[Rhodes22-list] What Should I Have Done Differently?

[Steven Alm]

Mark,

Although it's true that 10-12 knots of wind is when the R22 is at its best,
but 15 gusting to 25 single-handed is doable but expect some drama as you
get to know how to handle it.  The owner's manual says 27 is about the
limit.  Above that and the hull itself has too much windage to tack through
the wind--but you can still go downwind--but if it's "blowing stink" you're
better off staying home.

A few "musts" for this situation.  Pop top down, boom in lower position.
(Did you know you can lower your boom?  This lowers the center of effort and
helps a lot in higher winds.)  Out haul on your main should be very tight
because you want your sail to be as flat as you can make it.  With your main
reefed in, slide the boom car all the way up to the clew.  Ease the traveler
a bit.  It's much harder to reef in than it is to shake out so start small
and see how it goes.

I agree with the others who have said to leave your motor on until you set
your sails.  And the reverse--start your motor before you roll your sails
up.  Definitely point up wind to roll in the main.  Rik remembers right that
a port tack is sometime helpful but only a little to port.  Going down wind
makes it impossible.  I'm not sure why you had so much trouble rolling in
your main.  Assuming your outhaul was loose and sail luffing, it should
work.  But in the chaos it's possible that some other little thing was
momentarily hung up  somewhere.

Whenever I feel over-powered and need to make changes, I usually "heave to"
and calmly do what needs to be done.  If you want more info on how to "heave
to" just ask.

Hope some of this helps.  Good luck!

