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MisterMoon

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Everything posted by MisterMoon

  1. The only difference between Peter's set up and mine is on mine the block to turn the sheet down to the thwart is attached to the boom instead of the mast. It does tend to pull the forward end of the boom down when deeply reefed. If this makes any difference, I don't have any data. Attaching mine to the mast isn't a bad idea, though. If you look closely at this picture of me sailing double-reefed, you can see the mizzen sheet coming down in front of the leech of the main. You can also see the little horse over the rudder.
  2. Do you find having all those tails concentrated around the middle of the thwart leads to any more tangles?
  3. My mizzen sheeting set-up is different from the plans. It's set up so it's a single-ended system instead of double-ended as shown on the rigging diagram. The sheet dead-ends in an eyestrap on at the clew, goes down through a block on a small rope horse above the tiller, back up to a block at the clew, up the boom to another block mounted on the bottom of the boom about even with the mast, down to a turning block on the thwart, and finally through a camcleat on the thwart. This keeps the tail of the mizzen sheet centered at all times. I don't know if it's any better than the double ended system, however. I'd like to try it the 'right' way to see if I like it better. My mainsheet is as per plans. The only issue is that sometimes I run out of tail on one side and have to stop sailing for a few seconds while I go down to the other side to gain some slack to allow trimming and easing on the windward side. It's just part of dealing with double-ended sheets, I suppose. The advantage of double ending the main sheet far outweighs this minor hassle I think. And if I'd be a little more attentive, it wouldn't be a problem at all. I'd like to double end the snotter on the main someday once I'm able to figure out an elegant way to do it that gives enough purchase.
  4. You got me there. My aluminum breeze works really well and I can go eight knots dead to windward when I want to. The racing authorities tend to frown on such frivolous behavior, however. I'm looking forward to my next event, the Florida120, where if I get tired of bashing to windward while getting a bad case of monkey butt from sitting on the rail all day I can crank up the Tohatsu any time my fun-o-meter starts getting low.
  5. Interesting. I usually do the opposite; head up in puffs and bear off in lulls. Your technique seems counter-intuitive to me, but at the same time I can maybe see some logic in it. I'll have to try your approach and watch my VMG.
  6. I've got some miles on my CS17 now and I'm getting better at sailing her. After a lot of analysis of my GPS tracks, I've figured out that my CS17 tacks through between 100 and 104 degrees when going to windward when going for best VMG. This isn't bad in my experience. But everyone always talks about tacking through 90 degrees. What about you guys? Anyone doing better? And if so, how are you doing it?
  7. I've got a six on mine. It's too big and heavy, but it came with the boat. I can run 8 kts with mine but I think it's capable of more. I think it's a little over-propped and not able to run to redline at WOT. I've got a friend who works for Yamaha who is going to see if he can find me a lower pitch prop. It is nice to be able to have the option to go somewhere pretty fast when the wind dies.
  8. It wouldn't make a difference. Spray on these boats is generally flying through the air about chest high. Only once during all the beating we did in this year's EC/UM did I stick the bow into a wave where water came over the deck. A dodger is the only thing that might help.
  9. I'm this close to taking a powerplane to the coaming on my boat starting about even with the thwart aft. I seldom sail with crew, so the foward coaming can stay. Unless you're going to attach a dodger to the coaming, I'm not sure that it's really any benefit otherwise. The boat is really much faster upwind when sailed flat, so it's a worthy compromise make it comfortable to sit on the coamings. I strongly suggest building some removable fillers for the front cockpits to make a large flat for lounging and sleeping. They really make the boat much more comfortable and enjoyable.
  10. I can't stand that we've got to wait 65 more days until the FL120... I'm ready to go NOW.
  11. Aw shucks, y'all... It was a pretty tough little event this year. Upwind in 20 knots on Saturday, downwind in 20-30 dying to about 10 on Sunday. My only regret was that I didn't start sailing sooner on Sunday. Had I started three hours earlier, I would have finished 6 hours sooner. I posted some video on Youtube of sailing on Sunday: http://t.co/emHilY7O http://t.co/zzFcB38V All in all, I had fun and didn't break too much stuff. The boat was fantastic. Even in 28-30 knot gusts upwind, it was very manageable with two reefs. She's plenty wet in going to windward in waves, but at least it was warm. I realized later I could have done a better job navigating across Tampa Bay that would have kept me out of the worst of the wind and waves, but live and learn...
