Happiness is a Warm Spool Gun

[Snowpetrel]

Fantastic! Now thats a real gaffer! On one boat we made a couple of rings for the boom and the topsail yard could be quickly stowed alomdside the boom inside the lazyjacks. It was pretty handy.

Definitely takes a while to find the right halyard positions, you have done well for a first go at it.

Ideally the yard should go up nearer to horizontal so it doesnt foul on the peak halyards as badly.

[Panope]

Thanks, Ben

I like that idea to stow alongside the boom.

Yesterday, I repurposed the port lazyjack for the halyard. I should probably rig a dedicated halyard (or beef up the flag halyard) as the mainsail and gaff were a mess when struck.

Steve

[Snowpetrel]

Originally Posted by Panope

Thanks, Ben

I like that idea to stow alongside the boom.

Yesterday, I repurposed the port lazyjack for the halyard. I should probably rig a dedicated halyard (or beef up the flag halyard) as the mainsail and gaff were a mess when struck.

Steve

Yeah, it is well worth having a dedicated halyard, that way you can dump the lot quickly. It should be possible to let all three halyards off and have the main and the topsail come down more or less together into a big contained mess inside the lazyjacks.

Did you notice much performance increase with the topsail up?

For tidy stowage on one boat we would poke the end of the yard into the loop on the boom and then roll the yard, this rolled the sail and the halyard around the yard into a very neat roll. We kept the sheet tight when we did this so the sail hung upside down. It was all a happy accident that it worked out like this for us, but may be worth a try in your case. The rolled up yard and sail sat alongside the boom as I mentioned.

[Panope]

I reckon the topsail gave a performance boost but I did not get feel for how much. Next time I'll cast off the sheet (when on the starboard tack) to get an instantaneous read on performance. As it was, I spent a fair amount of time (being the first time) setting a dowsing, the wind could have changed considerably.

Thanks, for explaining those tricks. I did execute a "roller furl" around the yard but this occurred at my feet on the side deck, Your technique of doing it inside the lazy-jacks with the sheet tight sounds brilliant. I can even envision "unfurling" with the sheet for an ultra quick deployment (OK, that might be fantasy).

Steve

[Snowpetrel]

Yes in this case it worked very well. I am not sure the geometry would work for all sails, on another boat the yard was shorter than the luff, and from memory we just gasketed it up.

I think we wound the halyard into the sail, but prehaps we untied it? Either would work fine, possibly with a dyneema strop seized around the yard at the correct place, then the halyard can just clip into it.

Ideally the halyard , sheets amd tack line are on the same side as the peak and throat.

Another trick is to make the tail of the halyard into the tackline, saves on rope and tangles. One more possibility is cliping the bottom of the yard onto the halyard so it can run up and down ok but it adds some control while setting and dropping the sail. Another similar approach is to use something like the throat halyard to clip the tack onto. Of course the tack either needs a swivel or to be uncliped for rolling the sail up.

Its all a whole heap of endless fun on a light day, tweaking and fiddling and adjusting, and it will keep a keen sailer busy with hours of entertainment.

Oh, and I forgot to say how much I enjoyed the winter project video, great stuff. Thanks

[Panope]

Tested the Trysail again. *Boat moved well enough in the dominant wind (25 knots - NOAA) and was powered up nicely in the gusts (30 knots). *

If the mission is just messing around for the day, I would probably use the reefed main in these conditions. *However, if I were making a longer passage, especially at night, I would likely choose this trysail*combination as it seems very safe and stable.

Boat sails with a touch of weather helm (amazing, considering how far forward this sail plan is). *Close hauled, speed was around 5 knots. *VMG to weather was not impressive (perhaps 1 knot) but it was certainly enough to stay off the rocks. *I'd use the iron trysail if I was really trying to get somewhere up-wind in these conditions.

Had enough sail power to squash the waves and keep chugging along.


Wing and Wing worked fine DDW.
Occasional, unintended jibes were benign.

[Panope]

Panope has no sailing winches.

Mechanical advantage is achieved with multi-part tackles. Main sheet and halyards have many "parts" and are easy to harden up in all conditions.

The head sails, however, can only have a 2:1 sheet. This makes it difficult/impossible to harden up the head sails when wind is at the maximum strength for each sail: Drifter -15kts, Working Jib - 25kts, Storm Jib - 35kts.

Those circumstances occurr frequently enough to warrant some extra mechanical advantage.

Enter the Panopuller:

The concept.


Tested in trees.


Tested on water today.

Works Reeeely well.

[Snowpetrel]

Very clever! Hopefully we will get to see it in use in a video sometime?

[Panope]

Thanks, Ben

I had been avoiding it, but I guess it is time to strap the GoPro to my head

Steve

[minaret]

Awesome! Clearly it can be used to repel boarders as well.

[Panope]

With my luck, the boarders will use it on me!

[Bleemus]

Originally Posted by Panope

With my luck, the boarders will use it on me!

That doesn't conjur up a great image. You may want to oil it. 😉

[GILow]

In case I missed it, was there a reason you have no winches?

[Panope]

GILow,

I lack a defendable argument for the choice.

Let's just say that prefer marching to my own drum.

Steve

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by Panope

GILow,

I lack a defendable argument for the choice.

Let's just say that prefer marching to my own drum.

Steve

I kind of wondered that myself, but thought maybe you mentioned the reason before. I can't imagine dealing with all that extra tackle line myself, but cool way of doing it none-the-less.

Matt