Line to Main did not release

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1

Posted by allenmcclung (amcclung@…>)

While sailing yesterday in 15/20 knot winds, a gust came up and
heeled the boat over even more. I had the tiller extender in one
hand, a 230 lb. passenger sitting on the wrong side of the boat
adding to the angle of the heel, and the line to spill air out of the
main wouldn’t release. Too much pressure on the main sail, I guess.
Not good, and I don’t want it to happen again. In the end, nobody got
too wet, and I got the boat headed in the opposite direction. One of
those spin-arounds, I think. As I sit here at the computer thinking
about the situation, I suppose I should/could have released the
traveler to de-power the main sail. Of course, that would mean
releasing both stb. and port lines from their cams while holding the
tiller with my knees. At the time, the thought didn’t occur to me.
Any suggestions? In other boats I’ve sailed, the release to the main
is located where you can stomp on the line to release it. In the F-
21, that’s not an option.

Allen

2

Posted by lance_ryley (lance_ryley@…>)

Allen,
I’m not familiar with the traveller arrangement on the F-21, but you
should only have to release the upwind cam to dump main. This is
often all that’s required to regain control, or to allow enough
pressure to come off the main to ease the sheet.

A common occurrence is to allow the boat to round up sharply in
these conditions - it seems logical to bring the boat head to wind
to ease the pressure on the sails, but the combined speed of the
boat, wind pressure on the sail, and momentum can cause the boat’s
angle of heel to INCREASE under the very conditions you’re trying to
alleviate! Try to ease the boat into the turn, making it as gradual
as you can. Don’t Panic - the boat is more stable than you think,
and wants to be upright. This gradual turn keeps the moment of the
boat from causing even MORE heel before the pressure is eased. Then
slowly bring the boat back onto course as the gust passes.

Some sailors, upon anticipating a gust, will actually start to steer
somewhat away from the current wind angle. I wouldn’t have
recommended this in your situation where you didn’t have control of
the sheet, but this off-wind steering technique uses the boat’s
momentum to heel the boat slightly to windward (offset, of course,
by the pressure in the sail).

I’m not sure in the F-21, but in my F-40 cat ketch, I’ve already got
a reef in the mizzen and am contemplating one in the main in 15-20
kts apparent.

The previous owner said, “reef early - reef often” and it’s very
good advice!

fair winds,
lance ryley, “Bright Star,” F40 CK #49

— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “allenmcclung”
<amcclung@f…> wrote:

While sailing yesterday in 15/20 knot winds, a gust came up and
heeled the boat over even more. I had the tiller extender in one
hand, a 230 lb. passenger sitting on the wrong side of the boat
adding to the angle of the heel, and the line to spill air out of
the
main wouldn’t release. Too much pressure on the main sail, I
guess.
Not good, and I don’t want it to happen again. In the end, nobody
got
too wet, and I got the boat headed in the opposite direction. One
of
those spin-arounds, I think. As I sit here at the computer
thinking
about the situation, I suppose I should/could have released the
traveler to de-power the main sail. Of course, that would mean
releasing both stb. and port lines from their cams while holding
the
tiller with my knees. At the time, the thought didn’t occur to me.
Any suggestions? In other boats I’ve sailed, the release to the
main
is located where you can stomp on the line to release it. In the F-
21, that’s not an option.

Allen

3

Posted by Allen McClung (amcclung@…>)

Lance,

You're right. The wind was coming from stb., and the boat was heeled over to port. Releasing the stb. cam on the traveler would ease the sail by dumping air as it traveled to port. I don't know how I got it in my head that both cams on the traveler needed to be released. All I could think about at the moment was, "Will this boat float on its side?" Now that I'm thinking about it, I believe what I did was release the rudder a little. I remember pulling it towards me (I was seated high on the starboard gunwale) and that made things worse. I must have been trying to sail higher into the wind to let some of the pressure off--and sure enough, it made things worse. So if one action makes things bad, then the opposite action should make things better...or so went my panic logic at the time. Anyway, I ended up with the wind to my back and the boat was flat.

With regard to reefing, I don't know how to do that yet. Usually the winds on the lake where I sail are 5 to 10 mph, and I'm always wishing for more. More power, as it were. I'll figure out which line reefs the sail next time I go out. I see two lines that are attached by an open hook to the mainsail, so all I need to do (I think) is find out where to release and what to pull. 

Thanks.

