Intro and a couple of questions

[Porrick]

Hi all. I'm Pat, and I live down near DC, but I've got a CD26 that I sail out of Casco Bay, Maine. I've had her for two seasons and have daysailed a bunch and done some light (2-3 day) cruising, and I'm feeling pretty comfortable with her now. I came from a J-24 (which I cruised quite a bit, clown car style, with my wife and two small children) -- so the CD is quite different/nice. Anyway, next July, I'm planning a 6-day solo trip Down East (in familiar waters) and I'm planning for some longer distances in the future, so I'm looking for ways to improve my current setup to make it as efficient and single-handed-friendly as possible. I've got a decent nav setup, a roller furling genoa and a Navico auto tiller (older, but serviceable), so that's a good start. Going to improve my main reefing system as well, but any other advice would be much appreciated.

Also, the spinnaker that came with the boat is shredded, so I'm looking for a single-handed friendly option for replacement. Folks on the CD FB site suggested an asym with a sock or the-like. I'm not very spinnaker experienced (though I will certainly practice in advance), so something on the more forgiving side might be best and ease of control will be paramount for those solo times. Any ideas/thoughts would be appreciated.

Another question (less pertinent to solo sailing) is about the twin mainsheet setup. Coming from the J-24, I am used to using the traveler to maximize upwind efficiency/sail position and de-power in heavier situations, so I admit that I am not really familiar with how to use the twin sheet system to move the boom on/off center -- any hints would be appreciated (I have tried "the Google" with very limited success). Also, having two main sheets spilling into the helm area is....annoying. Maybe I need to trim (or splice into one) the sheets? Is there any reason not to just push my boom out to the stays on each side, and shorten the sheets to leave myself a yard or so? I guess I just don't understand the advantage of this system over a traveler. Can someone help me "get it"?

I guess that's enough to start -- and sorry in advance if the questions are too elementary.

Thanks,

Pat

[Porrick]

Crickets......I know I asked a few questions, but not e en a hello? Did I piss everyone off in my first post?

[Sea Hunt Video]

Porrick:

I lack the knowledge to answer your substantive questions.

As for responses, this time of year most of our experienced sailors are hauling out and winterizing. They are probably not checking this site except 1x a day or 1x very 2 days.

Also, it sometimes takes a while for a response from posters with knowledge because they are thinking about answers, suggestions, etc.

I would recommend waiting 2-3 days (over the weekend or longer) and if no replies then "bump" your post back to the top.

It's really a great bunch of guys and gals who collectively have a lot of knowledge about Cape Dory sailboats and sailing in general. Give it a little time.

You might alsp get quicker responses if you confirm that you are a Boston Red Sox fan. Sorry. Inside joke from another thread.

[tjr818]

...and then there is the thing about being a Guinness drinker,...you are, right?

[casampson]

Welcome to the Cape Dory forum, Pat! As Sea Hunt Video says, this is a marvelous organization, but it doesn't always move quickly. Be patient, and you should be rewarded with some very helpful responses. I am sometimes surprised, however, by which threads get the most participation and which die a quiet death. It is not always predictable.

As for your post, I've never heard of twin sheets for a main, so personally I'm looking forward to some discussion on that topic. Pictures are always helpful.

I am envious of you. When I was a kid, my family sailed in the Boothbay Harbor area on a beautiful old Sam Crocker cutter. I now sail in Buzzards Bay and, while the wind is awesome here, I've always felt that something is missing. The pine trees, the rocky coast, the lobster boats, etc. Looking forward to some great posts and photos from your adventures downeast.

Chris

[Frenchy]

I don't know the CD26 mainsheet setup, but I think it's similar to the "crosby rig" on Lightnings. I built (from
plans) a Lightning and sailed her for 25 years or so. I think the only good way to control the shape of the main off-wind
and up-wind in strong breezes with your setup is with a vang. Are there fittings on the mast and boom to install a vang?
If the double-ended mainsheet is inconvenient, you could possibly dead-end the mainsheet on the end of the boom, lead it
through the two blocks on the aft deck, back to blocks on the boom and then down to a block on the bridgedeck. That's
the way Lightnings are rigged. Or, you could just install a traveller on the bridgedeck and re-route the mainsheet entirely,
probably a better choice. Good luck, Jean

[John Stone]

Hi Pat
Congrats on on becoming an owner of the CD 26...by all accounts it’s a fine boat. I sail a CD 36 so my comments will be more general in nature. BTW, my last boat was a J24 which we sailed, camp cruised, and raced out of Annapolis. Though the Far Reach is a larger boat I have made it super simple so many of the same issues that you will face, I also have to address.

