About Joe Cooper

Australian-born, Rhode Island-based sailing coach and consultant.

SAILS-Mainsail measuring

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Joe Cooper

Measuring for a new mainsail:

Sailmakers require many more details than just the luff and foot length and the color of the sail numbers. Here is a review of three of the core elements of the 10-15 details that are needed for a mainsail

TACK/REEFING DETAILS.

Getting the small details right is an important part of the thinking that most sailmakers put into the building of sails. If the following details are not right, they can have a visual or practical effect on the sail. This post will focus on the tack, clew and reefing information sailmakers need.

The TACK & REEF set backs are taken from the AFT face of the mast.

The Tack SET UP is taken from the top surface of the boom, In this image, below, I can get the tack set back: This is the distance aft from the aft face of the mast to the bearing point (Aft side of the pin of course) of the tack pin known as Tack Set Back. We abbreviate this to the TSB.

In this photo, below, the TSB is 3 3/4″

Tack SET UP, is the same idea but measured vertically from the top surface of the boom UP to the bearing surface of the tack pin as seen below. IN this case the TS UP is on the order of 7/16″ and the TSB is about 2.5 inches. And yes this is a dinghy, but the principals remain the same

BELOW: The TSB is measured FROM the aft face of the MAST to the FORWARD side of the tack pin, the bearing surface of the pin. In this case TSB is 20 mm. or /3/4″

Below: In some cases the tack set up is zero, or is noted as being in line with the bolt rope as on this Halberg-Rassey 31 with, again, Selden spars. The tack is secured with string because the tack shackle was missing the day I was there. And notice also the distance aft of the mast the bolt rope is. This sail had full length battens and so that hardware pushes the sail ‘skin’ aft too.

BELOW: this is a detail of the tack area of a Saga 40 with a Selden Spar. In this case the boat will not use the ‘J’ Hooks because it has single line reefing.

BELOW: Reef Ring Set back on the same boat. In this instance the boom has a single line reefing arrangement where the luff reef line exits at the top of the boom and attaches to the reef tack. This naturally enough causes the bearing surface of the reef grommet to be some distance aft, like about 4+ inches in this case. IF the RRSB is too far forward, THEN the sail will drift aft until it is restrained by the reef line. IN this case it is most likely to place a heavy load on the slide immediately above the reef point. Worst case scenario, this slide will tear the sail.

BELOW is another version again on a Selden mast, of the same kind of detail. IN this case the line goes thru a block in order to reduce the (tremendous ) friction that single line systems have. In both these setups one needs to be careful to not grind the luff down on top the blocks on the top of the boom, or in the case of the version above, onto the tack fitting and related metal work as it is here. This was a test set up a the dock. We subsequently marked all the lines.

BELOW: These so called ‘floppy rings’ make it a lot easier to get the ref secured to the ‘J’ hooks, rather than trying to bend the cringle in the sail bent around the hooks.

I can also get the same detail for the reefing arrangement at the luff of the reef. The two inverted metal “J”s receive the luff reef ring. Called by Sailmakers the Reef Ring Set Back, RRSB. We would put “floppy rings” in the luff reef in this case.

OLDER WOODEN BOATS: With roller reefing booms. The details on these booms/goosenecks clew ends are a little bot more tricky. As seen below, the tack shackle is a long way aft, I have seen as much as 6 inches. IF this is not captured in the sail, AND the tack ring in the sail is not the right amount of setback, the loads really come on the first second sometimes third slide above the boom.

BELOW: this older Alden design has an original roller reefing boom from the 1950’s or earlier. There are two details here. ONE is the big Tack Set Back. There other detail is there is not reefing mechanism, no obvious and easy way to secure a reef in the mainsail

SO: Tack set back is that distance aft of the mast at which the bearing point of the pin that takes the tack load is located.

SO: Reef ring set back is that distance aft of the mast at which the bearing point of whatever secures the reef grommet takes the load.

CLEW details

12 meters and 6.5 meters

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Joe Cooper

Moving boats, always at night.

Maybe it’s just me but I seem to spend a disproportinate amount of time moving, going to or leaving with boats, at night. Wednesday night was a classic of the genre. I moved the Mini up to the Hinckley Yacht Services yard in Portsmouth preparatory to erecting the shed around her and the Ranger so I can continue The Quest to get the Mini sailing again. The night was drizzly wet, misty, dank and generally raw. It was the kind of night to sit by the fire with a good who-dunnit and a glass of Shiraz. The dankness and the weak yellow flood lamps reminded me of the first time I saw the rebuilt 12-meter Australia, in July 1979.