Allen

----- Original Message -----
From: lance_ryley
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 9:26 AM
Subject: [freedomyachts2003] Re: Line to Main did not release
Allen,I’m not familiar with the traveller arrangement on the F-21, but you should only have to release the upwind cam to dump main. This is often all that’s required to regain control, or to allow enough pressure to come off the main to ease the sheet.A common occurrence is to allow the boat to round up sharply in these conditions - it seems logical to bring the boat head to wind to ease the pressure on the sails, but the combined speed of the boat, wind pressure on the sail, and momentum can cause the boat’s angle of heel to INCREASE under the very conditions you’re trying to alleviate! Try to ease the boat into the turn, making it as gradual as you can. Don’t Panic - the boat is more stable than you think, and wants to be upright. This gradual turn keeps the moment of the boat from causing even MORE heel before the pressure is eased. Then slowly bring the boat back onto course as the gust passes.Some sailors, upon anticipating a gust, will actually start to steer somewhat away from the current wind angle. I wouldn’t have recommended this in your situation where you didn’t have control of the sheet, but this off-wind steering technique uses the boat’s momentum to heel the boat slightly to windward (offset, of course, by the pressure in the sail).I’m not sure in the F-21, but in my F-40 cat ketch, I’ve already got a reef in the mizzen and am contemplating one in the main in 15-20 kts apparent.The previous owner said, “reef early - reef often” and it’s very good advice!fair winds,lance ryley, “Bright Star,” F40 CK #49— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “allenmcclung” <amcclung@f…> wrote:> While sailing yesterday in 15/20 knot winds, a gust came up and > heeled the boat over even more. I had the tiller extender in one > hand, a 230 lb. passenger sitting on the wrong side of the boat > adding to the angle of the heel, and the line to spill air out of the > main wouldn’t release. Too much pressure on the main sail, I guess. > Not good, and I don’t want it to happen again. In the end, nobody got > too wet, and I got the boat headed in the opposite direction. One of > those spin-arounds, I think. As I sit here at the computer thinking > about the situation, I suppose I should/could have released the > traveler to de-power the main sail. Of course, that would mean > releasing both stb. and port lines from their cams while holding the > tiller with my knees. At the time, the thought didn’t occur to me.> Any suggestions? In other boats I’ve sailed, the release to the main > is located where you can stomp on the line to release it. In the F-> 21, that’s not an option.> > Allen

4

Posted by zemach99 (baileyg@…>)

If you were sailing on the main only, and there is nothing to weather of you
that you will hit when the boat rounds up, there is no danger. If the main is
not released and the tiller is kept up to keep the boat sailing ahead as she
iuncreases her heal ( instead of rounding up, which she wants to do), the
boat will heal over until the rudder comes out of the water and then will
round up. She cannot stay healed over unless you add a jib. With a jib, it is
possible to keep her over on her side (broached) even though the rudder is
out of the water (learned this from experience while racing).

However, even though not usually dangerous, I do not like loosing control of
a boat because the rudder is out of the water because I could not release
the main sheet. (Releasing the travler may or may not be enough - depends
on the wind, where the boom is, etc.)

The main sheet on my boat goes through a cam cleat on the block on the
travler. I changed the angle of the cam cleat so that when I pull back on the
sheet it is being pulled down out of the cam at an angle. Using a 1/2" sheet,
I have never had any trouble freeing the main in a big gust. If you cannot
pull the main free from the cam under strain, you need to redo the angle of
the cam or get a new one, whatever works.

Since I found the two small steel cam cleats that came on the boat for the
two travler lines are very hard to get to release under strain, I replaced them
with Garhauer rope clutches. This works great. Releases no matter what the
strain. (http://garhauermarine.com/) Garhauer stuff is great: cheap, strong
and effective.


\

  • George
5

Posted by Allen McClung (amcclung@…>)

Once again, thanks for the information. I’m going to talk to the guy who sold me the boat about changing some things as you suggest. He guy owns a fiberglass fabricating shop (a good guy to know), and is an internationally rated sailor (Flying Dutchman). I probably need a block to gain more pull on the mainsail line. I’ll check out harhauermarine.com.

Thanks again and I’ll get back to you on sailing the Sound.

