rudderless sailing

[mental floss]

I finally just figured out how to adjust a Laser sail so that the boat can be sailed predictably without a rudder.

What adjustments are made to a Sunfish sail to accomplish the same thing? I would assume the best way would be slide the boom way forward and tighten the outhaul. Is there a better way?

 

[Wayne]

What adjustments are made to a Sunfish sail to accomplish the same thing? I would assume the best way would be slide the boom way forward and tighten the outhaul.

Moving the sail's Center of Effort forward, as you've discovered, introduces Lee Helm giving off-wind steerage. Partially lifting the daggerboard shifts the Center of Lateral Resistance aft, accomplishing similar results. Shifting weight also acts on CLR by moving resistance along the waterline. Inducing artificial heel like is done in a roll tack shifts both CLR and CE.

Take a page from the sailboard sailing manual on sail position and "hull" attitude , after all, there's a hydroplaning craft that sails rudderless all the time.

Larger boats with two sails have it a little easier, but there's still some tricks that can be taken from what they do. Here's a Cape Cod Mercury on mainsail alone.
http://www.geocities.com/nojibnorudder

This article was sent to me awhile ago, unfortunately it's missing the illustrations. Maybe someone has the SAILING Magazine issue and will upload them.

 

[nojibnorudder]

I can help with figures you may be looking for. Here is the current website for rudderless sailing:
sites <dot> google <dot> com <slash> site <slash> nojibnorudder
there is a youtube channel at:
@nojibnorudder

Hope this helps and sorry for the long delay...

 

[danpal]

Wow! That's a blast from the past!