downwind rig

[Conachair]

Off to canaries soon prob leaving from Cadiz in a few weeks and i really need to have a look at downwind rig as i know that once out of the straits it will be a perfect downwind passage, dolpins all the way, catching fish just before mealtimes.....
Anyway back to the real world, the boat is 33' cutter with roller reefing high cut genoa (yankee?). Haven't played much yet but first tryout might be this: There's a spare foresail (with hanks) which I've never used but seems in good nick, so pole out the genoa on one side and use the main boom stayed with a block as a pole for the other foresail (loose luffed, no extra forestay, but maybe i could get it converted to go in the other groove of the roller reefing? Easier to get rid of a lot of sail it the wind pipes up? ). To be honest never done much long distance downwind sailing but one thing i really hate is the the foresail collapses and then fills again, I can just feel those huge forces stressing the rigging. Anything to avoid that. The other consideration is how the aries windvane will cope with this. With a bit of breeze it does work ok downwind but tends to yaw a lot from side to side. How does a twin foresail rig cope with that? I normally sail singlehanded but this passage will be 2 up, but even so being handcuffed to the tiller on watch is not really the way forward. So any tips? How do you lot do it? And any general tips on passage to canaries welcome.

TIA

Padz - Conachair
www.yotblog.com/conachair

 

[Talbot]

If you have a twin groove luff, then putting the seconnd sail in that has a lot of advantages. For example you can tack one of the sails into the other and then roll both up together in order to reef.

If you dont have a second groove, but do have a second halyard, consider changing the piston hanks for a sewn in dyneema rope, and use the second halyard to haul the sail taught using the dyneema luff rope as the "forestay".

I dont particularly like the concept of the use of the boom in this manner. I would prefer to invest in a windsurfer carbon mast, (preferably a freebie cause the mast step had broken free) buy the pole fittings and use that as the whisker pole.

 

[Liz_I]

Important to have 'traditional' hanked on sails. We have roller reefed genoa, in mast furling main. The Mizzen is traditional, we also have a removable inner forestay which carries a traditioal hanked on 'No.2'? This matches appx 2/3rds genny. We set the genny & 'no.2' called the 'twins'. Most ocean miles have been sailed with 1 reef in the (fairly small) mizzen. No Main sail but with the 'twins'. Both poled out. Horatio...ooops..sorry our HYDROVANE wind steering enjoys this config. and has steered us many 0000's miles.
It's important to get the boat set up so that the wind steering can cope. Trim & trim again, once set you should have, with fair winds 5/6 glorious days straight down the line. Envy you, wish we were there again. Have a great time.

 

[Liz_I]

oops! done it again should have replied to Conachair...Soooorrry!

 

[Bajansailor]

Our down wind strategy when sailing across the Atlantic on Stormy Weather (54' cutter headed yawl) was to tack down wind, sailing on 140 deg apparent to the wind - although we covered much more distance, we also sailed faster, and more comfortably, with very little rolling.

We had the genoa (hanked on to the forestay) sheeted normally to leeward, with the yankee jib hoisted free (ie not on a stay) and poled out to windward. Also the full mainsail and the mizzen (although the mizzen would be taken down in stronger winds).
And in light winds, the mizzen staysail as well.

Or if we were feeling very keen, we would take down the two headsails and fly the spinnaker instead - but only in daylight, with good weather conditions (no squalls in the offing!).

 

[Travelmate]

We have sailed many miles across the Indian Ocean with the roller furling headsail poled out one side and a No2 genoa hanked on to the inner forestay and held by the boom. Not one of our favourite configurations as the boat rolls a lot under swells. Much prefer a broad reach with the full ketch set-up. Our light wind and smooth seas configuration is the MPs with the mizzen staysail (2 1/4 Oz) flying from the main. Gives excellent wing on wing performance with the ability to quickly drop the staysail and douse the MPS into its sock. Just glides along
Tony

 

[AndrewB]

A lot depends on your hull configuration. With a half-length keel and skeg, my Aries has coped fine with many downwind passages with all sorts of configurations: main and genny, main and goosewinged genny, genny and goosewinged staysail, genny alone, prevented staysail and double-reefed main (heavy weather), main and spinnaker (light weather). All depending on sea conditions.

So make sure you have the options and go suck it and see what works in the conditions you encounter - anything to avoid having to steer yourself. Totally agree about the pain of a backing sail. If all else fails you can always tack downwind on a broad reach, gibing every few days. Time isn't the issue on an ocean passage.

 

[TigaWave]

Turn right at Lisbon and head for Porto Santo, nice broad reach if your lucky, then you get to visit madiera and an overnight passage to the Canaries.

Porto Santo is a great meeting place for atlantic crossers.

Downwind rig, two headsails and no main. Did it once very quickly with full sail and wore out the goose neck, kicker fixings, and had to do main repairs on the way but we did do under 15 days in a 38' cruiser.

 

[Conachair]

And now you"ve gt me worrying about the gooseneck! What caused it to fail? Any ideas?
Porto Santo, eh? My crew has just had a change of circumstance so back to sailing solo, which means i can go where i want when i want. Not so sure about the weather, though. How far south do the atantic lows get around this time of year? Or what else could get me? As for sails i might get the spare genoa converted to fit in the other groove of the roller reefing (anyone know a good sail loft in Cadiz bay?), like the idea of being able to shorten sail quickly from the cockpit. Assuming it doesn#t jam of course! Oh, decisions, decisions.....
ta

 

[AndrewB]

Agree about the gooseneck, they do take a thrashing on long downwind passages (much more so than upwind). I always carry a spare, now on my third.

 

[TigaWave]

Its just worth keeping a close eye on the boom/mast fittings if you are using the main downwind. There's lots of movement as you roll and huge loads. It's often over looked. The twin headsails on a roller is just so easy and there is little movement in the fittings, but they still need checking on route. Pole end/forestay pin/mast fitting . Have a good trip, the weather can and does get rough into December in the Canaries, the most dangerous places are in some of the more exposed marinas when the storms have a swell with them. We had a couple of unpleasant days in the new marina in Madiera as waves broke through the entrance.