Gary Fox
N/A
Not a fair comparison of course... I look forward to ocean racing autopilots which cost a couple of 1000 in the chandlers, and run off two AA batteries..
Do you still beat to windward ?
- Thread starter LONG_KEELER
- Start date
Kelpie
Well-known member
Re: windvanes, we stuck a Navik on the back of our Vega and with zero setting up it just worked, perfectly, on any point of sail with enough wind to give steerage.
Have a Hydrovane waiting to go on the new boat, I'm sure it will work well but I'll probably have to pay more attention to sail trim and rudder angle.
Have a Hydrovane waiting to go on the new boat, I'm sure it will work well but I'll probably have to pay more attention to sail trim and rudder angle.
Gary Fox
N/A
Totally..a firm wind against a spring tide is much horribler than a hard beat in smooth water.
Ningaloo
Well-known member
I can see this two ways. My previous shallow draft boat could simply not make good headway against the wind, even in relatively flat water. Now, with an extra 70cm of keel and a far superior design (including a self tacking jib), sailing upwind can be a real pleasure and is certainly faster than motoring.... until the tide turns!
I am now pragmatic about sailing west from the Solent, anticipate a headwind and plan my passages to match the tide, anchoring up (Portland, Torbay) to take a rest when it turns against me..
I am now pragmatic about sailing west from the Solent, anticipate a headwind and plan my passages to match the tide, anchoring up (Portland, Torbay) to take a rest when it turns against me..
LONG_KEELER
Well-known member
There are still a few analogue sailors about you know that still don't accept Zero and One .
It's not really there It's all on the screen ....................SONG
Welcome to cyberspace, I'm lost in the fog
Everything's digital I'm still analog
When something goes wrong
I don't have a clue
Some ten year old smart a** has to show me what to do
Sign on with high speed you don't have to wait
Sit there for days and vegetate
I access my email, read all my spam, I'm an analog man.
The whole world's living in a digital dream
It's not really there
It's all on the screen
Makes me forget who I am
I'm an analog man
Yeah I'm an analog man in a digital world
I'm gonna get me an analog girl
Who loves me for what I am
I'm an analog man
What's wrong with vinyl, I think it sounds great
L-Ps, forty-fives, seventy-eights but that's just the way I am
I'm an analog man
Turn on the tube, watch until dawn
One hundred channels, nothing is on…
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
Same end result ... when you can't see the hull you can't see how massive the cabin roof is.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
I hear great things about them. The original owners of the company were keen to help ( they suggested that I call them while trying it out and they would suggest tweaks) but the current lot are absolutely useless ... trying to get spares from them is like drawing teeth.Well spotted! If you lean a caravan over to show the chassis, it could be a racing car
A pity about your Sea Feather, lots of people including some on here have had success with them. eg Zoidberg and Wandering Star.
Anything I suggest, you have probably tried already...
Kukri
Well-known member
I have owned and cruised in:
-an engineless Dragon (went to windward, to the extent of short tacking into marinas)
- a small Harrison Butler with a Stuart Turner 4hp She went to windward in a ladylike manner, but got bored and would let you know it by pitching in the same hole. In the end I took the engine out. She was much more close winded than she ought to have been, as long as the water was flat.
- a 37ft 1937 gaff cutter with a boom staysail and a Volvo MD2. Had a few idiosyncrasies, such as refusing stays and insisting on wearing round, which can concentrate the mind wonderfully in moorings, and was, to put it mildly, not close winded, probably because, like her contemporary passenger aircraft, the Handley Page HP42, she carried her own built in headwind wherever she went, but after the first decade this became a challenge, and we sailed everywhere all the time unless we were actually in a marina or in a canal and going straight to windward. It was best not to be in a hurry, but it turned the simplest of local passages into an interesting challenge.
- an elderly Class 1 offshore racer, which I am still getting to know. Windward ability does not seem to be a problem. Crew endurance may be.
