another cautionary tale of windy woe

[ChattingLil]

heard last night that a boat at Bridgemarsh was dismasted after the roller genoa ran out in the wind and the backstay gave way and hence mast gave way too. Quite a mess apparently but amazingly damage limited to the mast and pontoon. What a sorry thing to come back to.

 

[tillergirl]

Awful. I am just keeping my fingers crossed. Haven't been able to get out to TG for over 10 days now because of work and I keep thinking that there were a couple of things left in haste.....

 

[ianfr]

I always tie a short rope round the genoa every time we leave the boat after a weekend out.

Takes a couple of minutes and is then a backup to making off the sheets, and furling line.

But very sad to come back to something like that.

Ian & Jo

 

[Wunja]

I also put a sail tie around the genoa since I saw another boat with its sail shredded in the marina.

 

[Black Diamond]

Tiller Girl riding to her marks, TG, no worries! Have visual from office. Rowed out to BD in Buzzen this morning, as I feared more roller genoa was showing than normal, and before I read this tale of woe. Everything in order, but bailed half a ton of water out and tied things down more firmly than usual. Wouldn't fancy going out there anywhere later than low tide.

All the best
Greg

 

[tillergirl]

Greg, thank you. I was pretty certain I had tied everything down but then I found I couldn't remember doing so! I did that earlier this year while fitting out. I woke up one morning at 4am convinced I had forgotten to put the genny halliard through the deflector when raising the mast two weeks earlier - got down to her early only to find I had!

 

[millbeach]

My boat on swing mooring on the Blackwater.
Got 3 mooring strops attatched.

Not to worried about my craft, just concerned someones boat might run loose and hit mine.

Went out last weekend to discover someone has put a 3ft scratch and scuff along my starboard side..*******
What can you do....

 

[johnalison]

Went out last weekend to discover someone has put a 3ft scratch and scuff along my starboard side..*******
What can you do....

The only time that happened to us at Maylandsea, the guilty party owned up and made good the damage, but it doesn't sound as if you will be so lucky; shame.

Furled jibs are a constant source of problems. At present, I have the spinnaker halyard wound around mine in a tight spiral.

 

[Fire99]

My boat on swing mooring on the Blackwater.
Got 3 mooring strops attatched.

Not to worried about my craft, just concerned someones boat might run loose and hit mine.

Went out last weekend to discover someone has put a 3ft scratch and scuff along my starboard side..*******
What can you do....

Where abouts is your boat located? I'm hopefully out on one of our club 'safety' boats on Sunday and will be up and around the Blackwater.

 

[Boz]

The only time that happened to us at Maylandsea, the guilty party owned up and made good the damage, but it doesn't sound as if you will be so lucky; shame.

Furled jibs are a constant source of problems. At present, I have the spinnaker halyard wound around mine in a tight spiral.

My Furling Genoa has a custom cover, I always thought it a pain to refit at the end of every weekend, but clearly it's 15 minutes well spent. It's interesting that Fambridge Yacht haven will not over winter boats in the yard with furling genoas still fitted. I can see why now.
You can tell I'm not used to this boat ownership...... a new lesson every minute
Regards
Boz

 

[Lucky Duck]

My Furling Genoa has a custom cover, I always thought it a pain to refit at the end of every weekend, but clearly it's 15 minutes well spent. It's interesting that Fambridge Yacht haven will not over winter boats in the yard with furling genoas still fitted. I can see why now.
You can tell I'm not used to this boat ownership...... a new lesson every minute
Regards
Boz

I suspect that there are risks with either solution. A couple of boats in my marina have genoa 'socks' and in the wrong conditions these can start flapping around a little bit, shaking the rig more than I would be comfortable with.

 

[Boz]

I suspect that there are risks with either solution. A couple of boats in my marina have genoa 'socks' and in the wrong conditions these can start flapping around a little bit, shaking the rig more than I would be comfortable with.

You're probably right, nothing is foolproof, but I'll stick to the sock (It fits like the well known pregnancy preventer), if only for UV protection....
Regards
Boz

 

[nortada]

Through out the year but particularly in winter Portugal has regular storm force winds (last winter the arrival end of Faro airport terminal building was blown down & the windows in ATC blown out).

We had a big blow just over a week ago & in these conditions genoa socks, nearly shake the rig to bits & have caused forestay & furling gear failure - not to mention the noise pollution to nearby boats.

I would never fit a sock but for those who do, one solution is to take another halyard & wind it around the whole length of the sock & make off tight on a cleat - this seems to damp the oscillations.

Me, I take 4 turns of the sheets around the genoa & fit a collar - to date this has worked well in winds with gusts up to 70+kts.

 

[Boz]

Genoa socks

Interesting debate; The design of the sock must be contributary. The sock on my boat has a chris cross draw string that tightens the sock hard onto the sail and is therefore not much larger than the furled sail without the sock, but I confess, as I live well way from the boat, I have yet to be aboard during a real blow to witness the effect on the rig.

I'm pretty sure my neighbours, a great bunch, would have said something if it was causing a nuisance or looked like causing damage.

Boz