Only had the boat for this season. Close Hauled; full main and 110 jib; 15 to 24 kts winds; 7+ knots boat speed; 3' to 6' chop; a modest heel; the rail was a good 12" out of the water. I went out on deck to check my mast alignment. I now know what they mean by PUMPING. The entire mast was flexing back and forth with the spreaders folding back: it looked like Red Skelton doing his chicken walk. It was alive! It was smooth and rhythmic; working between the stress of the wind and the wave' however... SHOULD this be stopped? CAN this be stopped? HOW do I stop this? The B&R Rig is new to me and my sailing companions. Should the mast remain in column under all normal loads? Point me to some authority, please. It gets windy here and we like to sail fast but I do not enjoy dismasting.
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pumping
Gary, pumping is a problem on larger masts, and is conventionally taken care of via running back stays, which are evil devices. The B&R rig SHOULD eliminate pumping when properly tuned, but the relative strength of your mast is also part of the picture: the more flexible the mast, the more the tendancy to pump. You might check with your local hunter dealer for a rigger they'd recommend to tune the mast, because not all riggers know what to do with a B&R rig.
Gary, pumping is a problem on larger masts, and is conventionally taken care of via running back stays, which are evil devices. The B&R rig SHOULD eliminate pumping when properly tuned, but the relative strength of your mast is also part of the picture: the more flexible the mast, the more the tendancy to pump. You might check with your local hunter dealer for a rigger they'd recommend to tune the mast, because not all riggers know what to do with a B&R rig.
Stop the Pumping
Definitely stop the pumping. We get the same pumping action on our P450 in strong winds, if the rig becomes unbalanced. In our case it happens if we deeply reef the main sail but still have the jib part way or fully out. The problem occurs becasue the force on the mast from the jib is at the top of the mast but the force fro the mail sail is half way down the mast. The wind needs to be around 25 to 30 kn. The solution for us was simple. Either replace the jib with a smaller sail. This works for us because we have a midstay or simply take one sail down. It doesn't really matter which sail although we typically tacke down the mainsail. Sailin up wind, we make sure that we continually balance the sails as the wind raises. From experience, we know that we can put one reef in the main sail and still have the jib fully deployed. We typically make the change when the apparent wind is around 18 to 20 knots. However, if we put two reefs in the main, we take in the jib and put up a smaller head sail on the midstay. The wind is typically in the 25 knot range. If the wind continues to increase we take down the small jib and use the fully reefed mainsail. If the wind coninues to increase we start to think about storm tactics (45 kn)and a good payer or two. I am not exactly sure what is happening on your boat but I would bet that forward and aft forces of the sails are not in balance. It could be due to the rig not being set up correctly. It is more likely due to the set of the sails and the opposing forces on them.
Definitely stop the pumping. We get the same pumping action on our P450 in strong winds, if the rig becomes unbalanced. In our case it happens if we deeply reef the main sail but still have the jib part way or fully out. The problem occurs becasue the force on the mast from the jib is at the top of the mast but the force fro the mail sail is half way down the mast. The wind needs to be around 25 to 30 kn. The solution for us was simple. Either replace the jib with a smaller sail. This works for us because we have a midstay or simply take one sail down. It doesn't really matter which sail although we typically tacke down the mainsail. Sailin up wind, we make sure that we continually balance the sails as the wind raises. From experience, we know that we can put one reef in the main sail and still have the jib fully deployed. We typically make the change when the apparent wind is around 18 to 20 knots. However, if we put two reefs in the main, we take in the jib and put up a smaller head sail on the midstay. The wind is typically in the 25 knot range. If the wind continues to increase we take down the small jib and use the fully reefed mainsail. If the wind coninues to increase we start to think about storm tactics (45 kn)and a good payer or two. I am not exactly sure what is happening on your boat but I would bet that forward and aft forces of the sails are not in balance. It could be due to the rig not being set up correctly. It is more likely due to the set of the sails and the opposing forces on them.
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