There is no one way to set your boat up for singlehanded sailing. Some sailors like leading control lines aft. I am from the opposite camp. My view is it adds friction to the lines and puts more line in the cockpit. Furlers are fine—99 percent of boats have them and they make a lot of sense. I don’t have one though as I use hank on sails by preference. And I single hand quite a bit—both costal and offshore. So, choose to terminate control lines and halyards in the cockpit and such as you wish, just don’t be to quick to buy-in that it’s the best or only way.

Your auto (tiller pilot) is a huge help to single handing. I don’t have one of those but I do have a Cape Horn windvane and I would have a hard time managing without it. Bottom line...if you can leave the helm under most any point of sail for at least a couple minutes you have most of the physical challenges of singlehanded sailing licked. You need to leave the helm to reef, to navigate, to use the head, to make coffee/lunch, to prepare ground tackle for anchoring, and for preparations for docking.

Have a simple, quick, and reliable way of setting and weighing anchor.

Regarding the double ended main sheet. The advantages are you can more easily control the mainsheet from the high side and run the end to a winch if needed. It’s also a powerful system. When I rebuilt my boat it is the system I wanted to install...but I could not make it work as my boom was not long enough. I have a 6:1 Antal mainsheet that connects to a bridge-deck mounted traveler. I have no mainsheet winch. The reality though is on any mainsheet system without a traveler, and usually even with a traveler, you need a vang. You have to have a vang to control leech tension across all points of sail. Many people like a rigid vang. I have one but removed it from the boat as it prevented the stowing of a hard dinghy on the cabin top. I use a robust boom-to-gunwale vang/preventer. Mostly I use it as a vang to control sail shape except off the wind I lead the deck end further forward and use it as a preventer. It’s simple, powerful, and effective. I have posted about the set up on my website and I’ll add the link below.

https://farreachvoyages.wordpress.com/2 ... /#more-821

Mainsheet line management. There is no easy way around it. Some folks like cockpit bags for line tails but I don’t see the need. I see it as something you just do constantly. I don’t even think about it. I am constantly coiling jibsheet and mainsheet tails. Just part of sailing.

You need a dinghy of some kind. Smaller cruising boats have unique challenges but there are solutions. Lots have been written about how to solve the challenge from an inflatable, to nesting dinghies.

All that said, the most important thing to make singlehanded sailing easier is to go out and sail as often as possible and in as wide a variety of conditions as possible. And it does not have to be singlehanded. Just sail your boat and get as familiar with it as possible. There is no substitute for time under sail.

[Paul D.]

I have a few thoughts,

As to the spinnaker. Whether you go asym or spinnaker, I recommend a sock. I have used my spinnaker much, much more after we got a used sock and launch bag. My spinnaker came with the boat, I don't think it was built for it but it is fun on anything from broad, broad reach to dead run. After using it a bunch I think I would rather have some sort of asymmetrical or cruising chute that would be more effective on shallower points of sail.

When contemplating reefing, I think our boats work best with the lines terminating at the mast. Others will disagree but consider this is how our deck and cockpit arrangements were designed. Most important is to keep all line ends you need for a maneuver, say reefing the main, in one place.

As for the mainsail sheet system, maybe You could retrofit a stern deck traveller on there with adjustable lines but I don't know what kind of performance improvement you would see. It is not a wide distance, you'd add another line tail to get caught around the tiller and simply easing the sheet in a puff may be all you need to do. I think any real upgrade here would be a moderate to large output of expense and work for what I feel would be uncertain gain. Having said that, maybe search this board specifically to see if other 26 owners have done some main sheet retrofitting if you haven't done so.

Good luck with your solo sailing planning!

[John Stone]

Hi Pat,
I forgot to comment on the spinnaker question. I have a fair amount of time flying a symmetric kite...in all kinds of wind...from dinghies to keel boats. But, I don’t have one for the Far Reach nor do I have plans for one. Unless you have experienced crew or only use the spinnaker in light air you can get a lot more excitement than you want. I just don’t see much use for one on a cruising boat.

