Single hand your Day Sailer and how to 'Heave to'

Moderator: GreenLake

Single hand your Day Sailer and how to 'Heave to'

Postby Guest » Sat Nov 29, 1997 1:00 am

I've been sailing my DS I single hand, off and on, for over 20 years with no special rigging. The trick is pick your days, you know, days with just the right wind. Sit on the rail , at about in the middle of the centerboard trunk, with the main sheet over one knee and the jib over the other knee, so you know right where your sail controls are then you need them. I sail in Colorado, along the front range, and the wind speed
and direction can change very, very quickly, so I'm ready to make an adjustment very, very quickly.

You could also have a sail maker put in Jiffy Reefing points on your main sail to shorten sail when you need to. Our Day Sailers don't sail very well with just one sail, so it's best to shorten the main, before it gets too bad and we want take down the jib.

How ever, our Day Sailers do "heave to" very well.
Back the jib.
Let main all the way out.
Point the end of the tiller all the way over
boom.
Your Day Sailer will stop foward motion and drift sideways very slowly.

Gus Heismann (gheismann-at-hotmail.com)
Guest
 

Postby Guest » Sat Nov 29, 1997 1:00 am

Hi Gus,

Any idea what it would cost to have reefing points put in? I could sure use them, but my sails are old and blown, so I don't want to invest a whole lot in them.

I find the boat does pretty well with the main alone, but the one time I tried sailing with just the jib, she reached well enough but wouldn't point at all.

Steve

Steve Max (75264.153-at-compuserve.com)
Guest
 

Postby Guest » Tue Dec 09, 1997 1:00 am

My DSII is equiped with roller reefing, and came with this
special horseshoe shaped collar to fit over the rolled sail to
allow the attachment of the Main sheet. I haven't tried it yet,
does anyone know how well this works? It kind of looks to me that I would loose a lot of control on reaches and runs using it.

J.P. Clowes (JPclowes-at-aol.com)
Guest
 

Postby Guest » Sun Jun 13, 1999 12:00 am

I too have tried reefing the sail with the means of a roller boom. Not satified. I would like some information from some one who has used this system and is comfortable with it.

mike hill (mhill-at-mlecmn.net)
Guest
 

Postby Guest » Wed Jan 24, 2001 1:45 am

I've been using the roller reefing and too am not happy with it. Mine keeps pulling back (aft) out of the gooseneck and the sail shape resembles an open leaf bag! Had reef points added to a new sail for an extra $75 (maybe the sail was over priced to start with) which seemed reasonable enough to me. Havn't tried the sail yet. Keep this thread alive and I'll report back. Maybe someone else has jiffy reefing on their DS and can add some insight.

MAKurtis (Emak41-at-excite.com)
Guest
 

Postby Guest » Thu Jan 25, 2001 12:49 pm

Reefpoints, I had them added to my mainsail last year and it cost $67 from HARDING SAILS. I originally had the reefing claw and tried the roller-reefing, it didn't work! The DS has a boltrope on the luff of the main and it built up to much cloth to allow the gooseneck to "pop" back into place and lock the reef in. I even rigged up a "single-line" reefing system on my boom so that by pulling one line I tension both ends of the reef (tack and clew), then tie the nettles (or reefpoints ) and off I go under reduced sail! It has really added enjoyment to my sailing! I too sail 95% of the time solo, and find that using a tiller extension (hiking stick) and sitting on the sidedeck goes a long way towards increasing stability.
Many years ago, my Dad taught me that when sailing a centerboard boat, no matter what the wind speed.. ALWAYS sail with the mainsheet in hand, it is ok to use the camcleat to hold the sheet tension, but ALWAYS keep the mainsheet in hand to allow quick release is hit by a gust of wind. This is the biggest reason that I have now sailed for 13 seasons (8 in a Widgeon, 5 in a DS II) without a single capsize! I sail Buzzards Bay, near Cape Cod and the bay is well known for it's predictable strong southwest wind every afternoon.

Rod Johnson (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)
Guest
 

Postby Guest » Fri Jun 01, 2001 3:32 pm

To heave-to. Have you tried lifting the rudder and letting go bith sheets?

BOB LOMAS (boblomas-at-ukonline.co.uk)
Guest
 

Postby Guest » Fri Jun 01, 2001 5:52 pm

Letting the sheets go and raising the rudder won't put you in a hove-to configuration. The boat will just drift out of control, and you'll flog the sails to death since the sheets are free.

The method described by Gus above is the classic method for heaving to in a sloop. It's documented in many books on sailing. (Royce's Sailing Illustrated to name just one).

Heaving to is a great way to stop without bothering with anchors, etc. It will work in most wind conditions you'd be out in.

The main will be protected from flogging by being in the lee of the jib, which is backed and therefore not being flogged to death either. You can go from a dead stop to full speed in a few seconds by just filling the jib, bringing the helm to center and sheeting in the main. This is important because you never know when you need to start moving, perhaps to get out of the way of an imprudent powerboater or jetskier who doesn't understand (or perhaps even care about)the rules of the road.


Bob Hunkins (rhunkins-at-pdq.net)
Guest
 


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