need advice!!!

A

apollo

Guest
hi im just getting into sailing and the few times ive been out, ive almost capsized. I dont know if the wind was just too strong, or im just sailing wrong. on a c14 is there a way to reduce or pull in the main sail or jib? thanks

apollo
 
Apollo,

Welcome to sailing! Where are you sailing? Do you sail by yourself? Capri 14s can, and are sailed single-handed by many people, but a c14 is really a two person boat. The boat is unbalanced fore-and-aft(unless the skipper sits ahead of the barney post), and tacks are slower and harder than they have to be. Besides, it's nice to have some company. In anything over about 8 knots(rough guess; find your limits through experience), unless you weigh alot more than me(140) the boat will be helling too much. Even if you valiantly hike as hard as possible, there is a limit where you can't keep the boat flat by yourself. Dinghies are different than keelboats. They are meant to be kept flat, because the rig has maximum efficiency at that angle, and you will have minimal "weather helm". You might not be racing and/or those items might not matter to you, but it's good form to keep the boat flat as possible. Always make sure you are sitting on the windward side of the boat, unless the air is so light that you would heel the boat to windward doing so.

Furling, the act of reducing a sail's area by folding or rolling it, can be employed to reduce sail area to reduce heeling moment in stronger winds, but I don't advocate it. The mainsail on C14s is not furlable unless you put reef points on the sail. The jib can be roller-furled if you have the equipment. With roller furling, the jib can be incrementally wrapped around the forestay. You can get kits from Catalina to give you that ability. Furling just the jib puts the rig all out of balance unless you bring the board up a bit. Pulling the board up in increments can reduce heeling as well, at the expense of windward performance.

Good luck! :cool:
 

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