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Broad reach in an Ericson 30+

csoule13

Member III
How does one go about handling their boat in the following conditions. Body of water in question is the Chesapeake Bay.

- Quartering southerly tailwind, true wind of high teens to 20 kts.
- Rollers due to the water having miles to build up energy

Boat had up full main and full 155 genoa, with the sheets on the inner track. As several of you are probably thinking at the moment, the stern would swing coming over the waves, and lead to an exciting steering situation. Several unintended jibes happened.

In hindsight, reefing is an obvious area for improvement. But what else? Sail shallower to the wind? Get the sheets on the outside rails for better headsail shape? Or is there just some wind and sea state combos that are fraught with peril like this?

We're a short handed crew, and do pretty well with the wind at or ahead of the beam, but with no pole, anything behind the beam just brings us confusion. If nothing else, a boom break is in the boat's very near future.
 

paul culver

Member III
Boom brake is useful for downwind work. It doesn't stop the boom like a preventer, but slows its swing from one side to the other. I rigged one using a piece of climbing hardware called an "eight". I think I posted a photo on this site.

Paul
E29 "Bear"
 

GrandpaSteve

Sustaining Member
Too much sail in my humble opinion. I reef the main if I expect 12+ kts of wind. Roll out the genoa to about 80 - 90%. Trim, let out more genoa if comfortable. When solo sailing I am happy to plod along at 4.5 knot boat speed in those conditions, others like a more thrilling ride that that, so more genoa for them, but the main at first reef gives me better boat behavior so I can think things through calmly.

- Yeah - boom brake!
Visible in this picture:

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supersailor

Contributing Partner
In 18-20kn of wind, a full main and a 155 is way too much sail up. A reefed or double reefed main with a 110 is much more appropriate. You are way over canvased and the boat will tend to round up and be generally uncontrollable. The 155's are light weather sails and generally are not build to withstand heavier conditions. If you are normally sailing shorthanded, a furling 130 is a more practical sail for you. They are built for heavier conditions and can be shortened by rolling them in a little.

I have a 34 and I tuck the first reef in at 16kn of wind because it keeps the helm neutral. At 20kn, I drop the main entirely. The boat doesn't seem to notice the main is gone and handling is so much easier with just the jib to contend with. I have not sailed the 30+ so I don't know if it would react the same or not. It is worth experimenting with. If I were caught in 18-20kn with a 155 up, I would dowse it for fear of stretching the 155.

It is worthwhile trying out the combinations so you know what is best for your boat at those windspeeds.
 
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oldfauser

Member III
true wind of 18 to 20, broad reaching would give you about 12 to 14 apparent wind with a boat speed of 6+ knots surfing; not too much for a 155 at all. Upwind, definitely a reef in the main, maybe the jib as well.

Down wind in conditions that your describing, we have the main out to about 90 degrees to the wind and move the boom Vang from the base of the mast to the rail for both sail shape and to act as a preventer. This is for about 120 degrees apparent wind. Much more and we go wing and wing with the whisker pole :egrin:. (we have done this in 25 to 30 knots true wind with 6 to 8 foot rollers!) Fun surfing 8+ knots!
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Csoule,

Any time in doubt, just reduce sail. You'll find handling much improved and the effect on speed negligible.

People carry too much sail because their reefing gear doesn't work, or they aren't familiar with it, or probably both.

A few more factors:

Nobody reports wind speed accurately, mostly because they have no way of knowing what it is. Wind at deck level is probably five knots less than a masthead anemometer shows, and how accurate is your 19 year old anemometer?

Wave height changes everything. On a flat sea you can carry full sail, when with big quartering seas the helmsman will be exhausted in half an hour.

And then there are the sails themselves. Old? Too light? Their shape in 7 knots may look fine, but in 20 knots they become bags that drag you off course and lay the boat on its side.

There's a lot to it. The simple solution when overpowered is to reduce sail.

