Recent content by oatsandbeans

That sounds great -transom gybing, ( I just hope that the kids don't expect me to show them how to do it!) Thanks for all the ideas - I'll give them a go.

I'm going to be doing some training with youth sailors and I was wondering if anyone had any fun routines to keep the training interesting for them. I've come up with, sailing standing up,tacking going round the front of the mast, and best death roll - any other ideas?

If you can pick off pieces of gelcoat and underneath there is fresh shiny gel coat that is well adhered to the underlying laminate it could well be that they applied 2 layers of gelcoat ( called double gelling) and if the first has been left too long you can get poor adhesion between the 2...

Yes i think that it would be best to keep the rudder on for this ( maybe a bit of shock cord to hold it central). I think that it would be quite easy to get it to bear off and gybe but the tricky bit could be stopping it rounding up, as when the c board starts to lift the boat round, it all...

The reason that I think that gybing without a rudder may work ( and possibly be really fast), is that when I have managed to go into a fast gybe with a bit of windward heel I have felt an amazing feeling as if someone has grabbed the front of the boat and is dragging it around at speed- bearing...

This is interesting- I have never understood how the roll tack works in that we roll the boat over to windward and want the boat to luff up into the wind whilst using as little as possible rudder. The windward heel of the boat should normally get the boat to bear away but this is obviously not...

Thanks, for all the ideas, I'll try them out. I don't really like using helm, often I find that if I'm going slow and then I have a look at the helm and it isn't central that is the problem and I try to balance the boat up to reduce the helm. I think that the idea of sailing a bit with no...

The boom is normally out at 90 deg - I have a mark on my mainsheet at this -if it is light maybe a bit more. The board is 3/4 down

When sailing Bye the Lee I often notice that I am using quite a lot of rudder (my tiller is 1 1/2" to windward). Why is this ? Am I trying to sail too far BTL, or do I need more windward heel?

You should try a screw extractor - here is a link to a video of one in action. http://www.jmldirect.com/Screw-Extractor-PS5616/

The problem is that you do the development work, and you think that you have a handle on the process, so you press the button and go into full production. Often the process has to be refined once in the production phase. This happens with all products ( i-phones for example) not just the flakey...

Whilst I'm sure that every effort has been made to make the new foils similar in performance to the old ones ( bending stiffness ?). It is very difficult to match the strength characteristics of the old foils with an infused foil with glass skins and a lightweight core. The material properties...

I have a set of the new infused foils and have been sailing with them for 2 months now. I have worked in the composites business for the last 25 + years and I think that the foils look pretty good and a massive improvement on the old foam ones. They should be much stronger and should not break...

I have real problems roll tacking when the wind is very light, less than 2 knots. Generally my roll tacking is OK but when the wind drops off and is very very light ( tell tales won't work , boat hardly moves forward), I have problems. I luff up, roll the boat to windward and sit there with the...

Thanks, yes, I have a bit of leeward heel, and I try to flatten off the main but I am never happy with the entry- do you hammer the vang down to try to flatten off the entry and end up with a hard leach, or just have a more forgiving shape but with an awful bag at the luff - or does it make...