I applaud your grasp of the reality of unballasted beach boats...Any daysailer will require hiking at times but some have enough stability to allow reducing sail, or feathering the sails, and avoid hiking in many conditions.
Since the sunfish has no means of reefing I am curious about its stability. I simply cannot remember from my days of sailing one. I will be sailing alone. Is this a boat an old man should avoid?
The Jens Hookanson style of rigging (Jens Rig) is a way to lower the whole sail rig to near deck level in order to reduce the effect of wind leverage without re-tying the halyard..., it does not reduce sail.Thank you, I'll do a search for Jens lines.
My main concern I need to test is dumping it and getting back aboard. For safety I need to do this with company close by just in case.
At 73 I find no problem when hiking is needed. Keep the sail low (3" above the deck) and the dagger up a bit to reduce heeling.
Fair Winds,
Fred the Geezer
OK, different issue, kinda. I tried to dump it in the harbor and couldn't get it to capsize. I really didn't want to grab the mast and fall into the sail, or attempt to drop between the boom and the hull. Or is that the only way? Anyone teach this drill when the wind is too light to help? Thanks, Winever.
Thank you WD, and I should prolly raise the board too...DUH. It's not in my mind to think about how to fall over. LOL, Winever.
All true..., but you may recall I brought up "threshold". If the energy of wind in the sail were concentrated at the waterline, then lateral drift would be the only concern. Unfortunately, the force is not channeled to that ideal region. The wind in the sail also creates a rotational force aloft…, the leverage commensurate to the height and size of the sail. When the force in the sail exceeds the sideslip freedom you get dumped … fast.Wavedancer:
- Raising the centerboard can reduce heeling...
- There's less rotational (heeling) force on the dagger if there's less area preventing leeway.
- "One way to reduce heeling is to move the center of lateral resistance upwards by raising your centerboard or daggerboard. The boat will have less resistance below the waterline and consequently less heel."
That's the physics of the situation in a nutshell..., unless you can levitate the hull for zero lateral resistance.Even having the board completely up will not prevent a capsize because of the hull's resistance in the water which will allow the force on the sail to rotate the hull into a capsize.
Moving the board up might prevent an imminent capsize if it's not too severe.
In my experience, a severe capsize happens very quickly and leaves no time for any adjustments except holding your nose for the dive.
IMHO it's much less work to just sail the boat skillfully, applying normal capsize abatement tactics like letting out the sail and/or briefly turning into the wind, rather than fiddling with the ragged edge of the capsize moment equation ... a constantly moving target ... by futzing with the least effective control element, the daggerboard.When a capsize is slowly imminent . . .
Or you could have outriggers that spring out, or perminant outriggers for that matter.Suppose I have a device that automatically adjusts the daggerboard [upwards] when it senses an "imminent capsize".
IMHO it's much less work to just sail the boat skillfully, applying normal capsize abatement tactics like letting out the sail and/or briefly turning into the wind, rather than fiddling with the ragged edge of the capsize moment equation ... a constantly moving target ... by futzing with the least effective control element, the daggerboard.
The real "Easy Button" is to simply get enough experience so that sailing fundamentals become second nature.
Heck, did you watch the 470s in the final round of the Beijiing Olympics..., they all capsized at least once. Dinghy sailing is like that some days. So you go out and brave the wind anyway or go home and mow the lawn. I go sailing (which includes an occasional swim).. . . However, I am not twenty anymore, and never had the agility of top sailors. Hence, I do swim from time to time.
You're writing to a former catamaran sailor.Or you could have outriggers that spring out, or perminant outriggers for that matter.
There's no limit to what might be done...
I think I may be "being made fun of", but I can't be certain.
Suppose I have a device that automatically adjusts the daggerboard [upwards] when it senses an "imminent capsize". Why wouldn't that device delay or prevent a capsize?