Allen

----- Original Message -----
From: zemach99
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 11:28 AM
Subject: [freedomyachts2003] Re: Line to Main did not release
If you were sailing on the main only, and there is nothing to weather of you that you will hit when the boat rounds up, there is no danger. If the main is not released and the tiller is kept up to keep the boat sailing ahead as she iuncreases her heal ( instead of rounding up, which she wants to do), the boat will heal over until the rudder comes out of the water and then will round up. She cannot stay healed over unless you add a jib. With a jib, it is possible to keep her over on her side (broached) even though the rudder is out of the water (learned this from experience while racing).However, even though not usually dangerous, I do not like loosing control of a boat because the rudder is out of the water because I could not release the main sheet. (Releasing the travler may or may not be enough - depends on the wind, where the boom is, etc.)The main sheet on my boat goes through a cam cleat on the block on the travler. I changed the angle of the cam cleat so that when I pull back on the sheet it is being pulled down out of the cam at an angle. Using a 1/2" sheet, I have never had any trouble freeing the main in a big gust. If you cannot pull the main free from the cam under strain, you need to redo the angle of the cam or get a new one, whatever works. Since I found the two small steel cam cleats that came on the boat for the two travler lines are very hard to get to release under strain, I replaced them with Garhauer rope clutches. This works great. Releases no matter what the strain. (http://garhauermarine.com/) Garhauer stuff is great: cheap, strong and effective. - George

6

Posted by gaprior@… (gaprior@…)

Allen-

Definitely check your reefing rigging (see the F-21 manual online here) and
practice at the
dock (on a calm day!) to test and understand how it all works. In theory it is
very easy, but
under challenging conditions (read when the winds are high enough to need
reefing!) it’s
a much bigger challenge. Also while the theory is good, there are lots of things
that can
make it difficult. When I had my F-21, the reefing had a lot of friction and was
quite
difficult to get the sail reefed all the way down to the boom. Also, you need to
slack of the
main halyard to create enough slack in the main to do the reef. Some people mark
the
main sheet.

Hope that helps.

-Greg

— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Allen McClung” <amcclung@f…> wrote:

--------clip----------

With regard to reefing, I don't know how to do that yet. Usually the winds

on the lake
where I sail are 5 to 10 mph, and I’m always wishing for more. More power, as it
were. I’ll
figure out which line reefs the sail next time I go out. I see two lines that
are attached by
an open hook to the mainsail, so all I need to do (I think) is find out where to
release and
what to pull.

--------clip--------

7

Posted by gaprior@… (gaprior@…)

Allen-

There is a minor catch to releasing the traveler, and that is the traveler track
has a bend to
it over the companionway that causes the main sheet to tighten. Of course this
makes
releasing the main sheet even harder until you’ve got the pressure off (head to
wind).

The F-21 sails OK on it’s side (yep, I’ve tried it too), but be careful. I read
about a race on
the great lakes where several boats were knocked down by a sudden gust and sank.
I don’t
remember if they were F-21s or J-24s, but it could happen to either. The cause
of the
sinking was that the lockers were left unlocked. When the boats were knocked
down
(worse than your experience, but the next step), water got into the cockpit and
into the
open lockers, which went quickly into the cabin. So the moral: keep the lockers
latched if
the weather looks like it could get rough.

I have a picture of you on starboard tack, sitting on the high side (starboard)
and pulling
the tiller towards you. If that is the case, you were steering the boat across
the wind
(broad reach) instead of into the wind. In a panic situation this is easy to
believe. Of course
if this is indeed what happened, the heeling problem would get worse instead of
better.

-Greg

— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Allen McClung” <amcclung@f…> wrote:

Lance,

You're right. The wind was coming from stb., and the boat was heeled over

to port.
Releasing the stb. cam on the traveler would ease the sail by dumping air as it
traveled to
port. I don’t know how I got it in my head that both cams on the traveler needed
to be
released. All I could think about at the moment was, “Will this boat float on
its side?” Now
that I’m thinking about it, I believe what I did was release the rudder a
little. I remember
pulling it towards me (I was seated high on the starboard gunwale) and that made
things
worse. I must have been trying to sail higher into the wind to let some of the
pressure
off–and sure enough, it made things worse. So if one action makes things bad,
then the
opposite action should make things better…or so went my panic logic at the
time. Anyway,
I ended up with the wind to my back and the boat was flat.

With regard to reefing, I don't know how to do that yet. Usually the winds

on the lake
where I sail are 5 to 10 mph, and I’m always wishing for more. More power, as it
were. I’ll
figure out which line reefs the sail next time I go out. I see two lines that
are attached by
an open hook to the mainsail, so all I need to do (I think) is find out where to
release and
what to pull.

Thanks.

Allen

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