On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 20:08:59 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

"rhys" wrote

Do you have hanks or furling?

Roller furling. I would have preferred it if the boat had come with
hanks because I wanted to give my kids a chance to learn foredeck
work. (Remember how beat up I got here over how "irresponsible" that
was.)

Heh. Such folk probably wouldn't enjoy seeing my four and a half year
old son (lashed via a lanyard) on the tiller for short stretches in
light airs, either. He has to use the extension and stand on a locker
to see forward, but he's getting a feel for the relationship between
sail, course and rudder angle.

"Thinking like a racer" and the Chinese fire-drill approach aren't
mutually exclusive.

Hardly a Chinese fire-drill. The key is to be deliberate, organized,
and thinking ahead. I just meant that I would be willing to give up
the speed gained by letting the boat accelerate under a slightly
fuller jib in order to be spend the time I would be flattening looking
for traffic and verifying the new course. If stiffer jib sheets would
let me do that, I would put up with their being harder on the hands.
As you or someone up in the thread pointed out, my crusing rig is
probably so flexible that the sheets are not going to make that
difference.

I agree. Solo sailing, I tend to tweak less, and instead go for
"80-90%" efficient, because it's easier on me and the gear. If I'm
feeling particularly lazy, I will just poke about under main alone, as
the prevailing summer southwesterlies make going in front of Toronto a
windward/leeward beam reach both ways. I find a mile south of the
city, I'm clear of most of the traffic anyway, and my loud music and
"male noises" will only offend the fish.

R.