Blue Marsh Lake Reefing

[kingtoros]

The weather forecast called for 10mph sustained winds with gusts of 15mph coming from the North West.

We set out on my 2005 for the perfect (albeit cold) weather forecast, ~50 degrees Fahrenheit and good winds!

Raised the new main sail with the replacement #4 batton we lost on Elk River, from BWY (thanks for the fast shipping Todd). Added the boom vang straight away which helped flatten the sail and keep us out of the 30 degree heel territory.

Realized the Halyard was twisted (fixed while underway), and couldn't get it taught... Also realized first hand why bowlines are not used, despite reading in the instructions to not use bowlines! Will try a halyard knot next season.

We used the jib furler for the first time and sailed the jib when the wind died down a bit, but we were right to keep it furled. That system worked perfectly and as expected. My furling drum it set 90degrees to face the port side, this is a problem I will correct in the Spring.

We also practiced reefing this time out and it worked perfectly. We saw speed and heel decrease from 4.5mph/15-20 degrees to 2.5mph/5-10 degrees.

One oddity was raising the main once it was on the first reef point, still couldn't get it taught... Will follow the tips in other posts here to run a slide up and down and look for pinch points or something. I even used a block at the of the brackets (all BWY sourced upgrades) for extra mechanical leverage and we were certainly in the irons, but it wouldn't get taught...

Here are a couple of quick videos that show the rigging:


Pretty Accurate Wind Forecast:


We would lose wind when going behind the island and it would hit like a brick when we were out of it... overall a very exciting day!

[kmclemore]

Looks like a nice sail! I've sailed on Blue Marsh as well. The nice thing is that since it's a federal lake, you can actually stay overnight on your boat - you can't at PA State lakes.

Where are you in Phila? Ray (NiceAft) and I are out near Ambler.

-Kevin

[kingtoros]

I've sailed on Blue Marsh as well.

Kevin, It's Toros... We have corresponded via e-mail, I'm in Broomall

I asked you where you sail and you directed me to here (Blue Marsh Lake)...

[NiceAft]

When you raise the main, have you raised your boom to lessen tension near the top of the luff? Pulling on the topping lift is what rectifies the problem when I have that problem. Just remember to release the toppling lift once the main is fully raised.

[kingtoros]

When you raise the main, have you raised your boom to lessen tension near the top of the luff? Pulling on the topping lift is what rectifies the problem when I have that problem. Just remember to release the toppling lift once the main is fully raised.

Great question... I am using what I think is the jib halyard, or the jib sock halyard on the front of the mast as a topping lift. Not ideal, but it works.

We also noted the boom was markedly lower on the aft end than when the main was fully raised and not reefed. Next time we will shoulder the boom to take some of the pressure off. Thanks for the tip!

[NiceAft]

When you say “still couldn’t get it taught”, what are you referring to? Luff? Leech, halyard? Something else?

[kingtoros]

When you say “still couldn’t get it taught”, what are you referring to? Luff? Leech, halyard? Something else?

The Luff, if you see the video snippets, it's very obvious in the first where it's not reefed. A bit less obvious in the second.

I should have mentioned that at the beginning, apologies. Once adding the proper outhaul, I was able to get the foot perfect at the clew and the Reefed clew

[Jimmyt]

Make sure the vang and the main sheet are slack when you raise the main. Tension in either will produce the issue you had. Tight leech, baggy luff…

[kmclemore]

I've sailed on Blue Marsh as well.

Kevin, It's Toros... We have corresponded via e-mail, I'm in Broomall

I asked you where you sail and you directed me to here (Blue Marsh Lake)...

Getting old sucks… my memory is shot! We should meet up at some point, perhaps with Ray and his lovely wife, too.

I wonder… perhaps we should have a winter “Philly Macs” breakfast or dinner at some point? Not much else going on in winter, sailing wise.

[NiceAft]

That’s good for us Kevin. KoP may be a good halfway point for dinner.

[Be Free]

Realized the Halyard was twisted (fixed while underway), and couldn't get it taught... Also realized first hand why bowlines are not used, despite reading in the instructions to not use bowlines! Will try a halyard knot next season.

