newbie jumping in feet first

[slopoke]

Hi all,
I just recently bought a beautiful little O'day 22 from 1976 that is in great shape for her age. I have taken her out several times now with my better half and a couple of friends ,but Friday night after work was the first time I've flown both the main and the seemingly oversized jib together in 10-15 gusting 20+. Holy crap sticks was that amazing and kinda scary. I almost had a knock down in the first big gust after being under way for about 15 minutes. Thankfully I was able to quickly sheet out the main when I lost steerage. My "crew" were wide eyed like I've never seen. Admittedly I probably looked pretty scared too. At that point I realized I probably had a little too much cloth in the air, so I just kept the main sheets un clutched and let the jib do most of the work until we could make some ground into a safer place and drop the main with my very green "crew". But none the less we had a blast amongst some of the difficulties of being completely new to this stuff and managed to sail out to Pensacola beach and tie up at a restaurant's dock and have nice dinner and nice sail back home. 9 hours on the boat Friday night after work might have been a bit much, but now I know save that for a Saturday. Any who... One quick question In what order do you guys prefer to raise the sails? Jib first or main first? We had some difficulty trying the Jib first as my inexperienced helmsman for that operation was unable to keep the bow in the wind long enough to get the main up before we got blown down wind...several times. Any advice?

 

[DHaranSailor]

Welcome aboard! I am in the same boat as you (both figuratively and literally). I have a roller furling on my head sail so I raise the main first and then just pull out the genoa once my main is catching wind.

I just took the bare boating lessons at a club by me and we learned with just the main on the first day and added the jib to the mix as we went. The main provides the largest amount of power to the boat and having that in effect may help with the steering issue you describe. In my limited experience I would recommend that order; main then head sail.

 

[Ward H]

Welcome to the forum.
Sounds like you had a great learning experience. I'll let the guys with the 22 experience guide you on what to raise first and how but do you have a furling jib? That might make a difference. On my 25, in strong winds, I will frequently sail with jib alone.
Also, do you have a reef point in the main? Reefing the main really helps to keep a boat on her feet. I always start out reefed until I'm sure the winds will be light.

Also, look up how to "Heave To". It is a good way to settle down the boat and take a breather, even in strong winds.

 

[slopoke]

thanks for the input. No roller furling and the main does have a single reef point. I kinda figured I should try the main first but my only apprehension is having to deal with my jib once the boom is swinging. I think part of my difficulty is in the size of the jib. pardon my lack of knowledge but I am assuming it is probably oversized like 130-150%, so It likes to get hung on the lifelines and such when setting or making a tack/jibe and basically requires a bow man. but I will definitely take the advice into account. Start out with the main reefed. I will try to get some pics up at some point for your viewing pleasure, but until then; thanks and fair winds.

 

[slopoke]

here are some pics out of the water in her spot at the shipyard

 

[DHaranSailor]

Nice boat. She is in great shape.

 

[ebsail]

I think you need to know that if the wind goes from 5 knots to 10 knots, that will be 4 times the wind force and if you go from 5 k to 20 k wind, you will get 8 times the wind force you had at 5 K. If the wind doubles the force goes up by the square of, not double. I almost always get underway with the main up first which helps keep the boat facing into the wind. But the hard part is deciding how much total area to put up. Even after more than 60 years of sailing, I prefer less rather than more sail (except when racing). Large overlaping jibs on a boat your size should not be used when the wind is over 15K. Either get a much smaller jib, a roller furler (so you can decrease the size when neccessary, or sail with just the main or just the jib. With a roller furler, you can roll up some of the jib to reduce sail. Yesterday, I watched a Catalina 22 completly lose control, in a 25k gust as he heeled way over, the rudder came out of the water, he rounded up into the wind and passed through the wind, whereupon the big jib back winded taking him all the way around in a violent jibe and back onto his original course. Furtunately the gust had subsided, and he then took down his jib. Disaster averted.

 

[slopoke]

indeed. I had a blast this weekend in the bay and intercoastal. I did realize getting the main up first is the ticket in most situations. And im thinking my jib is not really a jib so much as a genoa. I literally spent all weekend on the boat and got much more confident and learned a lot. I was even able to single hand it back to port sunday morning to drop the girl friend off for work. We stayed overnight behind Pensacola beach and she wanted to learn in the daytime but decided to just sleep instead. Fine by me. Aside from all the boneheads on the water ( almost run over going under a bridge by a speeding 40+ft express cruiser:cussing: ) it was just great. this boat has ruined my life, I don't want to do anything else now. I cant focus on my job. all I think about is sailing