The fellow who had recruited me to be the boat captain, Lee Killingworth and I drove into the industrial area in which the refit had been done. The shed was your basic industrial put-it-up-in-a-day steel shed. It and a few clones were inside a 10-foot tall wire mesh fence in a neighborhood populated with similar homages to the rigors of small business manufacturing

July is mid-winter in Australia and Perth is on the water. The prevailing weather is from the west and southwest and so brings the harsh storms blowing up from the Southern Ocean bringing lots of moisture with them. And it is cold, raw moisture.

There was no sign on our shed. Warren Jones the Man Who Made It All Happen, in 1980 and particularly in 1983, had wanted to keep the boat invisible where possible. The dark/fog/mist/drizzle atmosphere was winning the battle of light versus dark against the yellowish lamps purportedly illuminating the parking lot.

I opened the gate and we idled up to the side door of our building. I can remember that scene as though it was yesterday. Just the two of us, long disciples of the Aussie Battle to win the America’s Cup, the atmosphere was full of expectation. It felt like the beginning of something no one had ever done, beat the yanks in the America’s Cup.

Tonight, at Hinckley it was the same kind of wet, chill, dank, bleak night, something out of Dickens perhaps. I towed the Mini up the Burma Rd. to Hinckley and pulled in along side one of the huge sheds they have. These storage sheds are the larger brothers of the ones in Perth all those years ago. I wonder what it is with the lighting that goes with these sheds? It is always this pale anemic yellow. Weak enough that you feel if you looked at it too hard the light would just dribble away, mingling with the runnels of water covering the ground and and simply extinguish itself.

Again as in Perth, the whole scene reminded one of a 1930’s Raymond Chandler gangster novel. You know, something like…..

There were no headlights on the black shape as it inched closer. It looked like a Caddie, but with street lamps few and far between here, it was that kind of neighborhood, it was hard to be sure. Then again, at this time of the early morning who else was it gonna be? The President?

In the dark it was hard to make out any particulars of the guy in the car. The one street lamp between him and the tenement was that sickly, anemic yellow color that the lamps down on the ship docks show. The car had stopped just outside the circle of yellow light drifting down from this lone lamp. The drizzle let up for a moment, but that really made no difference. The cloud cover was at about 3 feet anyway, so rain or not, everything was wet and the late fall air was chill. The entire scene was dank and depressing. At length he got out of the car.

He stood there, big and bulky, dense really, 250 lbs and 200 of it was not anywhere near his belt buckle. His hat was pulled down low over the eyebrows and the collar of his long black over coat turned up. The black of the coat matched the darkness of the street, as though they came from the same bin of blackness. So dressed, he was almost invisible outside that weak circle of yellow pinch-hitting for light. For fully a minute he stood quite motionless. He not so much looked around, but rather as if he was sniffing the air, taking in the mojo of the scene. If he were a cat, his whiskers would be twitching. At length who, or what ever, was at Twitch Control must have given him the all clear. He started walking, slowly with steady steps towards the decrepit and dim tenement.

There was no other human on the street but that was not a surprise. 2637 Broadview was the last, more or less inhabited, tenement on the block. It was so well known to the cops, they never did need the number. Just “Disturbance on Broadview”, said it all.

He stopped some feet from the door. Twitch, twitch. Slowly, very, very, slowly he unbuttoned his overcoat and pulled the lapels apart, just a smidge. He reached inside the overcoat and unbuttoned the three buttons on his suit coat. Very slowly, twitching all the while.

He raised his right hand up under his left armpit, and I don’t think he was reaching for his Lucky Strikes.

It was that kind of night.

So here we go again. This time I have the Ranger AND the Mini going into the Vince’s Bush Boatyard Plastic Hoop Shed, albeit with 12 feet of extensions on it to accommodate the Ranger. Maybe after I get her done and sailing I will be able to move boat boats around in daylight, sunny, warm, you know, a normal kind of day for sailing…

Back in "The Day". On a moorinmg in Newport Harbour after the New ENgland Solo Twin, 2003

Back in “The Day”. On the mooring in Newport Harbour after the New England Solo Twin, 2003

Two boats, six hulls, zero fish

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Joe Cooper

The latest from Spindrift 2 and IDEC as they rocket towards the Equator.

SPINDRIFT 2

Jules Verne Trophy record attempt Day 4

And remember, Spindrift 2 is THE boat that presently holds the 45 day record.

