Sea anchor or drouge to control the boat when the wind comes up.

[Citroen/Dave]

How do you single handle a C16 when the wind comes up and it is time to drop the jib and reef the main? I can't hove to and accomplish much.  I have a jib down haul to get the jib down but to use it and/or to reef the main, I have to leave the tiller [and outboard] putting the boat out of control.  I'm thinking a drogue would be the best answer to keep the boat pointing into the wind.  

I usually have an anchor rigged with the anchor stored in the stern and the anchor line looping the bow anchor cleat back returning to the stern.  I can deploy the anchor from the cockpit.  I'm thinking of tying a drogue on the free end of that anchor line so that I can deploy either from the cockpit, when the wind picks up.  

Any thoughts?

Does anyone have a source for an inexpensive sea anchor or drogue suitable for a C16?

[mattman]

Hi, when things pipe up you should shorten sail by reefing the main first. You can do this when close hauled with the tiller held in place by a bungee or what I do is heave to and hold the helm with a tiller tamer made from bungee. You can stand in the cabin and reach the control lines to reef the main. then pop the windward jib sheet to carry on. The next sail reduction will be the second reef if you have one. I have not gotten the 16 to sail well with just the main reefed, so I fly the jib alone around when it is 18-20ish. You don't need a sea anchor or drogue...but a couple of hours with an experienced sailor would be invaluable to you. Hitch a ride and best of luck.

[Shawn]

For an inexpensive sea anchor/drogue more appropriate for a 16 get a drift anchor from somewhere like Bass Pro. I keep one on my boat for much the same reason. I haven't ended up using it yet.

Shawn

[capt_nemo]

Citroen/Dave,

As you can read by the above comments, recommend you spend a little time and practice developing a workable technique. And, if you can grab an experienced sailor to go with you, so much the better. Some boats sail well in heavy air with jib alone. Try it, and see how your C16 responds.

Don't spend your money on extra gear/equipment until you really need to.

capt_nemo

[JBC]

Maybe it's just me, but I never had much luck with a jib down haul in strong wind, especially when sailing solo.  Much prefer a roller furler but as I've posted before, even that can be a handful in big winds.

Two suggestions:  1. Consider longer sheets and run through blocks with snap shackles attached where the current jib cleats are (perhaps with short lines tied to the blocks or fair leads), and cleat off the sheets to the rear cleats on the boat. Then route a long down haul back to one side of the boat as well.  Now jib sheets and down haul are at the helm.

2. When starting out to sail solo, put a reef in the main before heading out.  Often I sailed with reefed main and full jib just fine in most conditions, and if I had to furl the jib (in your case drop it), then the main was already reduced.  

But I echo others here. The 16 doesn't sail well on some points of sail on main alone. Changes the boat's balance and you can't move that keel to adjust! But at least it is easier to pull the jib down with a down haul than wrestle with the main.

[Mike]

A tiller tamer is a worthwhile addition...makes going forward a much safer process for reefing jib or main.  It also allows moving about for coffee, charts, short trips to the cabin a breeze when single handed.

[Shawn]

Tiller tamer can work great but if the wind/waves really picks up it won't keep a boat pointed into the wind on its own (at least not for long) while one is moving their weight around trying to reef or drop sails. A tiller pilot can do this, assuming the wind doesn't shift. But without that some kind of sea anchor could be useful. I've had a couple of situations where I probably should have used it to keep the boat in irons while dealing with sails.

Shawn

[Duckie]

My experience with heaving to has been spotty at best.  So far I have not gotten my CP 16 to heave to with the genoa.  With the genoa backed it stops any wind from getting to the main sail, so they can't work against each other.  It may be that with that particular head sail letting the main fly and balancing out the genoa and rudder would be my best bet.  However, if the winds are shifty and gusty at the same time heaving to is a crap shoot in my estimation.  I have thought about a drogue to hold the bow to wind if I need to go forward to work on something that could take a while,  like a jammed furler.  I can certainly see the value of at least carrying one just in case as it will take up little space and could help you out in a jam. 

