by Guest » Mon Apr 22, 2002 8:14 pm
When sailing a centerboard boat like the DS with just the main, you will most likely need to raise the centerboard slightly to move the center of lateral resistance aft. I know, I've confused everyone...just think of the sails trying to push the boat sideways, the centerboard tries to prevent this, if the centerboard is roughly centered under the center of the sail area, the boat is balanced. Remove the jib, and the center of the sail area moves aft, so you need to pivot the centerboard aft a bit to keep the center of the cb under the center of the sail area.
One mistake that all new sailers make (even ones like me who grew up sailing! ) is that when coming about, they turn the rudder too far and it acts like a brake..slowing the boat down and thus losing the momentum needed to complete the tack. Try turning the rudder only enough the cause the boat to turn smoothly through the tack, then straighten out the rudder just as the sails fill on the new tack. A keel boat, being heavier, is more forgiving of over steering, however light weight CB boats like the DS are very easy to end up in irons if you try to turn too sharply.
If you do end up in irons, and can't complete the tack, sail the boat backwards! No, I'm serious, if you are going from a starboard tack to a port tack, and you get in irons, turn the rudder so that as the boat settles back (the wind will tend to push the boat backwards while in irons) the bow will turn away from the wind and the sail(s) will fill on the new tack. This is sort of how a square-rigged ship tacks.
As far as using the roller-reefing that came with the boat, if you seldom reef and do have the reefing claw...then maybe the roller-reefing will work for you. I tried it on my 1979 DS II using the claw, the boom sagged down, the boltrope on the luff of the sail prevented the gooseneck from completely relocking...in other words, it sort-of worked..but not really! I had used roller-reefing on our larger CAL 21 for many years, it never really worked on that boat, but even with all that experience using roller-reefing, I much prefer the slab reefing (also known as jiffy-reefing) that I have now! Harding sails in Marion, MA installed the reefpoints on my sail for a cost of $67, not bad! It works GREAT!
Adjusting CB, it can be done from the helm, but it is almost impossible while sailing due to the sideways force of the board against the side of the cb trunk, if you turn into the wind briefly, it will move easier!
Mine comes up easy, but is sometimes hard to pull down if it has been up all the way. I've moved the attachment point for the downhaul line on the CB to try to increase the leverage, I'll have to test this when the boat goes back into the water in a few weeks.
Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)