Posted by Steven Hahn (stevezz4@…>)
Upon reading the instructions on how to sail a Freedom 21 I became
interested in the part that recommends mounting the staysail (or jib)
on the end of the gunmount yard. I decided to experiment and bolted a 5
ft. length of unistrut to the bow pulpit plate where the gunmount
sleeve normally goes. The strut was bolted snugly through it’s midpoint
but loose enough to allow movement and the trailing end was lashed to
the pulpit crossmember loose enough to allow the strut to swing about
20 degrees either way, with the side rails acting as a stopper. This
extended the jib out 2 ft. ahead and by swinging the “bowsprit” to
leeward (it does this automatically) the slot is opened, the jib and
main become parallel eliminating backwinding and there is a noticeable
increase in speed. In heavy winds the bow does not come up to windward
as quickly and less rudder correction is needed. Downwind the jib fills
more readily and is easier to hold wing on wing. I can’t tell if
windward performance improved but more experimentation is in the works.
Steve
Posted by Nick Weideman (nweideman@…>)
Steve,
Sounds like a interesting approach. Would love to see a photo. During
the winter down here in Australia, I managed to pick up a repairable
asymmetrical spinnaker from an RS700 dinghy cheap on ebay in the uk.
Dimensions Luff 24.5 Leach 17" and Foot 11". My plan was to centre
the gun mount yard and use it like a slighty too long bowsprit. I
hadn’t considered just replacing it altogether with a shorter bowsprit
for this spinnaker and my newly acquired staysail borrowed from a
catalina 18. Does the test with the unistrut look like a final
solution? or do you think a shorter yard installed in the gun mount
would be the way to go based on you experimentation and knowledge of
unistrut’s composition. (is it alloy?)
I am not sure if my asymmetrical kite will offer any advantages over
the very easy to manage gun mount spinnaker, but in my case the
original spinnaker is starting fall apart at the seams and I haven’t
been able to find a second hand substitute with the right dimensions.
It seems the Freedom 21 spinnaker is unique in the foot measurement
being 2 feet shorter than just about everything else. Ordering a new
one from a local sail maker will be over capitalising for me. Has
anyone tried a non standard spinnaker similar but fuller and wider in
the foot? say 14 ft?
Also if anyone saw my message earlier in the year, they’ll remember I
was struggling with the name of my newly acquired boat, the slightly
cheesy and needlessly aggressive “Jolly Roger”. On removing the decal
and sanding the glue off transom with great delight and excitement, I
noticed that there was a previous name underneath. After further
sanding and tracing and re-decalling. The never to be mentioned again
“Jolly Roger” has returned to its rightful name at christening
“Freelance”. This is so much calmer and congruous with the nature of
this lovely little boat. I can only hope that re-dressing this error
in judgement by previous owners will appease King Neptune and we will
receive fine weather and good luck this summer down under. I also have
feeling that my working life may also take a path of the same name so
I have more time for sailing. Funny how things play out sometimes.
cheers,
Nick
Freelance 
Freedom 21 #273
— In freedom21@yahoogroups.com, “Steven Hahn” <stevezz4@…> wrote:
Upon reading the instructions on how to sail a Freedom 21 I became
interested in the part that recommends mounting the staysail (or jib)
on the end of the gunmount yard. I decided to experiment and bolted a 5
ft. length of unistrut to the bow pulpit plate where the gunmount
sleeve normally goes. The strut was bolted snugly through it’s midpoint
but loose enough to allow movement and the trailing end was lashed to
the pulpit crossmember loose enough to allow the strut to swing about
20 degrees either way, with the side rails acting as a stopper. This
extended the jib out 2 ft. ahead and by swinging the “bowsprit” to
leeward (it does this automatically) the slot is opened, the jib and
main become parallel eliminating backwinding and there is a noticeable
increase in speed. In heavy winds the bow does not come up to windward
as quickly and less rudder correction is needed. Downwind the jib fills
more readily and is easier to hold wing on wing. I can’t tell if
windward performance improved but more experimentation is in the works.
