Racing peel?

[FlightRisk1]

My husband and I have begun racing our C&C33 and want to know the procedure for "peeling" sails. We have 3 great North jibs, a 155, 135 & a blade. We're the only boat in our fleet that has tuff luff foil for the jibs, everyone else uses roller furling. I think we could gain an advantage if we practiced changing sails at/before marks. BUT HOW? Any instructions, or links to videos/websites, much appreciated!

 

[Todd Smith]

Flightrisk,

I didn't have a good link, but found this one: http://sailbetter.com/cms/index.php...e-step-by-step&catid=3:boat-handling&Itemid=9

Now for a basic description, I'll give it a shot.

For starters, you must have a twin groove headfoil and 2 jib halyards.
I will describe the simplest situation.

1) On a starboard tack, with the jib in the port groove and hoisted with the port halyard ( always match groove and halyard ). Sheeted in as usual.
2) bring the new jib on deck.
3) Take the lazy jib sheet off the old jib and rig the new jib to hoist in the starboard groove and halyard. Attach the free sheet to the new jib and run it on the starboard side to sheet the new jib.
4) Hoist the new jib, it will be pressed onto the old jib.
5) Tack the boat. Sheet in the new jib.
The old jib will now be pressed against the new jib.
6) Lower the old jib onto the foredeck. Fold it up and take it below.

There are variations where you don't tack or the wrong groove is free when you start, but this is the easiest version.

Good luck.
Todd

 

[Ted]

Racing peel

The easiest headsail changes are done with the new sail being hoisted in the windward side of the Tuff Luff. After the hoist, tack the boat and drop the old headsail on the windward side again. The new sail, now flying on the leeward side of the Tuff Luff, will help keep the old sail on the deck while it's being dropped. Extra hands come in handy for a leeward set and douse. Practice in moderate conditions at the beginning. Another advantage of the Tuff Luff is the leading edge presents a fine luff entry into the wind unlike a roller furling system. Good luck with the racing.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

You have two grooves in the Tuff Luff. You also need two jib/genoa halyards. Let's assume you have a 155% genoa up and it is inserted in the port groove and hoisted with the port halyard. You are sailing along on a starboard tack (wind coming over the starboard side of the boat) on a close reach. You want to downsize sail area some and go to a 135% genoa. Your crew gets the 135% on deck and inserted into the feeder into the starboard groove of the Tuff Luff and attaches the starboard genoa halyard to the head of the new sail and also tacks the sail on the 2nd required tack horn or snap shackle at the stem head fitting. The crew removes the starboard sheet from the 155% genoa (not used on a starboard tack) and the 155% remains trimmed to keep the boat moving as fast as you can and then attaches the starboard sheet to the clew of the 135% genoa still on the deck. The lead or car on the genoa track on the starboard side is moved to the proper location for the 135% genoa and then the sail is hoisted with the halyard. Now both sails are on the port side of the boat and hoisted. Now the helms person calls for a tack and comes about. The genoa trimmer sheets in the 135% genoa's starboard genoa sheet on the new port tack. The 155% genoa is pulled to the deck with the release of the port halyard. Now the 135% is alone and trimmed on the new tack. The port sheet is removed from the 155% genoa and tied on to the 135% clew with a bowline. The port genoa track car is repositioned to the location for the 135% genoa ready for the next tack. The 155% is removed from the deck and stowed below. The 135% is ready to be tacked when appropriate. You have now "peeled" one sail without going baldheaded and without losing desired boat speed for the most part. You now see that it is imperative that you have two halyards for headsails, two tack attachments and adjustable genoa tracks and an able crew to get the job done in a hurried fashion when racing. Good luck.

 

[Ted]

Racing peel

I forgot to mention to preset the genoa lead for the new sail before you hoist it.

 

[tommays]

Getting any advantage would depend on the lenth and type of race

In are area a typical short race would be a W/L course with 4/1 mile legs lasting less than and hour and unless the wind is above speed X not much to gain with a change ?

The big advantage in Main and Jib racing comes from knowing the boat and being setup to use a spinaker or wisker pole well on the downwind legs as well as having a polar chart for your boat to gain a knowledge of the best downwind angles to sail your boat at

On a longer weekend race with some distance again it would realy depend on the weather changes during the race and knowing the wind speed range of each sail

 

[FlightRisk1]

Thanks so much!

Thanks everyone! we do have twin grooves, two forward halyards, forward (short) tracks w/ their own cars, and we're trying to buy some additional sheets for the second jib that goes up (having hard time locating Samson "Trophy" braid in 1/2" black ). Great suggestion for the polar chart too. The boat is rigged for spinnaker (has 2 onboard) but she raced in the Chesapeake and is now in Wassaw Sound, Savannah. No one has crew to fly spins on a regular basis so majority of PHRF races are non-spin classes. Thanks again...now on to that polar chart, and lots of practice.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

In the beginning of January I left Savannah and sailed a boat on the outside to Key West and froze my butt off. Finally warmed up in Key West.

 

[Joe]

It really helps to store your sails in a "sausage" bag. This long bag allows you to store the sail lengthwise, flaked down in the tube. The bag has a velcro or zipper along the full length with openings on each end that allow you to attach the sheets, tack and halyard while the sail is till in the bag. There are also straps to secure the bag to the stanchions if desired.

So.. what you do is flake the sail in the bag, zip up, THEN fold it in thirds so it can be stored below. IOW the sail and bag are folded together, not the sail folded inside the bag. You can unfold the bag as you bring it up on deck through hatch.

Whether you use the sausage bag or not it is importent to flake the sail so the luff stacks on top of itself, rather than the traditional pyramid form most of us do on the dock. This makes feeding the sail in the groove a whole lot easier come hoisting time.
When you take down the sail you can flake it right into the bag on deck. Zip it up, and it's ready to use again.

Regarding sheets, you'll need an extra set if you're not going to tack when you peel. Otherwise, you can take the lazy sheet from the old sail, hook it to the new sail so when you tack the new sail has the weather sheet, the old sail is now inside (weather). Peel the old sail and attach the lazy sheet to the new sail... fold the old sail into it's sausage bag and get it below... you're good to go.

 

[FlightRisk1]

Joe, thanks for that add'l. info. Very good. We have sausage bags but can't find any good way to secure them to lifelines prior to hoist w/out interfering w/ the sail inside. Any suggestions much appreciated.

 

[Todd Smith]

FlightRisk,

Most sausage bags have a strap sewn on near one or both ends of the bag. Tie this onto the lifelines if needed. Sew a strap on yourself if needed. But, if you have the sail tack hooked up and the sheets tied onto the sail, then you might not need the bag itself tied on.

 

[Joe]

If there aren't any straps sewn on.. look for some loops or d-rings on the bag you might use to secure it with a sail tie or short length of line. You might even fabricate a couple of short tethers with a small clip that will allow you to leave attached to the stanchions on deck.

Be aware that a lot of racing sailors remove the lifelines and stanchions when racing... so be creative. The key is to give the bag enough resistance so that the sail will break out of the enclosure. Even if you simply open the bag manually, you don't want it blowing of the deck when it's emptied so some kind of restraint is preferred. It need not be heavy, just enough to keep it in place. Like I said, a couple of lightweight clips will suffice. Similar to the type on your spinnaker turtle.

 

[Jumpstart]

Flight Risk- I see that you sail out of Savannah. I'm going to be visiting a ggod friend on Skidaway Island later this winter. Any upcoming PHRF/JAM races scheduled? If the schedule is right I'm sure we can dust off his Dehler 39SD for a race.