Position: 18 24.32’ N – 26 46.62’ W
274 miles ahead of the record holder, Banque Populaire V
Distance covered from the start: 2,254 miles
Distance traveled over 24 hours: 736.5 miles
Average speed over 24 hours: 30.7 knots

Sails: Two reefs in the mainsail, and the Solent
Area: Tradewinds of the Northern Hemisphere, Western Cape Verde, latitude of Dakar (Senegal)

Roughly the relative locations of the two tris and Henrik. Seems as though he is safe now.Spindrift 2 is to the north, IDEC is to the south. Spindrift is over three hudred miles ahead of Banque Populaire, (that is her own pace,) for the same number of hours sailed.

Message from Dona Bertarelli:

Chatting over a coffee-grinder

“Isn’t it strange that we still haven’t seen any flying fish?” I ask Seb Audigane, who is at his post at the traveller, ready to ease off the sail immediately if the wind picks up. “It won’t be long,” he replies.

The water temperature indicator shows 22 degrees Celsius. Is it too hot or too cold for these small fish, whose wings allow them to leap out of the crest of the waves and fly several hundred metres on the water’s surface?

We’ve not seen many animals since we set off.

“We’ve not even seen any dolphins, yet we saw some at every training session on Spindrift 2,” I tell Seb.

“We’re going too fast for the dolphins,” he replies. “Only bluefin tuna can swim this fast.”

But unfortunately there aren’t many bluefin tuna, so they are a rare sight indeed. The bluefin tuna are currently listed as endangered species, so protecting them should be everyone’s responsibility. We should stop eating them to help stocks recover so that our grandchildren can see them, and perhaps also eat them.

At the current rate of consumption, there’ll be none left. Not even in aquariums, because these migratory fish travel hundreds of miles, crossing oceans at speeds of 80 km/h (50 mph).

The word tuna is derived from the Greek thuno, meaning to rush.

Image from Spindrift 2 racing, so credit to where/who ever they got it.

With torpedo-shaped streamlined bodies, Atlantic bluefin tuna are built for speed and endurance. They can even retract their fins to reduce drag, enabling them to swim through the water at incredibly high speeds. They are top ocean predators and voracious feeders, eating herring, mackerel, hake, squid and crustaceans. Unlike most fish they are warm-blooded and can regulate their temperature to keep core muscles warm during ocean crossings.

Their incredibly beautiful metallic blue topside and silver-white bottom help camouflage them from above and below, protecting them from killer whales and sharks, their main predators.

At 2-3 metres long, the Atlantic Bluefin is the largest species of tuna. One was reported to be 6 metres long! It’s incredible to think that they can dive deeper than 1 km.

When Bluefin is prepared as sushi it is one of the most valuable forms of seafood in the world. The species is listed as ‘near threatened’ on the IUCN red list. So let’s all think twice before buying some at our local markets. They might not be as cute as dolphins, but they are worth protecting!

– See more at: http://www.spindrift-racing.com/jules-verne/drupal/en/log-book/jour-4-journal-eng#sthash.PkMVrxcN.dpuf

AND FROM IDEC:

IDEC SPORT has kept up a very fast pace. Francis Joyon and his men are already off the Cape Verde Islands three days after setting sail from Ushant. The Equator is merely 1000 miles away and the record on this first stretch of the Jules Verne Trophy is set to be broken.

IN SUMMARY:

The record for the stretch from Ushant to the Equator

also held by Loïck Peyron and his crew on Banque Populaire V (Now Spindrift 2) since 27th November 2011 – is:

5 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds.

At 0600hrs on Wednesday 25th November 2015,

IDEC SPORT was sailing at 32.9 knots at 17°32 North and 26°59 West, 90 miles West of the Cape Verde Islands. Bearing: south (201°). Lead over the record pace: 227 miles.

This long straight run will remain in the history books. The wind shadow of the Canaries is behind them and the steady NE’ly trade winds are blowing allowing IDEC SPORT to speed along at between 30 and 34 knots in the dark of night. This historic pace – two straight tacks down from Ushant – has given us some figures which are bound to please the six men on board. For example, they have now covered more than 2000 miles since leaving Ushant. You read that right. 2000 miles in just three days and three hours. To give you an idea of what that means, if that pace continues, they would complete the voyage around the world in around thirty days, but we know that getting the time down to less than 45 days is going to be tricky.