Al

[BruceW]

Heave to is letting main go to lee, and holding the tiller over, with backwinded jib.

I heave to in order to reef, or lower main. I have done this with CP 19, Suncat (even no jib, it can be done!), P 21, Slipper 17 and CP 23. Seems like it should work.

[Craig]

I have never had a problem with a jib downhaul dousing the jib even in strong winds. Head up, release the lee sheet and use the downhaul to drop the jib. Once it is down cleat off the downhaul and haul in both sheets again and the jib will pretty much stay put. 

[MaritimeElevation]

I second the technique stated by "mattman". Practice practical seamanship, no need for complex offshore gear in waters appropriate for a CP-16.

I do exactly the same at Mattman using a bungee that is tied between the stern cleats and attached to the tiller via a clove hitch. After a tack to heave-to, I can adjust the clove hitch to keep the tiller pushed to leeward and ease out the main until the sail just de-powers. I can then stand in the cabin to reef the main. I do this all the time single handed. I regularly sail single handed in 20-25 kts on a 135% 6.4 oz jib (CP-16 MK1, smaller than a 135% on a MK2) and a stock main with two sets of reef points that I added at 12% and 24% up the luff. With the main on the deep reef and the 135% jib I can VERY comfortably sail on all points in 20-25 kts.

I find that the CP-16 heaves-to quite well with only a small amount of fore-reaching (headway).

[Duckie]

I guess this just shows how different boats need different things.  My weekender heaves to like a dream with the stock working jib and main working against each other.  Because it is such a small boat I can heave to without tacking.  I can simply haul the jib over by hand to back wind it and sheet out the main a bit and I am in business.  This is my first boat with a sizable head sail and I am still wrapping my mind around what it can do.  What I have found is that any boat will wander if the wind clocks around on you while hove to.  I don't remember a day sailing except for one notable day that the wind didn't wander pretty significantly and frequently.  I guess that is just the local condition.  Next year I intend to straighten out heaving to with the compact as one of the first things I work at. 

The last time I was out in the harbor I passed a guy that had hooked down to drop and stow his sails.  I figured that he had some kind of problem, but he didn't and was simply taking his time to get it done.  I don't think I would want to go through the trouble to drop anchor for just that, but something to hold the boat mostly in place that can be hand deployed might be the trick.

Al

[Pacman]

I have never had a problem with a jib downhaul dousing the jib even in strong winds. Head up, release the lee sheet and use the downhaul to drop the jib. Once it is down cleat off the downhaul and haul in both sheets again and the jib will pretty much stay put. 

+1 on the jib downhaul.  My C 16 has a jib downhaul made of para cord and it works flawlessly every time under a wide range of conditions.

Regarding high wind sailing, my C-16 sails fine in some pretty impressive wind with the small jib and a reefed main.

If I am not feeling in control, heaving to "parks" the boat securely and safely until things settle down.

I would not want to be stuck out in the water in high winds with my sails down because the bare mast has windage and weight aloft that adds to the instability.

Sea anchors and drouges can be useful if you are running downwind and want to slow the boat but that is most often done where you have plenty of sea room to allow you to run downwind until things settle down.

Again, if conditions deterioriate I prefer to heave to and wait in place for things to blow over. 

[mattman]

Craig, The mast adds stability. After the Fastnet race of 79, stability was looked at to determine what factor stability had in contributing to the loss of life-there was growing concern about modern hull shapes being less seaworthy and promoting difficulties-meaning wider beams carried well aft and lighter displacements. Subsequent capsize studies demonstrate that the mast increases the moment of inertia-a roll happens quickly and the mass of the mast inhibits the roll. Here is a link

http://www.yachting.org.au/sport-services/safety/major-incident-reports/1979-fastnet/

btw what do you consider "pretty impressive wind" just curious...

Happy Sailing