adapting to getting older

[brian eiland]

It's common to delay and monitor the posts of new subscribers - it keeps out the riff-raff (not sure how they let me in). You should have official approval by now with instant postings. Have fun!

I was wondering as several of my postings made it in after 24 hrs, but at least 3 have not,..

.....one of them was a new thread i tried to start on motor/sailers, a subject I have posted about numerous times in the past on other boating forums. Perhaps it was because i included links to those other boating forums that it either didn't get a passing grade, or it needed more 'review'? I'll keep an eye out for their eventual display.

 

[brian eiland]

Single-masted Ketch

Winching a large overlapping genoa in a breeze on a beam reach is quite a strain for most people, much more so in my experience than when tacking - when generally would hold the boat close to the wind to aid sheeting.
So don't over worry in that aspect.
And boat change would be a very expensive option, compared to some selective optimisations.

Electric genny winches are an option - but the new Pontos 4 speed winches would be worth a look and are getting rave reviews.
Personally I would want the halyards and reefing lines led back to the cockpit - but could be a hassle doing this if not a design option on this boat type. However, many seem to like controls at mast so there must be ways of doing it.

Assuming you have a stack pack main, if sailing solo I might have simply headed up and dumped the entire main into the stack pack (should happen without going on deck), unfurled the full genoa to sail under jib only - and then put the kettle on for a cuppa. That's the big benefit of larger genny compared to a small blade jib - can generally do a lot of lazy sailing with the mainsail cover still on - though this is where better winches are needed, as more tricky to sheet in when tacking with no mainsail up

Keep sailing, keep enjoying

How about a sailing rig with two roller furling/reefing headsails, NO mainsail, and a roller furling mizzen sail. I call it a 'single-masted ketch'.

It is also known as an aftmast or mastaft rig. The inner headsail is what I term the 'mainstaysail'. The genoa headsail is surprisingly only 104% by the old method of definition. All three sail sails roller furl/roller reef if necessary. And the overall height of the rig is 20-25% less than the fractional rig sloop of the same sail area.

Aft-mast Origination & Justification

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Re: Single-masted Ketch

Winchrite for me.... enabled me to sail with a dodgy shoulder.

Now the knees have packed up, so doing everything is getting to be a problem and agony to boot!
S.

 

[doug748]

You're spoiling my dream. I really fancy downsizing to a Pogo 30 in a year or two when I can't sail my HR34 any more. I've not sailed one, but after looking at one we were berthed alongside, it looks very light and easy, and should see me into my 80s enjoyably, and it would only take me a few hours to get to the other side too.

I moored near a Pogo 30 belonging to Glenans, in common with many of these fat bottomed girls a dreadful noise due to stern slap, much worse than the usual with AWBs. In the quieter moments it sounded like some monster regularly plunging dustbin lids flat into the water. I noticed nobody was aboard.
I would factor in B & B.

 

[pvb]

I would factor in B & B.

 

[johnalison]

I moored near a Pogo 30 belonging to Glenans, in common with many of these fat bottomed girls a dreadful noise due to stern slap, much worse than the usual with AWBs. In the quieter moments it sounded like some monster regularly plunging dustbin lids flat into the water. I noticed nobody was aboard.
I would factor in B & B.

I'm not pleased to hear that. On the other hand, they're not very big, and shuffling round to face the slop wouldn't take much effort.

 

[awol]

I spent the last 2 days cruising on a friend's Starlight 35 - an absolutely lovely boat - I do like it. However, as a single-handed boat for a septuagenarian I found a few drawbacks compared with my Contessa 32 (Tranona will remember it outscored a Bavaria in the YM head to head test :smug. First the wheel - getting round it involved jumping onto a locker; the mainsheet and track were difficult to adjust from behind the wheel; the genoa winches (50s) were easy to wind but too far forward and the spinnaker sheet winches were too small; the autopilot seemed a necessity rather than a luxury; and there is nothing to hold onto when peeing over the side. Compare to what I was used to everything, except boat speed, was slower, heavier and a bit clumsier. I can't see me trading up anytime soon.

 

[Serin]

Re: Single-masted Ketch

a 'single-masted ketch'.

