Orana 44: Positioning and Use of Winches and Clutches (Jammers)

[tehansen]

Hi fellow Orana owners,

We took delivery of our ORANA 44 early this year and have since sailed all the way from Norway enroute to the Caribbean... Currently in the Cannaries, doing the ARC 2010 starting 21'st Nov.

One issue that has annoyed me since the boat was delivered was the distribution and usage of winches & clutches for the genoa and boom sheets.

My winches are positioned in a triangle:

PORT 2-speed 48, STBD 2-speed 46 and main halyard electric 2-speed 48

see att pick

On a PORT tack (genoa set on the STBD side) the 46" winch is blocked from use by the STBD genoa sheet.

If you need the help of a winch to adjust the boom sheet:
From the position of the boom clutch/jammer it is clear that neither the manual 48 or electric 48 can not be used (directly) dt the large angle between them.

Indirectly you can put the boom sheet on the outside of the 46 winch (currently holding the STBD genoa sheet), but this create unwanted wear on the genoa & boom sheet ropes.

To my question (unless the above is clear as mud);

There are at least (by the time of writing) 65 ORANA 44 built, how are yours configured and if similiar to mine, how do you get around this problem?


PS! I have no clutches/jammers for my genoa sheets

All the best
Trond

[henryv]

I am at a bit of a disadvantage here as I have not been on my boat since April however if I understand your question correctly it sounds like you are using two winches for the genoa sheets. This is what I did at first and as you indicate there are times when you will not have a needed winch available. I now use only the port side winch for the genoa sheets. This requires a bit of fast work when tacking but since cats tack somewhat slowly it works OK. This leaves the center and stb winches free.

[barnakiel]

Hi,

I think I pass by your boat every day. I will say hi tomorrow and we can have a look, if you want.

In any case, normally, there is a clutch for anything that goes to the winch, so maybe your genoa sheets are not routed correctly?

In all other cases you can
- ad a clutch or,
- pass the sheet thru a block with a clutch,

Cheers,
barnie

[barnakiel]

Hej Trond,

So, I had a closer look and it seems what you have there is what the designer envisioned. The angle btw jib sheets is very narrow so the moment between easing one and pulling on the other is tense, but, as you have said, the boat tacks rather slow and doing the job on one winch should not be any problem.

You can make your life easier by adding a clutch on the port sheet - just next to the two small ones you already have there (they are for the traveler car control). Then you could clutch the port sheet and run the stbd sheet on the winch before tacking. On the opposite tack you will keep the sheet on the winch until slack then let it go and pull the other one thru (a locked) clutch first, and then only just trim it with the winch. Then the winch will be free for any other job.

To cleat the stb sheet you would probably need a footblock with a clutch. It would go exactly at the end of the short genoa track you have there.

Make sure, if going the clutch way - go for good stuff - not all clutches open equally easily under load.

BTW - maybe it is a good idea to add a piece of stickyback protector in the central area of the roof where your port sheet passes under the two traveler controls. I think there is some camber there and the sheet will probably make a bad mark in this area over time.

I hope this helps.

barnie

[jglauds]

We use the portside winch for all genoa sheet control, but it's very tricky when gybing. We've sailed from Maryland/East Coast US to Australia, mostly downwind, and often on genoa alone, and here's what we do on a gybe ...

I "prewrap" the (slack) windward sheet below the (taut) leeward sheet -- 2 wraps -- and start to swing the boat ... as the stern passes thru the wind, I let the topmost sheet run out as I pull in the bottommost sheet ... it's a bit dicey but it beats having the slack sheet clatter and usually end up twisted around its companion sheet ...

Reax?

/jon

s/v ile de Grace