Tacking in boats with mid-cockpit traveller?

[255grizzly]

Thanks for all the great suggestions here, both deck layout and technique. I plan to do a "tack off" this week (you know, kinda like a bake off) and see what works. If you see a red boat outside berkeley marina sailing kinda confusedly back and forth, well yeah, that would be me.

Will let you know how it goes.

[255grizzly]

Okay, so I devoted two sails last week to tacking (more or less). Fun. First time in a long while I have been able to go out twice in one week. I think it helped to increase the frequency. I even did some dockside practice afterwards. The first time I went out by myself, the second time I went out with a friend and coach (Steve Sarsfield) who gave me some valuable input. I tried tacking A) with my autopilot, B) behind the traveller, and C) in front of the traveller. C worked best. Here’s what I learned:

My autopilot cannot tack as well as I do. If it's windy, it's good to know it's there. But it's really slow and seems to work only some of the time (occasionally doesn't finish the tack and/or tacks halfway). I think some anchor chain may have been interfering with the compass, but I haven't had time to confirm that. Plus, I've been having some battery issues. So at the moment, I'm not counting on it for tacks (or anything for that matter!) Round the Rocks this weekend could be interesting.

Tacking behind the traveller on the Olson 25 was problematic. First and foremost, if I’m standing with the tiller between my legs, the end of the boom is a few inches from my face. One small mistake, and I’ve got a broken nose. I tried a variety of other techniques to address this -- including sitting down on the tiller -- but frankly, it’s just very unnerving to see the boom swing so closely to my face. In addition, even if I were to eliminate that issue, I would need to move my winches - they are too far forward to reach easily. But I’m not too excited about doing that b/c they would then be located in the best seat for driving the boat. I really appreciate Foolish/Andrew’s comments above, but I have to think that the Olson 30 has 1-2’ more of cockpit, which makes a huge difference.

So I am left sitting in front of the traveller, which is what worked best for me. I used a bungee cord tiller holder, like Andrew describes in his book. I think this could work with a tiller clutch as well. Importantly, I learned to focus on the steering first, the sail trim second. Also, to take things slowly! Here were the steps I worked out:

1. Prep the lazy sheet (2-3 wraps around the winch and put the winch handle on it -- I use one winch handle so I know which winch is about to become active)
2. Prep the active sheet (make sure line is free to run) and sit near the active sheet
3. Start the turn by moving the tiller bungee leeward ~8" (this amount will change depending upon the conditions, less length required if lighter winds.)
4. Release the active sheet as soon as sail starts to loose gas, making sure to remove all wraps (no backwinding needed in moderate / heavy winds)
5. Move to the new side
6. Trim the jib/genoa fast, aiming to get it inside the lifelines - it doesn’t have to be perfect at this point, just under control
7. If the jib foot is stuck on the lifelines, pinch up a bit and pull in
8. Get on course, keeping eyes forward
9. Fine tune the jib
10. Prep for the new lazy sheets for the next tack

We'll see how this works under racing conditions this weekend. I may try the tiller clutch in the future - will let you know. Thanks for all the great input above!

Tom
Rock On

[todd22123]

I think this may work better than bungee on tiller. It can be controlled with one hand, and one can move the tiller just a bit quickly in the middle of the tack to adjust turn rate.

Todd

[255grizzly]

FYI, I got a tiller clutch.

It's the bomb! Much quicker and more precise than a line wrapped around the tiller. It's the difference between VHS and DVD.

Note: it's not any better downwind for me in chop, but upwind, it's great. Highly recommended.

[Philpott]

FYI, I got a tiller clutch. It's the bomb! Much quicker and more precise than a line wrapped around the tiller. It's the difference between VHS and DVD. Note: it's not any better downwind for me in chop, but upwind, it's great. Highly recommended.

That's great, Tom! We want you to be happy. Now come on out and sail with us.

Aren't we about due for another "Take Alcatraz" race? Todd Olsen, current record holder, waddya think? And Greg Ashby? Where's Nightmare?

Bob Johnston said he'll figure the results for us, even if he participates. Course, he's been winning all the races lately, so for sure we want to race against him, too.

Anyone else? Any singlehander can race. Every singlehander is invited.

Start at the BYC buoy off the Berkeley seawall at an agreed upon day and time, race around Alcatraz a la Fiasco (to port or starboard), race back. Take your own time. Meet up and lie.

[BobJ]

Huh?

[Philpott]

Huh?

Oh, gosh. Did I forget to break down those paragraphs? See above.

DM is going out today. Maybe to Clipper Cove for lunch. I love that place. Wonder if it will allow boats smaller than 50 feet to visit in the future?

[255grizzly]

If the single handed fleet for Silver Eagle fails to materialize Jackie, how about we take Alcatraz on and see if either of us can steal the record back?

[Philpott]

If the single handed fleet for Silver Eagle fails to materialize Jackie, how about we take Alcatraz on and see if either of us can steal the record back?

Absolutely. This time let's coordinate with each other. And since Todd prolly isn't doing the Transpac, let's persuade him to try to defend his record. And Greg Anyone else? I'll start the email trail now ...