As the owner of one of those old fashioned small (32 ft) ketches we so rarely see these days, I think this rig comes back into its own as I enter the twilight of my sailing life. (It'll be a long, Scottish type, gloaming if I have anything to do with it)

At the time we bought the hull there was limited choice, as there were few bare hulls available and no kits. But I've never regretted the rig, even though it is less efficient than the sloop. It has many and various advantages, amongst which is the versatility of the sail combinations available. Jib and mizzen, of course, is a lovely, relaxed rig. And if I decide to hoist the main, she'll heave to perfectly while I do so. Ditto if I decide to drop it and carry on under easy sail.

That's just one of the many delights of the mizzen. It's not by accident that Ransome chose the rig for his "marine bath chair".

 

[Birdseye]

I spent the last 2 days cruising on a friend's Starlight 35 - an absolutely lovely boat - I do like it. However, as a single-handed boat for a septuagenarian I found a few drawbacks compared with my Contessa 32 (Tranona will remember it outscored a Bavaria in the YM head to head test :smug. First the wheel - getting round it involved jumping onto a locker; the mainsheet and track were difficult to adjust from behind the wheel; the genoa winches (50s) were easy to wind but too far forward and the spinnaker sheet winches were too small; the autopilot seemed a necessity rather than a luxury; and there is nothing to hold onto when peeing over the side. Compare to what I was used to everything, except boat speed, was slower, heavier and a bit clumsier. I can't see me trading up anytime soon.

A wheel in a 35ft boat with a narrow stern by modern standards is cumbersome though I dont find it at all difficult to get round. But most of the rest of your comments assume a certain sailing style. For me, a decent pilot is a necessity and used most of the time - the only times I steer myself are either when racing or for short spells when pottering. Helming is boring. And that being the case the sheet winches are in a good spot. Whats more one of my reasons for buying the boat was the mainsheet track having suffered the "in front of the sprayhood" arrangement on a previous Moody. And finally, no peeing over the side - thats plain stupid given the frequency of OFS in accident reports.

But I guess if we were all alike and wanted the same things, the world would be a boring place likely full of nothing but Bavarias. You wont get Tranona to accept anything other than "Bavarias are wonderful" by the way.

 

[awol]

And finally, no peeing over the side - thats plain stupid given the frequency of OFS in accident reports.

If there is nothing to hold onto then I emphatically agree direct to the ocean micturation (DOM) is unwise. However, for some men part of the ageing process means more frequent requirements and DOM (or a handy receptacle) saves heads cleaning. Perhaps a full headroom heads with suitable back brace should be part of the specification of boats for the more mature man - or with a viewing dome so that a look-out can be kept while waiting for flow to commence?

 

[Serin]

If there is nothing to hold onto then I emphatically agree direct to the ocean micturation (DOM) is unwise. However, for some men part of the ageing process means more frequent requirements and DOM (or a handy receptacle) saves heads cleaning. Perhaps a full headroom heads with suitable back brace should be part of the specification of boats for the more mature man - or with a viewing dome so that a look-out can be kept while waiting for flow to commence?

Unless you are in particularly gently nurtured company, bucket is best. Or even straight onto the cockpit sole? A bucket of seawater to follow makes all good. Unless, of course, the business of scooping up some seawater makes it dangerous, as it can be if you are sailing fast (and very dangerous if you wind the line round your hand!)

Not an option available to me, but it doesn't bother me if gentlemen do it. I'd rather that than see the dear old chaps disappearing over the side

 

[bikedaft]

Unless you are in particularly gently nurtured company, bucket is best. Or even straight onto the cockpit sole? A bucket of seawater to follow makes all good. Unless, of course, the business of scooping up some seawater makes it dangerous, as it can be if you are sailing fast (and very dangerous if you wind the line round your hand!)

Not an option available to me, but it doesn't bother me if gentlemen do it. I'd rather that than see the dear old chaps disappearing over the side

i use my pee to fill the empty beer bottles that need sunk. tut tut

 

[doug748]

.......But I guess if we were all alike and wanted the same things, the world would be a boring place likely full of nothing but Bavarias. You wont get Tranona to accept anything other than "Bavarias are wonderful" by the way.

Ah the Bavaria 32 , faster than a speeding bullet, cheap as chips, luxury fit out, massive volume, low windage.

A shoot out with the Anderson 22 would top the America's Cup.

