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Thread: Better broaching for singlehanders

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    77

    Default Better broaching for singlehanders

    After singlehanded broaching lots and lots and lots of times, I’ve learned a few lessons that I thought I’d pass along. You can download my paper here:
    https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D7718709_68878570_6221527

    And don’t forget the paper I wrote on the invaluable gybing without shifting the pole here:
    https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D7718709_68878570_6206596

    And my older paper on meal planning for improved performance in long distance singlehanded voyages here:
    https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D7718709_68878570_6823572

    Have fun!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    907

    Default

    Thanks for continuing to share your findings!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Sausalito CA
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    96

    Default

    Figaro Gybe Technique....Who here Gybes their Main first?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNUhZqYhaEo

    Thanks to Foolish for more great info!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    3,688

    Default

    If you do that with an asymm, a wrap is likely as the wind starts coming off the main from the opposite direction after it jibes.

    So I always jibe the kite first, often sailing wing-on-wing briefly before the main jibes itself.

    He almost gets a wrap too, after the main jibes and before he pulls the pole back on the new side.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Alameda CA
    Posts
    497

    Default

    I'm a general proponent of the main first gybe, with the caveat that you need to practice it and find what works in a variety of conditions and your boat.

    eg, on Domino with a shorter rig and generally less twitchy, I could get away with staying fairly deep and not worry so much about easing the sheet (new guy) forward before moving forward.
    with Hedgehog, I've learned the hard way that I MUST hand drive through the wind (AP is way to slow), ease the old sheet/ new guy almost to the forestay & steer farther up on the new gybe than seems comfortable in order to prevent a wrap (or worse - plant the pole while wallowing too deep).
    I also need to constantly remind myself to make sure the AP is settled in to the new angle before moving forward. Sailing at a hotter angle helps that process (for me and my boat)

    Practice it; it works but it takes repetition - your mileage may well vary.

    DH
    Last edited by DaveH; 11-26-2019 at 10:24 AM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    3,485

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oceanslogic View Post
    Masterfully done, but without the additional line of a safety tether to tangle one up. I don't think this is an unserious point. Last Saturday I had a dozen opportunities to gybe on my big heavy Dura Mater. So I took them.

    The wind out at the Lightship was 3 knots, gusting to 7, so I felt confident doing so. With the changing directions of the wind I tried every which way: gybing the main first before gybing the spinnaker and then gybing the main after gybing the spinnaker. My drifters gybe without a pole, so those are a dream, although not much help except on a beam reach.

    I had a couple of wraps during those oh so many hours out there, but ALWAYS I attached before going forward. And I went forward ALOT.

    I no longer get caught on the winch: Oh, no! That is so yesterday! But still my tether catches on the clutches and then I on the shrouds in my haste to untangle something somewhere (on the spinnaker pole chock! On the lifeline! on one or the other of the bow cleats!). I don't worry about being found floating with my fly undone, but neither do I want to fall off my boat.
    Last edited by Philpott; 11-26-2019 at 02:37 PM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    77

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    Hi Guys. I was taught the main first gybing method by a Figaro sailor, so it's no coincidence that this is what I wrote in my book. And it was by doing this that I realized that I don't need to move the pole at all for short term situations. In Victoria, I always need to gybe around an island on my way home. But the wind over current often causes it to be really nasty for 500 yards. So I just wait until I'm past that part before I shift the pole.

    Philpott, this method really doesn't work in very light winds, like the 3-7 knots that you were facing. The chute will just collapse and wrap. It's actually best in 15 knots. You need enough wind to keep the chute full when you move to the other side.

    Do you know how to unwrap a spinnaker by gybing to the other side? If this isn't well known, I'll write a short paper on it some day soon.

    For the Figaro video, this is pretty well how they all launch, gybe and douse. I would not have eased the sheet quite so far before gybing the main. I like to have the clew of the chute about 3' from the forestay. My question is, before the launch, how do they keep the chute from falling in the water when it's up on the bow like that, and the wind is blowing 20 or more? And it would be even worse with some waves crashing over the bow. The turtle would be full of water. And once you're up and surfing at 15 knots in big waves, I don't know if I'd want to crawl to the bow to recover the turtle.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Sausalito CA
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    96

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    I wonder if the Figaro class is allowed to have zippers or velcro on their chutes? It would help to explain how they seem to keep the tack under control on the hoists....Here is another Figaro douse on a reach courtesy of Sam Goodchild...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owJHGbzKSVA

    Similar to the first video with a little variation. I continue to enjoy your books Andy and thanks for all the helpful input!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    77

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    I just noticed another video from Sam Goodchild in which he does a chinese gybe on his Figaro 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdZrHUWGCSo
    This is really valuable to watch because it shows exactly how he ended up with a rip the entire length of his spinnaker. What did he do wrong - he let out the spinnaker halyard, just like I strongly suggest against in my paper above. (But remember I'm speaking as someone who has ripped all of my spinnakers into pieces.)

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    3,485

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    Quote Originally Posted by Foolish View Post
    What did he do wrong - he let out the spinnaker halyard, just like I strongly suggest against in my paper above. (But remember I'm speaking as someone who has ripped all of my spinnakers into pieces.)
    This does lend a good deal of legitimacy.

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