My new to me 222 O'Day sails just great in medium and heavy winds. She will keep up and point better than many of the local 23's to 27 footers,,BUT during a recent Wed evening fun class race I got passed by a 19 ft Cape Dory Typhoon( Keel boat ). Well I was OK with that except as they went by they showed an exuberant amount of joy in doing so and said they hadn't passed a boat in the three years they owned her. BTW the little Typhoon is about the most beautiful boat to look at I've seen. I can point my boat very well with speed in a good wind, but in 3-5 mph wind she seems dead in the water. There is probably something I can do to the rigging but am afraid to touch something for fear I may spoil the way she handles in the heavier winds. Just need some pointers.
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mybae the blind leading the blind
Hey Chuck, Try softening the sails, not sure if that is the term or not but don't have them drawn tight, both your jib and the main. See how that works for you. also don't use alot of rudder a light touch, to much can slow your speed down. light wind is tuff. Bob
Hey Chuck, Try softening the sails, not sure if that is the term or not but don't have them drawn tight, both your jib and the main. See how that works for you. also don't use alot of rudder a light touch, to much can slow your speed down. light wind is tuff. Bob
light air advice
Chuck, I don't sail a 222, but have raced a good deal in boats of similar size. Did the Typhoon pass you going downwind? If so, and you have a centerboard model, did you have your centerboard raised? Here in Newport, where we get a good deal of air, Typhoons are notorious for beating faster-rated boats in mixed-class racing while sailing dead downwind in heavy air - but rarely at any other time. So the Typhoon's passing you in light air is troublesome unless, of course, you forgot to raise your centerboard. The advice you've received already from Bob (from Ohio) is on-target. I'll reinforce what he said and add a few points. Real quickly, sail theory parallels airfoil theory in many respects. That said, a "full sail" (i.e. one with lots of draft) generates a lot of lift but a lot of drag. In light air, you need all the lift you can get - with drag being a lesser penalty. That's why Bob (from Ohio) recommended fuller sails. You can achieve this by easing the tension on your main halyard, and easing your clew outhaul. If you use a cunningham on your main, do not tension it. Your draft in main and jib should be at about the 45% to 50% point. You can estimate this by siting up the sail while "under" the boom. You should see the deepest belly in the sail about half-way between the mast and the leech of your sail. These following points are for while you're on the wind (I'll discuss downwind settings in a moment). You should also insure that your mainsail leech is not too tight; this will stall your main in a heartbeat and slow you to a snail's pace. You can tell how your leech is doing in a couple of ways. First, while on a practice tack, stand well behind the main and sight up the leech. If the leech is nearly a strait line from the head of the sail to the clew, your mainsheet is too tight for light air. So ease off your mainsheet until you see a nice symmetric curve on your leech. Then adjust your traveler so that your boom is NO HIGHER THAN the centerline of your boat. If, on the other hand, the upper part of your leech falls off dramatically to leeward, then your mainsheet is too loose. In all cases, your traveler and mainsheet settings should never be set such that the end of your boom is above centerline of your boat. If so, this will also cause your sail to stall and loose speed dramatically. The second way you can keep an eye on your leech is to watch tell-tales attached to it. If you don't have them on your leech - install them. They're well worth the few cents they cost, and without them it's really hard to tell what the airflow is doing at that trailing edge of your mainsail. And that is critical in all windspeeds. Another (very rough) rule-of-thumb on boats your size is that they like to be sheeted such that the second batten from the top is about parallel with the boom. So check that from time-to-time as well. Lastly, trim your genny or jib to "match" your main. By that I mean that the approximate location of draft, and the curve of the leech should look very similar to the main. And, as long as we're still talking about going upwind, make sure you don't sail too light or pinch. To be sure on this, you must have tell-tales on the luff (or leading edge) of your jib. You'll know you're pinching if your windward telltales are consistently lifting or fluttering. Many boats can sail fast to weather with their windward telltales lifting ever-so-sslightly, but with their leeward tell-tales solid against the sail. Those same boats will slow to a crawl iin light air if they're sailed too light (i.e. their windward tell-tales lifting). On this point, and in sail-theory terminology, a fuller sail has a deeper airfoil "entry", and will therefore be slightly harder to steer to keep both windward and leeward tell-tales flying. So if you're both steering your boat and doing a lot of looking around at other boats, you're probably not keeping your boat in the groove most of the time. You may not succomb to this temptation, but most helmsmen do at one point or another