I do have an asymmetric spinnaker with a sock though. I like it. It’s useful. Easy to fly. Powerful. But I don’t carry it with me normally and especially off-shore. Why? Because it takes up too much room for the value it adds. Instead I carry a 2oz 140 percent radial cut drifter. It has a spectra luff and five or six hanks. I can fly it free if going down wind or attach the hanks to the headstay if sailing up wind. I get twice as much use from the drifter as I do from the spinnaker. I also don’t need a sock with the drifter, so it’s less expensive than the spinnaker.

If money were no object I’d have a spinnaker just for fun. It’s just not a sail I’d spend $2k-3k for considering there are higher priorities for purchase. Lots of sailors seems to like the code zeros and such but again, lot of money for limited use.

[MFC]

Hey Pat -
Welcome. The board is not as active as it once was but is still a fantastic resource. Glad you are aboard. I sail a 330 so I won't weigh in on most of the 26 questions. One thing I will say about the CD Board is that while it might lack some of the instant gratification of the social media forums, it provides a great searchable resource over time and the ability to have a continuing dialogue with one or more fellow sailors about any number of topics. It is worth the wait.
Cheers
Matt

[Vincent]

Hey Pat:
I have a CD33. I agree with John Stone about the spin situation. But even though I plan to single hand most of the time, I did get an asymmetric with a sock this year. I had a sudden back surgery, so I never launched my boat this season. Reports on the sock will have to wait. I sail on the Upper Chesapeake Bay and the wind is often light, so I wanted something extra for that. Whether I would set it single handing across an ocean, depends on conditions, but with a sock, I expect the excitement would be reduced than with a standard spinnaker and a pole. I have raced big boats and dinghies with spinnakers but always had plenty of crew on the big boats. Young and strong, the 505 dinghy was a blast, but you have to really plan out your moves and sail conservative if single.
The guy I bought the sail from was the Naval Academy sailmaker for 40 years. Great price, nice guy, I plan to get a staysail from him next summer.

[Porrick]

Wow, thanks for all of the responses! Sorry, didn't meant seem so impatient -- maybe just a bit anxious that I didn't follow the protocol for intros and questions from new arrivals.

Anyway, regarding the single handed sailing issue, I will be working with the Navico tiller-pilot to ensure all is well this Spring. I agree that if I can ensure myself a few minutes away from the helm as needed, it will greatly improve (and make safer) my solo experience. Along these lines, I have been doing some reading about more rudimentary controls (bungie, sheet driven, and even small foresail guided), and will work on these as well.

Thanks very much for the spinnaker advice -- I think I'm going to look into asyms/socks and maybe drifters a bit more. These seem like a reasonable way forward.

The twin mainsheet thing still vexes me a bit, but I do have a vang. I need to read a bit more about using it for sail trim. I understand the theory, but to be honest, I have not really use mine (on J or CD) during sailing very much. Same goes with cunnigham and outhaul -- I usually just set and forget. I don't think I want to delve into the possibility of a hatch-top traveler refit (ala the larger CDs, as I understand that moving the main attachment could unreasonable stress the boom, but below is an example I found for a cockpit traveler modification...



Anyway, thanks all for the info and welcome. Look forward to learning more and maybe meeting some of you out there (in Casco Bay or beyond)! I will never turn down a Guinness (or even a red sox game) with a fellow traveler....

Cheers,

Porrick

[tjr818]

Porrick,
I am not familiar with the 26, but we do have a 1980 27 and some of our first improvements were adding a rigid vang and a traveler, both from Garhauer. The ridig vang keeps the boom from dropping onto your head, or even worse your First Mate's head. The traveler becomes the primary mainsail adjustment. I highly recommend both.

Traveller copy.JPG

[swhfire21]

I sailed a 26 for two years and loved how she sailed.

The double ended main sheet was a pain at first. I really focused on placing coils/piles on the adjacent seat and rarely ever let them get onto floor of cockpit. Keep the ends separated and pretty soon it will be easy and second nature.

In order to make up for lack of traveler I ran topping lift and boom Vang back to cockpit. If I wanted more twist I raised topping lift/eased Vang and if less twist the opposite. That way sheet basically became a horizontal only adjustment. Also you can push out/pull in boom about 6” farther than sheet will naturaly set.

I had 3 reefs with a two line, slab reefing system at base of mast. Only first two reefs were kept set up. I kept main halyard and down haul at base of mast as well. I did not want a ton of lines in the cockpit and found that heaving to made for easy reefing.

Roller furling jib is only way to go in my book for casual sailing.

I hope this helps

[Keith]

I single my 30C with an asymmetrical in a sock without any problems. Remember don't come about with it always jibe it and you will do just fine.