We used 13 different sail plans on our ketch

[geem]

For those with a ketch, here are the sail plans we used whilst crossing the pond recently. We had a very light wind crossing on the whole. Had to get down to 15N to stay in some wind

Genoa, main, mizzen
Jib, main, mizzen
Genoa, main, mizzen staysail
Genoa, mizzen staysail
Twin headsails on poles
Twin headsails on poles, centre sheeted mizzen
Main, spinnaker
Jib, main, mizzen staysail
Poled genoa, main
Poled jib, main
Spinnaker, main, mizzen
Poled genoa, main, (wing on wing) jib sheeted hard to leeward

I didn't think it was possible to use this many sail combinations so thought it might be worth a share?

 

[scottie]

Be thankfull that it wasn’t a Barry Buchnal design with moveable masts

but thats a lot work with

 

[geem]

The conditions we had very much influenced our choice of sail plan. In light reaching conditions, circa 10kts of true wind, large swells would knock the wind out of the sails. Using a poled out Genoa and mizzen staysail vastly reduced the problem. Our mizzen staysail sheets to the end of the mizzen boom. It's the same size as the main but suffers none of the wear or chafe in such conditions. Our whole trip was about keeping the boat moving and the motion comfortable

 

[NormanS]

That's the beauty of ketch rig. A lot of our passages last summer were under a half rolled foresail, and nothing else.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

For those with a ketch, here are the sail plans we used whilst crossing the pond recently. We had a very light wind crossing on the whole. Had to get down to 15N to stay in some wind

Genoa, main, mizzen
Jib, main, mizzen
Genoa, main, mizzen staysail
Genoa, mizzen staysail
Twin headsails on poles
Twin headsails on poles, centre sheeted mizzen
Main, spinnaker
Jib, main, mizzen staysail
Poled genoa, main
Poled jib, main
Spinnaker, main, mizzen
Poled genoa, main, (wing on wing) jib sheeted hard to leeward

I didn't think it was possible to use this many sail combinations so thought it might be worth a share?

Thats the reason I loved our old slow ketch.

I once managed genoa, fore stay sail, mainsail plus water sail on boom, mizzen stay sail plus mizzen sail. Didnt add cruising shoot as never handled well with that and anyway would have been blanketed by the rest.

Only trouble was then got into adverse current so others shot past further out while we tried to drop half the sails and head back to right current. A Bristol channel issue and not an issue to you transatlantic lot

 

[dunedin]

Seems like a lot of hard work. When we crossed the pond in a modern sloop, we
- hoisted the mainsail in the Canaries and dropped it in the Caribbean - one night we put reef one in temporarily;
- we unfurled the genoa in the Canaries and furled it in the Caribbean - we swapped it from side to side every few days.
We made a fast and smooth crossing.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Seems like a lot of hard work. When we crossed the pond in a modern sloop, we
- hoisted the mainsail in the Canaries and dropped it in the Caribbean - one night we put reef one in temporarily;
- we unfurled the genoa in the Canaries and furled it in the Caribbean - we swapped it from side to side every few days.
We made a fast and smooth crossing.

What on earth did you do to amuse yourselves?

Providing weather is good and its a long passage I love trying out different sail sets. It it came in most useful more recently when winds damaged both primary sails on our sloop and I could then use various "unsuitable" sails to perform unexpected tasks getting us home into an F6 headwind.

 

[westernman]

For those with a ketch, here are the sail plans we used whilst crossing the pond recently. We had a very light wind crossing on the whole. Had to get down to 15N to stay in some wind

Genoa, main, mizzen
Jib, main, mizzen
Genoa, main, mizzen staysail
Genoa, mizzen staysail
Twin headsails on poles
Twin headsails on poles, centre sheeted mizzen
Main, spinnaker
Jib, main, mizzen staysail
Poled genoa, main
Poled jib, main
Spinnaker, main, mizzen
Poled genoa, main, (wing on wing) jib sheeted hard to leeward

I didn't think it was possible to use this many sail combinations so thought it might be worth a share?

I have 13 different sails for my boat. I am not even going to try and work out the number of combinations that gives.

 

[geem]

Seems like a lot of hard work. When we crossed the pond in a modern sloop, we
- hoisted the mainsail in the Canaries and dropped it in the Caribbean - one night we put reef one in temporarily;
- we unfurled the genoa in the Canaries and furled it in the Caribbean - we swapped it from side to side every few days.
We made a fast and smooth crossing.

You had wind then? We scratched around for every breath at times. We had 3m 180deg opposed cross swells for two days. A north and a South swell. Never seen that before. If you can sail smoothly in that then I am impressed. I just looked at the log book. Only 5 days without spinnaker. We ran it through the night twice. We had 3 kts True wind from astern for two days so motored. Definitely the weirdest weather we have had on an East to West passage. Friends left a week before on an 80 footer and had 25/30 kts all the way. Guys 100nm behind us had no wind at all for several days.?

 

[Blueboatman]

Well done
Buy that man a cold one for each combo !???

I’ve always wanted to try the twizzle rig

(I have run double headed with one sheet to the boomed out , stowed main )

But the best of my limited experience was junk rig . One sail . By raising it or lowering it slightly , the boats roll inertia could be tweaked usefully acc to wind and swell . And you could let it out beam on or slightly beyond
A deceptively subtle rig

 

[Neeves]

Someone said something like 'sailing is unremarkable 9 times out of 10 but the 10th time it is scary'. When its not scary what else do you do but fish (if relevant) polish the stainless, practice splicing, service the engine - or, more satisfying - trim the Salis (which also keeps you fit).