Regarding downwind: I don't recall if the 222 is a fractional rig or not, but if she is, you may have a good deal of rake and or pre-bend in your mast which will likely help you in moderate to heavy air, but which probably needs to come out in light air. If I were you, I wouldn't be afraid to play with my rigs tuning. (yea, easy for me to say...right?) If you don't want to buy or mess with a shroud tension guage, here's a simple way to keep things straight. First (and probably by lying on your back) sight up your mast both while your boat is at mooring/slip, and again while underway and going to weather. Does the upper part of your mast bend backwards appreciably? If so, this is helping flatten your main and tension your forestay in medium to heavy air, but is preventing your main and jib from developing the draft they need in light air. To play with these adjustments, just keep track (I suggest writing it down) of how many turns you make on each turnbuckle to allow your mast to be perfectly straight in light air. While youre' at it, make sure your port and starboard shrouds are tensioned about equally as well. Lots of people have come up with lots of sophisticated ways of measuring this, but at the end of the day the human eyeball is really good (and cheap) at determining when a mast has sufficient rake and whether or not its falling off too much to leeward while going to weather. A few other points. Crew position is critical. You want to create the least wetted surface - especially in light air. So don't let your crew sit congregate on the stern or the bow (" because there isn't anything else to do"). Also, don't let your crew wander around. Many boats I've raced on have a "no movement allowed" rule in light air. Crew movement really does throw off the sensitive ship's headway that is so critical in light air. Experiment to find out exactly where crew needs to sit. Now this last point is a challenge, but I've seen some skippers (better than me) use this with amazing success. Try not to move the tiller (at all) or off centerline (except to change course significantly) in light air. If you need to change course slightly to port, have one of your crew GENTLY AND SLOWLY move his/her weight to starboard, while you hold the tiller ABSOLUTELY STILL. And vica versa. Also, and as allowed by rules, have your crew stabilize sails with their hands. By this I mean that if you allow your boom to swing back and forth (even by a foot or two) as you drift along, it's all over. Your boat cannot develop consistent and efficietn drive from your sails like that - and Typhoons WILL pass you by. A "final" point: all the racing greats have commented that light air takes extrodinary concentration precisely because the SMALL changes you make in sail trim, rudder movement, and crew positions have ENORMOUS impacts on your speed relative to other boats. For example, a quick slip in jib sheet tension might be a recoverable error in medium to heavy air. But that same error in light air might cause you to loose distance that you cannot recover. Lastly, if you can afford it, a knotmeter can be a wonderful tool in light air. You can discover (to the tenth of a know) what sail trim, rigging tune, helm, and crew positions work for your boat. Otherwise, you can go many seasons never sailing your boat to her potential, but never quite sure why. Just a thought. Best of luck, Peter S., Narragansett Bay, Portsmouth, RI
Chuck, I don't sail a 222, but have raced a good deal in boats of similar size. Did the Typhoon pass you going downwind? If so, and you have a centerboard model, did you have your centerboard raised? Here in Newport, where we get a good deal of air, Typhoons are notorious for beating faster-rated boats in mixed-class racing while sailing dead downwind in heavy air - but rarely at any other time. So the Typhoon's passing you in light air is troublesome unless, of course, you forgot to raise your centerboard. The advice you've received already from Bob (from Ohio) is on-target. I'll reinforce what he said and add a few points. Real quickly, sail theory parallels airfoil theory in many respects. That said, a "full sail" (i.e. one with lots of draft) generates a lot of lift but a lot of drag. In light air, you need all the lift you can get - with drag being a lesser penalty. That's why Bob (from Ohio) recommended fuller sails. You can achieve this by easing the tension on your main halyard, and easing your clew outhaul. If you use a cunningham on your main, do not tension it. Your draft in main and jib should be at about the 45% to 50% point. You can estimate this by siting up the sail while "under" the boom. You should see the deepest belly in the sail about half-way between the mast and the leech of your sail. These following points are for while you're on the wind (I'll discuss downwind settings in a moment). You should also insure that your mainsail leech is not too tight; this will stall your main in a heartbeat and slow you to a snail's pace. You can tell how your leech is doing in a couple of ways. First, while on a practice tack, stand well behind the main and sight up the leech. If the leech is nearly a strait line from the head of the sail to the clew, your mainsheet is too tight for light air. So ease off your mainsheet until you see a nice symmetric curve on your leech. Then adjust your traveler so that your boom is NO HIGHER THAN the centerline of your boat. If, on the other hand, the