Sailing the SO32 with a rooftop traveller

[tedp]

Sailing trials with the new mainsheet traveller

Last week I spent a few days experimenting with the new rig. On Monday I had a constant force 4, about 14-15 knots of wind, and a slight sea, short and about 2ft tall. I started trials carrying full hoist. This proved to be the limit for my cruising sails, but I could sail on without too much trouble and tightened the Cunningham to open the leech a little. The main could be trimmed all right, although I had a bit of backlash from the foresail.

The boat did 30 to 40 degrees off the apparent wind, heeling about 25 degrees at 5.3 knots, with some pressure on the rudder. I had the traveller about half out, with the sheet and the outhaul firmly tightened. The autopilot didn’t like the boat trimmed like that until I pulled a reef. Over-canvassed sailing by hand proved to be reasonable, without any round-ups which the boat would have done in the old situation.


www.009dutch.nl/jeanneau/569_21_05_12_10_33_06.jpeg

Note the backlash in the luff of the main in 15 knots of wind:


www.009dutch.nl/jeanneau/569_21_05_12_10_31_31.jpeg

After reefing once, the boat was much easier on the rudder and ran slightly faster. I made the following observations off the apparent wind (an improvised polar diagram - genoa is nearer to 110% I think):


www.009dutch.nl/jeanneau/569_22_05_12_12_03_28.jpeg

This is of course an approximation, but it felt good. The boat ran like lightning, clocking up to 7 knots on the GPS.

Reefing the main at winds approaching 15 knots seems to be the answer to relieve the rudder. The boat up to now never showed a tendency to round up. It was possible to keep the main well trimmed, although my mainsail is cut rather full and will only flatten out when reefed.

Sailing the boat last Tuesday in less wind (12 knots) with full hoist, the main could be flattened better:


www.009dutch.nl/jeanneau/569_22_05_12_8_00_37.jpeg

Looking at the compass when tacking to windward, I managed about 90 degrees between tacks, with a few degrees of leeway (according to the track on my Seaclear display), full and by. This tallies with the closest angle off the wind of about 47-48 degrees estimated earlier. Coming closer to the wind (40 degrees true) reduces speed to about 3 knots and makes the boat feel a bit sluggish, with little pressure on the rudder. It keeps going though.

When running under autopilot, the main has to be opened out more than when steering by hand. The autopilot isn’t very reliable under windy conditions and the boat needs to be kept off the wind more than it needs to be when steering by hand.

Concluding this rather lengthy post, the boat feels very different. The round-ups are gone and I think it sails slightly closer to the wind. I used to tack through at least 100 degrees which is now reduced to 90-95.

[flightdeck]

Hi tepd,
you much have a smile ;D on, to get that much more sail improvements after all your work, your planning, must make you feel good
Next step is some new sails and you will not believe it's the same boat you have been sailing, I'm hoping the bank manager will free up so $$'s for a carbon main this year, first I'll get and then I will have to and be a good husband....LOL

Cheers

[tedp]

Will an ear to ear grin on my face do?

I'm afraid new sails are out of bounds for the moment - I have invested enough in this boat for a while. The genoa actually is quite good, radial cut and with reinforced fabric. The main could be better but it will do for cruising. The main thing is the boat can be controlled in any sort of wind I have encountered. Up to now I didn't feel confident sailing the boat in a lot of wind. I wonder what Jeanneau have been thinking of to design this boat with such a basic sheet arrangement.

Good luck with your carbon main project - perhaps you can be persuaded to do a radial diagram afterwards, so we can compare?

EDIT - do you ever use a barber on the genoa sheet to pull it in, and does it help to gain a few degrees to windward?

