Suggestions on coming about on a cutter

[Jim_B]

I find it helpful to delay/backwind the staysail which then encourages the yankee to slide thru the slot.

[Keith]

Before coming about I first uncleat the leeward yankee sheet and hold it so that the tension is held by the three turns on the winch. Then spin the wheel turning the bow into the wind while still holding the sheet. The timing come in by releasing the sheet just before the wind is spilled from the yankee and then hauling in the windward sheet quickly. By hauling in quickly you get the clue right up to the staysail stay and then the yankee catches the wind and pulls itself through.

I hope that this makes sense because it is just what I have learned and never really though to much about it. PS I single hand this would be much easier with a crew!

[JWSutcliffe]

Except in very light winds the 115% headsail slides through the slot effortlessly. Just give it time as it fills on the back side of every tack. No need to furl and unfurl. Did this with CD30 and 8 years with CD31.

[Jim Walsh]

Except in very light winds the 115% headsail slides through the slot effortlessly. Just give it time as it fills on the back side of every tack. No need to furl and unfurl. Did this with CD30 and 8 years with CD31.

I agree with Skip. This has also been my experience

[Capt Hook]

I didn't figure this out. The PO did.
I don't have two separate sheets for the Yankee. I have one sheet the length of two. The mid point is passed through the ring on the clew and the ends are passed through the loop and pulled through. No knots. I haven't measured it but that line must be 100' long.

Bet it's more than 100 feet. My yankee sheets are 62 feet long....each. It does make a difference whether or not you make use of your turning blocks....I do.

Measured 108'.

[Matt Cawthorne]

My 36 came with two Yankees. The smaller I would guess is about 115% The larger is perhaps 135%. After messing around with sails for the first season, I put the larger one in my basement and that is where it stays. The larger sail messed up the flow around the staysail and was always a pain to tack. The smaller headsail makes the boat move along nicely in most conditions, works better with the staysail when going upwind, and tacks more easily. When going upwind the staysail is always up. On my to-do list is to change the inner forestay to rod rigging so that tacking does not wear the stitching on the sails and the sheets as quickly. I have a hanked on staysail as it makes changing to the storm staysail quite easy, but I'll bet the foil on a roller furled stay sail would be less wear on the yankee.

[mgphl52]

This is a test...

[mashenden]

And you passed

[John Stone]

This thread is about 8 months old but I thought I would reply anyway.

Without an engine I have to be able to tack my CD 36 Far Reach without hiccups and I have sailed it up through mooring fields and crowded anchorages a number of times in both light and moderate air--5-30 knots both double and single handed.

Couple thoughts:

1. As David V said, Jib normally comes through slot easier with stays'l up.

2. I use bowlines to connect sheets to jib and stays'l. Some sailors argue hang ups can be reduced if a different knot or method of attaching sheets is used but I have never felt compelled to change to a different method.

3. I make sure all the wraps are off the winch and the sheet is perfectly free to run through the foot blocks and jib leads without resistance before I cast off the sheet. I also position the mains'l traveller for the new tack before we tack. When tacking, when the bow is head to wind, I release the jib sheet making absolutely sure it will release and not foul. I don't think I have ever had to let the jib backwind to pull the bow through the wind, though it is a viable technique under certain conditions. As the bow comes through the eye of the wind I start cranking in the jib on the new tack. Usually I can get it all the way in on the new tack

without a winch handle as long as I don't foul it up. After it's in and trimmed (on the new tack) I then bring the stays'l across--jib first: stays'l second, unless you have enough people to do both at the same time or you have the self-tending stays'l. I can do this single handing just fine. I have never had the FR fail to tack regardless the wind speed . . . if she is moving forward she will tack. Of course, I make sure she is moving forward sufficiently fast to overcome any seas state we are dealing with.

4. I have tacked plenty without the stays'l. Ever so often though, the bowlines will hang up on the forestay (some call it the stays'l stay but it's correctly called the forestay (for fore stays'l)--the jib stay is usually called the headstay). Usually that happens if I did not flake out the tail of the sheet before tacking and it caught on something during the tack. In very light air the jib can also just not have enough pressure on it to overcome the friction of the jib running across the forestay. This is true of almost any sailboat with an overlapping jib/genoa and not just cutters. (When I was a young teenager I foredeck on MORC IOR style boats and this was always an issue in light air. One of my jobs was to walk the genoa through the fore triangle, but I digress.). Sometimes you have to walk it through. That's part of sailing.

5. If I am tacking and the jib does not come through (bowline hangs up on forestay in light air or sheet hangs up on a cleat or whatever) I finish the tack anyway--tack the stays'l and get the main drawing on new tack, then I sort out the jib. Often, by the time I do that the jib will have come through the slot on its own and and we carry on. In that instance it does mean I have a lot of winch grinding ahead of me to sheet the jib in which is sufficient motivation for me to do it right next time.

6. I have dropped my jib and sailed into an anchorage with just the main and stays'l when I need a clear foredeck to handle the anchor and windlass (I have no furlers) and if there is sufficient wind to maneuver the boat. No question it's easier to tack this way though I'd never do it if I had far to go as nothing powers up the boat or balances the helm like the correct size jib.

[mashenden]

I'm looking forward to giving all of this more of a try. I think that my main issue was that I often sailed with one or the other jib, but not both. Often my sailing trips are better suited for a Typhoon - a couple of hours in and out, so out of pure laziness I only put one or the other out. I'm now thinking that its worth having the stay sail out whenever the Genny is out, if for no other reason to help the Genny slide through the slot.

Thanks all. Its about time to take her for a spin.

[Cathy Monaghan]

Your CD36 should have a yankee and staysail combination. The yankee should be between 80% and 120% but no larger. If you've got a genoa instead, hopefully you've got rolling furling because you may have to furl it a little before tacking. Also, the staysail won't work well with a genoa. If you want to use a large headsail like a 130% to 150% genoa, you may want to consider using a detachable staysail stay and sail your boat as a sloop instead. Just a thought.

Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[mashenden]

Your CD36 should have a yankee and staysail combination. The yankee should be between 80% and 120% but no larger. If you've got a genoa instead, hopefully you've got rolling furling because you may have to furl it a little before tacking. Also, the staysail won't work well with a genoa. If you want to use a large headsail like a 130% to 150% genoa, you may want to consider using a detachable staysail stay and sail your boat as a sloop instead. Just a thought.

Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

Hummm, interesting. It is roller furled, but I have no idea about its actual size (120 vs 130 vs 150). I recently had it at the sail maker for restitching the UV protection - I wish I had asked then.

[Jim Walsh]

Hummm, interesting. It is roller furled, but I have no idea about its actual size (120 vs 130 vs 150). I recently had it at the sail maker for restitching the UV protection - I wish I had asked then.

https://sailingfortuitous.com/apps/jibcalc.html
Just plug your sail dimensions into this calculator.

[M. R. Bober]

I have found that when flying the genoa w/o the staysail it is important to remove the staysail halyard from the bow pulpit as it snags the genoa when tacking. I secure the staysail halyard to the mast. It helps.


Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster, (Where somebody's CD36 was launched Tuesday.) VA