First Sail Ever!

[mlindberg1]

Well I finally got out to shake down the new to me Oday 26. It was wonderful. It was about 8 to 10 knots of breeze. I took someone with me that has some basic sailing knowledge. I do have a few questions that I hope someone can help with.

1) Roller fuller worked great however when I went to roll in the sail, it would not go all the way in. The line was depleted and it took 3 wraps by hand to roll it up. I need to add line on the spool, can I do this with everything up? If I gather the jib sheets in coils, can I manually spin the drum to add more line? Or can I just pass the furling line thru a few times to add a few turns?

2) Jib sheet routing. Should I go outside the shrouds to the blocks on rails near the cockpit then t the winch and cleat? There are some blocks on springs on the gunnel just behind the shrouds. What are these for?

3) I have a boom vang. where should I run that control line. The "jaw clamp" is located by the mast base. How do I engage or disengage from the cockpit? It seems I won't have the leverage to lock it in from the cockpit. I just set it for the first time out and didn't think much about it.

Sorry for the rambling....hungry for knowledge....I love it!!!

 

[justsomeguy]

Congratulations on a first!

I think I can help with issues one and three.

Yes, you can add more turns to the furling line with either method you've described, but it's a bit of a balancing act. Too many turns, and your drum could fill before the sail is completely unfurled for sailing.
There's also the factor of how tightly or loosely the sail furls onto the foil, which can be a matter of higher winds or not maintaining a bit of tension on the sheet.

As to your vang, try flipping it end for end, putting the cam-cleated end on the boom, if possible.

Hope this helps.

Photos, man, we need photos!

 

[mlindberg1]

thanks....I will try to gather some photos today if possible.

 

[agprice22]

The standup blocks are for your jib sheets. I run the sheet outside the stanchions to the standup blocks then to the winches. Some people run them inside the stanchions. They say it helps them point higher to the wind.

Tracks and blocks on the gunwales aft of the cockpit are usually there for spinnaker use.

The furling line is usually fully pulled from the drum when furling. You may need to pull it, untie it, furl the sail fully plus a few extra turns, and reattach the line.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[Ward H]

Well I finally got out to shake down the new to me Oday 26. It was wonderful. It was about 8 to 10 knots of breeze. I took someone with me that has some basic sailing knowledge. I do have a few questions that I hope someone can help with.

Great to hear you made it out and sailed. I know you have been working on getting it ready.

1) Roller fuller worked great however when I went to roll in the sail, it would not go all the way in. The line was depleted and it took 3 wraps by hand to roll it up. I need to add line on the spool, can I do this with everything up? If I gather the jib sheets in coils, can I manually spin the drum to add more line? Or can I just pass the furling line thru a few times to add a few turns?

Gathering the jib sheets together and turning the furled jib and drum to add a couple turns will work best. You should have a couple of turns left on the drum when the jib is fully furled with two or three wraps of the jib sheets to keep it tightly furled.

2) Jib sheet routing. Should I go outside the shrouds to the blocks on rails near the cockpit then t the winch and cleat? There are some blocks on springs on the gunnel just behind the shrouds. What are these for?

I run my jib sheets outside the shrouds and under the lifelines to the standup blocks, then to the winches. If you had a larger jib, like a 150, you could run them directly to the blocks on the gunnel track and to the winches.

3) I have a boom vang. where should I run that control line. The "jaw clamp" is located by the mast base. How do I engage or disengage from the cockpit? It seems I won't have the leverage to lock it in from the cockpit. I just set it for the first time out and didn't think much about it.

As others have said, flip it around so the v lock is facing down and at the boom. You can then easily reach it by standing in the companionway.


Sorry for the rambling....hungry for knowledge....I love it!!!

Ward