 

[brian eiland]

Re: Single-masted Ketch

As the owner of one of those old fashioned small (32 ft) ketches we so rarely see these days, I think this rig comes back into its own as I enter the twilight of my sailing life. (It'll be a long, Scottish type, gloaming if I have anything to do with it)

At the time we bought the hull there was limited choice, as there were few bare hulls available and no kits. But I've never regretted the rig, even though it is less efficient than the sloop. It has many and various advantages, amongst which is the versatility of the sail combinations available. Jib and mizzen, of course, is a lovely, relaxed rig. And if I decide to hoist the main, she'll heave to perfectly while I do so. Ditto if I decide to drop it and carry on under easy sail.

That's just one of the many delights of the mizzen. It's not by accident that Ransome chose the rig for his "marine bath chair".

Thought you might enjoy this article that my friend Eric Sponberg wrote a few years back.

De-ketchification of America

 

[brian eiland]

Re: Single-masted Ketch

Many more ketch discussions here:
'the Death of the Ketch'
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f47/the-death-of-the-ketch-85028-27.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f47/the-death-of-the-ketch-85028-29.html

Brian

 

[Birdseye]

Not an option available to me, but it doesn't bother me if gentlemen do it. I'd rather that than see the dear old chaps disappearing over the side

Why is it not an option available to you?

 

[Tranona]

Ah the Bavaria 32 , faster than a speeding bullet, cheap as chips, luxury fit out, massive volume, low windage.

A shoot out with the Anderson 22 would top the America's Cup.

Would not know about that as I have a 33.

The 32' boat that people eulogise about here is a Contessa - can't quite think why.

 

[Poignard]

If there is nothing to hold onto then I emphatically agree direct to the ocean micturation (DOM) is unwise. However, for some men part of the ageing process means more frequent requirements and DOM (or a handy receptacle) saves heads cleaning. Perhaps a full headroom heads with suitable back brace should be part of the specification of boats for the more mature man - or with a viewing dome so that a look-out can be kept while waiting for flow to commence?

A large funnel with a flexible spout poked down a cockpit drain makes a handy, and discreet, urinal :encouragement:. or one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NRS-Health...id=1474468052&sr=8-9&keywords=portable+urinal

 

[brian eiland]

Unusual but practical…much original thinking on the part of both her owner and her designers.

Designer’s Comments:

Diomedea Exulans is the result of a joint effort on the part of a yacht owner and a firm of yacht designers to venture beyond conventional concepts in order to achieve results not attainable by conventional means. Both believed that the features incorporated in the dsesign were dictated by sound reasoning, and several seasons’ experience with the boat appears to confirm this belief. This is a point that requires emphasis at a time when a great deal that is unconventional around us is intended largely to surprise or amaze…yachts as well as yippies.

McCURDY & RHODES

__________________________________________________________


Owner’s Comments:


THE GREAT WANDERING ALBATROSS, Diomedea Exulans according to Linnaeus, long puzzled scientists by sustaining flight without movement of the wings. In the light of modern analysis the bird is seen to accomplish a wonderously elegant maneuver based on his extraordinary aerodynamic efficiency—which only “appears” to be perpetual motion (But it surely does look like it until a vector analysis is made of the wind velocity gradient). Modem sailors are much more puzzled by the vessel which bears this name. She is, perhaps, best described as a “staysail ketch.”

Her arrangement was devised to reduce—or eliminate work on the physical limitations, and to take advantage of the aerodynamic efficiency of sails with wire leading edges (having no spar at the leading edge)—this efficiency to compensate the penalties for high freeboard and great beam. At the same time it permitted all sail management, including hoisting, lowering and reefing to be accomplished from the cockpit leaves the cockpit except to “unreef” or to get a gasket on the mainstaysail after lowering.

The whole rig lays down on the pulpit and slides aft to stow. One man can do this jo two are better. Two men are required to raise the rig; shipyard facilities are not necessary.

In answer to the inevitable question as to the positions and attitudes of the masts: The main mast is stepped far aft to eliminate overlap and permit the sail to ‘be self The arrangement of the mizzen puts the sail on vertical “jackstay” and eliminates any sail over the cockpit.

There are a number of collateral features which tend to reduce manpower requirements, hut equipment and finish are very simple: contrary to rumors, there are no power winches or auto-pilots. The result is a very roomy and easily managed cruiser only requiring help in picking up the mooring in a breeze. Otherwise the owner considers her a singlehander—for a slightly younger man.

FREDERICK M. TRAPNELL,
Vice-Admiral USN (retired)
Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club,
Oyster Bay, N.Y.

 

[doug748]

Or one of these:

View attachment 60046

Watch where you leave it after use.