Posted by mike cunningham (seychellois_lib@…>)
Hey Greg,
I sail out of the Stockton Sailing Club.
I am headed out to Cali. for a trip to the SF bay and
out to Pillar Point as a baby step into ocean
cruising. I have the bay reasonably well wired now and
am looking for some new excitement.
Definately familiar with Owl Harbor. Been kinda
looking that way due to increasing slip costs as SSC
but town is so convenient I am loath to leave.
I will be out 28 July (I live in New Mexico) and will
see if I can drop by that weekend to say hello.
Mike
— Greg Prior <gaprior@…> wrote:
Hi Mike-
I have a Freedom 25 with a round mast and camber
spar jib, and sail out of Owl Harbor
Marina on Seven Mile Slough, and sail mostly in the
San Joaquin River. I’m curious where
you are in the Delta. I’ll keep an eye out for you.
You can stop by and see us some
weekend. We are members of the Andreas Cove YC, just
4 slips from our boat, so there is
a nice place we can sit and talk. We won’t be at
the boat this weekend, but most others we
should be there.
Sorry, no help on the 30+ kt question, but I have
the same question on my boat (with only
2 reefs).
-Greg
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, mike
cunningham <seychellois_lib@…>
wrote:
I own a standard Mull 30 and sail California
Delta, SF
Bay. I almost always singlehand. I am going to be
venturing out of the bay in coming months with the
intention of new adventure and increasing my
cruising
experience. I do not race.
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Posted by Fargo Rousseau (fargo_r@…>)
Dear Mike: I have had a week to think about your questions and 8 months to learn some of the answers. 1. We have both learned from experience that the F30 does not need much power to move on any point of sailing. It is a very light, low wetted surface area boat that is underballasted. It overpowers easily. 2. Two reefs are not enough over 20 knots, even off the wind. The third reef (to below the next batten up) with full jib makes the boat balanced and usable into the mid 20s, but approaching 30 knots is still overpowering…even off the wind. 3. Above 22 knots, reaching or running, the full self-tending jib will move the boat quite well (5 to 5 1/2 knots). This setup also makes the boat feel much more secure. Adding the triple reed main with add 2 or 3 knots…and a fairly high workload. As I am sure you have discovered, by the time the wind gets up to 25 knots plus,
the seas become an issue for our sweet but fat little boats (our new 36 inch wheel has helped alot…but the seas still want to kick the boat around). Of course, if you need to round up and make some windward progress (man overboard, etc), then the jib alone is not going to get that job done. You’ll need power and a good prop (we have a 3 bladed KIWI feathering prop that does a great job to windward when it blows). 4. I have never successfully sailed to weather in anything over 30 knots, but, like you, am limited to the triple reefed main. However, I have “sailed” around at anchor in winds over 40 knots…and it is exciting. The mast alone is enough to heel the boat 20 degrees or more. I think you would need a very small storm trisail (or is it trysail) to make any progress to weather or close reach when the wind moves up into the 30s. This sail would not be attached to the boom…which, in itself, becomes an
issue as the wind and seas kick up. I would not go to sea (more than two days run from shelter) without trying out a trysail in heavy winds. It is possible that this sail alone will work without a tiny storm jib to balance the helm…because the mast is so far forward on the F30. I would also install a boom crutch to tie down the boom…which is very heavy and has a lot of power when the boat starts rolling around (and F30s are very rolly-polly boats when the sea kicks up…as you well know). On the good side…our F30s seem very well put together when the wind blows. Lots of water noise against the hull, but the hull-deck and well taped in interior is very rigid and quiet. I don’t think you can blow an F30 mast over the side. And there is no rigging noise…which can be in high winds on convention rigs. One remaining concern…lightning. The carbon spar…with just a small ( #6 or#
8 masthead ground wire)…is worrisom…actually frightening. Going to sea and sailing in big winds…meansexposure to lightning. Maybe the world cruising F36s and 42s have something to offer on this subject. Good sailing, Fargo F30#12 NARISA Maine to Bahamas and back mike cunningham <seychellois_lib@…> wrote: I own a standard Mull 30 and sail California Delta, SF Bay. I almost always singlehand. I am going to be venturing out of the bay in coming months
with the intention of new adventure and increasing my cruising experience. I do not race. My sailing grounds provide me with an opportunity to routinely experience sustained winds of 25 to 30 Kts with occasional gusts to 35 or 40 on “special” days. I would like to plan strategies for such winds at sea. I am usually to the 3rd reef and jib when winds reach 25Kts. After a lot of trial and error I’ve learned to depower the main through a good, flat, reef and use of the traveller. However, when the wind gets up above 30Kts. I’m feeling overpowered. In the bay, 30Kts is still easily sailable if you can properly depower so I have two questions of more experienced cruisers. 1. At sea is it reasonable to continue productive sailing to weather in winds in excess of 30Kts? At what point does sea state and windage overcome whatever sail configuration you establish? I
know this is very dependant upon the particular boat, so assume a Freedom 30. 2. If the answer to 1. is yes. Where do you go from a properly triple reefed and trimmed main and jib (I only have three reefing points on the Harrstik main)? I figure I could a. add a fourth reefing point which would leave a hanky up there b. Drop the main altogether which, in experiments, does not work well at all - boat doesn’t sail to weather on jib alone or c. drop the jib - again, experiments demonststate that this is good for a few additional knots of wind but badly hurts windward performance. Because the jib is so small it doesn’t reduce sail area much. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com