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Ericson 38 in 30 Knots -- 10-minute Video

GrandpaSteve

Sustaining Member
Hi Christian. Was that sailing footage main only? It looks like it, but if the jib was rolled up to 50% J it might not be visible in the frame. Did you head out with the main already up?
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I settled on about 40 percent genoa, which provided good balance. I raised sails behind a breakwater, with the #2 reef already in.

This would would all be a pleasant reach in the trade winds, where you set up and get everything right and then cook dinner. But on a daysail out of a harbor, maneuvering and tacking in short steep waves, resetting the vane every time, dealing with a camera, I had my hands pretty full. It was actually funny, since at nearly 70 degrees I left the foul weather gear below and was soaked in five minutes. Golly!

What I wasn't able to film was that I lost overboard my cockpit cover, which is stored on the lifelines and was swept out of its mounts by a breaking wave.

I made six passes trying to retrieve it, good MOB practice. What worked best was a flying jibe, retracing to leeward with a backed jib, then coming about with the jib still backed, sailing back and shooting up to the target.

I arrived just right four out of six tries, and there was my cover floating in the lee within easy reach. But I had not put a loop of any sort on the cover, and there was nothing for the boathook to grasp. What? I never could retrieve it.

Here is the eye-opening part: I could not have reached a helpless MOB. The E38 topsides are too high. You could hand a line, but there is no way to grasp a person, or an object.

I felt sure I could deploy the Lifesling, sail the line around an (uninjured and alert) MOB, and have them secure themselves into the proprietary float.

I would then have to heave to, or lower the sails, and begin the long process of winching them in. In 35 knot gusts and seas the boat is lively and it wouldn't have been easy.

With a full crew, quite doable.

For a two-person crew, should one become a man overboard, the situation is dire even in these pleasant conditions two miles offshore.

But of course we would all be clipped in.
 
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gadangit

Member III
Great video Christian. Great point about practice. I'm always puzzled by people that don't put the time in when it is convenient for them instead of doing it under duress.

We sail shorthanded and I sail singlehanded quite often. One thing I found to be slightly difficult is getting the reef cringle/ring thing hooked onto the ram horns at the gooseneck. The main has so much reinforcing there that bending the material out of the way is difficult. Difficult at a time when you are trying to move fast and stop the noise.

With crew it is no problem for 4 hands to get in there and just force the issue.

My solution was to oversize my 4:1 cunningham blocks, line and attachment point. If I get frustrated or whatever at the mast, my fallback is to just use the cunningham in the reef attachment, pull down tight and get back in the cockpit to finish. I use this method maybe one time out of three. It is amazing the stress induced by wind, flapping sails and banging lines. Everything seems to take longer than it should.

Chris
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
let the boom cross at full speed?

Sure. If you jibe the boat sharply, carrying through upwind, the sail luffs almost before the main sheet stops it. Then bear off to chosen course.

hooking reef cringle onto the ram horns at the gooseneck

Dog bones usually solve that. Easy to make out of stainless rings and spectra, webbing, or just a loop of line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91YlX4MRv3Q
 
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Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
More or less. For me, conditions dictate everything and frankly it's going to be improv.

For one thing, a singlehander in wind and seas just can't do anything fast. You can't keep your eye on the target worth a damn. Any action like dropping or even furling a sail in gale conditions would put you a thousand yards from the MOB. It's discouraging to think about. I used to go in two-man ocean races and barely thought about it then.

Pete Goss's rescue of Raphael Dinelli in the Vendee Globe is superman stuff.

The best solution is to have him nearby at all times.
 

bigtyme805

Member III
Christian in the Channel Islands area we call it Storm sailing. Testing out the boat and rig to see the attributes. What differences did you notice between the 32 and 38? Were they subtle? I am guessing you are planning something with the 38. Maybe the Marquesas. Lol
Do you have multiple cameras? Maybe some permanent mounts. I shared your Vids with the Oday group since I am now an Oday owner for a few years now. They loved your narration. Keep up the solid Vids. Love them. Maybe we will see you at the Channel Islands this summer.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I'd call the differences subtle. Overall the 38 is less like a dinghy than the 32-3, and its greater mass all around gives slower reactions. That does translate to comfort and stability. It takes away a little of the "feel".

The overwhelming impression is of exactly the same boat, since the cockpit and deck layout is similar. The interior space really gains only a larger galley and a shower stall. The increase in beam makes the most noticeable impression below, in terms of "bigger boat."

Impressions, though, are just that--although important in wondering whether to move up in size. ("The guy says his 38 isn;t much different from a 32-3? All he got was a shower stall and an extra burner on the stove?")

We had 26 people on board for cocktails (16 below, 10 in cockpit). When you step onto a 38 from the dock, it hardly moves. A 32-3 rocks under your foot. So yes, in reality, the boats are quite different.

But they're both Bruce King. Same drink in a bigger glass. Tastes the same.
 
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Teranodon

Member III
Sure. If you jibe the boat sharply, carrying through upwind, the sail luffs almost before the main sheet stops it. Then bear off to chosen course.

I must admit that, in 30 knots, I would most likely do a "chicken jibe" to windward, having hauled in as much of the main as I dared, picking a flat spot (if there was such a thing), and using the rudder to get the boat through the wind. This is what I did last weekend in 25 knots of wind, going around the Salmon Banks buoy off San Juan Island, with big waves, in an Express 34 with the full main. We were four experienced sailors, and no one wanted to try a true jibe.
 

kiwisailor

Member III
Blogs Author
Great video! I'm envious that you are in the water...we have a few piles of snow around here and splash date is still 5 weeks away.

I'm going to be rigging my boat with reefing lines so curious to know what size you used on her?

Cheers,
Mike
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Three-eights. That works best for my blocks and clutches. The size is a little small for the Barient 19 self-tailers on the cabin house, but I can make them self-tail by putting five or six turns on the drum.
 

Ryan L

s/v Naoma
Three-eights. That works best for my blocks and clutches. The size is a little small for the Barient 19 self-tailers on the cabin house, but I can make them self-tail by putting five or six turns on the drum.

Another soluton -> We use spectra for the tack reef lines that's girth hitched ("luggage tagged") to enough 8mm (maybe it's 10mm?) VPC at the cockpit end for the winches. We like the low stretch, slippery through the cringles, high resistance to chafe, less water absorption, and especially with a deep second reef it decreases weight aloft. When we eventually need to redo the tack lines we'll probably do the same.
 

bigtyme805

Member III
I'd call the differences subtle. Overall the 38 is less like a dinghy than the 32-3, and its greater mass all around gives slower reactions. That does translate to comfort and stability. It takes away a little of the "feel".

The overwhelming impression is of exactly the same boat, since the cockpit and deck layout is similar. The interior space really gains only a larger galley and a shower stall. The increase in beam makes the most noticeable impression below, in terms of "bigger boat."

Impressions, though, are just that--although important in wondering whether to move up in size. ("The guy says his 38 isn;t much different from a 32-3? All he got was a shower stall and an extra burner on the stove?")

We had 26 people on board for cocktails (16 below, 10 in cockpit). When you step onto a 38 from the dock, it hardly moves. A 32-3 rocks under your foot. So yes, in reality, the boats are quite different.

But they're both Bruce King. Same drink in a bigger glass. Tastes the same.

Great Description on describing the subtle differences.
 
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