I hear that going from a bigger boat to a smaller one such as the DS can be quite an adjustment. The wife and I sail our little DSII regularly and recently we had a chance to sail an Oday 37 for a windy (20 knots) afternoon on Grand Traverse Bay in upper Mi. The big boat was so easy and relaxed. What a difference.
Anyway, I'll reply with what I've done to make things easier for me.
jsbowman6 wrote:Having come from the O'Day 22 (and felt, I was a pretty good sailor) I feel this little daysailer is kicking my butt!
I think I need to rework some of the running rigging and need some ideas maybe or at least how to handle what I have.
1st putting the sails up and keeping the boat under control by myself. I'm finding the chore of trying to keep the boat from sailing away in even a lite breeze is tough and gusts turn into a chore, do any of you use turning blocks on the mast so the halyards come into the cockpit. Also do you do anything to keep the mainsails luff from coming off the mast? The 22' had a cotter pin to keep it on.
I use a jury rigged tiller tamer to hold the rudder in place and it does a decent job but yes, I have little bullet blocks on swivels at the base of the mast and on the cuddy roof that lead my halyards, foreguy (for the spinnaker pole) and topping lift straight back to the cockpit. I also use a downhaul line on my jib that also comes back to the cockpit. Where your two horn cleats and one camcleat are I have the two horn cleats, two cam cleats and I just added two clamcleats to the arrangement.
Not sure what you mean by keeping the mainsail luff from coming off the mast. Does your main have the bolt rope or are you using sail slugs? Or, are you talking about the main tack?
jsbowman6 wrote: how do you run your down haul and back hauls, also do you use a boom vang?
I'll leave this one alone since I can't really explain without pictures and I don't have any to attach at the moment.
jsbowman6 wrote: how do you keep the jibs tack connected to the forestays hook?
The second (aft) hole is where I shackle my jib tack to right behind where your forestay QR lever is attached in your photo. This is also very close to where my swivel turning block is located for the jib downhaul line.
jsbowman6 wrote: and most important, how do you drop sails in a gust without them going into the water? Do any of you use lazy jacks on your booms?
My jib downhaul seems to work so well that when I douse the jib I cleat the downhaul line tight and trim the jib sheets equally tight and have yet to have the jib blown into the water. I think the lazy jack system is really cool and saw one in use for the first time on that Oday 37. I seems like it would be a little cumbersome on a daysailer though. When I raise or lower the main I'm standing in the cockpit braced up against the cuddy bulkhead which is also where all my halyards/cleats are so it goes pretty well but I usually have my 1st mate to keep us into the wind.
jsbowman6 wrote: where do you store the topping lift when under sail?
I don't see one in your photo but it could just be out of frame but, I have a bail located towards the bottom of the mast on the forward side that is for spinnaker or whisker poles and here is where I will clip things like the topping lift and/or the foreguy. If you don't have one I would definitely add it. I think there is a class specific height that it has to be if you plan on racing so keep that in mind. On my topping lift I have carabiner on a Blake's hitch that allows easy adjustment of the topping lift/boom height when the main is down.
Hope this helps. It took me a season of sailing last year to really figure out what changes I needed to make to make it easier for me and reduce the number of trips up on the foredeck. I find that with a small sailboat like this it really requires "hands on the wheel, eyes on the sails" when the breeze gets going. But, I enjoy sailing the boat and it really is a full time sailing experience. My hours in my DS2 have made me a much better sailor than I've ever been before. I learn something every single trip out.
Hope you enjoy yours.
Eric