We had a lovely weekend. A breezy run from the Susquehanna to the Sassafras on Saturday, a cool night on the hook beneath the yellow house in the bay behind Ordinary Point, and then a close reach (turning into a one-tack beat) back home on Sunday--at least until the wind petered out. Two questions about our "new" CD 31:
1. How do folks steady the staysail when running wing and wing? We tried various preventer arrangements. The best (and that's not saying much) involved hitching a line around the middle of the jib club, running it through the aftermost stanchion of the pulpit, and then securing it to a mooring cleat.
2. What's the preferred lead for the anchor line? It won't stay put in the shallow notch in the roller at the end of the stubby bowsprit. But led through the chock it can rub against the (admittedly smooth and shiny) rod bobstay.
With thanks in advance,
Ann and David Brownlee
CD 31 #1 "Windrush"
Havre de Grace, MD
dbrownle@sas.upenn.edu
staysail preventer and anchor roller as chock
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Larry DeMers
Re: staysail preventer and anchor roller as chock
Welcome to the family Ann and David! You obviously have a discerning eye, as evidenced by your choice in a sailing vessel.
To your questions: The anchoring technique with the bowsprit is to use the sprit to store the anchor, and retrieve the anchor. It IS NOT intended to support the loads your vessel will place on it while at anchor. Veering loads will torque the bowsprit loose eventually. Boats that are intended for this service will have whisker stays off to the side of the sprit, attaching to the bow of the vessel.
So with our CD's, we use the locking gate to either side of the bowsprit, and lead the anchor rode through this gate. It means that the boat will favor one side over the other when veering in the winds and current. This can be compensated for using a riding sail at anchor or a equilizing hitch from the rode to opposite side of the vessel, but you may find it is not a concern for you.
Running downwind, generally the small area of that staysail is not much help, so we set her midship and leave her there if dead downwind. Once we have time, we bring the wind to a stern quarter, move both main and genoa to opposite sides, then allow the staysail to fill the gap between the two sails. There is a point where a wonderful balance occurs. It's where wind hits the main, slides forward off the luff and then hits the genoa and staysail. Wind in the staysail is allowed to slip off it's luff into the genoa. It seems that we sail faster this way, and it's something to do while mossying downwind (!).
But in reality, I also have tried various preventer ideas, and none were worth the hassle. But i am always looking for new ideas on this and all other techniques.
Cheers!
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 ~~~Lake Superior~~~
demers@sgi.com
To your questions: The anchoring technique with the bowsprit is to use the sprit to store the anchor, and retrieve the anchor. It IS NOT intended to support the loads your vessel will place on it while at anchor. Veering loads will torque the bowsprit loose eventually. Boats that are intended for this service will have whisker stays off to the side of the sprit, attaching to the bow of the vessel.
So with our CD's, we use the locking gate to either side of the bowsprit, and lead the anchor rode through this gate. It means that the boat will favor one side over the other when veering in the winds and current. This can be compensated for using a riding sail at anchor or a equilizing hitch from the rode to opposite side of the vessel, but you may find it is not a concern for you.
Running downwind, generally the small area of that staysail is not much help, so we set her midship and leave her there if dead downwind. Once we have time, we bring the wind to a stern quarter, move both main and genoa to opposite sides, then allow the staysail to fill the gap between the two sails. There is a point where a wonderful balance occurs. It's where wind hits the main, slides forward off the luff and then hits the genoa and staysail. Wind in the staysail is allowed to slip off it's luff into the genoa. It seems that we sail faster this way, and it's something to do while mossying downwind (!).
But in reality, I also have tried various preventer ideas, and none were worth the hassle. But i am always looking for new ideas on this and all other techniques.
Cheers!
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 ~~~Lake Superior~~~
David Brownlee wrote: We had a lovely weekend. A breezy run from the Susquehanna to the Sassafras on Saturday, a cool night on the hook beneath the yellow house in the bay behind Ordinary Point, and then a close reach (turning into a one-tack beat) back home on Sunday--at least until the wind petered out. Two questions about our "new" CD 31:
1. How do folks steady the staysail when running wing and wing? We tried various preventer arrangements. The best (and that's not saying much) involved hitching a line around the middle of the jib club, running it through the aftermost stanchion of the pulpit, and then securing it to a mooring cleat.
2. What's the preferred lead for the anchor line? It won't stay put in the shallow notch in the roller at the end of the stubby bowsprit. But led through the chock it can rub against the (admittedly smooth and shiny) rod bobstay.
With thanks in advance,
Ann and David Brownlee
CD 31 #1 "Windrush"
Havre de Grace, MD
demers@sgi.com
-
len
Re: staysail preventer and anchor roller as chock
ann and david
the CD 31 is a joy isn't she! - larry is right re the anchor line, let it rub against the bobstay, mine has never chafed there - i did install rub strakes under the bow chocks because the mooring line was wearing away the wood too much
i've tried using my spinnaker pole to hold the staysail wing and wing but as larry indicated it's hardly worth the effort - i often drop the staysail and go wing and wing with the yankee
dead downwind, on long hauls, i have flown the spinnaker on one side using the boom to hold its sheet a bit off and the yankee with the pole on the other side (and the main furled)
enjoy!
len
md.frel@nwh.org
the CD 31 is a joy isn't she! - larry is right re the anchor line, let it rub against the bobstay, mine has never chafed there - i did install rub strakes under the bow chocks because the mooring line was wearing away the wood too much
i've tried using my spinnaker pole to hold the staysail wing and wing but as larry indicated it's hardly worth the effort - i often drop the staysail and go wing and wing with the yankee
dead downwind, on long hauls, i have flown the spinnaker on one side using the boom to hold its sheet a bit off and the yankee with the pole on the other side (and the main furled)
enjoy!
len
md.frel@nwh.org