upper part of your leech falls off dramatically to leeward, then your mainsheet is too loose. In all cases, your traveler and mainsheet settings should never be set such that the end of your boom is above centerline of your boat. If so, this will also cause your sail to stall and loose speed dramatically. The second way you can keep an eye on your leech is to watch tell-tales attached to it. If you don't have them on your leech - install them. They're well worth the few cents they cost, and without them it's really hard to tell what the airflow is doing at that trailing edge of your mainsail. And that is critical in all windspeeds. Another (very rough) rule-of-thumb on boats your size is that they like to be sheeted such that the second batten from the top is about parallel with the boom. So check that from time-to-time as well. Lastly, trim your genny or jib to "match" your main. By that I mean that the approximate location of draft, and the curve of the leech should look very similar to the main. And, as long as we're still talking about going upwind, make sure you don't sail too light or pinch. To be sure on this, you must have tell-tales on the luff (or leading edge) of your jib. You'll know you're pinching if your windward telltales are consistently lifting or fluttering. Many boats can sail fast to weather with their windward telltales lifting ever-so-sslightly, but with their leeward tell-tales solid against the sail. Those same boats will slow to a crawl iin light air if they're sailed too light (i.e. their windward tell-tales lifting). On this point, and in sail-theory terminology, a fuller sail has a deeper airfoil "entry", and will therefore be slightly harder to steer to keep both windward and leeward tell-tales flying. So if you're both steering your boat and doing a lot of looking around at other boats, you're probably not keeping your boat in the groove most of the time. You may not succomb to this temptation, but most helmsmen do at one point or another
Regarding downwind: I don't recall if the 222 is a fractional rig or not, but if she is, you may have a good deal of rake and or pre-bend in your mast which will likely help you in moderate to heavy air, but which probably needs to come out in light air. If I were you, I wouldn't be afraid to play with my rigs tuning. (yea, easy for me to say...right?) If you don't want to buy or mess with a shroud tension guage, here's a simple way to keep things straight. First (and probably by lying on your back) sight up your mast both while your boat is at mooring/slip, and again while underway and going to weather. Does the upper part of your mast bend backwards appreciably? If so, this is helping flatten your main and tension your forestay in medium to heavy air, but is preventing your main and jib from developing the draft they need in light air. To play with these adjustments, just keep track (I suggest writing it down) of how many turns you make on each turnbuckle to allow your mast to be perfectly straight in light air. While youre' at it, make sure your port and starboard shrouds are tensioned about equally as well. Lots of people have come up with lots of sophisticated ways of measuring this, but at the end of the day the human eyeball is really good (and cheap) at determining when a mast has sufficient rake and whether or not its falling off too much to leeward while going to weather. A few other points. Crew position is critical. You want to create the least wetted surface - especially in light air. So don't let your crew sit congregate on the stern or the bow (" because there isn't anything else to do"). Also, don't let your crew wander around. Many boats I've raced on have a "no movement allowed" rule in light air. Crew movement really does throw off the sensitive ship's headway that is so critical in light air. Experiment to find out exactly where crew needs to sit. Now this last point is a challenge, but I've seen some skippers (better than me) use this with amazing success. Try not to move the tiller (at all) or off centerline (except to change course significantly) in light air. If you need to change course slightly to port, have one of your crew GENTLY AND SLOWLY move his/her weight to starboard, while you hold the tiller ABSOLUTELY STILL. And vica versa. Also, and as allowed by rules, have your crew stabilize sails with their hands. By this I mean that if you allow your boom to swing back and forth (even by a foot or two) as you drift along, it's all over. Your boat cannot develop consistent and efficietn drive from your sails like that - and Typhoons WILL pass you by. A "final" point: all the racing greats have commented that light air takes extrodinary concentration precisely because the SMALL changes you make in sail trim, rudder movement, and crew positions have ENORMOUS impacts on your speed relative to other boats. For example, a quick slip in jib sheet tension might be a recoverable error in medium to heavy air. But that same error in light air might cause you to loose distance that you cannot recover. Lastly, if you can afford it, a knotmeter can be a wonderful tool in light air. You can discover (to the tenth of a know) what sail trim, rigging tune, helm, and crew positions work for your boat. Otherwise, you can go many seasons never sailing your boat to her potential, but never quite sure why. Just a thought. Best of luck, Peter S., Narragansett Bay, Portsmouth, RI- Status