"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...

I personally know a guy who spent 15 days of a 45 day Atlantic crossing
becalmed.

This is why the gods created diesel engines

Most long distance cruisers have set of nylon sails. Lin and Larry Pardey
had
a nylon mainsail built so their boat wouldn't slop around in lite airs
(large,
lite sails in lite winds also means you can not point nearly as high, as
your
boat speed climbs relative to the wind speed).

Ok, this brings some questions to mind. In a cutter, would one do as well
to simply drop the main in very light airs and go with the staysail and jib?
Or use the mainsail as well with, say, a preventer in case one was caught
off-guard, and simply relax a bit?

Strategising here...

This is why the gods created diesel engines

wouldn't help there. He had an outboard and only 12 gallons of fuel. But
motoring a LOT is MOTORing a lot.

I know people who won't sail if boat speed drops below 5 knots. Me, I have
been known to sail in winds so lite I was passed by a lobster pot from behind.

would one do as well
to simply drop the main in very light airs and go with the staysail and jib?
Or use the mainsail as well

in lite winds, you choice is pretty much down wind, and twin head sails seems
to be the preferred, though large genoa to one side with main to the other is
also used. The staysail is pretty small and isn't much use most of the time.

If you are willing to take whatever speed you can get and don't want to go much
downwind, a very large lite headsail (cut more flat than usual) and a lite
mainsail can keep you moving, though you VMG upwind usually ain't much, if
anything at all.

This is why the gods created diesel engines

wouldn't help there. He had an outboard and only 12 gallons of fuel. But
motoring a LOT is MOTORing a lot.

I know people who won't sail if boat speed drops below 5 knots. Me, I have
been known to sail in winds so lite I was passed by a lobster pot from behind.

would one do as well
to simply drop the main in very light airs and go with the staysail and jib?
Or use the mainsail as well

in lite winds, you choice is pretty much down wind, and twin head sails seems
to be the preferred, though large genoa to one side with main to the other is
also used. The staysail is pretty small and isn't much use most of the time.

If you are willing to take whatever speed you can get and don't want to go much
downwind, a very large lite headsail (cut more flat than usual) and a lite
mainsail can keep you moving, though you VMG upwind usually ain't much, if
anything at all.

x-no-archive:yes

(JAXAshby) wrote:

This is why the gods created diesel engines

wouldn't help there. He had an outboard and only 12 gallons of fuel. But
motoring a LOT is MOTORing a lot.

I know people who won't sail if boat speed drops below 5 knots. Me, I have
been known to sail in winds so lite I was passed by a lobster pot from behind.

We were once passed by a crab pot when anchored. (We were dragging)

We have also been under sail and found the boat 'sailing' backward
toward the creek entrance that we had left - the tide was stronger
than the wind. We tried to do a MOB drill in a Morgan 46 when the
wind was almost non-existant in the Chesapeake, and the boat and the
cushion that was the MOB basically stayed there together regardless of
the sail set.

But in any case, it depends on why you are out there as to how low the
boat speed can drop without putting on the motor.

would one do as well
to simply drop the main in very light airs and go with the staysail and jib?
Or use the mainsail as well

We have a self tending staysail, which means we can tack and just have
to mess with the jib. In light air if the swells are very large, we
usually leave the main up, sheeted in tight. It helps to steady the
boat. Bob calls it an air keel.

in lite winds, you choice is pretty much down wind, and twin head sails seems
to be the preferred, though large genoa to one side with main to the other is
also used. The staysail is pretty small and isn't much use most of the time.

If you are willing to take whatever speed you can get and don't want to go much
downwind, a very large lite headsail (cut more flat than usual) and a lite
mainsail can keep you moving, though you VMG upwind usually ain't much, if
anything at all.

grandma Rosalie

x-no-archive:yes

(JAXAshby) wrote:

This is why the gods created diesel engines

wouldn't help there. He had an outboard and only 12 gallons of fuel. But
motoring a LOT is MOTORing a lot.

I know people who won't sail if boat speed drops below 5 knots. Me, I have
been known to sail in winds so lite I was passed by a lobster pot from behind.

We were once passed by a crab pot when anchored. (We were dragging)

We have also been under sail and found the boat 'sailing' backward
toward the creek entrance that we had left - the tide was stronger
than the wind. We tried to do a MOB drill in a Morgan 46 when the
wind was almost non-existant in the Chesapeake, and the boat and the
cushion that was the MOB basically stayed there together regardless of
the sail set.

But in any case, it depends on why you are out there as to how low the
boat speed can drop without putting on the motor.

would one do as well
to simply drop the main in very light airs and go with the staysail and jib?
Or use the mainsail as well

We have a self tending staysail, which means we can tack and just have
to mess with the jib. In light air if the swells are very large, we
usually leave the main up, sheeted in tight. It helps to steady the
boat. Bob calls it an air keel.

in lite winds, you choice is pretty much down wind, and twin head sails seems
to be the preferred, though large genoa to one side with main to the other is
also used. The staysail is pretty small and isn't much use most of the time.

