Works been CRAZY...

[RussC]

I'm impressed Jackdaw! I'm sure just your years of experience is a huge factor, but I'm amazed at how quickly you hit the mark and gain the new heading without any adjustments once there. very little loss of speed as well. are you looking at any instruments for a new heading, or is it all seat of the pants?

 

[Stu Jackson]

are you looking at any instruments for a new heading, or is it all seat of the pants?

For those of us without fancy instruments, it's called practice. Many of us have been doing it for long enough that it was before they invented those instruments.

 

[Jackdaw]

I'm impressed Jackdaw! I'm sure just your years of experience is a huge factor, but I'm amazed at how quickly you hit the mark and gain the new heading without any adjustments once there. very little loss of speed as well. are you looking at any instruments for a new heading, or is it all seat of the pants?

Thanks, I suppose it is a couple of things:

Know your 90. I look down the traveler bar to sight where I should be pointing when I'm done with the tack.

Setup the gear. Lock the traveler in its current position.

Start the turn. This is the trick; make the boat turn in a steady turn at a rate that you can tack the headsailI. I use a TillerClutch and love it. This move takes practice to know how long this is going to take you.

A boat with a non-overlapping headsail is VERY easy to tack once you get the timing down. I know how far to trim the sheet and can have it done by hand unless I screw up.

You finish that and finish the turn. With practice you're near your angle and pointing where your traveler told you. As the boat comes back to speed, trim the traveler up to retrain the main. Now focus on trim and boatspeed!

 

[jeepbluetj]

Thanks, I suppose it is a couple of things:

Know your 90. ......

This^^^^. It has helped my sailing a lot. (Except when I'm solo, then otto knows the 90, but otto overcorrects too dang much) But if I've got somebody to run the jibsheets, I can helm and run the traveler and my old pig of a c-30 looks great going through a tack. Not as good as Jackdaw's looked, but good. Well, at least not embarrassing. Sometimes here there's no visual cue for the 90 (like looking out over the pacific, or when it's hazy) - but practicing hitting the right heading visually sure helps to get the feel of it.

I feel for you guys up north. Reading all these stories about the first sail of the season was great.

I caught a cold recently and went THREE weeks without sailing. It was terrible. Longest since I've owned the boat. Had a great sail last Sunday to make up for it. Winds were really flukey, on and off and from random directions all day. We'd be going hull speed for 20-30 min, then drop off to like 1-2kts. Repeat a while later on a different heading. Coming back we were about 2-3 miles from the harbor absolutely becalmed. After the boat sat and spun a coupla 360's I decided to turn the motor on.

(y'all did ask to tell sailing stories)

 

[Apex]

I like the heel trim for the mainsheet traveler

 

[Jackdaw]

This^^^^. It has helped my sailing a lot. (Except when I'm solo, then otto knows the 90, but otto overcorrects too dang much) But if I've got somebody to run the jibsheets, I can helm and run the traveler and my old pig of a c-30 looks great going through a tack. Not as good as Jackdaw's looked, but good. Well, at least not embarrassing. Sometimes here there's no visual cue for the 90 (like looking out over the pacific, or when it's hazy) - but practicing hitting the right heading visually sure helps to get the feel of it.

I feel for you guys up north. Reading all these stories about the first sail of the season was great.

I caught a cold recently and went THREE weeks without sailing. It was terrible. Longest since I've owned the boat. Had a great sail last Sunday to make up for it. Winds were really flukey, on and off and from random directions all day. We'd be going hull speed for 20-30 min, then drop off to like 1-2kts. Repeat a while later on a different heading. Coming back we were about 2-3 miles from the harbor absolutely becalmed. After the boat sat and spun a coupla 360's I decided to turn the motor on.

(y'all did ask to tell sailing stories)

That is indeed key, and all the mechanics and timing work around it. I sense the turn rate and time the tack mechanics around that. As I noted non-overlapping boats make this timing very very quick. That way you can do the turn at the normal rate. If you have to pull a Genoa around you often have to turn slowly to let you finish. Optimizing the cockpit layout to facilitate solo work is also important. Lines where you need them and good driving ergonomics. The 260 is pretty much sorted out in that regard.

 

[Jackdaw]

I like the heel trim for the mainsheet traveler

;^)

Every watch a on-man-band play?? He's working it with both hands, feet, and mouth!

It's a well layed out boat, but there ARE a lot of strings to manage.

