Second sail on the Navigator

[Doug SC]

Yesterday, I had a call from another friend named Rusty asking if I wanted to go fly fishing for trout in the mountains. I talked him into joining me on the navigator and sailing instead. A long-time sea kayaking partner camping coastal, Lake, river and swamps environments.

The wind would be light building to around 7mph with gusts of 13 midday and then dropping off in the late afternoon. It sounded like a good day to sail a new boat to me. Rigging went faster as the mast is now left up and yesterday's learning to rig the boat with sailing Rusty was still fresh in mind. The wind was light and nonexistent in the cove with the club docks. So, I pushed the button that started the electric wind and headed out into the more open water where the wind was rippling the surface. On the way out of the windless cove we were escorted by loons on the way to the wind. Shut off the motor and sailed the rest of the day.

The winds were light but building and I headed out toward Sussie Ebert Island as the wind slowly built. Near the island the wind had picked up enough that we then decided to head to the more distant Goat Island. The wind exceeded the forecast, and we were sailing with the full rig of sails up and white caps dressing the waves, the boat handled well. However, in the big gusts the rudder seemed to lose control and fall off the wind while sailing close hauled with the main pulled in. I would let the main out as it did so and slow the boat down then the rudder would gain control again. I suspected the water pressure in the gust was lifting the rudder. I would check it out when I got back to the dock. We sailed most of the way to Goat Island, but the days are short now, so I decided to head back before the wind dropped as it was starting to settle down some. By the time the wind dropped to nothing on the broad reach back to the club cove which was directly too windward I ended the day sculling with the rudder the last 200 feet to the dock.

When loosing rudder control, I wondered if I would be able to put a reef in having never done so on the new to me standing lug sail with a sprit boom. I decide to do so at the dock which was a good thing because I would have struggled doing so for the first time out in the wind on the water. It took some thought to figure things out but became fairly apparent what had to be done with a little consideration. I need to have a quick release shackle on the down haul to help speed the process rather than what is currently on it. I also discovered the problem with the rudder. It was a stretchy down haul line that became worse when wet so it allowed the rudder to raise up and lose enough purchase in the high gusts.

All in all, a great day to be on the water and a good shakedown for me and the boat!


Loon Escort
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Susie Ebert Island
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Rusty and me enjoying the sailing
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Heading back to the club
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[Captain Kidd]

Looks like you're bundled up there pretty good.

I've been looking for an opportunity to get out but it just hasn't happened. My surgery, wife's surgery and multiple follow up appointments to see what they want to do to reduce the risk of the cancer returning... hasn't left much time. I'm still thinking about a big trip next year.

[Riley Smith]

Yay! I particularly like the smiles! Oh, and the loons! Oh, heck the boat too!!! I'd love to dance with that one!

[rfrance0718]

This is a favorite topic for me. Sounds like your rudder is coming out of the water in the gusts, when you heal. I often race overpowered dinghies in gusty conditions. It is a true joy to not only handle this condition, but to actually get good at it, and to be one of the faster boats when it's honkin.  On the Thistle, and on the Laser, heal is mostly controlled by flattening the sails, hiking,  and playing the mainsheet. On gusty days, in both of these boats, we set up the rig to be balanced for the gusts. In other words, we set up the boat as if it's blwowing steadily at that max velocity.  This means lots of Cunningham, outhaul, hiking, and vang. Vang  won't be an option for you, but you can make sure that your main halyard is really tight and you can pull the outhaul(s) really tight. You can also feather a bit, if it's flat water, but not much in waves. The most important thing is how you handle the gusts. You should never be surprised by one, you can see it coming. When a gust comes on, the main goes out right when it hits, and as far as it takes to keep the boat flat. It's important not to wait until the boat heals. Ease the main right as it hits, then hike, then trim. This sounds like a lot of work, but it's easier if the rig is right. On cruising boats, we depower the rig by shortening sail. It's the same principle if it's gusty. Set it up to be balanced in the gusts.  We don't play the main of course, but we want the boat to be happy in a gust. We want it to heal, but not so much that the helm loads up so much that the drag stops the boat, instead of shouldering comfortably into the wind. It sounds like your boat falls in between a dinghy and a cruiser. Can you reef? Ketches are cool in a breeze sunce you have options. You can sail with just main and jib, just mizzen and jib, just main, and perhaps jib alone. So I'm suggesting that you set up the rig to be as balanced as possible for the gusts,  and to play the main in the gusts, and hike if possible. (I'm thinking that you sail a Scot as well? Scot's are a lot like Thistles. Ease, hike, trim.)

In the 1st picture we are just getting into a gust. The boat is flat, and you can tell that I have the vang on hard. The wrinkles in the luff (speed wrinkles) of the main indicate that the mast is bending a lot and that the sail is flattened, allowing us to be flat. 2nd pic shows how tight the outhaul and vang are. 3rd picture is my son motoring upwind in a breeze.


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[rfrance0718]

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[Doug SC]

Great advice! In fact, we try to keep the Scot flat and sail flat in high winds. No vang on the Navigator but the down haul has to be extra tight which translates to the main halyard being tight. The snoder line on the sprit boom acts as an outhaul. I have controls for those coming back to the center of the cockpit. I can reef but wasn't familiar with doing so with these sails. Back at the dock I did a practice reef. I should have had the passenger on the same side of the boat as me. Yes, I could, probably should have, powered down the main for the gust. Thanks for the tips and reminders. It was fun sailing that day and the boat stayed mostly dry into the wind and white caps.

[Krusen]

Nice sailing day, and proper garments make any weather enjoyable.  I did not realize that loons were found that far south.  Camped beside a Canadian lake with a full moon, we heard them all night.



I completely agree on the downhaul quick release.

How does the main outhaul function when reefed?  It is not obvious how that is tensioned with the regular rigging.

[Riley Smith]

Norman we even get loons down on the Gulf Coast. Sonya and I had one swim very close by us once in Pensacola and I couldn't get the camera without scaring it and so I just watched it swim by without a pic.

[Doug SC]

How does the main outhaul function when reefed?  It is not obvious how that is tensioned with the regular rigging.

In the photo below what I think it is called a sprit boom which runs from in front of the mast and is attached to the clew of the mainsail. The snoder? line runs through a hole in the end of the boom left of the mast (in the photo) to a block on the mast. It then runs down the mast to a block and lead back into the cockpit where it can be pulled to force the boom back against the clew which flattens the sail like an outhaul, and sort of acts like a vang because it angles down to the clue rather than following the foot of the sail.


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[Krusen]

The end of the sprit boom does not get moved up and connected to the reef reinforcement?  It seems that the pull out at the end of the sails foot, rather than the corner of the working portion would result in poor sail shape.

I am assuming that the downhaul connects to the reinforcement at the mast when reefed, but have never sailed such a rig.

I once considered building such a rig for my sailing surfboard, resulting in a taller mast and more sail area when not reefed, and fully reefed, less area but higher aspect ratio than the normal sail.

I was calling my proposed rig a Gunter rig.

[Doug SC]

The end of the sprit boom does not get moved up and connected to the reef reinforcement?  It seems that the pull out at the end of the sails foot, rather than the corner of the working portion would result in poor sail shape.

The snoder line is eased so the boom moves forward. In the photo I posted below you can see a jiffy reef line that brings the clew reef reinforcement down to the end of the sprit boom after lowering the main. The down haul is released and reattached to the corresponding tack reinforcement. Then the main is raised and the snoder line tensioned to yield the desired sail trim. Pulling on the snoder line will flatten the sail. Easing it does the opposite.