Preparation for solo sailing offshore

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Joe Cooper

Just because you are sailing “alone” does not mean there is not a team behind you. Even if it is sailing across the bay…There is the yard, perhaps your S.O., mechanically or electronically inclined mates-we all have our Rolodex of favourite helpers who are “there” for us even if not aboard.

Rob Windsor, left and Hugh Piggin applying the logo for CBL insurance of NZL to Joe Harris’s mainsail.

Witness, Joe Harris, preparing for a non-stop circumnavigation on his Class 40 Gryphon Solo 2-(with an ETD of This Sunday 15 November 0900 at Castle Hill in Newport RI, if you are up for it) gained a new sponsor this week. CBL Insurance New Zealand (where else for sailing of course?) is according to their website, “…… the largest and oldest provider of credit surety and financial risk in New Zealand.”

CBLK insurance NZL logo going onto Joe Harris’s mainsail

Of course this happend “just in time” meaning this week. As with sailing, solo sailing and of course life, one must be ready to expect the unexpected & take advantage of opportunities. So this (Saturday) morning about 0700 I had a call from Hugh Piggin, (on the right) one half of Manuka SEM, the organizers of, amongst other events, the Atlantic Cup for Class 40’s and supporters of Joe’s voyage, looking to get into the Hood Loft in Middletown. He and Rob Windsor, (on the left) the boat manager for Joe needed to lay out the mainsail to get the CBL Insurance logo on the sail.

Last minute Logo layout.

So, inside of 24 hours to go with the boat all buttoned up for a lap of the Blue Marble, we find our two heros at the Newport Shipyard removing the mainsail, lashing it to the racks on the borrowed Shipyard pick-up truck, driving the two miles up to the Hood loft , laying the sail out on the loft floor, sticking the CBL logos on and reversing the process. Good goin’ guys and thanks to the CBL guys on Joe’s behalf.

With logo’s as with sails, measure twice, cut, or in this case, stick, once.

Updates on Gryphon Solo 2’s attempt at beating the present circunmavigation time for a 40 footer of 137 days will be presented here along with my two cents worth of interpretation.

Cheers

Sailing Seminars for this winter

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Joe Cooper

Seminars on sailing are a great way to keep the juices flowing in the winter. The menu below is a summary of the seminars I have already prepared. I can also develop custom seminars for dedicated audiences. Interested? Need to learn more?

Drop me a note joe@joecoopersailing.com and let’s discuss what can be done to keep your group fired up in February.

PASSAGE MAKING

Preparing for your next “long passage”: This seminar discusses Seamanship and 8 things to think about before you undertake any voyage so we don’t read about you in WindCheck. Regardless of the size of boat and the intended passage, whether it is to Block Is. Nantucket, Maine or Bermuda and beyond. The thinking needed is the same regardless of the destination. This seminar discusses key elements of the boat to be reviewed before leaving the dock.

Steering cables on a 40 footer mis-aligned. This will ultimately damege both the cables and the quadrant

The teering cables on this 40 footer are mis-aligned. This will ultimately damage both the cables and the quadrant.

Mis-aligned cables will wear on anything they touch.

FULL LENGTH BATTENS

Separating the hype from reality: Just what is the VALUE in a FB SYSTEM? This seminar discusses the aerodynamics behind the FB phenomenon, the realities for most sailors with “normal” boats, the hardware, its use, cost and the relative value for sailors.

Full Length battens CAN provide los of roach, but in this case there is no backstay. BUT this is a custom built boat intended to have no backstay but rather runners.

But in order to REALLY slide up and down easily demands a comprehensive look at the sail, mast and the sailing plans plus how YOU like or want to sail

In order for a FULLY BATTENED sail to REALLY slide up and down easily demands a comprehensive look at the sail, mast, the sailing plans plus how YOU like or want to sail.

