[Rhodes22-list] Need advice on basic sailing of an R-22 in higher winds

[Stan Spitzer]

Mark,

Sailing with the motor down severely hampers steering.

The boat sails better when sail areas are balanced.  In heavy airs us 
some jib even if it is very little.  Use about half the IMF main.

If winds are heavy and you feel a single crew is not enough live ballast 
(or you prefer a more level ride), sail with boom in its lowest level 
position.

Does your IMF main work easily when there is light winds, like the ones 
on the show boats, that get a lifetime of use in 5 days, do? If yours 
does not, you are trying to pull it out with the boom under main sheet 
tension which is asking the sail to increase its size as it moves 
outward along the boom, which, not being made of stretch material, (at 
great expense), it will not do.   Make sure your main sheet is not 
putting down pressure on your boom so the boom is free to adjust its 
height to accommodate the sail dimension.

if your IMF does not work easily with a relaxed boom and supportive 
topping lift in light wind conditions, then you have a mechanical 
problem with the IMF such as our crew having forgotten to install the 
bottom platform bearing and we have to fix it.

If all works fine in light air, then it will work fine in any wind 
velocity if you orient your boat to the wind so that the boom is 
slightly to starboard.  Because of the way the sail wraps on its furling 
tube, for easiest operation, sail cloth should never be rubbing along 
the port side of the IMF sail slot.   Ideally you want the sail to move 
in and out clear of touching either side of the mast sail slot.  This is 
most closely made possible when the boom is starboard of the boat 
center. (and with the topping lift holding the boom horizontal and the 
main sheet slack)  Do it and report back. You can do it without the 
motor.  Just come about as slowly as conditions allow and pull your 
outhaul or furling line when the boat passes through the ideal boat/wind 
orientation.

You ask about wind condition limits.  Judge Robert Baldi (Moses) sails 
his Rhodes with IMF in the North Atlantic in search of high winds.  When 
we went for our demo sail in Edenton, luckily the winds were 30 and he 
insisted we go for it.  And we went for it:  Pop top down, Lowered boom, 
IMF half out, a storm size furling Jib, cockpit cushions in the cabin 
and crew sitting on the gunnels.  The Rhodes is a dry boat but we got 
soaked.  The Rhodes comes about easily but we could not come about 
normally and we had to jibe each time we wanted to change course.  No 
problem with boat steering or IMF.  He ordered a new boat on the spot 
and was last heard from on his way to Bermuda.

ss




On 10/31/13, 12:16 AM, mputnam1 at aol.com wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
> It's been many years since I sent an email to the list, but I need some advice about basic sailing techniques in higher winds, and since my questions have to do with the R-22, well, I came back to the best source of advice possible ... all of you!
> And while I'm sure that the issues I want to ask you about have probably been discussed in the archives at some point (for those of you who remember Ed, he would berate me, I am sure, for asking what I am going to ask), I have never been any good at searching the archives.  So hopefully all of you will humor me and take the attitude that there is "no such thing as a dumb question." Or, in my case, questions plural.
> But first, some background ...
> I had taken basic sailing lessons off and on over the years and eventually I bought my 1990 recycled Rhodes from Stan back in '06.  I kept it in the water year-round at the Washington Sailing Marina in Alexandria, VA and used it as often as work and young children would allow.  Not enough to get very good at sailing, but enough to know that I had bought the right boat.  And I used to religiously save emails from the list on all sorts of topics for my own personal archive.
> Most of the time I would go out in winds in the 5-10 knot range.  Once I went out in a 15 knot wind and had a hairy time getting the main in and out of the IMF ... it was truly frightening to be battling the main in strong winds and I have been leery of higher winds ever since.
> For the last three years or so, I haven't been able to use the boat at all, so it languished in my slip at the marina.  But then this year, we got a small weekend place on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with our own dock on sheltered water.  I decided to take advantage of this and move our R-22 to the shore.  My hope was that with the dock right there at our back door, that I would sail a lot more than I had been doing.
> Before moving the boat to the new dock, I decided to have Stan refurbish it, since it had been sitting in the water since '06 and aging in the elements.  I also don't have a trailer, so the refurbishment was an easy way to get the boat fixed up and moved at the same time.
> One of the items I discussed with Stan was whether or not to stick with the IMF.  I was remembering that time in the 15 knot winds when I had trouble with the main, so I entertained the idea of going to standard old-fashioned rigging (whatever you call it), but decided after discussing it with Stan that I would stay with the IMF.  It IS so much easier to deal with on many levels.
> But ... and here is why I am writing today ... this past weekend, I decided to take the boat out in what were light winds in my protected cove, but once I was out on the bigger water, it was pretty clear the winds had picked up into the 15 knot range ... maybe even a little stronger.  Flags on the shore were whipping pretty strongly in the wind.
> I left my 8hp engine running and in the water because the engine has been acting a little squirrelly lately and I didn't want to have a hard time restarting it in conditions I was nervous in.  Plus, I was having to use the engine just to keep pointed into the wind long enough to pull out the main.  Because of the strong winds, I decided not to use the jib.  But with only the main, I wasn't able to hold my course without using the engine, too.  When the engine was in neutral, the wind was pushing the boat to leeward, even with the centerboard all the way down.  After a few minutes of sailing using the motor and just the main, I decided to head back in.  It just wasn't fun being nervous about the higher winds and needing to use the motor just to hold my course.
> So, here are my questions:
> 1. What is maximum wind you are willing to go out in in an R-22?  And what is your experience at getting used to higher winds?  Any tips on how to improve sailing skills and get used to increasingly higher winds?
> 2. Did I do the right thing by not trying to unfurl the jib?  And, if so, was I correct in using the engine to hold my line?  Or was there another way to go about this?
> 3. Is it normal for it to be difficult to pull out the main in stiff winds?  I found that even while using the engine to point the boat into the wind, it was still difficult to pull out main.  Being even slightly out of the neutral zone made it difficult and the wind would fill what little of the sail was unfurled and it near impossible to allow further sail out.  And it luffed loudly and strongly as I was pulling it out, which is always unsettling.
> 4. Should I have gone ahead and unfurled the jib, even if only 50%?  Would that have allowed me to turn off the engine?  Or was my caution warranted?  I was nervous about severe heeling and not being ready to handle something like that.
> 5. When in strong winds, is it normal to have difficulty furling the main?  The one attraction for me of traditional rigging is that it seems in a strong wind, all you have to do is drop the main to get out of trouble (well, and then wrap it all up around the boom, which is probably difficult, too, in higher winds).  The bad experience I had a few years ago was this issue of not being able to furl the main in strong winds until I realized that I needed to start up the engine and point into the wind.  But dropping the engine into the water and starting it up in higher winds can be difficult to do, especially single-handed.  Just trying to stay on-course with the tiller while dropping an engine and starting it is ... well, difficult.
> Any advice on all of this would be greatly appreciated.  I figure the only way I'm going to become a better sailor is to just keep going out, but if I only go out in 7 knot winds (where I don't have these sorts of problems), I'm not learning how to handle these higher wind situations.
> My long-term goal is to someday graduate to a mid-30s cruising sailboat, but I honestly don't know how I'll ever be ready for that if I even have trouble unfurling an IMF sail in 15 knot winds.  It seems to me that 15 knot winds should be ideal sailing weather, but I find myself very nervous in them and just want to head back to shore.
> Thank you in advance for your thoughts.  I greatly look forward to reading your advice.  And sorry for the long email!
> All the best,
> Mark Putnam, Arlington, VA
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