Gun shy

[ShawnL]

I've sailed my '72 Catalina 22 for 6 seasons now and before that I sailed a massively over-powered sailfish my father built (so I guess I kind of know what I'm doing). But now I find myself kind of gun-shy. 2 Weekends ago we were out, close-hauled and heading in when I realized that no matter what I did with the main, we were massively over-powered with the 110% jib (all we have). I had so much so much lee-helm it was hard to steer. The boat kept wanting to head down-wind no matter what I did. We ended up turning into the wind and dropping sails, and I'm glad we did, because the weather didn't get any better. It should be no problem, decent sailing until the last 20 minutes.

I sail with my wife, who doesn't know a lot about sailing, except if in doubt, let it out and if the jib is flapping, pull it in. Tried everything I could think of -- the wind didn't feel _that_ bad, we'd been out in worse. Dropping the traveler, reefing and flattening the main, playing the gusts, pinching-up, etc. The boat was probably fine, I know it'll handle way more that I want to. But it seems to have gotten to me.

In these situations I start thinking about what all the stress is doing to the standing rigging, what would happen if X, Y, or Z... you get the idea -- I replaced the running rigging a season after I got the boat, I installed the newer chain plate fittings, etc. So I'm fairly confident in everything. But since I know what's happening to all the pieces and parts and responsible for everyone on board, I start to get into my own head, which I don't consider a bad thing, but it can tend to make me a nervous sailor at times.

Today we went out in 4, gusts to 11 mph (more like 15). Should be easy sailing, no problem. At first no wind, we're just drifting. I could see the ripples on the water not too far away, so fired the motor up and headed there. Once we found the wind, we killed the motor and had a nice sail on a close / broad reach. But I could tell from the tell-tails on the main that I wasn't trimming it in enough. I could have trimmed it in and gotten more speed, but I just couldn't find it in me to do it. Once we started to heel more than I was happy with (which is nowhere near as much as the boat will handle) I'd let the main out a little more. I knew it was killing our speed (though the helm felt nicely balanced), but I just didn't want to trim it in. I feel like I'm gun-shy from being over-powered and having to drop sail and now I can't seem to just relax and have a nice sail. My wife didn't say it, but she intimated that I was being overly cautious.

I guess I just needed to vent and see if anyone else ever goes through this.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Those of us who sail and sail often should all admit that we do. OK, I'll be first!

A few weeks ago I wrote about my C22 experience in high winds when a fellow skipper suggested t sail with just one sail, "doesn't matter which one," he said although going upwind just our (only) 110 jib would work better. He was right.

I instinctively question those who choose huge 150 genoas on masthead sloops because they do not perform as well in as wide a range of wind as working jibs or even 130s the sail cloth weight is either too light or too heavy, and higher wind sheets become too heavy in really light air. Just a host of drawbacks.

My recommendation is to just build back up better. Just like you learned how to sail successfully in higher winds: step-by-step. Nothing wrong with being cautious, beats the alternative.

if anyone else ever goes through this.

 

[Captain Grey Beard]

As a single-handed sailor, I know exactly what you're feeling.

And for what it's worth, I don't think there's anything wrong with it, or anything to be sheepish about.

I'm overly cautious about damn near everything on a boat. ‍ I reef early. I shorten sail early. If something doesn't feel right, I don't particularly care whether the boat could handle more. I'm the skipper, and I'm the one who has to deal with whatever happens next.

Single-handing probably reinforces that attitude. There's nobody else coming to save the day if I get behind the boat, so I try very hard not to get behind the boat in the first place.

The fact that you understand what's happening to the rig, know what can fail, and are thinking three steps ahead isn't necessarily fear. A healthy respect for what can happen out there is part of seamanship.

And after an experience that rattles your confidence a little, I don't see anything wrong with taking a few easy sails and letting that confidence come back on its own. You don't have to prove anything by carrying more sail or heeling farther than you're comfortable with.

I'd much rather come home thinking, "I probably could have carried more sail," than come home thinking, "I really should have reefed 20 minutes ago."

I'm overly cautious.

And I survive the day to go sailing again. ‍

 

[danstanford]

Perhaps you should look at your mast rake if the boat wanted to head down when overpowered. If the mast has too little rake the center of effort will be too forward and the boat will want to head down.

Ideally you should have weather helm from the COE being behind the center of lateral resistance so the boat rounds up rather than down. Much safer though still dramatic.

 

[Captain Grey Beard]

Or perhaps the centerboard is raised a bit?

 

[dlochner]

How old and in what condition is the mainsail? An old stretched out mainsail will heel more and will be difficult to near impossible to trim correctly.

Do you have a traveller? If so, raise the traveller higher. If not consider using an inhaul on the mainsheet to pull the boom closer to the the centerline.

 

[...3TacksontheWater]

The C-22 handles strong winds with aplomb providing you have the appropriate sail for the conditions. Combinations of reefing, reducing foresail size or dropping sail are all options depending on wind and sea conditions. That you chose to drop sail and motor in shows good and prudent seamanship.

Since replacing and upgrading the rigging, have you routinely checked and adjusted your rig tensions? I don't sail near as often as I did years ago but I do make it a point to put the Loos gauge to work at the start of each season and bring the rigging back into spec.

George

 

[ShawnL]

Thanks to everyone who responded. Glad to know I'm not the only one who gets nervous.