SAILCLOTH AND SAILS

Separating marketing from facts to get to Value: A discussion of sail cloth, details to look for and why for various types of sailing. What does “Premium Dacron” really mean? Why every sail maker has “The world’s best sails” What’s the difference? Why the price spread? Woven, Laminates, fibers, molded, not molded, a glossary and guide to sail-maker speak.

Do you need a “high tech” sail fabric such as this laminated staysail on a 30 footer?

Or a woven material. What gives YOU the best VALUE for your sailing?

Or a woven material? In this case a full battened mainsail made from woven Vektron on a Beneteau 40.7. What gives YOU the best VALUE for your sailing?

CRUISING SAILS & RIGGING:

Options for sail inventory: How to set up your boat for your cruising goals, now and 5 years out. What you need, why and how to maximize Value without a boat full of sails.

A cruising kite is, after you get co mfortable with it a great value when sailing in medium air. The condition most passages are made in.

A cruising kite is really an easy sail to get comfortable with and it is a great VALUE when sailing in medium air, the condition most passages are made in.

A “Solent” stay is a good way to have a small sail without having to “change” headsails when the roller headsail is too much sail. They are easy to install and can greatly expand the wind speed you feel comfortable sailing, pretty quickly.

PREPARING FOR SUCCESSFUL RACING:

It’s not just wet sanding the bottom: A review of the steps the good guys take to give themselves the best shot at being successful.

Even for low key racing, the hard work is before you leave the dock. © Don Miller Photography. Bermuda 1-2 start. 2007

Even for single-handed events a team is an integeral component of the program. Spreading the passion for sailing to my son, as my dad for me.

THE AMERICA’S CUP:

How a 7-year old kid ended up in two America’s cups. A look back thru the history of the Australian challenges for the America’s Cup beginning in 1958. How Australia got into the act, how a 7 year old kid was infected with the disease and what it was really like sailing a 12 meter in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Cooper was the youngest crew in 1977 and the boat keeper on Australia in 1980-working for the syndicate for 18 months and sailing as Grinder/Sewer man.

One of the signature images that lured me to the America’s Cup. The 12 meter Dame Pattie practicing on Sydney Harbor in 1967. I was 12 years old.

13 years later: Crew members from the Australian teams were popular and coveted guests ar Newport summer parties.

13 years later: Crew members from the Australian teams were popular and coveted guests at Newport’s summer parties. The Australie Challenge, July 1980. The beginning of the end…..

A PASSION FOR SAILING: (NEW- First presentation at Black Rock YC, second to be at Stamford Yacht Club 28 Jan 2016)

A life spent sailing & reflections on key areas of sailing that have shaped my life: Family, community, independence, experiences & personal philosophy.

Early exposure to sailing set me on a course for a life time in boats.

Early exposure to sailing with my dad set me on a course for a life in boats.

Coming full circle–Coaching The Prout School, high school sailing team in Newport RI.

Coaching the next generation of young sailors is one of the most rewarding activities I do today

Mast bend and mainsail shape

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Joe Cooper

Bending the mast is a fast and simple way of managing the power on your sail boat

As discussed here mast-rake and mast bend are two different aspects of mast “tune” that affect the boats balance and so feel and ultimately performance. This essay discusses mast BEND. There is an element of headsail shaping connected to mast bend but we will get to that in future posts.There are other tools in the mainsail shaping tool box, but this essay is about mast bend

The Basics:

More wind requires a flatter sail

Less wind prefers a fuller sail.

Mainsails have shaping both across the sail (broad seaming) and at the luff, known as Luff Curve

This “curve” is intimately connected with the characteristics of the mast, and so, of the boat. There are differences in the amount of luff curve required between masthead and fractional rigs, masts with spreaders in line–that is to say where the cap shrouds are perpendicular to the mast-Or with “swept back” spreaders, such as many newer boats have.

Some Definitions:

Chord: Is an imaginary line between the luff and the leech

Depth: (and draft, camber & shape-They are quite synonymous and generally used interchangeably by Sailmakers in their jargon) is that distance, perpendicular to the chord line, at which the sail’s surface is furthest away from the chord line.

