I rest my case.Neither of which will avoid arguments from starting.
Headsail alone vs. Main
- Thread starter YVRguy
- Start date
LOL. Thought I was responding to a totally different thread. Must have been a good bottle of wine last night!
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Not sure how I'd rig a downhaul because my clutches are all used. Thoughts? Great idea on securing the reef points. The jammers do seem to slip a bit. And for what it's worth, I've already learned the lesson about not tying down the excess sail too tightly. A couple of years ago, in an effort to look tidy and professional I rolled up the excess main and tied it up tightly against the boom. The pressure poked little holes in the foot of my sail where it was forced up against the shackle pins along the foot. Dumb dumb dumb.
FWIW, for just plain pleasure sailing and not racing, we run with just our 135% h/s whenever the wind is aft the beam. Our Taswell 43 shows no unusual helm. Pulling is always better than pushing, especially downwind....sort of like a spinaker, but easier, and much easier to control. when the wind gets nearly directly downwind, then you need to consider poling out, but that's a whole other thing. And IF you do use the M/S, absolutely use a preventer of some sort.
Possibly just run the line down from the sail head, through a turning block at the base of the mast and find a place to cleat it. Its just something to pull on to lower the sail if needed.
I did the same thing with tying up the reef slab. Now I tie it under the foot of the sail above the boom. That way it doesn't stress the grommets. But the webbing to secure the sail from slipping is only on the big cringle at the end, not along the entire foot.
By the way, make sure to wear your tether and harness.
In my opinion, an anticipated 5 hour crossing requires adequate trim for comfort. Would not want to fight the helm for that period of time. I would use both sails, with a deeply reefed main which you can do on the dock before departure. Just find yourself a comfortable course even if you have to sail a little longer, just check that you maintain an adequate speed to destination.
Thanks! This is pretty much how I'd imagined. As Alan says I guess I'll just need to cleat if off somewhere.
I own a 2014 H33e with furling main and jib with a B&R rig (no back stay). While delivering the boat from Annapolis to DC, in Oct 2014, my daughter and I turned North heading up the Potomac with a 26 knot tailwind from the S-SW. I set up the boat for a run and, with no whisker pole, decided to run with the main alone. This took pressure off the B&R rig, although it is designed to manage with just the jib. With main alone and a fairly steady 26 knot wind, we exceeded the hull speed for most of the run and made the trip in less than 5 hours. My only concern was an accidental gybe, but the wind remained steady from the S-SW for the entire trip. If I ever do that again, I will rig a preventer. I just didn't have the equipment for it during that trip. The boat was very comfortable under just the main and the autopilot managed the helm with very little adjustment. Great time!
Keep in mind all boats are different and respond differently. Also experience comes into play. I introduced my wife to bareboating years ago in Christmas winds in the Caribbean. We sailed from st Vincent to union island. Since she does not like bashing, I paid for delivery back up wind. The whole week had winds in excess of 20 and even over 25 knots on the quarter with 8 ft quartering seas. I never raised the main but am experienced with sailing in quartering seas and can keep the boat on a straight course. At one point my wife wanted her picture taken behind the wheel and we rounded up in less than 10 seconds, even with just the jib up. I attribute this roundup to the quartering seas. It was a great trip and we have been on many more charters since then, even bashing into waves!
I did the same thing on a Morgan 41 some 25 years ago. Wind shifted prior to a thunderstorm, took an accidental gybe and blew out all four reef points. Three rolls of duct tape later we were back on our way. Looked ghetto but we figured, "Hey, it might make a great radar reflector". Took the reefing lines off my main after that and just roll up the excess and stuff in the baggy part of the main's foot. Anyway, what BKeeler said... all boats are different and experience does matter.
Is there another cringle on the leech the same height as on the luff? If not, as Sesmith said, it is most likely a cunningham cringle. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Go with what works.
From your description it would appear that the reef lines were tied too tight and passed on the underside of the boom. For a loose footed main (which I realize you may not have had) you would want to tie up the excess sail with the reef lines passing between the top of the boom and the foot of the sail. If not loose footed then of course they must pass on the underside of the boom, but you would want to be careful to tie them loosely enough so there is no strain on them under any circumstances. Their sole purpose is to help clean up the excess sail and not to take any kind of load. They are not even strictly necessary (as you noted in your second to last sentence), but do make things more tidy.
You should be leaving the slip with a double reef tied in, and Gybe preventer rigged. Accidental gybes are dangerous to crew and rig, every sailor should have a Gybe preventer system. You could undoubtedly do this trip under Genoa alone, but having a scrap of main helps you balance the rig, set a heave-to if needed. If things get squirrelly, and the boat is steering like an F 150 with a load of bricks in the bed, come up 30 degrees and get the flow across your underwater foils working right again. Gybe down wind.
I agree with the other H-34 owners.. Sailing with jib alone in heavy wind is much easier and especially when single handing.. Don't bother with the main. if ya get concerned, roll the jib up and go to motor. but you'll be a lot happier with the motion and controllability with jib and no main. Good Luck ! Wish I could zip up there and sail the trip with ya !
CaptnRN: I'll tell you I dodge a bullet in your exchange with jackdaw.There are a few mates on this forum over the years that I'd rather not mess with regarding sail trim and jackdaw is one of them!! I've use the "weather vane analogy" many many times over the years to explain sail trim at sail trim seminars all over the southwest and my first thought was "oh crap, how did I miss the mistake". I re checked older articles plus the articles you mentioned to see where I was going wrong and was sure glad to find that jackdaw was "3 sheets to the wind" when he answered the topic!!