Sailing on a long reach

[Joe11688]

I wouldn't want internal halyards as how can u inspect them if they are inside? what is the advantage of having them inside?

You can inspect them Keith. While your mast is laying down, just pull the halyard through from both ends and check it. If you find a worn spot on the halyard that isn't too bad, invert the halyard. If the halyards have been on for a period of years, you can attach a strong twine to the halyard and pull it right out of your mast. If you find some slight wear on one end you can invert the halyard by cutting the shackle splice off and splicing it on the other end. Then re-tie the halyard to the twine and run it back in again. My halyards have never got so bad that I've had to throw them away. I screwed up years ago and replaced my halyards with thicker diameter 1/2" and I replaced them a couple of years ago with 5/16". I re-cut and used the 1/2" halyards for Gennie sheets. My old Gennie sheets were the original sheets that came with my boat and they were still in good condition. They just looked old and ugly. I keep them for extra lines in my line locker in the lazarett.

 

[tkaser3210]

I may have the original owners manual that came with my 222 - I'm on vacation for the next 10 days (sailing my Hunter 26 out of South Haven), but I'll look for it when I get home - If I find it, I'll email you for your address and send you a copy

 

[Joe11688]

Disclaimer: This will probably sound silly to those of you experienced sailors, but I've only owned my boat for a month now, and received practically no instruction from the dealer. I have an 84 Oday 222.

I was out last night in light wind, heading downwind, and realized the backstay has a clip that attaches to the boom. Releasing the clip allows the boom to travel further abeam, but I had never disconnected this before.
I was able to get several more knots since the sails could fill more fully, but I noticed the mast was flexing slightly (bow to stern) when I encountered the occasional wake.
Is this the intended use of that clip on the backstay, or was I abusing my mast and rigging?

Your O'Day 222 probably came through with a different make mast than mine. There were about five different spar companies who supplied O'Day with spars for these boats. Dwyer-Damco Spars, Z Diffusion, Z-Spar, Isomat Spars, Sparcraft, and Yacht Riggers. Generally, some of the O'Day 222s with Z-
Spar masts came with a topping lift that was attached to the mast head and had a sheave at the end for a control line attachment in the boom. Some of the 192s that came with Z-Spar masts and booms didn't have this type of topping lift. They had a pig tail hook attached to the backstay and I have no idea why this was. Some of the O'Day 222s had two winches on the mast and some had only one. The O'Day factories did a lot of different things to these boats through the years. I still have my 1986 O'Day 222 Owner's Manual, but a lot of the features covered in my manual won't necessarily apply to your boat.
You would be wise to make a provision on your mast for a similar type of topping lift that is on my mast even if it means a different type of boom attachment that is found on a Z-Spar boom, as long as the boom has the freedom to swing from side to side. The pig tail hook doesn't allow this.

Here's topping lift you can try out that is simple to make, courtesy of Frank from Frank's Weekender Project. I think it's pretty clever but I would prefer to operate my topping lift near the mast.
http://www.frankhagan.com/weekender/toplift.htm

 

[olsalt]

Wow this is the 222 club! My 1987 has the topping lift, which is a fixed wire attached at the rear of the mast head, measured to hold the boom end up. The connection at the boom end is adjustable and should be slacked just a little, so it kind of swings around while sailing. The PO also added a 6" bit of shock cord with a clip at the end of the boom to clip onto the backstay whilst docked.

I am considering adding an adjustable bridle arrangement to the backstay, a few feet above the transom. I believe this will be stronger than the original, will correct the port side offset of the sheet, and.... will allow for a modest spinnaker to be flown from the jib halyard.

While the 222 isn't a fast boat, I feel it performs well and would like to see how we would do on "race night".

As wise Joe says, it's your boat, set it up the way you want!

 

[Joe11688]

Wow this is the 222 club! My 1987 has the topping lift, which is a fixed wire attached at the rear of the mast head, measured to hold the boom end up. The connection at the boom end is adjustable and should be slacked just a little, so it kind of swings around while sailing. The PO also added a 6" bit of shock cord with a clip at the end of the boom to clip onto the backstay whilst docked.

I am considering adding an adjustable bridle arrangement to the backstay, a few feet above the transom. I believe this will be stronger than the original, will correct the port side offset of the sheet, and.... will allow for a modest spinnaker to be flown from the jib halyard.

While the 222 isn't a fast boat, I feel it performs well and would like to see how we would do on "race night".

As wise Joe says, it's your boat, set it up the way you want!

The adjustable bridle is a good idea. One of our former YC members has one on his Catalina 22. I don't know if it came stock on that boat, but it centers the backstay and also makes a pretty good adjustable backstay.
There is no doubt that the type of topping lift that is on our O'Day 222 can chafe the leech of the sail, but this can be corrected by adding a 3/16" bungee cord to the goose neck on the mast. All you need to do is take a 5" piece of bungee cord and insert it through the small hole under the goose neck fitting on the mast and secure both ends with a hog ring. This bungee ring can now be slipped over the three cam cleats in front of your boom for your internal control lines and it will allow you to tweak up your topping lift so you don't have too much slack in it. It will do the same thing for your reefing line.
I have to differ with you on the speed of the O'Day 222. With a good set of sails, they are a fast boat and they can point up higher than other keel/centerboard sailboats of that size. I never realized the speed of my boat until I had two new sails made for her. Sails really make the difference.
Also, a traveler makes a big difference on these boats, and for speed downwind, you can't beat a Whisker Pole. I'm finding that out now because I've never used one on my boat until this year.