Our boats do well under reefed headsail alone.
 
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csoule13

Member III
Wave height changes everything. On a flat sea you can carry full sail, when with big quartering seas the helmsman will be exhausted in half an hour.

And then there are the sails themselves. Old? Too light? Their shape in 7 knots may look fine, but in 20 knots they become bags that drag you off course and lay the boat on its side.

There's a lot to it. The simple solution when overpowered is to reduce sail.

Our boats do well under reefed headsail alone.

Here's the point for me, at least. It isn't clear in the moment what is overpowered, and what is just getting the Chesapeake washing machine treatment. I suppose the answer is going to be that less canvas means less force in play in the big picture here.
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Because it's harder to tell if you're over powered when sailing with the wind, either downwind or on a broad reach, a quick way to check if you don't have an anemometer is to turn the boat upwind and try to sail close hauled for a few minutes. Our boats generally shouldn't heel more than about 20 degrees, meaning the toe rail should still be clear of the water on our E30+ boats. So if you turn upwind and the boat goes on her side, can't be steered well, too much weather helm, etc. then you know you've got too much sail up. Heave to if necessary and put in a reef or two, furl the headsail a bit, flatten sails with boom vang, outhaul, leech lines, halyard tension, etc. Once you turn back downwind you'll find it much easier to steer, avoid broaches and accidental jibes though a preventer or boom brake are still a good idea.
Just my thoughts based on my experience.
Frank
 
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oldfauser

Member III
We have found the when we have more that 20 degrees of heel consistently and more than two spokes of weather helm, we are over powered. Need to change something, reef the main or the jib. In your case of a quartering sea, I would try a reef or two in the main (as you have a fractional rig) and see how it does. You can always un-reef it if you find you are under powered. (I find it harder to steer when the wind is dying and the wave don't know it yet!). The best advice is, only have as much sail up that you feel comfortable with, because sail is suppose to be fun, not a "white knuckle" ride!
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Also,

The first fix to difficult steering on a broad reach is to let out the mainsail more. Let it out till it actually luffs--the relief is usually instantaneous.

Then trim a little, till balance is right. Or reef, if necessary.

Ericson hulls are extremely sensitive to mainsail trim when reaching. We don't plane. Like Charlie, we don't surf. When the boat can't go any faster, excess sail area translates into squirrely helm, wild rolling and a general inability to go in a straight line.
 

ThatJeffGuy

Member II
Too much is too much...

It sounds like you are getting overpowered. When the wind is that high I don't like using the main at all, We have gotten six knots out of the Jib alone in those conditions! One time with a good partner and a 5 year old with a not gusty-solid 12-15 knot wind broad reach we had a perfect hull speed+ run on jib and main, but the wind was consistent and perfect, turned and did a 4+knot wing on wing (trimmed by the five year old) and then once we were back in the harbor doused the sail and motored because now the wind had gone from a perfect 12-15 consistent to a 10-15 gusting to 20+ and random directions. Fine with the full crew, but squirrely with the five year old on board.
 

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toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
Poor-Man's Boom Brake

Since my boom isn't very large, I picked up a couple of Figure-8 descenders that I saw on sale one day, and rigged one as a brake. Still experimenting with different ways to rig it, but seems to do the trick. You can google up quite a few discussions of using these on the boom. It cost, like $10, not including the line and snatch blocks that I had in the rigging locker. Also rigged a preventer on a weekend cruise, but it was kind of an ad-hoc rig and needs some refinement.

Dunno... I had one glorious day in about 18 knots true with full main and reefed genoa this summer, but was unsuccessful in subsequent attempts to recreate it. Usually put in a reef when I start seeing 18 and second when I see 25, but then the boat seems calm but slow.
 

csoule13

Member III
Thanks everyone, much to ponder next time I'm down at the marina. Christian, as always, really brought clarity for me here.

And, uh, let's go Sox.
 
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