4 Questions from a true CP-16 Rookie

[ChuckD]

Before my first sail, I want to make sure everything is in order (including self). I noticed a few things as I practiced hoisting the sails. Please correct me if I'm not using the rights terms. And thanks!

1) See picture 1. Where the boom attaches to the mast, someone placed a cleat. Is this to let the boom sit a little higher? It's a bit funky securing the boom to the cleat to prevent it from riding up. Just cleat it there & be quiet about it?
2) See picture 2. There are 3-4 eyelets running up the mainsail leech. Are these for future reefing? (There are currently no reefs in the sail.)
3) I think I read on the forum that - when fully deployed - the rudder should snap into place. Is that correct? Or should should it be allowed to swing/kick up according to speed/depth? (If I tighten the clamp, it has no effect on the position of the rudder.)
4) The head of the mainsail connects to an uphaul shackle. The head of the jib currently gets knotted. Should I add a shackle?

Thanks a ton! Looking forward to getting wet soon!
Chuck

Picture 1



Picture 2

[Salty19]

Welcome to the world of Com-pacs and the forum!  See below for in line replies. Others might pipe in with more details.

Before my first sail, I want to make sure everything is in order (including self). I noticed a few things as I practiced hoisting the sails. Please correct me if I'm not using the rights terms. And thanks!

1) See picture 1. Where the boom attaches to the mast, someone placed a cleat. Is this to let the boom sit a little higher? It's a bit funky securing the boom to the cleat to prevent it from riding up. Just cleat it there & be quiet about it?

Nope, the cleat is to secure the downhaul which is the line showing in pic #1.  You free this line, pull the main halyard (what you call an up haul) all the way up, then tie the downhaul line to the cleat.  Loose for light wind, tight for stronger winds. The cleat is original factory configuration.

2) See picture 2. There are 3-4 eyelets running up the mainsail leech. Are these for future reefing? (There are currently no reefs in the sail.)

I guess I don't see an eyelet except at the clew.  If there are indeed brass eyelets running up, they are for what's called slab or jiffy reefing.  A line is supposed to go though them and secure the eye to the boom.
The white plastic piece with line is the leech line that is used to alter the shape of the leech.Frankly I don't see a a lot of value in adjusting it in your stage of learning to sail.  Having 3 or 4 of these would be unusual, so I'm guessing you mean brass eyelets.  There should be others along the luff edge matching the height if they are truly reef points.

3) I think I read on the forum that - when fully deployed - the rudder should snap into place. Is that correct? Or should should it be allowed to swing/kick up according to speed/depth? (If I tighten the clamp, it has no effect on the position of the rudder.)

No, it won't "snap" into place but rather the rudder will hit the mount and prevent it from moving any further forward. You should let the rudder go all the way forward as far as it will go, then tighten the bolt.  If you hit something, it will probably kick up and stay up, requiring you to loosen the bolt and retighten once the rudder is forward again.  If you feel it hit something and suddenly have a lot of weather helm, the steps to adjust it will be needed ASAP.  This can be a real pain in the kisser since you're leaning over pretty far in the water rather than at the boat ramp.


4) The head of the mainsail connects to an uphaul shackle. The head of the jib currently gets knotted. Should I add a shackle?

Well, functionally it makes no difference but I do like shackles because they are quicker to attach, prevents the jib halyard from entering the block (or failing through), and perhaps more secure. I guess it depends on how good of a knot you make.  You can certainly use a knot but just make sure it's secure.  I ran a knot for years on my 16 with no problems.

Thanks a ton! Looking forward to getting wet soon!

Have fun out there!
Chuck

Picture 1



Picture 2

[mattman]

As far as number 2,  the loop and cleat on the leach of the sail is a leach line, slightly tighten this if the leach flutters, do not hook it too much. It is not a reef point. A pic of the whole main would help. best of luck.

[Eric]

Hi Chuck, make sure your mainsail is raised all the way up before you do anything, mine wasn't going quite to the top which was pointed out to me by a couple of friends at our marina.  What we found was the halyard had been spliced on the end with a larger diameter rope so it wouldn't go over the top  ofthe mast.   I mention this because it looks like your downhaul cleat is to close to the boom it your photo.

Something else that helped me was after I had my mainsail raised I unhooked the boom topping lift and put it on a cleat on the mast, this let the mainsail hang down all the way in the back as it should.  You just have to remember to rehook it before dropping the sail.

Sailing is a learning process, that's what makes so great.

[ChuckD]

Thanks, guys!
Eric, you're right - my mainsail was not hoisted all the way up. That will help!

Main
How do I douse the main without the slides falling out of the track? Maybe put a band around the mast just above the entry? (Or maybe this won't be an issue when I get my sail/boom up all the way.)

Rudder
It appears my rudder bolt doesn't tighten enough to secure the rudder in it's fully-forward position. The rudder swings freely. I'll need to work on that.

Hey - thanks again!
Chuck

[Eric]

Chuck, you can tie a line around the mast to stop the mainsail from coming out of the slot.  Compac sells a stop that has a thumb screw on it for that purpose, I think it is about 15 dollars.

