Tom, It's hard to tell what's going on from the little information you've given me. It sorta sounds like a sailtrim problem, not a rig problem, but I can't really know with the info you've given us. What's your level of expertise (novice?? rockstar??)What point of sail were you on?? Pointing upwind or reaching??? How much canvas did you have up? Do you have tell tales on the ends of the battens on your mainsail and what were they doing? The first few things that come to mind... aw heck... too many things to sort out until you give us more info... maybe overcanvassed, maybe the main is way over- sheeted, or very little twist so that each gust knocks you down... or if you're pointing, perhaps you're not letting her bow head up a little (feather up) when a gust hits you... If you're pointing (and you have an appropriate canvassing for the wind) : When the gusts hit, the angle of the wind changes and moves aft -- if you hold the tiller still, her bow should point more upwind... or you can lower the traveller gently... read this http://www.blumhorst.com/potterpages/feathering-up.htm If you're reaching (with appropriate sized sails), then you are either sheeted in too tightly, or you need more twist in the sails, or your mailsail is super-duper baggy. Tell us more..... Judy B San francisco Bay... the Tall Ships came in yesterday... it has eased off to 20 + knots at the back end of the Slot right now...... we might get out on the water this weekend with the brother and hubby so there's an extra set of hands and eyes to keep the kid safe....
----- Original Message ---- From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 1:48:08 PM Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: Yesterdays sail -- 2 fingers on tiller Judy ... I have tried and tried to get my '86 tall rig to balance ... "two fingers on the tiller" as you put it. Right now, the mast is straight up and down, which is about six inches further forward than I was told to start. At anything past 10 degrees heel angle, I'm holding on, and past 15 degress heel angle I'm starting to fight rounding up. At .20 degress, all efficiency is gone and I'm dragging a tiller through the water. Bottom is clean, and I don't know what else to do. Ideas? Tom "Judith Blumhorst, DC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent by: [email protected] 07/18/2008 05:08 PM Please respond to [email protected] To [email protected] cc Subject Re: catalina27-talk: Yesterdays sail Hi all, I sail in 20-25-30 knots all the time. Got a tall rig with that giant foretriangle, and roller furler. Rear traveller and tiller. Most of the time, I've got a 95% jib on. That's roughly equivalent to a 110% on a regular rig. She's fine with that from about 10 to 35 knots with the 95% jib. As the wind builds and if it's gusty (which it always is here), we twist off the jib and mainsail first if it's gusty, then 1st reef, then take a 2nd reef. Her rig is tuned so that I can control her with just 2 fingers on the tiller. Putting a lot of twist in both the jib and the mainsail and playing the traveller takes care of heeling in the gusts most of the time. Like Paul A says, when it's gusty and there's chop, you want to shape the sails for acceleration, not speed. I loosen the halyard/cunningham to put a rounded entry in the mainsail so they have a wider range of angle of attack without stalling, and they accelerate faster. For the off-season in the winter (winds from 0-15), we use a 135% on a roller furler. That's equivalent to a 150% on a regular rig. We typically furl going up wind in anything over 12-15 knots, and maybe let it out going downwind. Sometimes we've got it up in higher winds and let it out all the way going downwind. It's a hoot going downwind in 20 knots on swells, and there's a danger of broaching -- but it's exhilerating . but I wouldn't want to try beating upwind with it! We don't race. We double hand. We're lazy, but pretty fast. Judy B