ALREADY 2000 miles in their wake

Logically at this very fast pace, the lead over the record time has increased. It was over 220 miles at 0500hrs this morning with IDEC SPORT approaching the Cape Verde Islands, which they will leave to port. Yesterday evening, the big red trimaran sailed by Francis Joyon, Bernard Stamm, Alex Pella, Clément Surtel, Boris Herrmann and Gwénolé Gahinet overtook the point Banque Populaire had reached at the end of her third day of sailing during her record run.

This morning, we can say that IDEC SPORT is 8 or 9 hours ahead of Banque Populaire. That is a lot after just three days of sailing. Remembering that at the moment IDEC SPORT is covering on average 715 miles a day and that there are just 1000 miles left to the Equator, it is likely that the record from Ushant to the line separating the two hemispheres (5 days, 15 hours) will be beaten and with a huge advance.

IDEC position versus Crois du Sud

Croix du Sud to the north EAst, IDEC to the SW, traveling at over three times the pace of the Class 40 of Henrik Masekowitz

Solo with two boats

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Joe Cooper

Joe Harris and Henrik Masekowitz are closing in on each other.

Joe Harris has been sailing for 10 days, Henrik for 12. They are both in the warmer climes now. Henrik has some fresh trades behind hm, while Joe is trying to get to the east against light headwinds.

It occured to me that they are both aiming for roughly the same crossing spot on the equator. Far enough east to give them some sea room too leeward vis a vie Brazil, yet not so far east as to be in the crummy wind area. For the purposes of this post I have put the crossing point as 30 degrees west, at the equator. The two screen shots below show Henrik has about 1350 miles to go and Joe has 1790. Hummmm

Track and distance to go, roughly, for Henrikto the Equator at 30 degrees west.

And for Joe, the angle is tighter and he has to be sailing upwind to get east at the moment. But we still have say 16 weelks to go….

Joe's track and distance to the Equator at 35 degrees West.

Joe’s track and distance to the Equator at 30 degrees west.

This is Joe’s update from 22nd

BEGIN

Status updated: 22 hrs and 52 mins ago (Mon, November 23 @ 20:43:12)

Hi-Not such a great 24 hours for Team Joey and GS2. Last night was a shit show of one major squall after the next, bringing major thunder, lightning, wind gusting up to 30kn and heavy downpours of rain upon your faithful captain. I was OK with the first couple of these, but then I became really wet and cold and the fun kinda went out of it. It was also a bit scary to be perfectly honest, although the lightning was up higher in the sky and not actually landing in the water. I remember once doing a solo delivery back from Bermuda and I got caught in a huge thunder and lightning storm (in the Gulf Stream of course- my nemesis), where I was pretty damn sure my mast was going to get hit by lightning and blow a hole in the bottom of the boat. With no other boats around, if you were a lightning bolt, why wouldn’t you hit the tall shiny metal object all by itself in the middle of the ocean?? Anyway, it missed me then and it missed me last night, thank God.So the rest of the day has been spent sailing in light air, upwind- something that GS2 does not really like to do. This causes me a lot of stress because I think I should be able to solve the problem- except I can’t- because it kinda “is what it is” as they say. The boat will go upwind properly in 12 knots of wind or more, but in 12 knots or less, we get sticky, because the boat is so wide and flat. And tonight we have 7 knots. Awesome.

I hear that fella Henrik the German is coming down the pike past the Canary and Cape Verde Islands and is enjoying fast trade wind sailing- the bastard. He has a much better downwind sailing angle as he approaches the Doldrums and Equator from Europe vs. the US. Just a fact. I should have a more favorable angle on the return leg from the doldrums to Newport in the Spring.

Break- break- more wind now, although still right on the nose, causing me to aim closer to the “bulge of Brazil” than I would like. Hopefully the wind will come astern more and strengthen tomorrow, so I can aim a little further East. For now, GS2 has undergone a warm weather transformation- with all the cold weather gear stowed away and the food and gear better organized for upwind sailing and life at a 20-degree heel and warmer temps.

Reading “The Martian” and loving it- the perfect book for me right now.

Have a good night-

Cheers-
Joe

ENDS

Jules Verne Trophy, IDEC blasting across the Bay of Biscay

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Joe Cooper

IDEC Sport

Sailing fast across the bay of Biscay, IDEC sport, Francis Joyon and his 5 shipmates are anticipating a fast, perhaps record, run to the Equator. This is their press release.

JOYON’S MEN START TO ACCELERATE

22 November 2015

Thirteen hours after setting off during the night from Ushant, Francis Joyon and his crew of five on the big trimaran IDEC SPORT are approaching Cape Finisterre, the north-western tip of Spain. There has been a huge acceleration since this morning. They can hope for a record run to the Equator.

