Recent content by Caerus

Wow! Still sailing a dinghy at 85. You give me something to look forward to. I'm still ten years from retirement but was getting a bit shy after I turtled my Capri last year. In that case, my wife was on board to help me right it so it wasn't really an issue, but it did make me think about...

carrnor Interesting. I bought the Harken 434. It's sitting on my desk next to me waiting for a free weekend to try an installation. I wouldn't think there'd be enough room for a forestay AND the roller furling drum at the bow plate. Doesn't the drum rub against the forestay when you roll up the...

If you don't have any hanks, see if you have a wire luff (i.e. a steel cable with each end crimped into a loop). One loop is probably used as the tack and the other as the head. If yes, then you have a sail prepped for roller furling. If, instead, your sail has a rope luff with a hole (and a...

You may have unwittingly answered your own question. You mentioned that your jib has no hanks. Do you mean it's only attached at the foot and head? If so, that would account for some of your poor pointing ability. The tighter the luff of the jib, the better the boat will point. Having it...

I need to bump this, cause I think there may have been a mix up. My question remains: How does the roller furling setup attach to the mast itself? Appreciate any input.

CFOY: I don't suppose you could take another picture a bit further back. I was wondering where the pennant/shroud adjuster fits to the mast for a roller furling jib. It seems like that's the shroud adjuster for the fixed jib just to the right of the picture.

Sorry, couldn't help the play on words with the other thread. But seriously, I'm all set to remove my forestay and rig my roller furler. Got a wire luffed jib, got the furling gear, got the pennant, got the shroud adjuster on top. One last detail: Does the shroud adjuster attach to the...

Jeremy, Thanks for the input. On my jib, the tack and the head are actually the crimped ends of a wire cable which are sewn to the sail so that if you twist the cable, it twists the luff of the sail. The wire cable, between the two ends is loose and free to move within the luff of the...

Don't pull your ends apart. Just run your fingers along the luff (when you can get to it) and see if the wire within the sail is taut. Thanks!

Jeremy, You mentioned you have a roller furling jib. I want to add roller furling to my rig and was wondering if you could answer a question for me: My jib appears to be set up for roller furling, by which I mean it has a wire luff and the wire is sewn into the sail at the tack and head of...

fan Your absolutely right about verifying the structural integrity of the Capri. I HAVE NO IDEA whether the Capri is built to handle a spinnaker. I only described my experience to help Jeremy visualize the simplest possible rig ( no fancy pole launcher, no trimming tools). We never messed with...

Part Two Everything was set up on shore, before launching. You carefully bagged the sail so the head and two clews went in last. You carefully attached the halyard to the head so that when it went up, the halyard would pull the head out from underneath the foot of the jib and up in front of...

Hmmm, this is another long one so I'll have to break it up again. Part One I think fan pretty much laid out the details, but I don't think it's as bad as he lays it out to be. I've never seen a Capri 14 with a spinnaker, but my Laser-2 had one and I can describe how that was rigged. It...

JSinclair Here's Part 2: As far as my Catalina 22 ... I loathe the day I sold her. She was a great boat ... spritely but safe enough on Lake Sacandaga and Lake George (Lake Champlain would be another matter). I even won a trophy in the Ticonderoga Race with that boat. It was great on Lake...

JSinclair I tried to post my response twice but it keeps disappearing. Maybe it was too long so I'll try posting it again in parts. Here's part 1: I've been sailing this area since 1980. You're right, the sailing season is too short. If you can swing it, I suggest buying a shorty wet suit...