Bad Weather Considerations

Lakesailor

Lakesailor

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If you're leaving your boat on the water this year or have it ashore and rigged, check and check again your lashings on the sails. This boat is about a quarter of a mile from the house and I heard a flapping a few night ago. I couldn't believe it was so far away. This boat is the same one that left it's mooring in the big storms in 2005 and fetched up on our shore.
I can't understand why people keep boats if they can't look after them.

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I can't understand why people keep boats if they can't look after them.

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I used to wonder this and have come to the conclusion that in the main they become infirm, elderly or run out of money but cling to their dream for all its worth until it is torn from their hands while the usual great unwashed stand around tutting and scratching their nuts making sh.... for brains comments..
 
Every year this happens to a nuber of boats with oller furling sails, usually when left on in the winter but not always. Its simple - take the sails off!! preferably at the end of each trip but deffinatly if leaving the boat for more than a week summer or winter. If I was an insurance assessor I definatly wouldn't entertain a claim for a sail that flogged itself to death because it had been left on an unatteded boat.
 
Are you being serious???

I have never heard/seen anyone doing this. Maybe in the winter, but not in the summer. Kind of takes away the benefit of having the roller furling in the first place IMO.
 
This risk is not confined to older sails. If the leech is not furled tight it can begin to motor in the wind and a small nick can open up a big tear leading to this. Taking bigger sails down is not practical in a marina unless the wind is in the right direction. One can now buy socks wich can be pulled up over the furled sail on a spare halyard. These seem to work well.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Are you being serious???

I have never heard/seen anyone doing this. Maybe in the winter, but not in the summer. Kind of takes away the benefit of having the roller furling in the first place IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]Definitely in winter, and in summer if gale force is expected. I've seen loads of these furlers go, don't think because it's rolled up tight with the line properly cleated it won't happen.

It does happen, I know it might seem impossible, but it happens regularly.
 
This happened to us in the big storm in 2005. The sail was not only well furled, but also lashed as far as I could reach. I would have taken the sail down if the track in the foil wasn't fouling it.
 
We always take the genoa down after each sail, but then it's a proper one, not one of these new fangled roly-firly ones. They'll never catch on you know, too much to go wrong.
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More seriously, I'm quite happy to put a cover over my mainsail and leave it set, why don't people put a cover over their genoa when they leave it set?
 
The sock idea is a good failsafe and will prevent the effect of the UV. This isn't the only one and we saw one down at the South end of the lake in summer. Another boat on our moorings had the genoa come unfurled (he hadn't made off his furling line) and then a sheet got caught on a cleat. This allowed the sail to power up and the boat tacked up and down on the scope of his mooring chain for a day before I spotted it. It took several attempts to catch the bugger up in my tender, with oars going like paddle wheels before I managed to get on board and make it safe.
 
Having paid out for a new genoa I would prefer to spend 10 minutes at the beginning and end of each trip to take it off the roller than to lose it.

This also gives the opportunity to use a smaller sail if the expected conditions indicate that this would be a good idea.
 
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