &
> > stayed on Middle Bass & South Bass Island. We ended up the week at the
> > Cedar Point Marina. We sailed in all sorts of conditions, small craft
> > warnings, dead calm, & even a thunderstorm! Dynamic Equilibrium took it
all
> > in stride.
> >
> > FYI, visiting Cedar Point Amusement Park by boat is great. The marina
has
> > its own restaurant, rest rooms, shower facilities, & its own private
> > entrance into the amusement park . You party in the amusement park until
> > they close, walk to your boat which is probably closer than your car
would
> > be parked, & crawl into your bunk. There's no fighting traffic & no
long,
> > tiring drive home. It truely a most civilized way to do Cedar Point!
> >
> > I recommend you 1st get some experience on the small inland lakes in
your
> > area before you tackle blue water. I believe Whitmore Lake has a marina
> > which rents dock space. If you can afford it, take a slip for the
season.
> > You will use your boat much more often if it's already in the water. The
> > Rhodes 22 comes alive when there are small craft warnings up. But, you
do
> > need to know what you're doing or it can be pretty scary.
> >
> > Roger Pihlaja
> > S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Dennis McNeely"
> > To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"
> > Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 7:15 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] An introduction
> >
> >
> > > Thanks for the welcome.
> > >
> > > I'll probably try to do some sailing in Saginaw Bay. I agree with
Roger's
> > > comment that many local lakes are marginal in size for sailing the
Rhodes,
> > > and Lake Erie is fairly shallow and seems to have small craft warnings
up
> > > often.
> > >
> > > I'll do a bit of lurking and reading the list archives while working
on
> > the
> > > boat. It'll have to do for now.
> > >
> > > Dennis McNeely
> > >
> > > At 09:26 PM 8/7/2004, you wrote:
> > > >Dennis,
> > > >
> > > >Welcome to the list! I'm probably the closest Rhodes 22 owner to you.
I
> > > >have a 1976 model & I live on Sanford Lake, about 2-1/2 hours north
of
> > you
> > > >up US-23 & I-75 to Bay City & then west on US-10 about halfway to
Clare.
> > > >
> > > >Where will you sail; Ford Lake, Belleville Lake, Whitmore Lake, one
of
> > the
> > > >many small lakes to the northwest of Ann Arbor, or? I've canoed on
Ford
> > > >Lake, lots of power boat & PWC traffic. The only lake in that area
I've
> > > >sailed on is Whitmore Lake, it's not bad, although a little on the
samll
> > > >side for a Rhodes 22.
> > > >
> > > >Give me a shout if you have any rigging questions.
> > > >
> > > >Roger Pihlaja
> > > >S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> > > >
> > > >----- Original Message -----
> > > >From: "Chris Geankoplis"
> > > >To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"
> > > >Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2004 9:02 AM
> > > >Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] An introduction
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > Welcome to the list Dennis,
> > > > > You have indeed found the
> > > >fount
> > > > > of all things Rhodes (and a lot more). Be sure to check out the
> > archives.
> > > > > Again welcome to Da List.
> > > > >
> > > > > Chris G.
> > > > > Medford OR
> > > > > '83 Rhodes
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
> > > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>
>

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