DaySailer.org Forum

The daysailers a pretty stable ride and can be sailed in pretty big winds and waves (even solo). Still capsizes are a fear for a lot of sailers, like stalls are for some pilots. I found this article on the Hampton OD site that I thought was pretty good at describing what causes capsizes and how to avoid them. I know the Hampton is a different type of boat but the stuff they talk about applies to any centerboarder. The only things I would add that he didn't was a chicken jibe and a better description of the S-Jibe. High wind sail trim wasn't addressed much either but thats a different topic.


http://www.hamptononedesign.com/the-boa ... t-handling

Interesting article, thanks. I think my capsize this past March may have been number 5 in the article (or close to it).

John

Very good article. It's funny, i never do the solution to #5 when I'm racing my Ensign. I never uncleat the main, i do have it in my hand but never uncleat it. I'm going to try it tomorrow to see if it has any effect on rounding marks quicker. Part of me thinks there's some benefit to rounding marks. Part of going around marks quicker is based on the momentum you've built up getting there. Taking the force off the main, right at the point of tack might help out.

Great article! Thanks for posting this.

KC

Here is another article from the Albacore forum that you might find interesting http://usaa.albacore.org/node/28 . I've upgraded my vang to 20:1 and this alone has made a huge difference in my high wind sailing ability. I have yet to install a cunningham and my outhaul is still at 2:1 so I'll be upgrading some more on my rig. Having the ability to de-power and flatten out the sail is so much less nerve-racking, not to mention fast!

As the guy mentioned about the albacore starting to plane to wind, the only thing better than getting the Daysailer to start planing to wind is the ride back! Last week I was sailing in some pretty good breeze, pretty much all whitecaps, and we happened onto a Rhodes 19. We were both on a beat up the lake and kind of had a tacking duel for about 5 miles. We were on opposite tacks and as we crossed the 1st time the Rhodes was an 8th of a mile ahead of us. Each tack was maybe a mile to 1.5 miles and by the 2nd time we crossed we were maybe an 8th mile up wind. By the time we were on the same tack I'd say we were half mile ahead. At that point we could tell they were pointing about as high as we were, but we were planing (mushy planning) and that was the difference. The ride back was spectacular!

The next day I ran into the same Rhodes but I was solo. Again it was big wind with whitecaps, unfortunately I was a bit overpowered. I was able to stay with them but it was just getting to intense so I decided to put a reef in. By the time I got reefed he was pretty close to out of sight. I'm wondering if a cunningham and stronger outhaul would have helped de-power the sail enough more to make it so I would've been able to handle it. Of course, as soon as I got going again the wind settled down and I ended up shaking out the reef.

KC

Another great article. This is why i really enjoy sailing, there's a lot to learn with respect to your boats setup and how you trim the boat for speed. This article makes a lot of sense when i compare it to what i do to my ensign.

My ensign has a backstay and Jib halyard adjustment system. When i'm in strong winds and i'm underway, i use the back stay and vang tension to help settle the boat. The combination of these two directly impact how much i need to release the main during puffs. And he's right, when i have this setup right, it feels like someone is pulling the boat. Great article.

K.C, do you have a picture of your vang setup? I haven't changed to a 20:1 vang setup on my DS, that will be a winter activity.

K.C. Thanks for posting the article. Great reading. My high wind "technique" has been to add crew weight . Actually, it just worked out that way on several occasions.

Jason,

I don't have a picture of my own setup but Mike Gillum sent me a photo of his set up which I more or less I copied.


I also copied what he did for cleating off on the centerboard trunk which is using a Thistle rotating cleat set up. He pretty much copied the whole setup from Dave Karen. It works really well.

KC

I've looked around, done some searches, and looked at the by-laws, but have yet to find anything regarding the legality of reef points.

Does anyone know if they are class legal?

Reef points and reefing are not specifically prohibited in our measurement rules. Our rules for the main sail specify the luff must fit within the 20'6" space between Band 1 and Band 2 on the mast, and the foot must fit within the 10' band on the aft end of the boom. These measurements are maximums and as such if the sail area is smaller, as with reefing, the sail will still fit within these maximum limits.