Maiden voyage and my impressions

[Southwesternwinds]

I finally put my Legacy in the water in a 860 acre inland lake, Paw Paw Lake, SW Michigan.  My friend was going to sail with me but he got stung by a wasp and had to go to the Dr. so I soloed my first Legacy sail.  I rigged , launched, sailed, and loaded boat on trailer by myself.  A lot of work without a second hand.  I had to step my mast twice because my jib halyard worked its way up beyond my reach.  lol   I put my sails on before I launched the boat while still on the trailer, not sure if that is the best way or not, but it worked.  I powered away from the boat ramp with my 55# thrust Minn Kota.  Pointed my bow into the wind let my center board down, and  placed my rudder down.  I raised my Main sheet and it started to get stuck until I got the bow back into the wind and it went up the rest of the way.  I started to move forward so I went back to pointing bow into the wind to get the jib sheet up.  Now comes the fun.  I had a little trouble with getting the sailboat to keep moving, but I blame that on my inexperience and this lake has trees that line the lake and can cause some wind shadowing.  Once I had a few tacks past me I started to really feel the response of this little pocket cruiser.  How the main is rigged off the back bar, makes me cross my hands when I'm steering and using the main sheet line.  I found out in a hurry not to cam lock the mainsheet line.  Hehe, I thought I was going to take the lake into the cockpit with a few gusts with the mainsheet locked into the clamcleat, but fortunately the boat steered up wind and saved me from that catastrophe.  Over all I am very pleased with the responsiveness of this little boat.  With some practice, I can see this being my favorite sailboat.  I sailed back close to the dock and brought my sails down before I motored up to the boat dock.  Again, I turned into the wind and lowered the sails, unconnected them and placed them in the cuddy. I pulled up my center board and slowly moved to the dock with my Minn Kota trolling motor.  Next, tied off the boat and brought the trailer around to load the sailboat.  What a nice trailer, the folks setup the trailer perfectly for launching and retrieving the sailboat.  I'm looking forward to my next day on the lake, to gain more confidence and experience with this fine sailing Legacy. 

[Bob23]

Congrats, SW: Sounds like you had a wonderful first sail. I've never sailed a Legacy before but have seen them at boat shows. Keep up the good writing. Any photos? Not that I should be the one to ask-never learned how to post 'em here.
Bob23 in NJ

[Salty19]

Congrats!

Don't worry too much about cleating the mainsheet.  I've never sailed the legacy, but I believe they are similar in nature to the 16 in terms of how they sail.

That is to say they heel over a bit then highly resist further movement once at a certain point.   The novice sailor (are you a beginner?) becomes uneasy when this happens but trust me she won't blow over.  I had to TRY to bury the rail on the 16 (with a genoa, sitting to leeward and a foiled rudder). One a few occasions with strong gusts it would heel suddenly and "feel" like it was going to go over, but nay it will not.  You need strong gusts and bigger waves to knock 'em down.

My brother, a novice, bought my old 16 and felt the same way.  After some time in various conditions, he does realize it's not going to tip over.

Have fun on her!  And nice boat!

[brackish]

Hey sounds like a great maiden voyage!  Know what you mean about the wind "shadowing"  All my early experience was on the Gulf where winds tend to be steady both in intensity and direction.  Now sailing primarily on a long narrow lake with a lot of fingers winds tend to be very inconsistent, particularly when passing one of the fingers.  But if you learn your boat in those conditions, tends to make you a better sailor, more reactive to condition changes.  I went yesterday and beat up the lake for a couple of hours, hard work single handling with high winds took a reef in both main and jib.  Then turned around came down wind, wing and wing, still reefed, five knots, turned it over to the autopilot, relaxed and ate lunch.  Very nice.

[Southwesternwinds]

Congrats, SW: Sounds like you had a wonderful first sail. I've never sailed a Legacy before but have seen them at boat shows. Keep up the good writing. Any photos? Not that I should be the one to ask-never learned how to post 'em here.
Bob23 in NJ

Thanks Bob, I plan on sailing this weekend.  I post some pics. once I figure out how to  .

[Southwesternwinds]

Congrats!