Sailing in light wind is much more difficult than a 'decent' breeze and brings out the best in some sailors.

Well done Geem.

Take care, stay safe

Jonathan

 

[Sandy]

I didn't think it was possible to use this many sail combinations so thought it might be worth a share?

Sadly, there are no prizes for this, but it might make a more interesting article for Yachting Monthly than the 'Best Wide Fitting Deck Shoes' one I almost read recently.

 

[Neeves]

Sadly, there are no prizes for this, but it might make a more interesting article for Yachting Monthly than the 'Best Wide Fitting Deck Shoes' one I almost read recently.

What's this "might' make a more interesting article......

In defence of the media - it is very difficult to put a new slant on 'anchoring' or 'the perfect galley' or the new Jenny/Benny/Bav. An article on 'wide fitting deck shoes' does show some imagination but filling the article beyond half a page - would require great skill. Many articles I read seem very contrived.

Jonathan

 

[oldmanofthehills]

What's this "might' make a more interesting article......

In defence of the media - it is very difficult to put a new slant on 'anchoring' or 'the perfect galley' or the new Jenny/Benny/Bav. An article on 'wide fitting deck shoes' does show some imagination but filling the article beyond half a page - would require great skill. Many articles I read seem very contrived.

Jonathan

Printing and publication has become easier and cheaper due to modern technology. Regular publication is now expected from the official publishers

Unfortunately the number of good writers has not increased at the same rate.

On the plus side minor issues are just as well dealt with by forums and blohs such as these

 

[Sandy]

Unfortunately the number of good writers has not increased at the same rate.

I beg to differ. There is a huge pool of excellent writers out there that are not used.

 

[Neeves]

Printing and publication has become easier and cheaper due to modern technology. Regular publication is now expected from the official publishers

Unfortunately the number of good writers has not increased at the same rate.

On the plus side minor issues are just as well dealt with by forums and blohs such as these

I also beg to differ.

There is an immense and valuable source of information here, available for free - this discourages people from buying magazines.

I test product using certificated test facilities - I'm not going to continue doing this unless I develop a return (actually I'll do it if I break even (I enjoy it and I think some people value the data)

If I post a query on boat shoes here - I'll be swamped with replies. The issue is who judges the responses - which is of particular interest to me as where I sail I don't need boat shoes - so I need peer review (which is less easy on a forum) - but maybe I plan to sail in the Baltic - so peer review is useful

Printing might have become easier but it has not become cheaper - funding is needed from advertisers and as readership migrates to forum such as this advertising in the printed media suffers.

If PBO and YM close, because of lack of support from the lack of advertising then the advertisers will need to re-think as they don't advertise here so what will they do?.....

I simply cannot be bothered with blogs and find 'relevant' You tubes tedious.....

Its a real problem - what will it be like in 5 years time....

Jonathan

 

[newtothis]

Its a real problem - what will it be like in 5 years time....

Jonathan

I've been in publishing since the late 80s. I was an early adopter of t'internet and established my paper's first go at a website in the early 90s when the internet was still in black and white. Point is that this is not a new issue. Yes, the old model of getting revenue through small ads and display has changed dramatically. Ebay et al killed the small ads, hence the death of much local publishing. Better online experiences also marked the end of a lot of display ads.
The viscous cycle is that when publications lose revenue, they can't pay writers. When they don't pay writers they lose readers. When they don't have readers they can't get revenue.
When I started my career there were still old-timers who could remember the introduction of television and the fears that it would kill off the print media. It did largely ruin the business model of the evening papers, but others kept going.
The same has happened with other publications. Where I work now used to be funded by display advertising and classifieds. Then the classifieds disappeared. Then display started going as well. Now, we rely on subs instead. We had to change the model from single subs to large scale corporate subs (it's a business publication). We also dropped print after many years and went online only. And we now have more staff than we've had for a very long time.
So it is not just a matter of new tech killing off publications. How they adapt is key.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

When I said the number of good writers I was particularly thinking of the books especially the fiction sector. The ability to self publish enables folk to send stuff out that was best kept in a cupboard/data dump and the publishers ability to churn out large numbers of paper backs in airport bookstand formula, has meant that a lot of works that should never have seen the light of day, are now discharged onto the public. Chaucer its not.

I see no evidence that the human race is getting wiser or better informed, indeed looking at our politicians I suspect the reverse. There is a vast amount of info out there but it is hard to tell the wheat from the chaff and most folk are not trained in data appraisal, let alone literary appreciation.

Wiki is often your friend but like yachting forums there is some nonsense that goes out

 

[Buck Turgidson]

With a roller reefing headsail it's not possible to put a number on it. 4 options for mainsail x infinite options on the headsail + Aspin or Symmetrical spin all with or without #4 jib rigged on inner stay.

 

[geem]

With a roller reefing headsail it's not possible to put a number on it. 4 options for mainsail x infinite options on the headsail + Aspin or Symmetrical spin all with or without #4 jib rigged on inner stay.

We weren't including reefed sails. They are still the same sail. We just had numerous combinations of inner furler, outer furler, mainsail, mizzen, mizzen staysail and spinnaker. Sea conditions in light winds made us use combinations that didn't flog but still gave us drive and the ability to keep sailing when the other option would have been to motor