Roger, thanks for the details on the sail trim.  You had mentioned some
configurations where the boat would tend to heel further rather than round
up if conditions strengthen.  I'm curious, have you had any knockdowns in
cases where the helmsman didn't ease the mainsheet in time or feather up
into the wind when there's a sudden gust?  I'm always trying to read the
water for wind, but there are cases when things get busy and I have been
occasionally surprised by a gust when I was distracted.  I wasn't sure if
you had any memorable HOLY SHIT moments as you alluded to in your note.  We
always enjoy your advice and tales of adventure!

Jesse Shumaker
S/V Zephyr

On Mon, Nov 23, 2020 at 5:39 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <Roger_Pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Let me state up front that S/V Dynamic Equilibrium’s sail are not OEM
> stock and neither is the roller furler.  I have owned the boat since 1987
> and will tell you what I’ve ended up with after a lot of experimentation.
> The main sail is a very roachy, fully battened, club racing HD dacron
> sail.  It has 3 rows of jiffy reef points.  The headsail is a 150% genoa
> made of Bainbridge’s Cruise-Lam sailcloth in a Bi-Radial construction.
> Cruise-Lam is composite sailcloth with dacron outer layers, a Kevlar scrim,
> and a core of mylar.  The sail has a foam luff pad to enable it to take
> full advantage of the upper and lower swivels on the Harken Unit 0 roller
> furler it’s flown on.  As the winds build, my 1st move is to lower the
> mainsail’s gooseneck to the lower position.  The next step is to put a reef
> in the mainsail.  This configuration allows the boat to be sailed with the
> leeward rub rail in the water and virtually no weather helm.  However, you
> must keep your hands on the sheets and steer to the waves because a gust or
> helmsman error will put the leeward cockpit gunnel under water faster than
> you can say, “HOLY SHIT!”!  It will NOT round up in this configuration and
> the sails will not distort, spill wind, or save you.  Gusts cause so much
> acceleration that it sets you right down in your seat.  It’s really quite
> addictive!  Roller reefing the genoa down to ~130% will allow the boat to
> sail more up right, not scare my wife, and allow the autopilot to drive the
> boat.  The next step is to put a second reef in the mainsail.  As the wind
> builds, leaving the genoa at 130% with 2 reefs in the mainsail will enable
> maximum boat speed with minimal weather helm at the expense of constant
> required manual vigilance on the helm and sheets.  Roller reefing the genoa
> down to ~110% in these conditions will make the boat docile enough that the
> autopilot can still control it on any point of sail with the wind forward
> of a broad reach.  Roller reefing down to 110% is about as small as the
> Harken Unit 0 roller furler can reef the sail while still maintaining
> reasonable sail shape.  When the genoa is roller reefed down to < 110%, the
> mainsail needs a 3rd reef in order to balance the helm.
>
> In summary, reduce mainsail area or lower the center of effort first,
> either by lowering the boom, or reefing.  As the wind builds, the strategy
> of leaving maximum possible sail area forward of the mast will reduce
> weather helm, maximize boat speed, and pointing ability.
>
> Here on the Great Lakes, there is a lot of light air in the summer,
> punctuated by periods of heavy weather.  I cope by flying cruising and
> tri-radial spinnakers during the light air.  I found the 175% genoa was cut
> too heavy to fly well in light air and the sail could only be reefed down
> to ~130% before the shape was hopelessly compromised.  Remember this was
> with a Harken Unit 0 roller furler with upper and lower swivels and a foam
> luff pad.  The OEM roller furler and sails will not be able to do as well.
> But, my sail shape standards might be higher than yours.  I never found the
> 175% genoa to be particularly difficult to tack.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
> Windows 10
>
>