Brent Posted July 26, 2004 Posted July 26, 2004 Here are some pictures of a staysail in action. Big fun down wind sailing. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin] Quote
Travis Votaw Posted July 26, 2004 Posted July 26, 2004 Brent, how do you rig your staysail sheet(s)? Do you sheet it to your mizzen sprit, and if so, how? How difficult is it to tack the staysail? Do you use the staysail halyard for a running backstay set to windward? Sorry for all the questions, but I have a staysail for the Princess that Charlie is building for me and am curious to know. I guess I'll find out soon enough when I start sailing her Thanks, TV Quote
Klaus Posted July 26, 2004 Posted July 26, 2004 Brent, I'm also interested how you rig the clew of your staysail (could not see it in the pic). On my NIS26 the clew block snaps to a special outhaul that runs the length of the mizzen boom, to get the block out to the end of the mizzen boom. The tack attaches to a fitting on the cabin house, about 2' back from the mainmast base. And Travis, there's no way I can see to tack a staysail . I have to drop it completely, unhook the staysail tack & clew, tack the boat and re - hoist it . If anybody knows a better way I'd be very interested :wink: Klaus Quote
Travis Votaw Posted July 26, 2004 Posted July 26, 2004 Klaus, thanks for the info on settinig your clew. this was what I was thinking I would do. However, with a sprit boom, (I have never sailed a sprit-rigged boat), I'm wondering how the end of the sprit is rigged for mizzen sheet, outhaul block for staysail and also how the after end of the mizzen sprit slips into the loop on the clew of the mizzen without interfering with the sheet blocks. Whew :shock: Looks like I'm well on the way to a thousand words - a picture would sure be good TV Quote
Brent Posted July 26, 2004 Author Posted July 26, 2004 The staysail foot is connected to the cleats that are mounted on the rail about 18" aft of the main mast. The clew has a single sheet run through a caribeaner that clips onto a loop at the outboard end of the missen sprit. The halyard should be run back and windward to provide a sort of backstay, but I havent got that well set up on my boat yet. As Klaus sez there is really no tacking the staysail, it is more dousing then relaunching on the other tack. I drop the staysail, jibe the boat, then unhook the staysail clew, move it around the main sail sheets and then reattach to the new windward side. Then the staysail sheet gets walked around the mizzen mast and reset on the leeward side. When ready the staysail can then be hoisted and off we go. Its a bit of effort but it has its rewards. Quote
Klaus Posted July 28, 2004 Posted July 28, 2004 The halyard should be run back and windward to provide a sort of backstay' date=' but I havent got that well set up on my boat yet..[/quote'] I 'have' to do that otherwise the top of the unstayed mizzen bends alarmingly with the load of the 240 sq ft staysail :shock: The halyard has a parrel knotted about 1 foot above the hook that holds the staysail head. When this parrel jams into the masthead block the fall of the halyard gets tied off at the beam to become a temporary mast stay. I also have the halyard twice as long in the form of a loop, it lets me lower the staysail single handed in a much more controlled fashion without dunking half of it in the process. I find the staysail works better on reaches on my boat, have to drop the mizzen on broad reaches to keep the staysail full and I have not yet used it downwind. This should be possible by setting it wing and wing with the mizzen lowered but I think I'd better try that first with a crew aboard :wink: Klaus Quote
Rob Blackburn Posted July 29, 2004 Posted July 29, 2004 OK guys, how much faster do you go for a given eg 5-10knot breeze? Have you done a GPS run? Sounds interesting... How about an extension to windward on the sprit on the main sail to allow a sort of blooper to go out there and sheet back around? You could end up like the Cutty Sark with a bit of thought. With the initials CS... maybe Graham was thinking of this subliminally when he designed it and wants us to put more sails up? Rob... (bored at work) Quote
Travis Votaw Posted July 29, 2004 Posted July 29, 2004 Or you could "beef" up your main sprit, make it a little longer, use it to cross the mainmast, and fly a big square sail (read plastic tarp ) for reaching and running - steady there, Graham, we're just kidding around here. Anybody ever sail on a squarerigger? Brent and Klaus - since the staysail is set flying, and is not a windward sail, I'm assuming you don't need any mechanicel advantage in tensioning the luff beyond what you get by using the single part halyard (no tack downhaul, etc.)? TV Quote
Klaus Posted July 29, 2004 Posted July 29, 2004 Brent and Klaus - since the staysail is set flying' date=' and is not a windward sail, I'm assuming you don't need any mechanicel advantage in tensioning the luff beyond what you get by using the single part halyard (no tack downhaul, etc.)? TV[/quote'] Travis, you assumed right. Klaus Quote
Brent Posted July 29, 2004 Author Posted July 29, 2004 Travis, you are correct, there is no need for serious luff tension like on a jib. I fly my staysail more like a spinaker, with some curl in the luff. When you go with the stopper knot in the halyard to make a "running backstay" a tweak might be to make the clew attachment adjustable, so that one could control the amount of belly put in the sail. Quote
Brent Posted July 29, 2004 Author Posted July 29, 2004 Rob, Good to hear from you again. Are you getting any sailing in during the dead of winter down there? You got an idea there with the Cutty Sark 20! How about adding a staysail, foresail, and a jib on a baby stay attached to the new bowsprit., then lenghten the mast and add square top sails. On second thought, I probably got all the sail area I need. As for the impact of the stay sail, when it goes up the boat gets more lively. The part I like the best is busting out on plane, even in lighter winds. But the staysail will make quick work of any downwind angle, even without planing. Quote
Rob Blackburn Posted July 29, 2004 Posted July 29, 2004 I am going to re read the Hornblower/Aubery Maturin novels and get a full concept of all the rigging of the Nelson era before starting work though. Sailing wise, we went down the coast an hour for the weekend with friends and took 5 kids and 4 adults for a sail which was good. Then the wind died. Had lunch at the pub and Kay Cottee who was the first woman to sail solo around was there in her little launch so we sent the kids for an autograph. Otherwise I am busy building "expedition boxes" for our trip up to the Sandy Straits in 10 weeks. Photos are of kids rowing, Kay Cottee in green shirt and becalmed... [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin] Quote
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