No looking if you're not up to it..... I can promise it wasn't all like this.
At 07:30 Urchin radio to warn that they will pass us on our port side
They didn't quite make it and dropped back.
Then they had another go at 09:50
How considerate not to take our wind, even if we had plenty we could spare.
We hove-to for 1 1/2 hours soon after, hoping to let the storm cells pass. It didn't work. The cells that followed totally surrounded us. Nice try:but no cigar.
What happens here guys? The Cat only has 1/2 a sail up so as to go slow in the choppy seas?????
ReplyDeleteChook, in heavy conditions you want only a minimum amount of sail area to propel you. If you have too much canvas on show you can be overpowered. The consequence of overpowering might be as benign as rounding up or it can be as sever as knock-down, pitch-pole or in the case of catamarans, capsize and they don't flip back like a mono hull yacht.
ReplyDeleteThe technical term is 'reefing' where sections of sail are actually restrained from being deployed. Urchin, shown here, has a furling jib so they just unwind the amount they want. There are generally markings on the sail so that the quantity of sail is known. Urchin's main slides up and down the mast and the sail controlled laterally by 'lazy jacks' so they don't spill out when the sail is dropped. Look closely and you'll see some things that look like strings. These guide the sail back down into the sail bag which is the black canvass you see resting on the boom. The main has 'reefing points' where the lower levels of the sail are held together to prevent more sail being hoisted.
Zofia does not have Lazy Jacks. Our main sail furls into the mast and is hidden away in there. We pull out as much as we need and again there are markers on the foot of the sail so we can gauge how much is 'out'. A furling main is a preference for cruising and short handed sailors but sacrifices sail shape since batons can't be used to assist with the sail shape. Racers will have batoned sails to improve on the aerodynamic properties of the sail face.
At the time that this photo series was taken we only had our head sail/jib up. In some circumstances we have only part out and we affectionately call that flying "frilly knickers" rather than grandmas more capacious bloomers!
Evz
♥ Thank-you Evz.♥
ReplyDeleteYes, that all makes sense.