As for the questions people asked - This is the second summer on the main sail. We replaced our old bolt-rope main with a new loose footed one at the beginning of last summer. The rig is as properly tuned as I can from the tuning guides and the swing keel is always fully down. Yes the C22 has a traveler, but it is tiny. The boat wanted to head down-wind because the jib was over-powered. I can (and did) reef the main, but I only have the one size jib and I was trying to keep it up as long as I could.

 

[danooxnard]

Get a furler for the jib. It is the best money I spent on my C-22. Now when things crazy I furl the jib, without my wife or I having to go forward and douse the jib. Much safer this way.
Dano

 

[shemandr]

...Today we went out in 4, gusts to 11 mph (more like 15)... Once we found the wind, we killed the motor and had a nice sail on a close / broad reach. But I could tell from the tell-tails on the main that I wasn't trimming it in enough. I could have trimmed it in and gotten more speed, but I just couldn't find it in me to do it. Once we started to heel more than I was happy with (which is nowhere near as much as the boat will handle) I'd let the main out a little more. I knew it was killing our speed (though the helm felt nicely balanced), but I just didn't want to trim it in...

A lot of sailers sail with over trimmed sails. I think they sail with white knuckles because they think they are supposed to. And there is a thought that with the heel and drama they are sailing faster. Usually they are not. The OP's statement that when he felt the main was under trimmed the helm felt balanced supports my suspicion that the main was more correctly trimmed than he thought. Since he is sailing recreationally, and not racing, my advice would be to forget about speed and sail the boat in the comfort zone. There is no reward for a white knuckle experience.
Tell Tails are a useful tool for sail trim but I would listen to the boat and if the helm is balanced I would go with that.
I'm not sure about the lee helm. If that is a consistent thing I would try to lengthen the forestay maybe using a tang to test it out. Or invite your sail maker in to have a look at the rig.

 

[Stu Jackson]

but I only have the one size jib and I was trying to keep it up as long as I could.

Get a furler for the jib. It is the best money I spent on my C-22. Now when things crazy I furl the jib, without my wife or I having to go forward and douse the jib. Much safer this way.

Maybe, maybe not. I chose to not spend the money on a furler for our C22 because I learned how to deal with the jib, like Shawn all I had was the 110 working jib. Pat Royce's wonderful book, Sailing Illustrated (still available) shows how to rig a jib downhaul for a C22. No need to go up on deck and a lot less expensive! And if you trailer your boat, a lot less complicated.

 

[Davidasailor26]

A lot of sailers sail with over trimmed sails. I think they sail with white knuckles because they think they are supposed to. And there is a thought that with the heel and drama they are sailing faster. Usually they are not. The OP's statement that when he felt the main was under trimmed the helm felt balanced supports my suspicion that the main was more correctly trimmed than he thought. Since he is sailing recreationally, and not racing, my advice would be to forget about speed and sail the boat in the comfort zone. There is no reward for a white knuckle experience.
Tell Tails are a useful tool for sail trim but I would listen to the boat and if the helm is balanced I would go with that.
I'm not sure about the lee helm. If that is a consistent thing I would try to lengthen the forestay maybe using a tang to test it out. Or invite your sail maker in to have a look at the rig.

I agree. I don’t know the C22 specifically but when overpowered many boats will have weather helm, even with just a jib. As the boat heels the jib pulling forward gets further outside the boat, so it tends to pinwheel the boat to windward. Lee helm can mean the jib is overtrimmed, stalled and pulling sideways rather than forward.

 

[Calif. Ted]

Did you drop the 110 on your C22 because of lee helm or weather helm Stu? I can't remember being on a boat with lee helm and can only imagine it to be very disconcerting.

 

[Davidasailor26]

But I could tell from the tell-tails on the main that I wasn't trimming it in enough. I could have trimmed it in and gotten more speed, but I just couldn't find it in me to do it.

Where are the tell-tails on the main? If they’re in the usual places, along the leech, they aren’t much good for saying when to trim in the main. Leech tell-tails should stream straight back most of the time in light to moderate wind, and all the time in stronger wind. If they’re curling forward it means to let the sail out. The best way to know the sail is out too far, and you need to trim in, is when the front of the sail is bubbling a little, a lot, or flogging. In a strong breeze bubbling a little is fine, and even bubbling a lot may be a fine way to depower. But the tell-tails will look the same whether the sail is properly trimmed or massively under-trimmed.

 

[ShawnL]

The tell-tales on the main were stalled, or mostly stalled. Because of the initial light air I had left a little bag in the sail. As the weather picked up (a little I guess) I tightened the main halyard and outhaul, added some more boom vang, etc. I could see the top tell-tale stalling, the middle one was streaming, and the bottom two were moving between streaming and stalling. That's why I said I could have taken some more twist out, flattened things a little more and properly trimmed the main. But I didn't want to. The helm felt balanced, the jib was probably a little farther out than it should have been, but the boat felt balanced. So I left it and tried (in vain) to relax.

On the previous "white knuckle" sail, the jib was trimmed correctly, it was just too much jib in relation to the wind and the reef in the main. When It caught a puff it wanted to pull me downwind. I'm used to the boat wanting to round-up into the wind if I do something dumb, but in this case, it was the opposite. The jib was trying to pull us down-wind and there wasn't enough main to counter it.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Little speed=Little control. Your rudder works better with water flowing over it. There needs to be a balance of course. I support the suggestion of adding a jib furler and the question, "How old are the sails?"

As a testament to the strength of your rigging, I knew a C22 owner that claimed that his mast touch the water in near tornado conditions before the boat righted itself. This is also the same guy that drunkenly fell from the cabin top to the cabin sole. Take it with a grain of salt