Steve
Posted by wilfred2736 (wilf.bishop@…>)
Hi Nick,
Where are you located in Australia please? I’m a UK Freedom 21
sailor & I’ll be spending Christmas with my son & his family who
live in Sydney. If you are anywhere in NSW within easy reach of
Sydney I would love to have a chance to beg a sail on an Oz F21 in
the sun whilst my poor F21 lies shivering under her winter cover?
Cheers,
Wilf Bishop
F21 No 205 Daydream
— In freedom21@yahoogroups.com, “Nick Weideman” <nweideman@…>
wrote:
Steve,
Sounds like a interesting approach. Would love to see a photo.
During
the winter down here in Australia, I managed to pick up a
repairable
asymmetrical spinnaker from an RS700 dinghy cheap on ebay in the
uk.
Dimensions Luff 24.5 Leach 17" and Foot 11". My plan was to
centre
the gun mount yard and use it like a slighty too long bowsprit. I
hadn’t considered just replacing it altogether with a shorter
bowsprit
for this spinnaker and my newly acquired staysail borrowed from a
catalina 18. Does the test with the unistrut look like a final
solution? or do you think a shorter yard installed in the gun mount
would be the way to go based on you experimentation and knowledge
of
unistrut’s composition. (is it alloy?)
I am not sure if my asymmetrical kite will offer any advantages
over
the very easy to manage gun mount spinnaker, but in my case the
original spinnaker is starting fall apart at the seams and I
haven’t
been able to find a second hand substitute with the right
dimensions.
It seems the Freedom 21 spinnaker is unique in the foot measurement
being 2 feet shorter than just about everything else. Ordering a
new
one from a local sail maker will be over capitalising for me. Has
anyone tried a non standard spinnaker similar but fuller and wider
in
the foot? say 14 ft?
Also if anyone saw my message earlier in the year, they’ll
remember I
was struggling with the name of my newly acquired boat, the
slightly
cheesy and needlessly aggressive “Jolly Roger”. On removing the
decal
and sanding the glue off transom with great delight and
excitement, I
noticed that there was a previous name underneath. After further
sanding and tracing and re-decalling. The never to be mentioned
again
“Jolly Roger” has returned to its rightful name at christening
“Freelance”. This is so much calmer and congruous with the nature
of
this lovely little boat. I can only hope that re-dressing this
error
in judgement by previous owners will appease King Neptune and we
will
receive fine weather and good luck this summer down under. I also
have
feeling that my working life may also take a path of the same name
so
I have more time for sailing. Funny how things play out sometimes.
cheers,
Nick
Freelance
Freedom 21 #273
— In freedom21@yahoogroups.com, “Steven Hahn” <stevezz4@> wrote:
Upon reading the instructions on how to sail a Freedom 21 I
became
interested in the part that recommends mounting the staysail (or
jib)
on the end of the gunmount yard. I decided to experiment and
bolted a 5
ft. length of unistrut to the bow pulpit plate where the
gunmount
sleeve normally goes. The strut was bolted snugly through it’s
midpoint
but loose enough to allow movement and the trailing end was
lashed to
the pulpit crossmember loose enough to allow the strut to swing
about
20 degrees either way, with the side rails acting as a stopper.
This
extended the jib out 2 ft. ahead and by swinging the “bowsprit”
to
leeward (it does this automatically) the slot is opened, the
jib and
main become parallel eliminating backwinding and there is a
noticeable
increase in speed. In heavy winds the bow does not come up to
windward
as quickly and less rudder correction is needed. Downwind the
jib fills
more readily and is easier to hold wing on wing. I can’t tell if
windward performance improved but more experimentation is in the
works.
