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From: Owen H. Morgan (no email)
Date: Mon Feb 04 2002 - 09:18:52 EST
Howdy!
Rick wrote (> ):
> You use your staysail about the way we do ours,
> Owen. But you forgot to mention what I think of
> as the real appeal to a cutter rig that flies the
> staysail all the time. Several times we've been
> hit by sudden squalls that seemed as though they
> would pass quickly but for which we were way over
> canvassed to handle.
On my way up from Melbu to Sortland last Easter, I was overtaken by six blizzards with visibility nil with brilliant sun inbetween them on a four hour sail. Then as I passed under the Sortland bridge, I met another blizzard coming the other way! Thankfully, had the harbour entrance saved as a waypoint. This is what the meteorologists call a local Arctic low, which seems to be their pet name for anything thay can't explain...
> Our tactic? Instead of going
> on deck to reef the main and pull down or reef
> canvas, we just crash tack, furling the jib up as
> we go about.
> Now this won't work with a club
> footed, self tending staysail but if your staysail
> is sheeted to tracks like a normal headsail,
> then the staysail will back when you go off on the
> other tack. Then you just let the main loose to
> stream with the wind--what used to be called a
> fisherman's reef.
This is the reason I decided against making Naomi's staysail self tacking. It's no bother tacking it anyway. Several sailing magazines and books I've seen have mentioned hauling the jib or staysail across to heave too, but I've never understood this. It's much simpler to just tack and leave it aback. If for some reason you wanted to heave too on the tack you were on (maybe depending on which side the galley or heads is on....), you just tack twice.
With my rig I also find it's useful to leave the staysail aback a few seconds into the tack, as this makes it easier for the big jib to come around the stay without snags. The small jib is never a problem and the Naomi has never needed the help of a backed sail to get her nose around. She's a well mannered old girl.
Another good tactic which is sometimes useful on any fore and aft rig is scandalising the main, particularly on a run or broad reach in a narrow sound or river when you need to slow down and there is no room to round up and heave too.
Gaffers do this by dropping the peak, but this clearly isn't possible on a Bermudan rig, so what you do instead is release the kicker and mainsheet and haul the boom up to about 45 degrees. This takes most of the drive out of the main in seconds, leaving you time to have another look at the chart and figure out which side you're supposed to leave that marker up ahead. I've also used this for short stops at a quay and when sailing to the quay in cases where just letting go the mainsheet would sweep a dozen innocent bystanders into the drink. Even with quite a bit of wind, the main will just flap gently. It's quicker than dropping it and doesn't leave you with a deck and cockpit full of sail if you don't have lazyjacks. This is one good reason I would never have a rod kicker. I find it just as easy to control the boom with a rope kicker and topping lift.
When I drop the main, I always haul in on both reef lines, as this gathers up most of the sail, and if I don't, the reef lines will usually end up hanging in loops from the end of the boom and be a nuisance to anyone in the cockpit. My two reef lines and the outhaul go to a triple rope clutch and a small winch on the boom next to the gooseneck. To make it easier to hook onto the reef hooks, I have short webbing straps with a SS ring each end through the reef cringles by the mast. This makes taking a reef very quick.
I timed it once. From I get up in the cockpit till i sit down again with a reef in the main is less than two minutes. Unless I'm on a dead run, I never round up to reef. I just put a little slack in the mainsheet. The boat keeps going on course with the windvane steering.
The only mistake I made in the reefing setup is that the winch on the boom is the smallest Anderson winch where the winch handle follows the winch body around as you haul. The winch handle socket is an integral part of the body. Cost me a couple of thicks lip before I learned. I'm always anxious the first time an occasional crew takes a reef...
Me: "Take the slack in before you insert the winch handle!
Crew: "Ouch, $$%##@# !!! Shit!, Damn!, what was that you said...?
Nobody's lost any teeth yet, but I really should change that stupid winch. I bet Anderson don't sell it in the States, they'd couldn't afford the legal fees and damages...
I never tie in the reefs, as this puts the whole sail at risk of ripping if the reef line parts. As the sail is loose footed, there is no real risk of a lot of water from a big sea being caught in the body of the sail under the boom. When I take in the second reef, I tie in the first to tidy things up, as I don't see much risk of both reeflines parting.
A friend of mine faced the problem of having to slow down quickly when entering the harbour at Skagen in Denmark in a 40 foot racing yacht. His crew had managed to get a jamming turn on the spinnaker halyard, so the damned thing wouldn't come down and there was no time to rig another line to take the load off the winch to release it. As they approached the breakwater, Per yelled: "Just cut the bloody thing" Luckily there was a knife in a sheath on the mast.
The kite came down just as they entered the breakwater creaming along at about 8 - 10 knots, Per did one round under main in the basin to allow the crew time to hang fenders and to slow the boat down, luffed up and put her against the quay so soft she wouldn't have broken an egg. All the crews on the other boats cheered and applauded at the magnificent display of seamanship, and Per's money was no good anywhere in Skagen that weekend. Per told me it was a good 15 minutes before his knees would stop shaking...
Owen
--
@ Sjøhussenteret marina
68°43.13'N 15°24.74'E
Sortland in Vesterålen, Northern Norway
Owen H. Morgan, Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-9311
c/o Idrettsveien 6, 3188 HORTEN, Norway
http://home.no.net/naomij
Phone: +47 92053097
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