[nreamer]

This is a great thread!  Very informative and I don't even have a 16.  I think there are truly "no stupid questions asked" on this forum.  Sorry, I know this is not on topic, but it just struck me -- Wow, these guys are really jumping in to help.  No attitudes, just help.  Cool!

[Craig]

Just as it should be! No bad attitudes tolerated here. An oasis of real friendship and camaraderie!

[MHardy]

Chuck,
As Eric mentioned above, a sail stop is the way to go IMO. I have some version of this on my 16:

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/davis-instruments--sail-track-stops--P002_068_001_505

[ChuckD]

You guys are great!
Thanks to you, I was able to conquer my <all the above> rookie issues today!

My goals:
. A couple more days of hoisting/dousing/etc confidence-building, then
. Be under sail by next Friday - solo

Here's to ya!
Chuck

[mikew]

Chuck, help with #1-it looks like the downhaul cleat, normally about 6 " up from the bottom of the mast. You can loosen those
screws and slide the cleat up or down and retighten. The cleat is screwed into a piece of tubing with self tapping screws and can slide.
Normally you would hoist the mainsail as high as possible then use that line at the bottom of the gooseneck in the picture and
Pull down and tie to that cleat to tension the front of the main sail( luff). A tip - before I hoist main to keep the boom as high as possible and out of the way I take that same downhaul line on the gooseneck and pull it UP and short and tie it to one of the
side mast mounted cleats. After you raise the mainsail, then tie the down haul line to the lower cleat.
Rudder- you can keep this pivot somewhat loose, the rudder is made longer then the bottom of the keel so in skinny water you will
Feel  the rudder hit bottom first ,  then head for shallow water to prevent any keel damage.

Mike

[ChuckD]

Mike - thank you!
I learn best when I... ahem... screw up.
I realized today that my main sheet was too tight to let me raise the mainsail all the way up. Duh! Once I released it, she was happy!

And if she's happy...
Chuck

[mikew]

No problem Chuck, I owned a 1981 Cp-16 and now a 1983 one. Ask any questions you need.
Mike

[Eric]

You guys are great!
Thanks to you, I was able to conquer my <all the above> rookie issues today!

My goals:
. A couple more days of hoisting/dousing/etc confidence-building, then
. Be under sail by next Friday - solo

Here's to ya!
Chuck

Chuck, have you sailed before?  If not you may want to have someone who has go along with you. There's really no substitute for hands on training, and if you should get into stronger winds you'll need to know what to do, in a quick and calm manner.

[skip1930]

" 1) See picture 1. Where the boom attaches to the mast, someone placed a cleat. Is this to let the boom sit a little higher? It's a bit funky securing the boom to the cleat to prevent it from riding up. Just cleat it there & be quiet about it? "

1~Pull sail clean to the top-0-mast. Move that cleat down the mast's slot as far as you can and still tie a line on the cleat. Push the boom/goose neck down the mast's slot as far as the sail will allow.  This cleat will become the tac for that line tied to the bottom of the goose neck. This 'down haul' line will hold the boom down. I see you have a 'topping lift' to hold the boom up without a sail pulled up.

2~Do yourself a favor and buy a 1/4 inch 'sail stop' with a comfortable thumb screw and place that sail stop under the goose neck. This holds the boom up when the sail is down. Next buy a second sail stop and put that in the mast's slot to keep the sail's carts from falling out of the mast's insertion slot. [keep the sail in the mast slot above the boom. I don't know if you keep your sail flaked on the boom and covered for storage]

" 2) See picture 2. There are 3-4 eyelets running up the mainsail leech. Are these for future reefing? (There are currently no reefs in the sail.) "

1~On a CP-16 you'll likely never reef the main ... but best guess is those eyelets allow the shortened leech to be tied to the boom.
My eyelets have a ready reef line, knotted on both sides of the eyelets and these lines just hang down on the sail. If I need to reef the lines, they are there.

" 3) I think I read on the forum that - when fully deployed - the rudder should snap into place. Is that correct? Or should it be allowed to swing/kick up according to speed/depth? (If I tighten the clamp, it has no effect on the position of the rudder.) "

1~No snap. If your fitted with the original factory aluminum square-slab rudder ... yes it's designed to kick up for gunk holing or when you run aground, or become stuck in seaweed, ect.
Me? [before I replaced this rudder with a foiled rudder on my CP-19] Push that rudder under the transom as far as you can and tighten the bolt as much as possible.
Rudder kicking up is such a pain that I drilled a hole clean through everything and bolted the rudder down. If the rudder has kicked up and the O/B engine is running the prop will chew into the rudder when turning to port. Keep the rudder down ... fully.

" 4) The head of the mainsail connects to an up-haul shackle. The head of the jib currently gets knotted. Should I add a shackle? "

Sure, use a swivel shackle or a shackle that has been factory bent/twisted 180 degrees.

This is a mast head sloop rig. The halyard for the main goes up the front of the mast and through the sheaves and back down the back [slotted side] of the mast right? And the halyard for the head sail goes up the slotted side and through the sheaves and back down the front of the mast right? Just checking. Otherwise I'd question that the headsail is too far up the forestay and wedging between the forestay and the mast. You do have a head sail tac right? Or a down haul?

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skip.