Some foresail things.

[Bilbo]

Well, Since I'm fairly new to sailing please forgive my mistakes but here goes. We had some great fun yesterday just doing some easy sailing with light winds of about 5-10kts. I have some observations about the Genoa and am wondering if things are being done correctly. In my C22 manual it states to run the jib sheets outside of the lifelines. My tracks are original equipment and not inboard. So, is this correct? I've been running them inside the lifelines but yesterday I tried the sheets outside and it didn't seem to work as well in that situation. I think in some situations like a run downwind, it might be better outside the lifeline but then if I want the jib sheeted in tighter, the lifeline is in the way. So the question is, inside, outside or remove the lifeline?Another observation/question. I am interested in the pointing ability closehauled. As the boat comes closer to the highest point, I find that the luff's very front edge of the Genoa was getting deflated by the apparent wind. As I tacked, I would try to steer so that the windex showed maybe about ten degress past the angle of the arms when tacking and moving slower. Now as the boat begins moving faster, the apparent wind changes to more forward and the Genoa's luff starts to deflate making it so that I have to bear farther away from the true wind. I tried sheeting in the Genoa tighter -maybe not enough. The Genoa cars were fairly back in the tracks and there was no flutter in the foot or leach.~BilboN.E. Ohio

 

[Don Guillette]

Fairleads

Bilbo: Welcome to sailing and you've come to the right place to have your questions answered. This site is dedicated to beginners and intermediate sailors so don't worry about your questions.Your first question is easy. Run the sheets outside the lifelines and DO NOT REMOVE THE LIFELINES. They are called lifelines for a reason. If your sliding down that deck they may be the last things you have a chance to grab on to before you go overboard!! nothing is worse than going overboard and watching the name on your transom get smaller and smaller as the boat sails away from you.Your second question is not so easy to answer due to the limited amount of space of this forum. To understand sail trim you have to understand 4 elements and they are DRAFT DEPTH, DRAFT POSITION, TWIST AND ANDGLE OF ATTACK. If you do not understand those terms COMPLETLY, sail trim will never make any sense to you. There are a number of sail trim controls for the mainsail that control the 4 elements of sail trim but when you get to the jib the main control is the fairleads. Anytime you mess with the fairleads by moving them in any direction you are you are messing with ALL 4 ELEMENTS. You have to have a reason to move the fairleads for or aft and it depends on the point of sail and wind conditions as to which way you go. Unfortunately, you are starting in the middle of the problem. In other words, I think you need some basics to build on. There is an easy way around this problem - buy my book The Sail Trim Users Guide and it companion The Sail Trim Chart and everything you need to know about trimming your main and jib will be explained to you. In fact, after you digest the material you'll know more about sail trim than 75% of the sailors worldwide. If you don't agree, I'll refund your money and you can keep both products. That's my guarantee.

 

[Joe]

find the sweet spot

you're not really bearing away from the true wind directon as much as you're adjusting to the apparent wind. You've already noted that your apparent wind moves forward as your boatspeed increases. Does it make sense then that pointing is related to true wind direction and not apparent direction? Rather than using the wind indicator (apparent) use the compass to determine how well you're pointing. Use the wind indicator to find your boat's speed sweet spot on various points of sail. On my boat, when sailing close hauled the apparent wind indicator will read about 25 deg. before speed drops or I start luffing. My true wind direction will be more like 45 degrees, which I am happy with. Some race boats can sail as high as 30-40 degrees towards true wind direction, but most boats would trade off quite a bit of speed to attain those high pointing angles.I don't have a book to sell, but I can recommend the "Annapolis Book of Seamanship" by John Rousmaniere as a great all around book for any sailor.

 

[Franklin]

Luffing

If your not luffing but trying to point as high as you can, should you still be able to get top speed or near top speed for the apparent wind speed? There seems to be times when I'm pointing and not happy with my speed unless I fall off a little but I don't think my sails are luffing.

 

[Bilbo]

Foresail trim.

Thanks guys. 1)I think we are going to be getting the Sail Trim Users Guide. 2) I have reas a few basics all around books. Such as Steve Sleight "New Complete Sailing Manual", Herreshoff , "Sailor's Hanbook", John Rousmaniere's, "Annapolis Book of Seamanship" 3) Jib sheets will be outside the Lifelines which will reamain attached. The reason why I asked about the lifelines and the jib sheet is that one of the options for the Catalina 22s is an inboard genoa track. This is inboard of the original one by a good 8".4)I have some understanding about draft depth and position, I think that one point is that reading books give us a lot of knowledge but the true experience isn't gained from the books. The fairleads were pretty much in a decent enough spot. What I think was happening s the apparent wind moved more forward, the draft on the Genoa was starting to catch the wind and deflate. More than likely, I needed to tighten the jib sheet more to reduce the draft and point more correctly.Yesterday, we had a bit more wind and that issue didn't really present itself to the same extent as the day before when the air was lighter. I also had the 110 jib on instead of the 150 Genoa.Thanks for you understanding and kindness for a newbie ~BilboN.E. Ohio