Main sheet handling - Oday 23

[Indysailor]

I have found some posts here about main sheet setup and I am wondering how people handle the tiller and the main on their Oday 23. Mine, like others I believe, has the block attached to the back stay. On mine, pulling down opens the cam cleat.

This was very awkward at first- I am used to holding the sheet in one hand and the tiller in the other, and I'm used to the main sheet coming from a point lower than the tiller. So I decided to hold the sheet with my tiller hand, keeping it between the tiller and my palm. This works real well for spilling the main in a gust- I leave it uncleated and can just let it slip through my palm and tighten my grip to hold it. If the wind is steady, I cleat it off. To take it back in, I use the other hand, then place it back into my tiller hand.

Have others found this arrangement odd? I like the fact that it leaves more room in the cockpit, but it's difficult to get used to.

 

[caguy]

A couple of things that makes solo sailing easier is to have a Tiller Tamer. As opposed to a tiller lock you can adjust the drag so that it drags just enough to hold the tiller in place. You can start your tack and let go of the tiller to tend the sheets.

http://www.davisnet.com/marine/products/marine_product.asp?pnum=02205

The other thing I have done is to add cam locks to the the fairleads . I can now adjust the sheet from the windward side of the boat without having to cleat and uncleat on the lee side. If I need to I can use the winch on the windward side as well.

 

[olsalt]

I also found the main sheet arrangement awkward at first. Small boat sailors keep the sheet in hand mostly, and my first couple of times out I did exactly that.

Now I see the reason for the O'Day system, though. It's OK to use the cleat. The sheet pops out pretty easily, and in a puff it's easier & faster to pull it down and out of the jaws. The line can then run out until you stop it.

 

[Joe11688]

I have found some posts here about main sheet setup and I am wondering how people handle the tiller and the main on their Oday 23. Mine, like others I believe, has the block attached to the back stay. On mine, pulling down opens the cam cleat.

This was very awkward at first- I am used to holding the sheet in one hand and the tiller in the other, and I'm used to the main sheet coming from a point lower than the tiller. So I decided to hold the sheet with my tiller hand, keeping it between the tiller and my palm. This works real well for spilling the main in a gust- I leave it uncleated and can just let it slip through my palm and tighten my grip to hold it. If the wind is steady, I cleat it off. To take it back in, I use the other hand, then place it back into my tiller hand.

Have others found this arrangement odd? I like the fact that it leaves more room in the cockpit, but it's difficult to get used to.

You shouldn't need to hold your mainsheet in your hand on an O'Day 23, unless you're getting some really gusty finicky winds on that lake. Try anticipating when that blast of wind is coming by observing the water. Usually, you'll be able to see real dark patches of water approaching the area where you're sailing which indicates a strong wind approaching. When it hits be ready for it by heading up into the wind a little. This will accomplish the same thing as letting off the mainsheet for the blow, but instead of stalling the boat, you'll be able to keep going even faster.

As for the cam cleat on your mainsheet, I think that you can take the screws off it and invert it so that it will release any way you prefer. I have a Schaeffer mainsheet and boom vang and I was able to do this to my boom vang. If you have Gennie winches on your combing and you're beating with your main and Genoa up, the main will come over by itself on each tack leaving you to man the Gennie sheets single handed using your legs and body to keep the tiller steering her on the new tack.
I had my mainsheet on the backstay of my 222 and I never liked it so I installed a traveler in front of my companionway hatch. It's easy to control now that it's right in front of me at all times.
Joe

 

[Indysailor]

I had my mainsheet on the backstay of my 222 and I never liked it so I installed a traveler in front of my companionway hatch. It's easy to control now that it's right in front of me at all times.
Joe

This is something I noticed, looking at pics of your boat. My wife has a birth defect in her left arm and has trouble sheeting in with it in the current location and I just find it awkward. I do hold the sheet when it's gusty, but not often. I don't want to install a traveller because we've always got an army of eight to ten year olds on the boat and the open cockpit seems to favor that. The next thought was whether it's feasible to just run the line to a block located somewhere on the transom. I forgot to look last night when I was on the boat, but something like that might interfere with the tiller.

 

[Joe11688]

This is something I noticed, looking at pics of your boat. My wife has a birth defect in her left arm and has trouble sheeting in with it in the current location and I just find it awkward. I do hold the sheet when it's gusty, but not often. I don't want to install a traveller because we've always got an army of eight to ten year olds on the boat and the open cockpit seems to favor that. The next thought was whether it's feasible to just run the line to a block located somewhere on the transom. I forgot to look last night when I was on the boat, but something like that might interfere with the tiller.

What you might be able to do is have a bridle set up like the Bristol sailboats which also comes off the transom. I can't really describe it, but it has one cam cleat on each side of the transom and you can use either one depending on which side you're sitting on. Check out a book entitled "Sail Power" by Wallace Ross. This book is crammed with illustrations of different sheeting arrangements. It may be in your town library.

 

[Indysailor]

What you might be able to do is have a bridle set up like the Bristol sailboats which also comes off the transom. I can't really describe it, but it has one cam cleat on each side of the transom and you can use either one depending on which side you're sitting on. Check out a book entitled "Sail Power" by Wallace Ross. This book is crammed with illustrations of different sheeting arrangements. It may be in your town library.

I know a guy with a Bristol, but I have not been aboard his boat. Will check it out. Thanks!

 

[Joe11688]

I know a guy with a Bristol, but I have not been aboard his boat. Will check it out. Thanks!

We have four Bristols in our YC mooring field, a 27, 24, 22, and a 19. The 19 has this type of sheeting arrangement but I'm not too sure about the other three Bristols. I think that they have some kind of a bridle type of sheeting, but I'm not sure. I can understand why you wouldn't want a traveler in front of the companionway hatch. My wife hated it because she could no longer sit in the cockpit and lean her back up against the bulkhead. As it turned out though, she got cruised out years ago and no longer sails with me. I look on the bright side though. Penelope doesn't seem to mind where she sits.

 

[Indysailor]

Penelope looks like a real salty girl!
I found this picture of a main sheet set up on an O23. It's kind of what I was thinking:

 

[Joe11688]

Penelope looks like a real salty girl!
I found this picture of a main sheet set up on an O23. It's kind of what I was thinking:

Perhaps you could mount a traveler over the transom similar to the Rhodes 22 or go with that idea pictured. I never liked the mainsheet attachted to the backstay, myself.

 

[Indysailor]

Perhaps you could mount a traveler over the transom similar to the Rhodes 22 or go with that idea pictured. I never liked the mainsheet attachted to the backstay, myself.

In the short time I've owned it not one experienced sailor (and there are many at our sailing club) has failed to disparage the setup .

 

[Joe11688]

In the short time I've owned it not one experienced sailor (and there are many at our sailing club) has failed to disparage the setup .

I'm sure that if they ever switched to a traveler they would see a difference in sailing performance. A lot of times when I'm standing at the tiller motoring under an open drawbridge, I move the traveler car over to to one side to get the boom out of the way so it doesn't hit me in the head. Of course, there are some disadvantages to having the traveler in front of the companionway. You need to climb over it to go in and out of the cabin but I'm used to that. I think that it would work well with a Bimini Top though. Hey, different strokes for different folks, right?