Don't worry too much about cleating the mainsheet.  I've never sailed the legacy, but I believe they are similar in nature to the 16 in terms of how they sail.

That is to say they heel over a bit then highly resist further movement once at a certain point.   The novice sailor (are you a beginner?) becomes uneasy when this happens but trust me she won't blow over.  I had to TRY to bury the rail on the 16 (with a genoa, sitting to leeward and a foiled rudder). One a few occasions with strong gusts it would heel suddenly and "feel" like it was going to go over, but nay it will not.  You need strong gusts and bigger waves to knock 'em down.

My brother, a novice, bought my old 16 and felt the same way.  After some time in various conditions, he does realize it's not going to tip over.

Have fun on her!  And nice boat!

Thanks Salty! I was sailing in 8-10 mph winds with some gusts up to 15.  It just seems weird with holding the tiller in my right hand and the left hand crossed over holding the main sheet line.  With the 400# keel displacement the Legacy gives me more comfort sailing then just a swing keel 

[Southwesternwinds]

Hey sounds like a great maiden voyage!  Know what you mean about the wind "shadowing"  All my early experience was on the Gulf where winds tend to be steady both in intensity and direction.  Now sailing primarily on a long narrow lake with a lot of fingers winds tend to be very inconsistent, particularly when passing one of the fingers.  But if you learn your boat in those conditions, tends to make you a better sailor, more reactive to condition changes.  I went yesterday and beat up the lake for a couple of hours, hard work single handling with high winds took a reef in both main and jib.  Then turned around came down wind, wing and wing, still reefed, five knots, turned it over to the autopilot, relaxed and ate lunch.  Very nice.

Hey Brackish,  sounds like you had an awesome sailing day too!  I'm looking forward to my next sail which I hope happens this weekend.  I think I need to make one of those rope setups that holds the tiller in place while I make adjustments on the boat. 

[gmerrill]

Hey Fellow Legacy Owner

  I haven't looked at the sight recently, was really thrilled to some some input from some legacy owners.
In regard about your boat and it's capabiltiy.  My brother and I took our rig out in some 16 knot sustain and
20 to 25 gusts and you had to pay attention but the boat was never in any trouble for as being unstable.
Not sure long term how it would affect wear and tear over a period of time,  but from the get go the folks at
at compac told this boat was a stable boat with a lot of capacity.  That being said i would keep it inland on lakes
and bays to avoid high waves.  glad to hear you are enjoying your legacy and i hope you get to sail it alot

greg

[Southwesternwinds]

Hey Fellow Legacy Owner

  I haven't looked at the sight recently, was really thrilled to some some input from some legacy owners.
In regard about your boat and it's capabiltiy.  My brother and I took our rig out in some 16 knot sustain and
20 to 25 gusts and you had to pay attention but the boat was never in any trouble for as being unstable.
Not sure long term how it would affect wear and tear over a period of time,  but from the get go the folks at
at compac told this boat was a stable boat with a lot of capacity.  That being said i would keep it inland on lakes
and bays to avoid high waves.  glad to hear you are enjoying your legacy and i hope you get to sail it alot

greg

Thanks Greg for your sailing input with the Legacy.  Hoping to get a few more sailing days before she has to be stored for the winter months.  We had 12' waves on Lake Michigan last weekend.  Way to much for the Legacy,  hehe.  Take Care,

Barrett

[Bob23]

A bit off topic here but, Brack- I just accidentally gave you a negative karma. It was an accident- I was pointing and clicking where I shouldn't have. Man, I feel bad...I've never given anyone a negative karma. CaptK or Newt: How to I remove it? Sorry again...shoot! I hate when I screw up like that!
I know! I'll cancel it out by giving you a positive!
Bob23- the technologically challenged.

[Unclemike]

Wow-sounds like a great adventure. I don't think I'd be able to handle all that by myself. I also have an electric motor and am a bit uneasy about winds blowing me into docks, boats, etc. Yep, attach your sails before you drop her in the water. Wrap a couple bungees around the sails to keep them from sailing away until you're ready. You may consider installing a downhaul for your jib so you can lower it easier and faster. There are some posts around her for rigging on up. Great report-thanks for the adventure!
Uncle Mike