You live and learn. Halyard knots exist for a reason.

I've also learned (the hard way) to always double check the main halyard. I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally crossed it while rigging the boat.

We also practiced reefing this time out and it worked perfectly. We saw speed and heel decrease from 4.5mph/15-20 degrees to 2.5mph/5-10 degrees.

This was good for practice but if you are looking for reasonable speed you want to be in the 15-20 degree area. Above 20 degrees you will just be wasting wind (in my opinion) so that makes it more efficient to put in a reef. If you are heeling much more than 20 degrees you will probably see a slight speed increase when you reef.

This is from my log of one of my first few sails on my .

The wind was not as strong today but it was steady so I was able to experiment with how much heel is useful and how much is just a waste of wind.

The boat is very tender until the ballast tanks are above the water line. After that the boat it firms up and is very predictable. I could easily hold anywhere from 15 to 45 degrees at will. Here’s what I determined:

• 0-15 degrees the boat is very tender and most of the power seems to go into filling the sails and causing the boat to heel. Around 15 degrees it begins to move.

• 15-25 degrees seems to be the sweet spot with 20 probably being the best. Every increase in wind speed turns into a proportional increase in boat speed. I’d estimate that we were doing between 1/4 and 1/3 of the wind speed on a beam reach and between 1/3 and 1/2 of wind speed on a broad reach.

• 25-35 degrees is a waste of wind. If I allow the boat to continue to heel it does not go any faster. If anything it seemed to slow the boat down the more I allow it to heel. I don’t have any actual measurements. I was too busy with the main sheet to spend much time reading the instruments.
  Above 35 degrees hurts my ears. The crew yells too much and things fall off other things in the cabin. It is fun but in no way is it efficient.

[NiceAft]

Toros,

When you posted that you read that a Bowline is not as good for use on a halyard as a Halyard Knot, I was intrigued.

What happened?


I saw this .

[kingtoros]

When you posted that you read that a Bowline is not as good for use on a halyard as a Halyard Knot, I was intrigued.

What happened?

I don't think you can see in the photo, but my bowline is about a six inch loop. Causing the sail to be about 4-5" too low from the top when the knot hit the pulley. (Am I allowed to say pulley?) The block at the top of the mast... (just in case)

This is from my log of one of my first few sails on my .

So, I don't doubt your experience, and this is probably the most scientific logging I have seen for heel vs speed for our Mac's. Others may have done it, but hadn't seen it until now. I used to have a San Juan 21, which is very similar (but not as great, I think) to the .

I took my ASA 101 on a J boat here on the Delaware in Philly, and our instructor showed us verifiably that you we were faster at a beam reach than close hauled and heeled over. Any heel is letting wind out the top. Now that was a J boat with a fixed keel. Next time I'm out in steady wind, I will run a few tests to check this out for myself. Blue Marsh Lake is nice, but I need a longer course than the .75 nautical mile leg I'm able to do before turning to get any reasonable data.

That’s good for us Kevin. KoP may be a good halfway point for dinner.

Count me in!

Make sure the vang and the main sheet are slack when you raise the main. Tension in either will produce the issue you had. Tight leech, baggy luff…

I read this... and just... you don't think things are obvious until someone points to it and points to the bit o' drool coming from the corner of your dumbfounded smile ...

I will absolutely let out the vang and the main sheet next time, they were both, absolutely torqued down to steady the boom. Thank you for this

[Jimmyt]

I read this... and just... you don't think things are obvious until someone points to it and points to the bit o' drool coming from the corner of your dumbfounded smile ...

I will absolutely let out the vang and the main sheet next time, they were both, absolutely torqued down to steady the boom. Thank you for this

You shouldn't feel too bad. I was about to take my main to the sailmaker to have it modified when I figured out that having the mainsheet tight against the topping lift was causing the problem... But, the boom stayed centered..

Ignore all of the extraneous lines placed in an attempt to get the bags out of the luff.

[kmclemore]

That’s good for us Kevin. KoP may be a good halfway point for dinner.

Count me in!

OK, guys. I posted a thread over in the Destinations area...

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