In the sketch below:

The line ZZ is the chord line.

The portion “C” is the chord LENGTH on the sail.

The distance “a” is the chord DEPTH (draft camber shape…).

The distance “b” is the POSITION of the draft measured aft of the leading edge of the foil which is in this case to the right of the image. Thus a/c is the draft and b/c is it’s position.

Chord (length) draft and location of draft are all depicted in this image.

Power: over and under (powered)

Power (force, energy …wind speed) is what gives the sensations you feel thru the wheel or tiller and via the heel angle of the boat. With headsails, managing the power is relatively easy: Too much power, then put up the small (er) one-Or more likely today either partially roll up the genoa or roll it up all the way and motor-sail.

Sail size and shape:

Having the right (sized) sails of the right shape for the conditions is, for those who prefer to sail for the sensations of how the boat feels thru the tiller/wheel, a key part of this sensation. Too much sail and/or sails that are too full makes the helm feel heavy and generates too much weather helm. In this condition the boat heels more than you want and always inclined to want to round up. This is of course unpleasant, occasionally quite noisy, slow and not infrequently intimidating for some on board.

The sensations of being underpowered are less dramatic, noisy, violent and so less intimidating.

Power on a sailing boat comes of course from the sails. Having the right shape in the sails is therefore key to getting the boat to “feel good” and sail well.

Managing the power

One tool in the box of adjustments available to sailors is adjusting the camber of the mainsail-What many folks refer to as the belly of the sail. Camber is the “depth” of a sail at a given point on the sail. (NB when we/you say the sail is blown out, usually this refers to the draft being further than 50% aft on the sail)

This picture shows me and a high school intern measuring the draft amount and location on a 420 mainsail strung up in the loft.

This picture shows me and a high school intern measuring the draft , the amount and its location on a 420 mainsail strung up in the loft.

The camber on any foil is expressed as an amount, at a location. So you might hear Sailmakers say something like…”it was 8% at 35% aft.” This means that what they were looking at was 8% of the fore and aft span (of the chord line) perpendicular from that line and that position was 35% aft, from the luff. Translated: the sail was 8% deep at 35% aft.

Another picture of working with Tristan discussing issues surrounding sail shape: Chord, draft position and so on.

Working with the intern and discussing issues surrounding sail shape: Chord, draft position and so on. This sail looks quite full because the mast is not bent.

So for example if the chord span (“c” above) was 10 feet and 8% of 10 feet is 9.6 inches so the sail surface was (“a” above) 9.6 inches away from the Chord line, and this point is (“b” above) 3 and a-half feet aft along the span from the leading edge.

So far so good?

Luff round

Now sails are not just triangular (Yes, mainsails have roach but many/most “cruising boat” sails have very little), the point is they are curved at the luff too. This is called, no surprise, “luff curve or luff round”. How much curve and at what position on the luff and how these points is determined are all components of the sail’s design.

On this J-30 main, the area of the sail to the left of the left hand tape is called luff round. There is a lot of it on a J-30 because they have relatively bendy masts, especially above the hounds.

Luff round and mast bend are intimately connected. If the luff curve and the mast bend “match” is correct, you have a 6-speed stick shift gearbox. If the mainsail luff curve and the mast bend are not mated, pretty closely, then you have a 1953 shift on the column three speed with no fluid in the transmission, as it were. It is really critical and the more performance oriented the boat the more critical it becomes. AND this is why having a back stay adjuster (and knowing how and when to use it) is a great thing to know, if you like sailing your boat, as opposed to being on while it is sailing.

Sketch of a mainsail set on a straight mast

Briefly stated, when you bend the mast, you can flatten the mainsail. A flatter sail is to be preferred in more wind. Flatter sails reduce power in the sail, that is reducing load on the tiller/wheel. When you bend the mast, in windier conditions you will feel the helm go lighter, all other things being equal.

Mast bend flattens the mainsail. When the mast is straight …”straight mast” the sail is fuller. When the mast is bent, as at point “a”, the luff curve gets pulled forward and so flattens the sail.