YELLOW BRICK TRACKER screen shot showin t the positin of GErman sailor Henrik Masekowitz in his Class 40 Croix du Sud. Henrik is bound around the globe also, although at somewhat slower speed.

YELLOW BRICK TRACKER screen shot showing the positin of German sailor Henrik Masekowitz in his Class 40 Croix du Sud. Henrik is bound around the globe also, although at somewhat slower speed. Depending on the track the two big tri’s take, well one hopes they know he is out there. Thirty knots is half a mile a minute…

The NW’ly wind has strengthened again in the Bay of Biscay and as they hoped this morning, IDEC SPORT has stepped up the pace since mid-morning. At 1300hrs UTC on Sunday 22nd November, eleven hours after they got underway (at 02:02:22 last night), the commando brigade on IDEC SPORT is already approaching Spain at the latitude of La Coruna. Anyone, who knows anything about sailing, will understand the extraordinary ability of these huge three-hulled boats to cross the Bay of Biscay in half a day. They can still look forward to reaching the Equator in under five and a half days, remembering that the record for this intermediate stretch is held by Loïck Peyron and his men with a time of 5 days and just under 15 hours.

Marcel Van Triest: “ideal in the North Atlantic”

The router Marcel Van Triest confirmed at 1500hrs this afternoon, “Even if the beam seas are stopping them from going too fast, we can’t grumble. We can sail across the Bay of Biscay on just one tack and only one gybe is likely before the Equator.” For him, there is the possibility of shaving 15 hours off the record for this first stretch, meaning they could move into the Southern Hemisphere in just five days. What happens after that? “Let’s say there is a 75% chance of getting a decent time to the Cape and a 35% chance of doing better than Banque Populaire (the record holder, editor’s note) which was very fast on this stretch between the Equator and the Cape of Good Hope.” On top of that, “tomorrow evening, the lads should be happy, as it will start to warm up, which will change things from what they have seen at the start of this attempt. Advancing at 30 miles per hour on the direct route, you soon make it to warmer climes. To be honest, the weather in the North Atlantic is looking very stable for them and almost perfect. ”

(COOP-edit) GFS Wx map from Passage Weather dot com for 2100z Sunday 22 Nov. Looks to be fast and straightforward for the next 48 hours. Just remember, 48 hours at 25 knots is 1200 miles though…

Francis Joyon and his men could not be contacted today, which is completely understandable: in the rush that you can expect at the start of such a record attempt, which is as prestigious as this Jules Verne Trophy, the sailors have to find their footing and often have more important things to deal with than communications. Particularly when you set off and immediately hit nasty seas, even before you have got to the start line.

Averaging 30 knots

Apart from the heavy seas, everything is going smoothly for the men on IDEC SPORT, sailing slightly to the east of the direct route. After a cautious start, partly due to the light winds in the first three hours of the attempt when the seas were nevertheless high, when the priority was to ensure the safety of the boat, the crew on IDEC SPORT put their foot down, helped by a NW’ly air stream that is shifting to the NE and strengthening. That is why since 0800hrs this morning, the average speed has been around thirty knots or more, as opposed to 15-25 in the first few hours after crossing the line. Mathematically, the slight loss in comparison to the reference time has been significantly reduced going from around 40 miles this morning at 0800hrs to 15 miles seven hours later. Getting back on equal footing is a possibility tonight in the first part of this record, and any gap is in any case insignificant at this stage. Indeed, we can see that they have managed to sail 336 miles in the first thirteen hours of this attempt.

For the moment, IDEC SPORT has avoided all the hurdles in the Bay of Biscay. They have pulled this off bobbing around on cross seas. On board, everyone is settling in and the six sailors are fully concentrated on what they are doing: avoiding breakages / sailing quickly without taking too many unnecessary risks / sailing downwind to try to get a remarkable record time to the Equator / then continuing on their way like this in the South Atlantic. So far, it’s been going incredibly well.

In short

. IDEC SPORT set off at 02:02:22 UTC on Sunday 22^nd November 2015.
. The time to beat
Loïck Peyron and his crew (Banque Populaire) with a time of 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds.
. Deadline
To smash the Jules Verne Trophy record, IDEC SPORT has to be back across the line before 1544hrs on Wednesday 6^thJanuary.
. The crew
The international crew on IDEC SPORT includes just six men: Francis Joyon (FRA), Bernard Stamm (SUI), Gwénolé Gahinet (FRA), Alex Pella (ESP), Clément Surtel (FRA) and Boris Herrmann (GER)

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