Weekend Camp Cruise

[John Turpin]

Kevin Nicolin and I had a little camping trip over the last few days.  We explored a new part of (huge) Lake Texoma, which is on the border of Texas and Oklahoma.  Fittingly, we did this over the weekend of the OU/UT game--The Red River Rivalry.  We spent our time on the lake formed by the Red River, crossing repeatedly from the Oklahoma to the Texas side and back.

Heading out onto the lake on Friday morning in a shifting, NE breeze.

[John Turpin]

And then!  Out of nowhere, a race broke out!  A long tacking duel commenced, with no recognizable winner.

[Rod Thompson]

Looks like it was a great trip John.  The migration of Monarchs has always been a wonder to me.  I assume they were going with the wind.  Mexico is their destination is it not?  On my day trip last friday the natural wonder was a wolf kill.  They had chased a white tail dear down to the lakes edge.  Eagles and ravens were patiently waiting their turn.

For stowing your sails on the sprits does the sail stay on the track to be bunched accordian like onto the sprit?  What is the aft end of the sprit connected to so that it stays in place?

The tent with the raised floor would be handy for wet or uneven ground.  Haven't seen that before.

[John Turpin]

Hi Rod,

Several of us rig our sprits that way, when at the end of a sailing day.  We unhook the halyard shackle from the head of the sail and hook it onto the aft end of the sprit.  Fiddling with the halyards and snotters gets the sprits level.  Then, we just leave the sails on the sail tracks and bungee them to the sprits.  This makes for a clean look and gets the sprits out of the way.  It's also easy to throw a tarp over a level sprit to provide some shade.

I love my cot tent.  It sets up in just a couple of minutes and is a cozy place for one.  Unfortunately, when in its case it's too big to fit in my lockers or forepeak.  But, I just strap it and my chair to my forward thwart and it's never really in my way.

[Richard Whitney CS#70]

Great to see pictures of your adventures.  Work has taken over from any chance to get back to my build - can see some space coming up mid Nov to get back to it - keep posting

Also interested in any observations on how Lapwing performed alongside the C17

[John Turpin]

Also interested in any observations on how Lapwing performed alongside the C17

Ah.  Well, that's a tricky one and I'm not sure that I have the answer.  But, on whole, I'd say they're comparable.  

Now, an experienced cat ketch racer and sail trimmer would certainly get more performance out of the Lapwing than I do, so I'll stipulate that right now.  Also, since I've had her, I've only had the opportunity to sail the Lapwing in light-to-moderate winds, so I have no real knowledge of what her performance is like in heavier winds.  So, a year from now, I should know more about her.

But, in the dozen or so (light/moderate wind) sails I've had alongside a CS17, this is what I've noticed.  In very light air, the CS17 starts to slightly pull away.  It has slightly taller masts and 15% more sail area.  I just think it collects more wind than I can.  Or, maybe it's a hull shape thing.  Or, given my centerboard trunk leak, I spend quite a bit of time bailing so maybe I'm too distracted to go quicker.

In moderate (8 - 12) wind, they seem to move at the same speed.  At times I think the CS can point higher, but at other times I'm not sure.  This weekend, we were in a wide section of lake with a great deal of maneuvering room.  We were trying to get to our chosen campsite about six miles to the north.  We were fighting a 10-12 mph wind that was veering between the NW and NE.  We tacked against each other for over an hour.  I think we both were trimming constantly and were trying to go as fast as we could.  In those conditions, there wasn't a nickel's difference between us.  Neither could gain on each other.  The next day, in a little 4-5 mph close reach, we sailed side-by-side, 10 yards apart and went the exact same speed.

A few weeks ago, we went out on a fairly windy afternoon.  We both had a single reef in.  On that day, I had crew and Kevin did not.  In those 15+ gusty, lumpy conditions, I couldn't stay close to the CS.  It just ran away from me.  Maybe it was the crew weight.  Maybe it was a hull shape issue in pounding waves, but I could not stay with the 17.

But, I'm a sloop guy and just a cat ketch rookie.  I certainly have much to learn about how to sail her.  Given her light weight, though, I've found that adding a crew member makes a real difference in how she performs.  I think she is more sensitive to that than the bigger, heavier CS17.  

All of the above is anecdotal and (before people start yelling at me), your mileage may vary.

[Peter HK]

In those 15+ gusty, lumpy conditions, I couldn't stay close to the CS.  It just ran away from me

Certainly it has been my experience that, with a good sailing breeze, waterline length is hard to beat. Light airs add all sorts of variables but when it picks up I'll put money on the longer boat.

Sailing in a gale adds another dimension again

Cheers

Peter HK

[Richard Whitney CS#70]

Thanks for your observations John.  I found with my CS 17 when the wind got up and there was the possibility of lifting up to plane - crew placement made a lot of difference

[Travis Votaw]

Man, it's difficult to keep up with you Edmond B&B yachtsmen :-) Looks like a great trip.

Where did you launch from and what part of the Lake did you explore?

[John Turpin]

Last minute trip.  We launched from Caney Creek up on the Oklahoma side on Friday morning.  We sailed around Preston Peninsula, used the sonar to find the sunken town of Preston, sailed down to Denison Dam, sailed back up to Washita Point, then back to Caney on Saturday.  Great trip, but not much wind. 

Hopefully, we'll have more wind at the Oklahoma Messabout this weekend.  See you on Saturday!

[John Turpin]

Blue Peter is now put up for the winter.  So, just a couple more pics of her under sail in 2010.

[capt jake]

What a cool story, John.  Thanks for sharing and taking along!

[markfitz]

John, what's that tent on legs that I (think) I see?

[John Turpin]

John, what's that tent on legs that I (think) I see?

Hi Mark,

It's the wonderful Kamp-Rite Compact Collapsable Tent Cot.  There are several models, but only the collapsable model stows away in a small(ish) bag.  Details here: 

http://www.amazon.com/Kamp-Rite-Compact-Collapsable-Tent-Cot/dp/B002MFTO44

Here I am with it on this year's Texas 200.