Mast bend on the 12 meter Australlia ion 1980

Mast bend on the 12 meter Australlia in 1980. The defender, Freedom is to weather.

The picture above shows the 12 meters Australia and Freedom coming off the starting line in one of the 1980 races for the America’s Cup. The Australians had fabricated a fiberglass top to one of their spars that would bend much more dramatically than an aluminium one. The top of the mast was controllable, apart from the regular topmast backstay, by “jumpers” and “diamonds” all controlled by hydraulics in the mainsheet trimmers cockpit. It gave the boat the abiity to have more mainsail and the rounder shape to the top of the mast was more efficient. In under about 9 kts of wind we were faster than Freedom. We won one race and were in front by 20 minutes when the time limit expired.

The large roach not withstanding, study the luff on the let. IT has a degree of "luff curve". This will match the mast bend on the boat and so be used to de-power the sail.

The large roach not withstanding, study the luff on the left. It has a degree of “luff curve” about 6 inches to my eye. This will match the mast bend on the boat and so be used to de-power the sail.

If you do not have any mechanism to bend the mast, consider adding a way to do so. For almost all boats there are a variety of pretty simple solutions. If you cannot find one or need help, contact me….It is not impossible that the money spent on such a set up will be good value with respect to making the boat more agreeable to sail in breeze and so less uncomfortable for all hands.

Headsails, 150, 130 what’s it mean?

Image

One of the most quoted yet least understood phrases used in discussions about headsails, their size, is the “LP”. Customers and prospects alike use phrases like 130, 150 or 100 regularly. But when I inquire as to their understanding of the number, it is rare for the average weekend sailor to get it defined correctly. It is actually very simple. The initials L.P. stand for Luff Perpendicular, usually written as LP. This is a dimension, but not an edge, of the triangle that is a headsail. Its definition is:

“A line drawn at right angles to the luff and that passes through the clew of the sail.”

The LP is drawn from the luff or the sail and passes through the clew. In this image, the line , parallels to the luff is indicated by the pencil. THe distance between the clew and the LP is "x" The percentage of LOP is then x/J

The LP is drawn from the luff of the sail and passes through the clew. The distance between the clew and the LP is “x” and the percentage of LP is then x/J.

The “size” of a headsail is determined by taking the LP length and dividing this number by the boat’s “J” The J dimension is, for the purposes of this discussion, is the distance from “the forward face of the mast at the deck to the intersection of the deck and the head stay pin at the stem head”. The J dimension and the LP are inseparably connected.

The LP number, this 150, 120 percent etc., is the length of the LP dimension divided by the boats “J”. So for example if the boat’s “J” is 10 feet and the LP dimension on a sail is 13 feet, the sail has an LP of 130%.

Two sails, for the same boat can have the same LP yet have different clew heights

In the image above, there are two sets of dashed liners. the red dash lines are the LP length.The green l one, long with short dashed between is the trim line. That is the axis along which the sail will want to sheet. It is worthwhile noting too that the LP and the height of the clew of the sail are connected only by the fact that both a low clewed sail and a high clewed sail can both have the same LP.

I often am asked about all the missing area at the bottom of the sail, with respect to a high-clewed sail. There is no area missing if the sail has the desired LP. It is merely that the clew is high rather than low. The area of a genoa is arrived at by the formulae: LP x Luff length x 0.5. A moment’s reflection will indicate that the length of the foot, the most common answer to my question “what is the LP?” is incorrect.

The clew height is a function of where the sail is proposed to sheet AND the LP for the sail. And these are a function of the purpose and use of the sail.

The length of the foot of the sail is a function of the LP and the clew height.

In the move image/sketch there are two LP lines the red dashed lines. They are the same length. You can see that there are however two clew positions. The clew positions are a function of the “trim” line, basically where on the deck the sail will sheet.

So, the height of the clew is governed by several variables but is driven by firstly what sort of sail it is, for what boat, for what use, where, and then so where the sail needs to sheet. This will be discussed in another post.