Slim

On Feb 18, 2008 4:04 PM, Rik Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Mark,
>
> It's a little hard to say without being there .... but
>
> With our R 22, I always found that if the boat was overpowered by much,
> it would round up into the wind on it's own, especially if you were long
> on mains'l and short on jib. Had it been me in your situation, I'd have
> hauled in the main sheet 'til I got some boat speed and let her heel
> 'til she rounded up. If you had any speed at all and your boat didn't
> round up, you probably were not heeling as much as you thought. The R22
> will round up just like clockwork if you push too hard. Unfortunately
> this will not come naturally to a newer sailor. You kinda have to go
> against your instincts on this, 'til you get used to it.
>
> Sounds like you had the sheet out so far that the boom was raising up.
> Tough to control it that way. You do need to get your outhaul tight and
> your sliding block on the boom (do they still have those?) moved ahead
> when you let the sail out. Keeping the motor going as Rob said, would
> have helped give you time to do that. Setting sail without some power to
> keep you into the wind is trickier and takes practice.
>
> You will find that the sail will generally furl easily, IF, you turn up
> into the wind. It will furl easier on the port tack than the starboard
> tack IIRC. If you can't get enough boat speed to turn up, then using the
> motor is really your only other choice.
>
> Other than right around the slip, I never steered with the motor, just
> the rudder. Tighten up your steering 'til your motor will stay where you
> put it and save yourself a lot of contortions by just using your rudder.
>
> Rik
>
> There is no magic to Free Enterprise. It is the best way to create wealth,
> but it does not prevent people from making mistakes. Capitalism offers
> people a chance to make money. But it also offers them a chance to make
> fools of themselves. Free Enterprise – like the rest of life – merely
> permits nature to take her course.....Bill Bonner
>
>
>
>
> mputnam1 at aol.com wrote:
> > Thanks Rob,
> >
> > Yep, had a life jacket on and my wife knew I was out.  I'm religious
> about those two items.  I've also, on occassion, ran lifelines around the
> boat and linked myself up to them ... but I didn't do that today for some
> reason.  Looking back, I probably should have, although I never had to leave
> the cockpit of the boat.
> >
> > I also just checked www.sailflow.com to see what the exact wind
> conditions were at the time I was out and the average wind was 15 knots with
> up to 25 knot gusts.  The 15 knot winds didn't feel over my head as I was
> heading out ... and I don't recall feeling many of the gusts.  It was the
> constant 15 knot wind on the main that was causing me the problems ... and
> that doesn't seem like that high a wind to be causing problems.  But maybe
> I'm wrong about that ...
> >
> > - Mark
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Rob Lowe <rlowe at vt.edu>
> > To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > Sent: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 4:20 pm
> > Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] What Should I Have Done Differently?
> >
> >
> >
> > Mark,
> > 'm looking forward to answers to your questions.  But first all, you did
> > ake it back to shore under difficult conditions.  I have a standard main
> > nd jib and do not have the tiller linkage, so I can't address those
> issues.
> > ne thing I do not do is kill the motor before raising sail.  I was
> taught
> > o motor straight into the wind while hoisting sail.  I also run the
> motor
> > nd head into the wind before dropping sails.  This takes the pressure
> off
> > he sails and give me control of my boat.  Thanks for posting your
> > ifficulties for discussion.  Having posted some of my problems to the
> list,
> > f can be a bit humbling.  You've done all of us a service by asking.
>  Now,
> > e all assume you had a life jacket on and someone knew you were out? -
> Rob
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > rom: <mputnam1 at aol.com>
> > o: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > ent: Monday, February 18, 2008 3:55 PM
> > ubject: [Rhodes22-list] What Should I Have Done Differently?
> >
> >
> >  Hello everyone,
> >
> >  I am hoping you can help me learn from my sailing experience today. I
> know
> >  must have done some things wrong, but maybe I did a few things right
> > ecause I was able to get back to the harbor safely in the end. Let me
> > escribe what happened and then ask a few questions. And let me apologize
> in
> > dvance for not getting all my nautical terms right … I'll do the best I
> > an.
> >
> >  My R-22 is kept at the Washington Sailing Marina on the Potomac River,
> > ust across the river from DC. The weather this morning was unseasonably
> > arm with winds in the 15-20 knot range with gusts up to 29, according to
> > he coast guard weather report. I knew a cold front was approaching and
> that
> > t would get windier as the day went on, but it was around 11am and while
> I
> > as a little uncertain about going out, it was one of those rare weekdays
> > hen my lack of work intersected with wind on the water. So I decided to
> try
> > nd see if I could handle it and learn something at the same time. I had
> > hought I'd read enough on this group about how to handle the boat in
> > indier conditions – I wanted to put some of that knowledge to the test.
> >
> >
> >  I was single-handing the boat and motored out of the marina and down
> the
> > otomac to where I usually head for the center of the river before
> killing
> > he engine, hauling it up and unfurling the main. Before I killed the
> > ngine, I noted that the water was choppy, but there were no white caps.
> I
> > esolved to myself that if I began to see white caps, I'd head home. I
> > ointed into the wind, killed the engine, hauled the engine up and only
> let
> > ut a little less than half of the main (having read so many posts on
> this
> > roup about being conservative in windier weather) and it almost
> immediately
> > ot out of my control.
> >
> >
> >
> >  The boat swerved into a beam reach and began tipping over, so I let out
> > he main sheet to try and keep the mainsail from tipping me over. Right
> then
> >  noticed that white caps had appeared (great timing on my part). The
> clew
> > nd the foot of the main sail was thrashing around, with a good amount of
> > irspace between the clew and the boom.
> >
> >
> >
> >  As an aside, I've never quite understood what is supposed to keep the
> foot
> > f the sail close to the boom besides just securing the sheet. In these
> > tronger winds, the main was actively pulling away from the boom. Am I
> > erhaps missing some key component to keep the bottom/foot of the main