Steve
Posted by Nick Weideman (nweideman@…>)
Hi Wilf,
I live in Tyabb about an hours drive south of Melbourne which is about
an hours flight south of Sydney. If you make it to my neck of the
woods it would be honour to take you for cruise around our quirky
(read muddy) yet fascinating (read strong tides), Westernport bay.
It can get up to 40degC (104F) during our summers, so an ice pack
tucked in to your long sleeved sun protection shirt (aka. rashie) is
always handy.
The map on the F21 website does shows a At Last #207 in NSW belonging
to Derek Plante. He seems to be situated on Lake Macquarie about an
hour or so north of Sydney which is a wonderful place for a sail. Are
you there, Derek?
cheers,
Nick
— In freedom21@yahoogroups.com, “wilfred2736” <wilf.bishop@…> wrote:
Hi Nick,
Where are you located in Australia please? I’m a UK Freedom 21
sailor & I’ll be spending Christmas with my son & his family who
live in Sydney. If you are anywhere in NSW within easy reach of
Sydney I would love to have a chance to beg a sail on an Oz F21 in
the sun whilst my poor F21 lies shivering under her winter cover?
Cheers,
Wilf Bishop
F21 No 205 Daydream
— In freedom21@yahoogroups.com, “Nick Weideman” <nweideman@>
wrote:
Steve,
Sounds like a interesting approach. Would love to see a photo.
During
the winter down here in Australia, I managed to pick up a
repairable
asymmetrical spinnaker from an RS700 dinghy cheap on ebay in the
uk.
Dimensions Luff 24.5 Leach 17" and Foot 11". My plan was to
centre
the gun mount yard and use it like a slighty too long bowsprit. I
hadn’t considered just replacing it altogether with a shorter
bowsprit
for this spinnaker and my newly acquired staysail borrowed from a
catalina 18. Does the test with the unistrut look like a final
solution? or do you think a shorter yard installed in the gun mount
would be the way to go based on you experimentation and knowledge
of
unistrut’s composition. (is it alloy?)
I am not sure if my asymmetrical kite will offer any advantages
over
the very easy to manage gun mount spinnaker, but in my case the
original spinnaker is starting fall apart at the seams and I
haven’t
been able to find a second hand substitute with the right
dimensions.
It seems the Freedom 21 spinnaker is unique in the foot measurement
being 2 feet shorter than just about everything else. Ordering a
new
one from a local sail maker will be over capitalising for me. Has
anyone tried a non standard spinnaker similar but fuller and wider
in
the foot? say 14 ft?
Also if anyone saw my message earlier in the year, they’ll
remember I
was struggling with the name of my newly acquired boat, the
slightly
cheesy and needlessly aggressive “Jolly Roger”. On removing the
decal
and sanding the glue off transom with great delight and
excitement, I
noticed that there was a previous name underneath. After further
sanding and tracing and re-decalling. The never to be mentioned
again
“Jolly Roger” has returned to its rightful name at christening
“Freelance”. This is so much calmer and congruous with the nature
of
this lovely little boat. I can only hope that re-dressing this
error
in judgement by previous owners will appease King Neptune and we
will
receive fine weather and good luck this summer down under. I also
have
feeling that my working life may also take a path of the same name
so
I have more time for sailing. Funny how things play out sometimes.
cheers,
Nick
Freelance
Freedom 21 #273
— In freedom21@yahoogroups.com, “Steven Hahn” <stevezz4@> wrote:
Upon reading the instructions on how to sail a Freedom 21 I
became
interested in the part that recommends mounting the staysail (or
jib)
on the end of the gunmount yard. I decided to experiment and
bolted a 5
ft. length of unistrut to the bow pulpit plate where the
gunmount
sleeve normally goes. The strut was bolted snugly through it’s
midpoint
but loose enough to allow movement and the trailing end was
lashed to
the pulpit crossmember loose enough to allow the strut to swing
about
20 degrees either way, with the side rails acting as a stopper.
