The sailing nerd-out thread

[bpw]

Generally, but I am no expert and don't race...

Twist the main to de-power by easing the vang (if you have one) and moving traveler up to allow the boom to lift. This depowers the top of the sail and keeps the boat flatter

Tightening the backstay to bend the mast depowers the entire sail because the bend pulls fabric from the luff of the sail and makes it flatter. Flatter sails = less power and pointing higher into the wind.

Tightening the outhaul flattens the bottom of the sail and helps de-power as well.

Tightening the halyard/cunningham to add tension to the luff will move the point of deepest draft on the sail around and should be done along with other trim to keep the boat pointing well and the draft in the right place.

Sail trim is crazy complicated, I have an entire several hundred page book (Maximum Sail Power by Brian Hancock, you can get it as a free pdf) about nothing but sail trim and design. It also changes for different boats and different types of sails. We trimmed our 6 ton cruising boat very differently than you would a lightweight racer.

 

[bpw]

I forgot to mention the true mind-bender,

The apparent wind is almost always blowing more from the side at the top of the mast than the bottom, so a properly trimmed sail will be twisted off at the top to maintain correct angle of attack.

 

[bpw]

Moar Photos!

We found this dog as a very young puppy abandoned on the beach in Chile, she sailed with us for over a year and now lives with my Mom on the east coast until we can bring her to CA.

She knows what the word "tack" means and will get up and go to the other side of the boat when she hears us getting ready.

 

[gixxerjeff]

^^^
That is so fucken awesome!!

 

[bpw]

The poor man's boatyard, drying out for bottom paint in Panama. Back when the boat was still green.

 

[Mike95060]

bpw is my new wander lust hero.

 

[bpw]

For a little moto content, here is the bike we bought in Chile and rode on a 5,000 mile loop around the Andes two-up. 9 hp from a fire breathing 125cc. The first picture was taken at about 15,000 feet while trying to get over the Andes. Had to push while Anna walked a few of the steep parts since I neglected to buy extra carb jets to re-jet for altitude.

Second picture is near Valdivia, Chile were we lived for a winter on our boat at the yacht club.

It is the only motorcycle I have ever bought new, they are $1600 full retail from the dealer. Sweet little adventure bikes. Honda cgl125 pro.

 

[bpw]

This is a classic anchorage in Chile, notice lines to trees instead of an anchor to hold the boat in place. You can sail about 1200 miles along the southern coast of Chile stopping in perfect little coves every 10-20 miles with the exception of two places where you need to go overnight.

We hit a tree with our mast trying to sail out of here.

As you get south there is less vegetation and it turns into a sort of high alpine environment even though you are at sea level. Hard to see in this picture but we have three lines ashore plus the anchor to hold us in place during heavy wind. It blew hard enough one night in this anchorage to knock things off the table.

This picture was taken after hiking about an hour up a mountain from where the boat was anchored on the Beagle Channel in the deep south.

 

[bpw]

This is the Yacht Club Micalvi in Puerto Williams Chile. It is a sunken freighter sitting on the bottom that has had the wheel house converted into one of the coolest bars in the world. We lived here with our boat tied alongside for about 4 months.

 

[bpw]

We spent 3 weeks sailing to Antarctic on a friends charter boat, amazing place and we hope to go back with more time someday.

 

[gixxerjeff]

Moar pix pleeze.

 

[bpw]

Our friend Andy all geared up for some nasty sailing past Cape Horn on the way to Antarctica. You felt like the little kid in the snow suit every time you got dressed.

Anna at the helm trying to keep it together while we scream along in 45+ knots of wind, glorious sailing. It started snowing a little bit later.

 

[latindane]

Happy I opened this thread

Very cool to make a marina bar out of a sunken boat!

And I think I stood corrected on the sheet & traveller bit. I am probably remembering wrong (or just did it wrong all along!)

 

[bpw]

And I think I stood corrected on the sheet & traveller bit. I am probably remembering wrong (or just did it wrong all along!)

The traveller down and tight sheet is correct also, I normally go traveler down/tight sheet first, then if I still have too much power I start twisting the sail by easing sheet and cranking the traveler up. Twisting to dump power is quite inefficient since the top of the sail is not doing much except creating drag, much better to use all the other options first.

This is all very boat dependent as well, something lighter and racier than I am used to will work the traveler a lot to control power in puffs and lulls.

 

[bpw]

Very cool to make a marina bar out of a sunken boat!

Funniest part was the boat wasn't perfectly level so they built a level floor but the ceiling still sloped. Went from about 6'06" headroom at one end to 5'06" at the other. Lot's of drunken heads banged into that ceiling while dancing.

The bar would also partially flood during extra high tides.

Not my picture but this is inside the bar. The flags are from all the boats that visited over the years.

 

[Cycle61]

This is now officially thread of the year.

 

[bpw]

An ugly day on our way from the Falkands to Uruguay. Very nasty part of the world for sailboats, we had three gales in 14 days of sailing. The Argentine coast has very few harbors and most are difficult/dangerous to enter so we decided to skip Argentina and head straight to Uruguay. The tower on the back with the red telltale is our self steering gear, one of the most important pieces of gear on our boat.

The dog was very unhappy, she would just hide in the bunk with whoever was off watch and act miserable.

She was a lot happier when we arrived in Uruguay. Warm air, warm water, and plenty of beaches for digging and running.

 

[explorin]

Very cool....although i think id get tired of heeling over...the first time i stepped on a catamaran i knew thats what i would use if i sailed the world..

Ive had a hobie cat 16, and a laser.i chose the cat to sail every day..so much fun getting on one pontoon.

 

[BMW]

Great thread!!!

I thought I would contribute something small. Out in the Jeanneau 53 on Tuesday night...

 

[bpw]

Great thread!!!

I thought I would contribute something small. Out in the Jeanneau 53 on Tuesday night...

Nice, I sailed for a couple weeks on a friends Jeaneau 53, seriously comfy boat.