While I'm used to wearing a PFD, that's the first I've heard of wearing
safety harnesses on a Rhodes 22.  Then again, I've yet to take Zephyr to a
very large body of water.  Hopefully there are some bigger adventures for
Zephyr in my future!

Jesse Shumaker
S/V Zephyr

On Tue, Nov 24, 2020 at 11:02 AM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com>
wrote:

> Jesse,
>
> Yes, we’ve had a few “HOLY SHIT!” moments, primarily when my sons were
> learning to helm and trim.  By the time they were teenagers, they both
> regarded S/V Dynamic Equilibrium as their own personal amusement park
> ride.  But, only when their mother wasn’t on board!  I always told them it
> only gets really interesting when the small craft warnings are posted!
> When dad put his safety harness on, their eyes would open wide and they’d
> scramble below to find their harnesses. They both knew firsthand that dad
> was nuts and there was some fun in store.  I like to wear my harness over
> my PFD.  When you’re sailing this aggressively, you frequently get tossed
> into hard “stuff”.  The PFD provides some cushioning.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> > On Nov 24, 2020, at 10:19 AM, Jesse Shumaker <
> jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > ?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
> >>
> >>
>