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

[Scott Andrews]

Richard thanks, my wife is Italian and laughed at you story and says she will gladly cuss me in Italian if I have too much fun in heavy wind.

Sent from my iPhone

> 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
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>