If you are willing to take whatever speed you can get and don't want to go much
downwind, a very large lite headsail (cut more flat than usual) and a lite
mainsail can keep you moving, though you VMG upwind usually ain't much, if
anything at all.

grandma Rosalie

Mast rake is usually the LAST thing to be adjusted vs. weather helm.
The first thing is draft position (halyard tension) then Backstay
tension (forestay tension), and Sail Shape, mast pre-bend, etc. etc.
etc.
Most 'cruisers' have NO idea how to shape and set a sail or what
shaping tensions (halyard,outhaul, etc.) to apply.

In article , Wendy
wrote:

"Rich Hampel" wrote in message
...

(lots of good stuff snipped)

Too bad the winds were not 'up' as thats when the TY37 is at her best.

Yeah, I'd like to try her in a breeze, and I'd like to try her in a bit of a
sea. Galveston Bay is kinda like a lake, really. From the Tayana mailling
list I am given to understand that mast rake has a lot to do with weather
helm. I suppose it's a matter of tuning, really- a tweak here and there
until one has the boat set up the way one wants. I'll have to wait until I
have my own for that...

Wendy

Mast rake is usually the LAST thing to be adjusted vs. weather helm.
The first thing is draft position (halyard tension) then Backstay
tension (forestay tension), and Sail Shape, mast pre-bend, etc. etc.
etc.
Most 'cruisers' have NO idea how to shape and set a sail or what
shaping tensions (halyard,outhaul, etc.) to apply.

In article , Wendy
wrote:

"Rich Hampel" wrote in message
...

(lots of good stuff snipped)

Too bad the winds were not 'up' as thats when the TY37 is at her best.

Yeah, I'd like to try her in a breeze, and I'd like to try her in a bit of a
sea. Galveston Bay is kinda like a lake, really. From the Tayana mailling
list I am given to understand that mast rake has a lot to do with weather
helm. I suppose it's a matter of tuning, really- a tweak here and there
until one has the boat set up the way one wants. I'll have to wait until I
have my own for that...

Wendy

Neither
Main and Genoa (or spinn) broad reaching off to *keep the apparent wind
up* and the sails ventilated.
There is NO reason in the world to run dead down wind (except at hull
speed) .... except to miss land or other hard objects.
Just look at the polar diagrams for just about any boat ..... for
downwind VMG a broad reach is the fastest overall, a dead run is the
ultimate slowness.


In article s.com,
Wendy wrote:

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...

I personally know a guy who spent 15 days of a 45 day Atlantic crossing
becalmed.

This is why the gods created diesel engines

Most long distance cruisers have set of nylon sails. Lin and Larry Pardey
had
a nylon mainsail built so their boat wouldn't slop around in lite airs
(large,
lite sails in lite winds also means you can not point nearly as high, as
your
boat speed climbs relative to the wind speed).

Ok, this brings some questions to mind. In a cutter, would one do as well
to simply drop the main in very light airs and go with the staysail and jib?
Or use the mainsail as well with, say, a preventer in case one was caught
off-guard, and simply relax a bit?

Strategising here...

Neither
Main and Genoa (or spinn) broad reaching off to *keep the apparent wind
up* and the sails ventilated.
There is NO reason in the world to run dead down wind (except at hull
speed) .... except to miss land or other hard objects.
Just look at the polar diagrams for just about any boat ..... for
downwind VMG a broad reach is the fastest overall, a dead run is the
ultimate slowness.


In article s.com,
Wendy wrote:

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...

I personally know a guy who spent 15 days of a 45 day Atlantic crossing
becalmed.

This is why the gods created diesel engines

Most long distance cruisers have set of nylon sails. Lin and Larry Pardey
had
a nylon mainsail built so their boat wouldn't slop around in lite airs
(large,
lite sails in lite winds also means you can not point nearly as high, as
your
boat speed climbs relative to the wind speed).

Ok, this brings some questions to mind. In a cutter, would one do as well
to simply drop the main in very light airs and go with the staysail and jib?
Or use the mainsail as well with, say, a preventer in case one was caught
off-guard, and simply relax a bit?

Strategising here...

"Rich Hampel" wrote in message
...
Mast rake is usually the LAST thing to be adjusted vs. weather helm.
The first thing is draft position (halyard tension) then Backstay
tension (forestay tension), and Sail Shape, mast pre-bend, etc. etc.
etc.
Most 'cruisers' have NO idea how to shape and set a sail or what
shaping tensions (halyard,outhaul, etc.) to apply.


There is, no doubt, more than one way to skin a cat.