Family fun sailing

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Joe Cooper

For the past few months I have been coaching a fellow, Don Dwyer, in Branford CT (USA) in order that he and his very green crew could participate in Block Island Race Week. It has been a fascinating prices with lots of great moments.

He sent a team email letter out on Monday, which I reproduce here.

BEGINS

Team,

And I mean Team in every sense of the word, Amber Waves flew home under spinnaker Saturday ending a 6 month journey that by all accounts was a resounding success. In our third season of sailing we accomplished something that quite a few people questioned was possible. We met or exceeded every goal I set out, to be safe, to be inclusive, to have a ball, and to be as competitive as we could be. Of the many highlights that will feed our dinner table discussions for years two stood out for me.

Tuesday’s race in 20-30 knots of wind was described by others as “brutal”, “carnage” and “epic”. Ken Read, one of America’s most accomplished and famous sailors congratulated the Storm Trysail Club’s Race Committee for having the courage to hold the Round the Island Race in such difficult conditions. He said racing in those conditions would provide memories for a lifetime. I felt we sailed extremely well and I never felt we were outmatched by the conditions. I was concerned that after 5 hours of sailing we would be met by thunderstorms near the finish and that we didn’t have the experience to deal with a major equipment malfunction. But we were still sailing for the same amount of time as the leaders in the race in the toughest conditions of the day. I will remember that day of sailing forever. If you haven’t seen the article Joe Cooper wrote about us check out the WindCheck post on us.

Winning the start on Friday was one of the greatest thrills in my sporting life. We knew we couldn’t compete with the bigger, faster yachts or the more experienced crews over the course of the race. But nobody told us we couldn’t beat them to the line. We hit the line hard on the wind, going as fast as Amber Waves will go with a lot of yachts half a boat length behind us. What made this even more incredible that 20 minutes before the race I wasn’t sure we were going to make it to the race. The seamanship displayed by Sherb and Pat was off the charts. When the sheath of the main halyard gave way they re-rigged our running rigging and got us back to the starting area with 10 minutes to spare which allowed us to mix it up with our competitors. That was the kind of cool, calm, quick behavior we will need when we move up to blue water ocean racing.

On the competitive side, I think we did great. We beat at least one other boat on 3 of the 4 days we raced and we were ahead of some when we retired on Tuesday. The one day we came in last can be attributed mostly to splitting from the fleet. My bad. But all in all I think we sailed up to our ability every day and never stopped searching for more speed. We will continue to improve.

I want to thank all of you for your commitment to the project. On the sailing side, the core of sailors that showed up for practices, drilled, tacked and gybed till they were exhausted made it possible for us to take anyone that showed up out racing. On the non-sailing side, everyone pitched in. We ate incredibly well, had a clean home every day, everyone got shuttled where they needed to be and no one was never not on time. That effort made life so much better for Jan and me. So thank you everyone. In particular I want to thank:

Joe Cooper. It is the understatement of all time to say we could not have accomplished this without your leadership and guidance. The only way I will ever be able to adequately repay you is to spread the word that other sailors with limited experience seek out the kind of instruction we got. Thank you.

Wills and Zach. They sailed every day, did both deliveries and basically never stopped working. And did all that without being asked. We had no idea when these two fine young men came on the boat they would play such an integral part in our success or have such an impact on our enjoyment of the week. If I ever hear anyone bitch about the next generation I will point to these two.

My darling wife, Jan. The Boat Mom took care of everyone from the initial idea to the last drive home. There was nothing we did that Jan didn’t touch, run, or organize. I adore you.

So what’s next? Golf. For a little while. Amber Waves is likely down for a week or more. The old girl took a beating out there. We will resume Wednesday night Around the Buoys racing as soon as able and there may be a couple more shorter regattas but we will let this one sink one for a while before making any decisions. Don’t worry I will be in touch……

Don

Don Dwyer

http://www.guardianjet.com