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Old 20-08-2019, 11:12   #1
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leave the mainsheet cam open

I had a somewhat scary situation recently entering Boston's busy inner harbor.

Sometimes I motor into and out of the inner harbor, but we had about 10-15 knots of breeze in a nice direction for sailing close-hauled (without tacking) most of the way back.

I was getting close to feeling overpowered, but not there yet. I had started looking around for a traffic-free spot to put a little sail area away. (Furling main/genoa, so pretty easy. But still takes away focus from watching traffic.)

Inexperienced crew.

A ferry was passing my windward side at what I felt was a very safe distance. Then it altered course and would be passing to windward at a distance I felt was still safe, but not quite as comfortable.

Then I got a big gust and too much weather helm to avoid rounding up into what seemed like the ferry's path.

For a few seconds, I fought the gust with the wheel, and then asked my crew to ease the main. As soon as I finished that sentence (maybe sooner), I decided I wanted action faster than my crew could respond, so I quickly stepped over to the winch that's just forward of the cockpit, removed the main sheet from the winch, and let it fly out. The main quickly eased, and luffed, and the boat bore off out of the path of the ferry.

Based on reviewing my GPS tracks, I was off course for about 10 seconds.

Here are the lessons I'm taking from this. I'd be happy for others' thoughts as well:

1. Reef sooner than you think you need to. (Yes, this one seems to need a lot of repeating...)

2. I should generally motor into and out of the inner harbor. This is for enjoyment as well as safety: The harbor is somewhat narrow, and continually watching all of the traffic just isn't that fun. But it can be made safe, so I'd still happily do it if I'm sailing a boat without a motor. And this lesson depends a bit on personal preference. I dislike motoring, but even so, I will be safer/happier if I use that option more often in the inner harbor.

3. I'm really happy I had the main sheet clutch open. Even if it had been closed I'd have gotten it open in time to avoid a serious issue, but it would have been closer. This has been my standard practice anyway, but going forward I plan to enforce it more rigorously: always keep the main sheet on the winch with the cam cleat open.
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Old 20-08-2019, 11:23   #2
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

Looks like you summed it up well. The only thing I would add is about your inexperienced crew. Im not sure how inexperienced you meant, but be careful about having inexperienced crew ease the main under load in a hurry, dont want any lost fingers.
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Old 20-08-2019, 11:28   #3
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

For your second point, you don't necessarily have to motor, but if there's significant traffic in the harbor it might be advisable to motor-sail or to at least start the motor before entering the harbor so it's ready if you need it for maneuvering (and you can then choose to drop the sails at any point depending on conditions).
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Old 20-08-2019, 11:39   #4
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

I suspect that rounding up may have been slowing me down quickly enough that collision was never much of a risk, but I'm not sure.

I'd be curious how fast we were going just before I regained control. Does anyone know how to look at the speed at a particular point in my GPS tracks, using Navionics?
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Old 20-08-2019, 11:47   #5
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

Even when we raced boats with 12 experienced crew on board, we never closed the jammer on the main. Always had it on a winch , ready to dump if we got overpowered.


For cruising boats it's also one of the reasons I prefer the mainsheet back near the helm and not on the coachroof. Makes it much easier to reach in sporty/close quarter conditions.
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Old 20-08-2019, 11:59   #6
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

My Cal 40 has end boom sheeting. One end of the mainsheet leads from the front of the boom down and back to a dedicated winch on the cabin top. The other end at the back of the cockpit has a fiddle block with a cam cleat. This cam cleat has a tongue on it, so when you pull down on the sheet it opens the jaws. There is no difficulty in getting a highly loaded sheet out of the cam jaws and allows the sheet to be let out quickly.

The only difficulty is new people on the boat keep telling me the cam cleat is broken when they can't get the mainsheet to stay in. They pull down too far and open the jaws.
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Old 20-08-2019, 12:21   #7
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

Oops, typo in the original post: I meant to say "clutch cleat", not "cam cleat".
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Old 20-08-2019, 12:32   #8
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

Are we talking clutch or cam cleat. A cam cleat is easy to release just by whipping sheet up. A clutch needs you to move the lever from locked to open by hand so involves moving into position.

The ability to unload the main is really critical but often not easily done from the helm. Both my current boats have end boom sheeting. With tiller steering have a choice of driving or handling the main. Makes me really nervous as one of the boats will do an uncontrolled roundup with a sudden gust of wind. Dumping the main is the only way to maintain a course in those conditions. Always made me very nervous passing under the bridges on gusty SF Bay. Embarrassing to ram one of their footings
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Old 20-08-2019, 12:33   #9
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

Clutch cleat. Apologies for my error in the original post. Hence why it's important to leave open.
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Old 20-08-2019, 12:59   #10
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

Rule #3 on my deliveries is never clutch or cleat a sheet.

@Roverhi I have a cam on the main sheet on my boat. It can jam! There is a new design cam clear that will pop upon if you press down. Those don’t jam
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Old 20-08-2019, 13:18   #11
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

Quote:
Originally Posted by Snore View Post
Rule #3 on my deliveries is never clutch or cleat a sheet.
Now I'm confused ... if you never cleat a sheet, what do you do with it? keep hold of it the entire time? I could see that working on a fully crewed race boat, but not a cruiser ... so I guess I've missed something.
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Old 20-08-2019, 13:36   #12
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

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Originally Posted by Kelkara View Post
Now I'm confused ... if you never cleat a sheet, what do you do with it? keep hold of it the entire time? I could see that working on a fully crewed race boat, but not a cruiser ... so I guess I've missed something.
Jib sheets are left in the self tailer.

If the main has a winch, it too is left in the self-tailer. Sometimes we have no choice but to use a cam cleat.

On the new cats sometimes you have to close the clutch to tack. But as soon as that is done, the main sheet goes onto a winch.
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Old 20-08-2019, 13:39   #13
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

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Jib sheets are left in the self tailer.
D'oh ... of course. I don't have self tailers, so it didn't register.
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Old 20-08-2019, 13:59   #14
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

What I do with mine..... headsails and main ( I have 8(?) camcleats under the dodger... none are involved with sheets...).

Either on the self tailer with a few extra turns around the winch or - in the case of the genoa winches which aren't self tailing - a single turn around a Tufnol ( What is Tufnol?) jamming cleat and then back to the winch for an extra turn just to keep the tail secure.....

If I didn't have self tailers for the main I would just use the jamming cleats for the main sheet as well... you can see them in the pic....
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Old 20-08-2019, 14:03   #15
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Re: leave the mainsheet cam open

I see you can still buy them... https://shop.classic-boat-supplies.c...jamming-cleat/
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