This
extended the jib out 2 ft. ahead and by swinging the “bowsprit”
to
leeward (it does this automatically) the slot is opened, the
jib and
main become parallel eliminating backwinding and there is a
noticeable
increase in speed. In heavy winds the bow does not come up to
windward
as quickly and less rudder correction is needed. Downwind the
jib fills
more readily and is easier to hold wing on wing. I can’t tell if
windward performance improved but more experimentation is in the
works.
Steve
Posted by Steven Hahn (stevezz4@…>)
Hello NICK, I will take some photos of the setup next week and try
to get them posted. Unistrut is a generic term for the steel
supports used mainly by plumbers and electricians to suspend pipe
and tubing. The type I used is 1 3/4" square with holes about every
2". — In freedom21@yahoogroups.com, “Nick Weideman”
<nweideman@…> wrote:
Steve,
Sounds like a interesting approach. Would love to see a photo.
During
the winter down here in Australia, I managed to pick up a
repairable
asymmetrical spinnaker from an RS700 dinghy cheap on ebay in the
uk.
Dimensions Luff 24.5 Leach 17" and Foot 11". My plan was to
centre
the gun mount yard and use it like a slighty too long bowsprit. I
hadn’t considered just replacing it altogether with a shorter
bowsprit
for this spinnaker and my newly acquired staysail borrowed from a
catalina 18. Does the test with the unistrut look like a final
solution? or do you think a shorter yard installed in the gun mount
would be the way to go based on you experimentation and knowledge
of
unistrut’s composition. (is it alloy?)
I am not sure if my asymmetrical kite will offer any advantages
over
the very easy to manage gun mount spinnaker, but in my case the
original spinnaker is starting fall apart at the seams and I
haven’t
been able to find a second hand substitute with the right
dimensions.
It seems the Freedom 21 spinnaker is unique in the foot measurement
being 2 feet shorter than just about everything else. Ordering a
new
one from a local sail maker will be over capitalising for me. Has
anyone tried a non standard spinnaker similar but fuller and wider
in
the foot? say 14 ft?
Also if anyone saw my message earlier in the year, they’ll
remember I
was struggling with the name of my newly acquired boat, the
slightly
cheesy and needlessly aggressive “Jolly Roger”. On removing the
decal
and sanding the glue off transom with great delight and
excitement, I
noticed that there was a previous name underneath. After further
sanding and tracing and re-decalling. The never to be mentioned
again
“Jolly Roger” has returned to its rightful name at christening
“Freelance”. This is so much calmer and congruous with the nature
of
this lovely little boat. I can only hope that re-dressing this
error
in judgement by previous owners will appease King Neptune and we
will
receive fine weather and good luck this summer down under. I also
have
feeling that my working life may also take a path of the same name
so
I have more time for sailing. Funny how things play out sometimes.
cheers,
Nick
Freelance
Freedom 21 #273
— In freedom21@yahoogroups.com, “Steven Hahn” <stevezz4@> wrote:
Upon reading the instructions on how to sail a Freedom 21 I
became
interested in the part that recommends mounting the staysail (or
jib)
on the end of the gunmount yard. I decided to experiment and
bolted a 5
ft. length of unistrut to the bow pulpit plate where the
gunmount
sleeve normally goes. The strut was bolted snugly through it’s
midpoint
but loose enough to allow movement and the trailing end was
lashed to
the pulpit crossmember loose enough to allow the strut to swing
about
20 degrees either way, with the side rails acting as a stopper.
This
extended the jib out 2 ft. ahead and by swinging the “bowsprit”
to
leeward (it does this automatically) the slot is opened, the
jib and
main become parallel eliminating backwinding and there is a
noticeable
increase in speed. In heavy winds the bow does not come up to
windward
as quickly and less rudder correction is needed. Downwind the
jib fills
more readily and is easier to hold wing on wing. I can’t tell if
windward performance improved but more experimentation is in the
works.
Steve