wrote

Never had any trouble with the bowlines coming out, and I think you
will find you don't in
practice either.

I doubt you would with the well disciplined sail handling of a racer.
A few tacks to set the knots may be enough for even the flogging of a
botched tack. I wouldn't want to tie one of these on and then go
right out and let it flog though.

Thanks for the insight on the gloves. That's exactly the information
I was looking for in my other post.

OTOH, if half the stretch (1.5% vs. 3% at 15% load) would save having
to uncleat and do a half crank after full load comes on the sheet
after each tack, there could be less wear and tear on the hands in the
close in daysailing we do a lot of. That difference works out to just
about the amount of sheet I often find myself sweating in shortly
after each tack.

Then again, I can't think back to figure out if I could just make that
up by cranking until the sail curls around the spreader end a little
harder. Probably I can and use softer sheets without the recranking.

You can tell my previous sailing was about 15 years ago and a lot of
that was in larger and more traditional boats.

--

Roger Long

Roger Long wrote:
....
OTOH, if half the stretch (1.5% vs. 3% at 15% load) would save having
to uncleat and do a half crank after full load comes on the sheet
after each tack, there could be less wear and tear on the hands in the
close in daysailing we do a lot of. That difference works out to just
about the amount of sheet I often find myself sweating in shortly
after each tack.
....

I think you're thinking too much! It's actually good form to let
the boat come up to speed before taking in that last bit of sheet.
It's nice to have a self tailing winch for the tweaking. As a datum, on
my 42 foot catamaran I use double braid dacron for my jib sheets and
don't find the strech to be an issue even though we're doing ocean
voyaging and putting huge loads on them. I like having a bit of give
in them and I don't wear gloves. I use spectra sheets and guys on my
mast-head ace because I don't want any give in the guys and want light
sheets. I use bowlines on the jib and spin sheets and a spikable
shackle on the guys.

But, I don't think that you will have any problems with ssx for jib
sheets and bowlines should work okay in the stuff.

Good luck, GO SAILING!

-- Tom.

wrote

I think you're thinking too much!

You can say that again. The boat is out of the water, my kid is sick
so I can't go work on it, and it's raining.


It's actually good form to let the boat come up to speed before
taking in that last bit of sheet.

Agreed. But, you're thinking like a racer and I'm thinking like the
one armed paper hanger singlehanding around in narrow busy waters. I
get help a lot of the time but often end up short tacking home up a
narrow channel while the tired kids read down below. I lose more
speed trying to crank and steer at the same time than I would bearing
off a bit with the jib too tight, but I need the boat to point.

--

Roger Long

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
wrote


Agreed. But, you're thinking like a racer and I'm thinking like
the one armed paper hanger singlehanding around in narrow busy
waters. I get help a lot of the time but often end up short
tacking home up a narrow channel while the tired kids read down
below. I lose more speed trying to crank and steer at the same
time than I would bearing off a bit with the jib too tight, but
I need the boat to point.

Hmmmm. Time to start the engine.
--
JimB
http://www.jimbaerselman.f2s.com/
for opinions comparing Greek cruising areas

"News f2s" wrote

Hmmmm. Time to start the engine.

Why? It's very satisfying to do and excellent exercise. That's why I
want to end up with exactly the right jib sheets.

--

Roger Long

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
"News f2s" wrote

Hmmmm. Time to start the engine.

Why? It's very satisfying to do and excellent exercise. That's
why I want to end up with exactly the right jib sheets.

Bit like doing an inverted spin. And needing exactly the right
instruments and a tail end parachute before trying it :-)

Don't worry, I'm just getting old and doing things the easier way
nowadays. Good to see you're still full of **** and vinegar. Or is
it testosterone? I keep forgetti . . . . where was I?

Ah, yes. "There's old pilots, and there's bold pilots, but there
ain't many old, bold pilots". Quite a lot of old, bold sailors out
there though. Nahhh - wrong thread, sorry!
--
JimB
http://www.jimbaerselman.f2s.com/
for opinions comparing Greek cruising areas

On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 11:24:27 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

Hmmmm. Time to start the engine.

Why? It's very satisfying to do and excellent exercise. That's why I
want to end up with exactly the right jib sheets.

Single handing a 30 something in close quarters is a nice bit of
seamanship when you get it right but I'm not sure it passes the
"prudent man" test.

On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 10:06:35 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:


Agreed. But, you're thinking like a racer and I'm thinking like the
one armed paper hanger singlehanding around in narrow busy waters. I
get help a lot of the time but often end up short tacking home up a
narrow channel while the tired kids read down below. I lose more
speed trying to crank and steer at the same time than I would bearing
off a bit with the jib too tight, but I need the boat to point.

Do you have hanks or furling? I single-hand a 33 footer through some
channels near here and find that I'm glad I've still got the ability
to point high.

I also pre-wrap my winches and transfer the handle prior to tacking. I
basically cruise like I'm racing, because I get more out of the boat
that way. But then I like racing OTHER people's boats, absorbing
tactics, and bringing it all back to a more fruitful cruising
experience.

"Thinking like a racer" and the Chinese fire-drill approach aren't
mutually exclusive. To watch me from a distance I tend to be very
still except for the head on a gimbal action of checking sail trim and
the local traffic. Then there's 15 seconds of prep, 15 seconds of tack
and 15 seconds of prep for the next tack. Then it's back to Captain
Bobblehead (with appropriate breaks for beverage maintenance).

The dodgiest parts of singlehanding for me are raising the main if I
don't feel like putting the tillerpilot out and docking, thanks to
prop walk.

R.

"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.)

"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.

--

Roger Long

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.