[Rhodes22-list] 175% vs 150% vs 130% Genoa?

[ROGER PIHLAJA]

Jesse,

We have a 1” wide nylon strap running up the center of the cockpit floor.  It’s attached to thru bolted padeyes with big backing plates on the cabin and lazarette compartment bulkheads. 
Then, we have 1/2” double braided nylon rope running down the deck port and starboard from the cockpit to the bow pulpit.  It’s anchored to the base of the lifeline stanchions on each end.  The safety harness tether has a carabiner on the end of a 6’ nylon strap.  In the cockpit, you clip the carabiner onto the nylon strap on the floor as you come aboard or leave the cabin.  The carabiner will slide along the strap and let you get anywhere in the cockpit, even hike out on the gunnels.  To go forward, you unclip from the cockpit and clip onto the 1/2” nylon rope on the side deck you are going to use.  The carabiner will slide along the rope and the harness tether is long enough to enable you to do almost any task at the mast or on the foredeck.  I have good 30” high rails and stout handholds to hang onto.

We have a firm rule that everyone wears a PFD whenever they are on deck and the boat is not at anchor or at a dock.  Growing up, since everyone wore their PFD’s, the boys never had an issue with wearing theirs.

22 ft LOA is a pretty small boat for the Great Lakes.  You can’t always count on fair winds!

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium 

Sent from my iPhones
> On Nov 24, 2020, at 4:10 PM, Jesse Shumaker <jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> While I'm used to wearing a PFD, that's the first I've heard of wearing
> safety harnesses on a Rhodes 22.  Then again, I've yet to take Zephyr to a
> very large body of water.  Hopefully there are some bigger adventures for
> Zephyr in my future!
> 
> Jesse Shumaker
> S/V Zephyr
> 
>> On Tue, Nov 24, 2020 at 11:02 AM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>> Jesse,
>> 
>> Yes, we’ve had a few “HOLY SHIT!” moments, primarily when my sons were
>> learning to helm and trim.  By the time they were teenagers, they both
>> regarded S/V Dynamic Equilibrium as their own personal amusement park
>> ride.  But, only when their mother wasn’t on board!  I always told them it
>> only gets really interesting when the small craft warnings are posted!
>> When dad put his safety harness on, their eyes would open wide and they’d
>> scramble below to find their harnesses. They both knew firsthand that dad
>> was nuts and there was some fun in store.  I like to wear my harness over
>> my PFD.  When you’re sailing this aggressively, you frequently get tossed
>> into hard “stuff”.  The PFD provides some cushioning.
>> 
>> Roger Pihlaja
>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> On Nov 24, 2020, at 10:19 AM, Jesse Shumaker <
>> jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Roger, thanks for the details on the sail trim.  You had mentioned some
>>> configurations where the boat would tend to heel further rather than
>> round
>>> up if conditions strengthen.  I'm curious, have you had any knockdowns in
>>> cases where the helmsman didn't ease the mainsheet in time or feather up
>>> into the wind when there's a sudden gust?  I'm always trying to read the
>>> water for wind, but there are cases when things get busy and I have been
>>> occasionally surprised by a gust when I was distracted.  I wasn't sure if
>>> you had any memorable HOLY SHIT moments as you alluded to in your note.
>> We
>>> always enjoy your advice and tales of adventure!
>>> 
>>> Jesse Shumaker
>>> S/V Zephyr
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Mon, Nov 23, 2020 at 5:39 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <Roger_Pihlaja at msn.com>
>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hi All,
>>>> 
>>>> Let me state up front that S/V Dynamic Equilibrium’s sail are not OEM
>>>> stock and neither is the roller furler.  I have owned the boat since
>> 1987
>>>> and will tell you what I’ve ended up with after a lot of
>> experimentation.
>>>> The main sail is a very roachy, fully battened, club racing HD dacron
>>>> sail.  It has 3 rows of jiffy reef points.  The headsail is a 150% genoa
>>>> made of Bainbridge’s Cruise-Lam sailcloth in a Bi-Radial construction.
>>>> Cruise-Lam is composite sailcloth with dacron outer layers, a Kevlar
>> scrim,
>>>> and a core of mylar.  The sail has a foam luff pad to enable it to take
>>>> full advantage of the upper and lower swivels on the Harken Unit 0
>> roller
>>>> furler it’s flown on.  As the winds build, my 1st move is to lower the
>>>> mainsail’s gooseneck to the lower position.  The next step is to put a
>> reef
>>>> in the mainsail.  This configuration allows the boat to be sailed with
>> the
>>>> leeward rub rail in the water and virtually no weather helm.  However,
>> you
>>>> must keep your hands on the sheets and steer to the waves because a
>> gust or
>>>> helmsman error will put the leeward cockpit gunnel under water faster
>> than
>>>> you can say, “HOLY SHIT!”!  It will NOT round up in this configuration
>> and
>>>> the sails will not distort, spill wind, or save you.  Gusts cause so
>> much
>>>> acceleration that it sets you right down in your seat.  It’s really
>> quite
>>>> addictive!  Roller reefing the genoa down to ~130% will allow the boat
>> to
>>>> sail more up right, not scare my wife, and allow the autopilot to drive
>> the
>>>> boat.  The next step is to put a second reef in the mainsail.  As the
>> wind
>>>> builds, leaving the genoa at 130% with 2 reefs in the mainsail will
>> enable
>>>> maximum boat speed with minimal weather helm at the expense of constant
>>>> required manual vigilance on the helm and sheets.  Roller reefing the
>> genoa
>>>> down to ~110% in these conditions will make the boat docile enough that
>> the
>>>> autopilot can still control it on any point of sail with the wind
>> forward
>>>> of a broad reach.  Roller reefing down to 110% is about as small as the
>>>> Harken Unit 0 roller furler can reef the sail while still maintaining
>>>> reasonable sail shape.  When the genoa is roller reefed down to < 110%,
>> the
>>>> mainsail needs a 3rd reef in order to balance the helm.
>>>> 
>>>> In summary, reduce mainsail area or lower the center of effort first,
>>>> either by lowering the boom, or reefing.  As the wind builds, the
>> strategy
>>>> of leaving maximum possible sail area forward of the mast will reduce
>>>> weather helm, maximize boat speed, and pointing ability.
>>>> 
>>>> Here on the Great Lakes, there is a lot of light air in the summer,
>>>> punctuated by periods of heavy weather.  I cope by flying cruising and
>>>> tri-radial spinnakers during the light air.  I found the 175% genoa was
>> cut
>>>> too heavy to fly well in light air and the sail could only be reefed
>> down
>>>> to ~130% before the shape was hopelessly compromised.  Remember this was
>>>> with a Harken Unit 0 roller furler with upper and lower swivels and a
>> foam
>>>> luff pad.  The OEM roller furler and sails will not be able to do as
>> well.
>>>> But, my sail shape standards might be higher than yours.  I never found
>> the
>>>> 175% genoa to be particularly difficult to tack.
>>>> 
>>>> Roger Pihlaja
>>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>>> 
>>>> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
>>>> Windows 10
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>