[flightdeck]

I have thought about the barber thing and look at any yacht I see with it and how I can do it without drilling holes everywhere, at the same time not sure how that will affect the boat speed running a little closer to the wind. As it is now I try to crack just a little to get more speed.
The has already started, what one has to do for new gear
Cheers

[davideso37]

Hi Tedp,
In my view that is not a bad looking mainsail. As you said it is a bit full. I have scaled off from your photos and you have 14% to 15% draft in the top half and the draft is about 50% back from the luff. The other point is that you have no twist in the leach and the top battens are pointing higher than the angle of the boom. If it were my yacht I would be looking at two stiffer tapered battens for the full length battens in the head and using a bit more luff tension or cunningham if you have one fitted. As you seem pretty happy with how it is going you could try just a stiffer top batten. When you look up the mainsail from under the boom aim to have the aft end of the top batten parallel with the boom. A tell tale at the top batten will help with setting the desired twist in the leach.
Regards
David

[davideso37]

Hi again,
I now see the top tell tale flying in the 15 knot photo. Here you have some twist but as you say there is back wash on the main. Can you pull the main outerhaul out and flatten the lower half in these conditions. I would still go for a stiffer top batten as a first improvement.
Regards
David

[tedp]

Thanks, David - the idea of stiffer battens in the head of the sail is a good one to follow up. This is an easy modification.

In both photos I had the Cunningham and the outhaul hauled tight. Possibly the halyard is a bit too stretchy as I can pull the Cunningham right down to the gooseneck even if the halyard has been tightened.

Perhaps I should have given a bit more slack on the sheet to improve the twist. The telltales should indeed be fitted to the battens to be able to judge the flow around the leech. As it is I'm still learning to sail with this rig, but it is great fun to see the improvement.

[tedp]

Last week we were out sailing a few days, visiting the islands to the north of our country. This was a good opportunity to test the boat in all kinds of weather. At one time we were out at sea, high on the wind with about 18-20 knots gusting 25, in wind over tide conditions. I had one reef set and the foresail reduced by about 30%, with the genoa sliders moved forward a few inches. I managed about 50 degrees off the wind at over 5 knots through the water, 20 degrees of heel and fairly neutral rudder. The traveller was out about two thirds and the reefed sail was nice and flat, with all the telltales flying out straight. We only rounded up once or twice in a gust.

I also re-set the tension on the upper battens of the main after one batten started coming out of the sail due to worn stitches on the leech. My idea is that they were set too tight. The curvature now seems better. By the way the telltales are all fitted to the batten pockets.

I found there is a fair amount of friction in the standard blocks of the mainsheet (not the one on the traveller car as that is new). This probably reduces sheet efficiency, so I'm thinking of replacing them by ball bearing blocks.

[tedp]

Although this is an old thread I felt it would be useful to add something about my experience over the Easter weekend. Last week I replaced all the blocks on the mainsheet by Harken carbo blocks similar to those already on the traveller. Expensive, but very smooth. I think I need only half the effort to haul in the sheet.

Our first sail of the season was on Easter Sunday. It blew merrily with gusts up to about 20 knots, so we set off with a single reef and a roll in the genoa. The genoa blocks were set a few inches forward of their normal position to compensate for trim. The boat was balanced quite well on the rudder.

Anyway after a few hours it started to blow up pretty badly, with gusts around 30 knots. By that time I had pulled a second reef and the genoa was rolled in over half its normal area. The boat responded quite well, at 20 degrees of heel, 60 degrees off the wind and running at 5 knots plus. Balance was good with only a touch of weather helm. We rounded up only once which was before I pulled the second reef. I had the traveller out about 30% - 50% in some of the gusts.

The area we sail in normally is a fresh water inland sea - in these conditions we had short steep rollers about 4-5ft tall. Once or twice the boat put its nose in which slowed us down to 3 knots.

[hoppy]

Apr 22, 2014 9:54:26 GMT tedp said:

Last week I replaced all the blocks on the mainsheet by Harken carbo blocks similar to those already on the traveller. Expensive, but very smooth. I think I need only half the effort to haul in the sheet.

Interesting to hear. I have replaced the main traveller but still have all of the original blocks. Replacing the blocks have been on my mind for years but not so high so far. I might start thinking about it again.

[tedp]

The original blocks even if well lubricated are a bit stiff. In harbour when I had to center the boom, I had to really pull. Now I only have to give it a yank and it is in.

Note that I fitted a flat mount carbo block on the cabin roof - the original array of blocks beside the mast has small diameter sheaves and pin bearings. The one the mainsheet was on had been overloaded and the pin was slightly bent. This is much better.

[tedp]

Thread updated after re-hosting the photos, May 30, 2016.

The photos had disappeared due to the demise of the Dutch language Jeanneau forum.