  12. Get a move on Jim! I'd really like to have another CS-17 to sail in company on the FL-120.
  13. On my boat, as measured along the luff starting from the tack gromment to the reefed tack grommets. Main: 1st reef - 32" 2nd reef - 35" (from 1st) Mizzen 1st reef - 26" 2nd reef - 28" (from 1st) Hope this helps. See you on Friday. If your first reef is in a different place than mine, I'd suggest just making the second equal to the first.
  14. I had the butt cap on my mizzen shear off on a windy day a couple of months ago. Fixed it with some very long screws.The mast step always looks good to me, but now I'm wondering as I'm headed down to FL in a week... Great, something else to worry about!
  15. Where did you get your staysail, and how much did you pay for it? I really want one because I find my boat to underpowered downwind and broad reaching in light airs.
  16. Doug, I just saw the video of your boat. Nice! Mine are stored under the side decks. They are secured by drilling little holes in the hanging knees and threading those little loops of bungee with the orange ball (I dunno what they are called). Two turns around the oar and then the little ball through the loop.
  17. Reefing. Because you can reduce sail by dropping the main or mizzen, you are technically within the rules. You'd be better off with a second reef. I've never tried to sail to windward under mizzen alone in heavy winds, however. I suggest you test it out.
  18. No need to ever reef the sleeved sails on CS17. They aren't big enough as it is! (ducking and running) I've been wishing for a set of fat-head sails for my boat. The stock 'racing' sails are seriously underpowered under about 8 knots. I can't imagine it with the no-batten, convex leech, sleeved sail option, at least in my home waters. More power!
  19. I've decided to go with heavy duty stainless rivets and also install a second eye strap an inch or so below the originals as spares.
  20. I've only briefly sailed three-up on my boat and usually single-hand. These boats are pretty sticky in light airs. I can't see where adding a couple more people would help. I'll be paying attention to my load out for the UM to try to keep the boat as light as possible given the gear requirements. Where this really comes into play is getting off the beach. It's going to be just about dead low tide when we launch which means a longer drag to the water. Here's a hint: set up on a steep part of the beach so you can use the help of Mr. Gravity to get the water.
  21. I don't have jiffy reefing set up on mine. I just dont see a good way to do it compared to a boat with a conventional boom at the foot of the sail. The picture below shows my boat with a single reef. Yeah, I know it looks messy. The mizzen is also too low on the mast. My reefing sequence goes as follows: With the boat head to wind, ease the snotter. Move the downhaul up to the reefed tack. Then pull the dowel out of the clew attachment and move it up to the reefed clew. Lower the halyard to the marked reef position and cleat off. Then haul on the downhaul until it looks right and then snug up the snotter again. Finally roll the up the bunt on the bottom of the sail and tie off the nettles. The trickiest part IMO is moving the clew attachment point. It's easy for the clew to get away from you in strong winds which is why I prefer to reef earlier than later.
  22. I too decided I didn't have the time for a full EC this year and dropped back to the UM. Now we've got a 2-boat CS-17 class for the UM, so that's cool. Alan has it correct that the UM will be a great first learning experience for this kind of challenge. If you're like me in the EC last year, you'll have figured out dozens of things you'd do differently next time. Last year a couple of us kept regular radio skeds every even hour. All who participated found it to be a lot fun and that it kept the comraderie of the launch beach going a little longer. Let me know if you want to join us and I'll give you the details. I know it will be at the top of every even hour, probably channel 71.
  23. I dropped out of the EC last year becuase I didn't have enough reef points. I was technically within the rules and could reduce by 40%, but it wasn't enough. I had my hands full off of Stump Pass on Sunday morning when a 25+ knot squall line rolled through and kicked up the seas into the 4-6' range and Gasparilla was dead to windward. I really wanted another reef or two in big main on Daysailer sloop I took last year. When I finally dropped early on Tuesday morning at Caxambas Pass south of Marco Island, it was largely due to being seriously overpowered the night before. Because of my overpowered condition, I nearly lost it coming into Caxambas at 1 AM and lost an oar in the process. The weather forecast was for even stronger winds on the nose for the rest of the week and I decided it wasn't worth the risk as we headed down into the really remote wilderness part of the EC. Observing the weather after I dropped out showed this to have been the right decision on my part. My CS17 has two reefs in each the main and mizzen and tracked sails. I wish I had the second mast step installed, to give one more sail shortening option for this year's EC, but alas I don't have the time to do it properly. I have figured out that I can sail my boat under reasonable control on just the deeply reefed mizzen however. I strongly advise you to get another set of reefing cringles installed in each sail.
  24. Ok, I give up. Anyone have an idea where I could buy a couple of dozen SS rivnuts? I'm not having any luck sourcing them.
  25. THanks all. I'm really liking the rivnut idea. I'll have to do some poking around for a source and will let you all know what I find out.
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