Sailing Firefly on Seneca 9-1-19

Aug 3, 2012
2,542
Performance Cruising Telstar 28 302 Watkins Glen
Today was a treat! We got a rare SSE blow of 15-20 knots for 3 hours. Being at the South end of Seneca means little fetch, smooth water, high winds, and speed. This is why we sail...


We had her over 10 knots twice today, but we kept her a little off the wind while we had full sails deployed. She is fastest at 60-90 degrees. The admiral gets squirrelly when I bury an outrigger. I think you could sail double digits all day in 20 knots on a beam reach.

By the way, this is the noisiest boat! I think it needs something to make water flow off the transom better.

We turned up wind and reefed to keep her flat. We still reached 8 knots with a double reef on the main and 50% reef on the genoa. She is a fun boat to sail. We most often gybe her, but either tacking into or away from the wind, she accelerates out of the tack to top speed in 10 or so seconds.
When we first sailed her, we stalled in tacks a lot. Now, we rarely stall. We enter gently, let her point, and drive her through the wind hard over. She swings around and takes off. However, I can tell you from experience, this boat readily sails backwards!
On a gybe, I just take a wide turn off the wind, let her make the turn as I harden up the main amidships. Then I ease her back out and adjust the traveller. She is much faster on a gybe.

She is a fun boat!
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,733
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
What a fun sail.
Is she a CBer or fin keel? I'm curious about why she is so hard to tack. Sounds like she loses headway quickly. Not enough inertia to carry her easily through the tack. Light weight?
Glad you worked it out. Must have been frustrating in the beginning.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Aug 3, 2012
2,542
Performance Cruising Telstar 28 302 Watkins Glen
She has a centerboard. She only weighs 3000 lbs. She does not have a lot of inertia. She carries a lot of sail. You just have to tack her gently. You can’t turn hard, or she will stall. About half way through, you can turn hard. She is a lot of fun to sail.
 
Jun 7, 2004
350
Oday 28 East Tawas
Thirteen seconds: just enough to whet my appetite. How about five minutes or so? It looks like good footage...