 

[jeepbluetj]

That is indeed key, and all the mechanics and timing work around it. I sense the turn rate and time the tack mechanics around that. As I noted non-overlapping boats make this timing very very quick. That way you can do the turn at the normal rate. If you have to pull a Genoa around you often have to turn slowly to let you finish. Optimizing the cockpit layout to facilitate solo work is also important. Lines where you need them and good driving ergonomics. The 260 is pretty much sorted out in that regard.

Yup, turn rate is a big challenge. Out here we're almost always in light air, so I've always got a 135 or a light 150 on the front. (I love the 150, but it's awaiting repair) - But the big overlappers do slow down the tack. When I'm solo, otto tacks too fast. Not usually a problem unless the genoa clew gets caught on a shroud going over.

There's a First 260 on my dock, really nice looking boat. I chat with the owner quite a bit but haven't been invited out for a sail yet.

 

[Gunni]

From the end of last season - looking forward to more - launch this week

 

[DAVA390]

This is driving me crazy! My Marina parking season for trailer boats starts May 1. Did talk them in to letting me in on Sat. April 31 though.

 

[Kermit]

This is driving me crazy! My Marina parking season for trailer boats starts May 1. Did talk them in to letting me in on Sat. April 31 though.

You gotta love Leap Year!

 

[Jackdaw]

Between 4 conference calls with 3 continents yesterday. Because it seems life is not crazy enough....

Today... its freezing (43F high) in Bayfield so I'm back in MPLS (70F high) for a BlueJ crew sail.

 

[JohnVTX]

I want one of those cranes....

 

[Ken Cross]

I'm with ya bud. Last Tuesday a buddy and I took an early sail. The problem was no wind. It was like glass and quiet out there. That made it so we could hear the grey whale blow from a distance. We watched the whale for an hour and a half until the wind came up and we had a nice sail for a couple of hours. Not fast (4 kts or so) but a fantastic day without a coat (Unusual in these parts for April.) That was around Gedney (Hat) island if you're local.

Ken

 

[Ken Cross]

Between 4 conference calls with 3 continents yesterday. Because it seems life is not crazy enough..

By the way I found a cure for that working stuff. Retired at 56 in 2011. Totally worth it.
Ken

 

[Ken Cross]

How much room does a frog need anyway?
Ken

 

[RussC]

Thanks, I suppose it is a couple of things:

Know your 90. I look down the traveler bar to sight where I should be pointing when I'm done with the tack.

Setup the gear. Lock the traveler in its current position.

Start the turn. This is the trick; make the boat turn in a steady turn at a rate that you can tack the headsailI. I use a TillerClutch and love it. This move takes practice to know how long this is going to take you.

A boat with a non-overlapping headsail is VERY easy to tack once you get the timing down. I know how far to trim the sheet and can have it done by hand unless I screw up.

You finish that and finish the turn. With practice you're near your angle and pointing where your traveler told you. As the boat comes back to speed, trim the traveler up to retrain the main. Now focus on trim and boatspeed!

Thanks for the tips. I'll try to be more aware of my "90" next time we're out. I think I do tend to be too optimistic of the boats (and my) pointing ability many times and end up having to fall off to re-gain my speed (if I make it across at all ). I did install a tiller tamer, but I wish I hadn't a' been so cheep and gotten a tiller clutch instead. the tamer does help a lot also however.
A trick I've learned at this lake, when most of the lake is slick, is to head to the West side of the lake where any prevailing breeze builds up in the compression against the hills. only problem is when you tack back out away from that narrow band it gets light again, but 02 knots is still much better than 00 knots.
We're learning slow, but sure enjoying the journey. Tack begins at ~1:20

 

[Ken Cross]

Thanks for the tips. I'll try to be more aware of my "90" next time we're out. I think I do tend to be too optimistic of the boats (and my) pointing ability many times and end up having to fall off to re-gain my speed (if I make it across at all ).

Nice video. One thing someone on this board taught me is: in light air is to leave the jib alone and let it backwind until I'm near the new heading. The jib forces the bow over faster so I don't get into irons.
Ken

 

[RussC]

Nice video. One thing someone on this board taught me is: in light air is to leave the jib alone and let it backwind until I'm near the new heading. The jib forces the bow over faster so I don't get into irons.
Ken

Huummm….. I can visualize how that could work in light air….. I'll try it. thanks.

 

[HMT2]

Sailing solo in Galveston Bay after work on a Tuesday in March with "iron Mike" at the helm.