-an engineless Dragon (went to windward, to the extent of short tacking into marinas)
- a small Harrison Butler with a Stuart Turner 4hp She went to windward in a ladylike manner, but got bored and would let you know it by pitching in the same hole. In the end I took the engine out. She was much more close winded than she ought to have been, as long as the water was flat.
- a 37ft 1937 gaff cutter with a boom staysail and a Volvo MD2. Had a few idiosyncrasies, such as refusing stays and insisting on wearing round, which can concentrate the mind wonderfully in moorings, and was, to put it mildly, not close winded, probably because, like her contemporary passenger aircraft, the Handley Page HP42, she carried her own built in headwind wherever she went, but after the first decade this became a challenge, and we sailed everywhere all the time unless we were actually in a marina or in a canal and going straight to windward. It was best not to be in a hurry, but it turned the simplest of local passages into an interesting challenge.
- an elderly Class 1 offshore racer, which I am still getting to know. Windward ability does not seem to be a problem. Crew endurance may be.
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mjcoon
Well-known member
Very good! If your own, should there be something about an analogue (spelling per checker!) girl not wanting to be swiped left or right?There are still a few analogue sailors about you know that still don't accept Zero and One .
SONG
Welcome to cyberspace, I'm lost in the fog
Everything's digital I'm still analog
When something goes wrong
I don't have a clue
Some ten year old smart a** has to show me what to do
Sign on with high speed you don't have to wait
Sit there for days and vegetate
I access my email, read all my spam, I'm an analog man.
The whole world's living in a digital dream
It's not really there
It's all on the screen
Makes me forget who I am
I'm an analog man
Yeah I'm an analog man in a digital world
I'm gonna get me an analog girl
Who loves me for what I am
I'm an analog man
What's wrong with vinyl, I think it sounds great
L-Ps, forty-fives, seventy-eights but that's just the way I am
I'm an analog man
Turn on the tube, watch until dawn
One hundred channels, nothing is on…
PhillM
Well-known member
I have to say that suprised me, mine worked first time and ever since. Steers better than me in gusty and changeable conditions.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
Mine was installed by the previous owner and I am not at all sure that he got it right.
Gary Fox
N/A
I have an Aries which works on the same principle; there is a limited number of ways to get it wrong..why don't you start a thread with a couple of pics?
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
I may well do so. First I need to get it all nicely cleaned up. I started last summer but the weather went foul on us. The lines to the tiller were so stiff that they could practically be hammered into shapes, which can't have helped!
Skylark
Well-known member
Lovely boat, congratulations. (envious emoji ?)
geem
Well-known member
Twin furling headsails solves that problem. Large genoa on the outer furler and working headsail on the inner furler. Tacking up a river under working headsail under reduced canvas works fine.
We love our running backstays. When beating the runners stiffen the mast noticeably. We only really need them in bumpy seas when there is a tendency for the mast to pump. Horses for courses.
Crossing the pond West to East last year we did about 48hrs to windward in +2m seas and winds 20-30kts. Tacked a couple of times under reefed main and working jib. Both runners can stay on as they dont catch the mainsail with two reefs in. It was an uncomfortable couple of days but we tacked through 90deg. Sometimes you just have to do it. Engine wasn't an option
Pye_End
Well-known member
My Sea Feather has done loads of miles, at all points of sail with little issue (though it did have to get serviced to have it all tightened up a bit). Same model as yours I think. So long as you point the van in the right direction and the boat is moving it is pretty hard not to get at least something out of it. If you want to send me some footage or photos I can try and help.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
Thanks very much. I'll send a PM.
DJE
Well-known member
Why not do both - maybe two wrongs will make a right
westhinder
Well-known member
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AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
I think you've hit the nail on the head. It isn't being close-hauled - it's tacking. I will mostly be sailing single-handed for a while, and so tacking is something that is hard work and tiring. But being close-hauled is fine - as many have pointed out, the boat often travels faster when close-hauled than sailing downwind. I have no objection whatsoever to sailing close to the wind - what I don't want to be doing is constantly tacking!
