I new cruise set

[Stump]

OK. It was a fun trip...Jake felt a little more uneasy than I did...Every time a gust cought us and we'd start to heal to the rail...now, that's when I thought it was just starting to get interesting and the boat would really take off...fun, fun, fun!!! Then Jake would point up into the wind and I would loose the main and she would come back level...but the burbling would stop and the spray wouldn't fly over the bow as much :cry:

Jake said that he didn't want to go swimming because the water was too cold :shock: It didn't seem to bother the seals any. Jake was playing that CD that he has been talking about and I think the seals were liking the jams they were hearing and wanted to check out where the music was coming from.

Anywho...Now I HAVE to finish my boat asap because today was just too much fun and if Jake won't go swimming with me I'll have to go by myself :wink: :wink:

Oowhoo!!!! I thought the wind was just right at 15-20, if it only could of held steady at that speed rather than having periods of luls.

BTB - Jake's furling system worked just too slick...It made the whole thing so simple...just pull that little line and poof, yer done :!:

must go breath...peace.

[capt jake]

Then Jake would point up into the wind and I would loose the main and she would come back level

Yes, this is true! I think I dented the rubrail with my fingers at one point! ')

Gotta remember,I was out not long ago with a full sail and hit them big gusts, and though overall it was very fun; there was one time that got, well.... 'interesting'.

Heck, if the wind were the least bit steady, it would make it a breeze (no pun intended).

[capt jake]

Nope, looks to much like a lawyer. Or!! If you put on some western duds, you could be a western gunslinger! ;) "Dead-eye Ray" one shot kells them all.... LOL :)

[capt jake]

They were running a very large jib. I would make a comparison ot hte Weekender in it was a lapper plus some.

They wre definetley working on deck to dump sail and steer into the wind!

If yors has stock sails, there may be a major difference! I have the lapper, which is much larger than stock. Only slightly away from the dock, I unforled it and we began moving at a pretty good clip!

When it came time to hoist the main, I furled it back in and 'attempted' to keep it pointed to the wind. Then we raised the main and tokk the reef. It sailed surprisingly well with mainsail alone! Then I let out the jib... hang on!!

[capt jake]

OK, please post on the 'lead' thread. Furling is easy with the design I came up with; no math in involved.

[Frank Hagan]

Hey Ray' date='

What happened to your little logo (Looks a lot like "Beaker" from the Muppet Show)?

The last couple of days, I have been getting a blank spot where he usually showed up on your posts?

Jake, that looks like an interesting place to sail. How are the winds there?

Steve[/quote']

His avatar went missing ... as have a couple of other images on the site. I'm still looking for them, so if anyone else sees a red "X" where an image is supposed to be, let me know!

[capt jake]

Did I say that we ran with a reef all day? Even with one reef, it was more'exciting' (??) than previous voyages with no reef.

It was blustery!

Ballast and no reef in 20 -25 knt winds? :shock: Ray, really? must have been staedy winds?

[Steve Day]

Jake,

Sounds like you and Stump had a lot of fun. Wish I could have been there.

The balance of these boats is an interesting issue. As one of you was mentioning, the weather helm is designed into most boats as a safety issue. My 40' Beneteau is set up for the charter operation with about 125% of Genoa and an unbattened main as both are set up with roller furling. This is really great as we don't have to worry about handling a lot of sail on the deck when setting and taking in sail. When the winds get to about 20 knots or a little more she develops a LOT of weather helm with this setup. The 125% Genoa just does not have enough area to counter the full main and the rudder stalls out and she turns to weather. I find that if I roll the main in to the equivalent of the first reef point, I can make 7 knots or better with carrying just a little rudder to counter the weather helm. She heels over and GOES. (Of course we have a little over 6000# of ballast and we draw 5'6". The point of this is that you have to work with sail shape and size to balance the boat for the conditions. Gusty winds just make it more interesting!

When I get onboard and put up the racing sails, I have a 155% Genoa and a battened mainsail with a full roach on it. We cannot use the roller furling on the main at that time and have to handle all of the sail in the more traditional manner, meaning a bigger crew and sailcloth all over the place when the sails are down (close to 900 square feet of sail in both sails). I have not had the opportunity to sail the boat with this setup in 20 knot winds, so I am not sure how the balance works out, but I expect we will have to take a reef in the main at about the same wind speed to keep a decent balance to the boat. One of these days, we will be at the boat long enough to get those sails out and fly them.

A lot of words to say that you need to play with sail configurations to obtain the best performance and the most comfort. As you gain experience with the boat, you will get good at it. That is one of the things that makes this sport so much fun.

Ray, My image is shattered. I expected a guy in boating clothes or boatbuilding clothes. I see a guy in a suit and tie. Unless you wear that when you build and sail boats. :shock: In any case, it is good to see what we look like. Putting a face to a name is pretty cool.

Steve