Novices need help. Broad reaching our CP-16

[Greene]

We seem to have trouble when we move from a beam reach to a broad reach.  The boat ('84 CP-16) loses speed and the gib gets blocked by the mainsail and flaps like mad.  It may be that we are moving right through the beam reach to a run, but even on a run the boat seems to have very little power.  We understand that we will feel less wind when going with it, but our speed over ground seems to drop drastically as well.  Any hints or tips on improving our sail handling/speed  during a broad reach and run?

Mike and Brenda

[Steve Ullrich]

You are correct, you are going a bit past a broad reach and too close to a run if your head sail is blocked by the main.  Just turn a hair back into the wind. Your boom should be at about 45 degrees, maybe a bit past that, from the center line.  Ease the jib sheets a bit and let the jib pull. Easing the outhaul on the main will help on a broad reach or a run.  You should be able to get to hull speed on a broad reach and maybe on a run if you have decent wind to work with.  I seem to remember that our fastest point of sail should be a beam reach.  You will definitely lose speed approaching a close haul and I believe a run is the slowest point of sale.  You might need to rig a whisker pole so you can run wing on wing. A pole will help you fill both sails and keep the jib under better control.  Beware the boom on a run... a preventer can keep you from an accidental jib.  

We seem to have trouble when we move from a beam reach to a broad reach.  The boat ('84 CP-16) loses speed and the gib gets blocked by the mainsail and flaps like mad.  It may be that we are moving right through the beam reach to a run, but even on a run the boat seems to have very little power.  We understand that we will feel less wind when going with it, but our speed over ground seems to drop drastically as well.  Any hints or tips on improving our sail handling/speed  during a broad reach and run?

Mike and Brenda

[Joseph]

I agree with you and Steve: you may be just bearing away a bit too much. However, it may be trickier than it seems at first sight. If you define beam reach as the point of sail in which you feel the wind on the beam (i.e., the apparent wind), if the boat is moving at a good speed, then the true wind is aft and possibly in your hind quarters, which means that, although still trimmed for a beam reach you are already technically in a broad reach and probably not too far away from a run.  If the jib starts to luff and attempts to cross to the other side of the boom, you are definitely already in a run and the boat is about the gybe (the jib is a great indicator of an imminent accidental gybe because it always gybes first). In such situation head up a little until the jib stabilizes on the same side of the main or prepare-to-gybe. If you feel adventurous you may try running wing-on-wing by keeping each sail on a different side (the jib already gybed and the main still not) by steering the bow of the boat away from the sail you wish to fill (head up to fill the main and bear away to fill the jib - in other words: tiller to the boom to fill the main and tiller away from the boom to fill the jib). However, beware: since the jib is already gybed you now do not have any early indicator for an imminent accidental gybe... As for the most efficient trimming of a sail: except when running or extreme broad reaching, it is always to the point of luffing  but not quite. In other words, while holding course, let the sail out until it (or the inner telltail) luffs and then trim it in just to stop the luffing. If all this does not make any sense to you, or you need to understand better the difference between true and apparent wind, let me know and I'll try something different.

J.

[Steve Ullrich]

Joseph's scheme to remember which way to turn to fill the sails when running wing on wing is great.  A whisker pole will allow you to pay more attention to the boom, which is the dangerous piece of machinery in this maneuver. Rigging a preventer can greatly reduce the danger of an accidental jib.  If you are just running across the lake there probably isn't any real need for it as you can probably pay close enough attention to the boom for that long.  If you are going to be running for a half hour or longer you would be safer with the preventer, unless you can stay focused longer than I can...

If you feel adventurous you may try running wing-on-wing by keeping each sail on a different side (the jib already gibed and the main still not) by steering the bow of the boat away from the sail you wish to fill (head up to fill the main and bear away to fill the jib - in other words: tiller to the boom to fill the main and tiller away from the boom to fill the jib).

Here are a few links that might be useful:

http://www.sailingusa.info/sail_trim.htm
http://sailing.about.com/od/learntosail/ss/Pointsofsail_5.htm

[Joseph]

Very nice instructional links, Steve. Yes, I learned long ago that, when in a run, "tiller to the boom avoids the kaboom!"...  About the preventer, yes, but you got to be in a steady tack because it is a pain to de-rig and rig before every controlled gybe... I remember many years ago sailing an old 40 ft Endeavour of the Chapman School in an overnight passage across the Gulf Stream - from Stuart to Port Lucaya Marina in Grand Bahama. The wind was expected to blow steady from the NW at about 15 kts  (i.e., against the current, so some chop was to be expected). We prepared for a sail almost due South (to counteract the current) in a single long broad-reach/run in port tack. The rest of the crew, three rambunctious mates from Mississippi, disappeared down below at the first sign of large swells and chop and didn't emerge back on deck until we were moored in the Bahamas. I asked the captain to let me steer and he seemed delighted to not to have to do it himself. As I settled behind the wheel he proceeded to rig a preventer. I bragged that I did not need one, but he sentenced: "Before seeing land tomorrow morning you will have twelve attempts at accidental gybes" and went ahead to rig it, after which he disappeared to sleep down below. Or so I thought, because every time the rigging would shake in an attempt to an accidental gybe he would count aloud from down below: "SEVEN!" he would yell from his berth... The last one happened just before dawn and - yes you guessed it: "TWELVE!" he counted, as he emerged for the Bahamian sunrise after a restful night... The problem was not so much changes in speed or the wind but the following seas, which caused the boat to yaw at every crest passing under the hull. Later I learned from his own account that the Captain had done the passage 360 times...

J.

[Craig Weis]

Mike and Brenda, sounds like your crabbing into the wind too much. A common point of sail we all do.

No matter.
1~put sail tell tails on the head and jib sails both at the leading edge and trailing edge; bottom middle top.
2~Sail her loose. Let the sheet out till the main has that loose bubble vertically along the mast. Sheet in till the bubble just goes away.
3~The goal is to have as many tell tails flowing horizontal as possible. Some may even point 'up'.
4~Sheet in and sheet out with the main and I think you'll see the jib tell tails rise and fall.
Knowing what your looking for helps.
skip.

[multimedia_smith]

I agree with the previous posts... The whisker pole is not just for wing on wing.  I use mine to hold the genoa out when sailing on a broad reach.  The sheet normally pulls too far back and the genoa will be shadowed by the main.  If you hike it out with the pole, you can grab a LOT of power.  Just try to use a similar angle as the boom or just sheet it in untill it stops flailing.
Also... if you have genoa tracks, slide the car all the way forward when on a reach.  It will make a better sheeting point and if you use the pole, it will provide some downward force to keep the sail shaped.
I used mine last weekend and was zipping around the lake at 7kts plus...  Wheee!
Sailing is just starting up again here.
All the best.
Dale

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