> sail
> > n tighter proximity to the boom?
> >
> >
> >
> >  Because I had let out the main sheet to try and control the heeling, I
> > ould not reach the line to furl the mainsail back into the mast. The
> line
> > as out over the water. So I was having to try and pull the boom back
> into
> > he cockpit to get a grip on the furling sheet … which, of course, led to
> > ore heeling. And when I pulled on the line to furl the main, it wouldn't
> > url.
> >
> >
> >
> >  And, most disturbingly, with so much wind filling the small amount of
> the
> > ain that was out, I just couldn't furl the sail. It wouldn't budge. I
> also
> > oticed that more of the main seemed to be inching out. I thought I had
> > ecured the main so it wouldn't further unfurl, but I don't remember if I
> > ad and I don't remember checking it in all the hullabaloo. It never
> fully
> > nfurled, thank goodness, so maybe I had secured it to some degree.
> >
> >
> >
> >  Anyway, every time I tried to point the boat into the wind, it didn't
> help
> > ive me more slack to furl the main. It was noisy as hell, of course,
> which
> >  expected. But I didn't get the slackness necessary to furl the main.
> And
> > he boat didn't want to stay pointed into the wind, which I found a
> little
> > urprising. I thought sailboats, when pointed into the wind, stayed
> there.
> > ut I guess I learned otherwise today!
> >
> >
> >
> >  I eventually put the motor back in the water, cranked it up and powered
> > nto the wind. The swells had increased to the point that the engine was
> > oming up out of the water on every swell, but at least I was seeming to
> > ake progress. I then somehow pulled hard enough on the furling line to
> be
> > ble to furl the main. I don't know how I did it, but I did. At this
> point,
> >  noticed that my tiller to engine linkage was not working. The 8hp
> Mercury
> > otor I have only has one latch to hold the cowling onto the engine and
> it
> > as failing with the severe pressure on the cowling, and the cowling was
> > eing ripped off the engine. I had to use the engine tiller to point the
> > otor. I tried to disengage the linkage, but in the frenzy of the moment,
> I
> > asn't able to do that. So I just continued steering by using both the
> boat'
> >  tiller and the engine's tiller.
> >
> >
> >
> >  I eventually made it closer to the shore where the wind wasn't as
> severe,
> > nd was able to disengage the tiller linkage and made it back to the
> dock.
> >
> >
> >
> >  So here are my questions:
> >
> >
> >
> >  1) First, the most basic question -- whenever I go out on 5 knot days,
> I
> > ake little progress on the water. And if 15-20 knot days are too much,
> it
> > eems a narrow window indeed that I am able to sail in. Is this the case?
> Is
> > he R-22 a boat that should only go out in 10-12 knot winds in order to
> best
> > njoy it?
> >
> >
> >
> >  2) What should I have done differently when the half unfurled main
> > mmediately got out of my control? Should I have steered the boat
> DOWNwind?
> > ould it have been easier to furl the main if I had done that? Or is
> > teering the boat INTO the wind and the chop the right thing to do?
> >
> >
> >
> >  3) Is there something I should be doing differently so that the clew of
> > he mainsail doesn't get pulled so far away from the boom in windy
> weather?
> > t seemed very loose and uncontrollable. This was one of the two most
> > isconcerting parts of the experience (the other being the inability to
> furl
> > he main).
> >
> >
> >
> >  4) In a worst case scenario where I can't furl the main (especially if
> it'
> >  fully unfurled) in strong winds, should I just try to motor to shore
> with
> > he main flapping away and catching wind? I didn't know in the situation
> I
> > as in if the imperative is to a) try and furl the main first or b) to
> just
> > et myself out of the windy area of the river even if it means motoring
> with
> > he main unfurled. I was afraid that if I tried to do option b, that the
> > oat could tip over if I was going in a direction that was putting the
> main
> > nto a position to be able to tip the boat. In retrospect, I'm now
> thinking
> > hat it's possible to motor with the main unfurled, as long as the main
> > heet is fully out and allowing the main to go wherever it wants to go.
> >
> >
> >
> >  5) Has anyone else with the tiller/engine linkage had a similar problem
> in
> > trong wind situations? The cowling only has the one latch on the back of
> > he engine (furthest astern) and this one latch was clearly a weak point
> in
> > ituations of stress on the linkage. If I'm going to be relying on this
> > inkage in bad weather conditions, do any of you have any advice on where
> > nd how I can get more latches put on my cowling? OR should I not attempt
> to
> > se the linkage in stronger winds?
> >
> >
> >
> >  6) What should be the role of the motor in these situations? Is it the
> > irst thing to engage to get the boat pointed in a particular direction?
> Or
> > s it the last thing to resort to? Should I be able to furl the main
> without
> > sing the engine?
> >
> >
> >
> >  I have to tell you, it was very disconcerting to have trouble furling
> the
> > ainsail. I have loved the innermast furling main up until this point …
> but
> > ulling with all my might on the line was doing nothing. It just refused
> to
> > udge. I still don't know quite how I was able to get it finally furled.
> It
> > ust have had something to do with engaging the motor in the process, but
> I
> > on't know for sure.
> >
> >
> >
> >  For anyone out there who is reading this and considering purchasing the
> > -22, please know that I think this is a marvelous boat. The
> inner-furling
> > ast is something that I've been very happy with up until today and
> perhaps
> > t's all a function of this being too much wind for the boat. Or too much
> > ind for me, a relatively inexperienced sailor.
> >
> >
> >
> >  I don't know for sure the best way to learn how to sail in weather like
> > his … especially if I feel I have to go back to the dock as soon as
> there
> > re white caps. Maybe there is someone out there who is experienced in
> this
> > ort of weather AND knows the R-22 who can tutor me on-board in just this
> > ort of weather, but finding that person would not be easy. But I am
> ready
> > or any and all suggestions.
> >
> >
> >
> >  Thanks for reading this very long email and I look forward to any and
> all
> > dvice … including "stay the hell out of 20 knot wind weather." Maybe
> that's
> > he root of the problem, but it seems easy to imagine that going out in a
> 10
> > not day could easily turn into a 20 knot day with gusts in no time at
> all.
> >
> >
> >
> >  Thanks everyone,
> >
> >
> >
> >  - Mark P.
> >
> >
> >
> >
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