Screecher / Gennaker for PDQ 32

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Magic Time
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Screecher / Gennaker for PDQ 32

Post by Magic Time »

Has any one added or considered adding a Gennakers / Staysails with furling, rigged from halyard.
Some one I met, while crusing last summer suggessted puting a bow sprit onto my PDQ and adding a gennaker.
We had been discussing sail options for low wind. Don't know if the forward aluminium beam could handel the load.
Any suggestions on how to, or comments ?

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Page 83
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Re: Screecher / Gennaker for PDQ 32

Post by Page 83 »

I believe there are two 36's with bowsprits and screachers. Page 83 is one. The screacher is a godsend in light air, moving the boat when no one else can, and adding a knot in winds up to 15 knots. HOWEVER:
The sail must be furled before winds exceed 12 knots due to the size of the furler. When furled, the screacher affects the set of the genoa when close hauled. There is a lot of foredeck clutter. Tacking the screacher around the forestay is extremely difficult, so the sail is only used on very long legs.
Is it worth the trouble and expense? For me, on the Chesapeake, yes. Somewhere else, maybe not. For the 32? You already have a taller mast. Try a chute first. But if you've just got to add a bunch more sticks and strings....

The bowsprit develops some pretty high loads, and should not "stand" on the front crossbar without some additional support between the crossbar and the bridgedeck. Getting the angle right for the whisker stay anchor points on the hull required great care. If you don't get it right the hull will craze or crack. I had to cut more access plates to reach the lower inside bows to attach a backing plate and nuts. Bed said plate generously with compound.

Be willing to drop the screacher on the tramp when not in use. That means there has to be something to hold the pole up when the sail is down. For this and one other reason, I like the idea of a bowsprit that retracts or simple folds back against the front cross bar. Some of the Farrier Tri's have a sprit that can be set three or four feet to either side of the forestay This is the other reason I like it. You could set the sprit to leeward and get a tighter sheeting angle, making the sail usable closer to the wind, or you could set the sprit more to weather for better exposure to a wind over the stern quarter behind the main. That would keep you speed up on a deep run.
But what ever happened to the KISS principal?
Sandy Daugherty "Page 83" PDQ 36026
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thinwater
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Re: Screecher / Gennaker for PDQ 32

Post by thinwater »

Page 83 made a lot of good points I'll not repeat. He previously owned a PDQ 32 without a sprit and now owns a PDQ 36 with a fixed pole, but not exactly a sprit in the usual sense, as it butts against the bridge deck instead of the front beam and is ~ 18" above the forward beam when in use. I used to have 2 boats with sprits (beach cat and Stiletto 27) and have yet to add a sprit to my PDQ 32. I've certain sketched many ideas.

Several things have held me back.
* The front beam of the PDQ 32 goes through waves in rough weather. I really don't want to add more gear or weight to the front beam. Smashing a 3- to 5-foot sprit through waves seems like trouble, both in terms of breakage and handling/speed. The folding idea is a possibility I've considered. I may do it yet.
* On the PDQ 32 the angle of the stays is mechanically terrible if the sprit is to attach to the forward beam. There is going to be a lot of compression. On Page 83 that was solved by using a pole, but that boat has a jib bridle (the pole goes under the bridle) whereas my boat has a gull striker, as do most of the 32s. Many cats (including my old beach cat and Extreme 40s) use the Page 83 solution.
* KISS. If the sprit must be removed, it's not simple enough. Added weight never makes a boat go faster. The water stays would always be going through waves.
* I can't move the sprit to one side. Since I will be using a chute, that costs me some VMG downwind if heading deep.

Can the beam handle the compression? At worst, run a strut from the front beam to the bridge deck. Otherwise, the stress calculation requires exact dimensions and some input from the sail maker. Based on my early calculations, if you are going to sheet the reacher in, you will need a compression strut. For a chute it is not needed.

As for a reacher, the genoa on the 32 is already huge (perhaps you have only the self-tacking jib?). You won't gain much area and it won't work as well as the genoa to the weather. My Stiletto had both a genoa and a reacher, and the reach was not useful much above a beam reach; it would set, but leeway (increased by the lee helm it will cause) ate up any gains. Thus, I used the genoa up wind and the a-chute off the wind. The reacher was seldom used. After a while, I removed the sprit (on the Stiletto there was ~ 3' from the forward beam to the bow, so the chute was already well forward).

A chute is easy to fly if...
* Set the sheets up with permanent blocks and winches.
* Use a squeezer; it doubles as a sail bag and allows lowering and hoisting right from the locker.
* Attach the tack to a bridle in the center. Yes, it can be better to set it on one bow, but the center is a better starting point and makes jibes easier.
I can set it while single handing if the wind is under 10 knots. Over that, it's not so necessary, but it's fun!
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Re: Screecher / Gennaker for PDQ 32

Post by Page 83 »

Let me emphasize that the 32's front crossbar must be braced if you mount a bowsprit on it. But here's an interesting alternative. Mount a long pole UNDER the tramp, extending from a traveller track on the underside of the bridge, with two blocks at the forward end. These lead the whiskerstays (think cat whiskers!) back to a winch to control tension and the lateral position of the screacher tack. At rest the pole would drop into a loop under the crossbar or hang from a tightened whisker stay. Things get confusing around the gull striker, so the whisker stays may need to go to blocks and up thru the tramp to the winch.
KISS takes a major hit.

WARNING: The 32 rudders are not overlarge. Both are needed to deal with a sudden LEE HELM. This could occur if the pole is too long or the fore sail is too big. A wave or wake could raise the windward hull enough to ventilate that rudder, and you are suddenly unable to stop a very quick turn to leeward. This could lead to stubbing a toe (burying a bow) or worse. I don't have a clue what would be too long or too big, so you are on your own. There be Dragons thar.
Sandy Daugherty "Page 83" PDQ 36026
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Re: Screecher / Gennaker for PDQ 32

Post by thinwater »

Neat ideas from Page 83. He's thought about this!

The lee helm problem is probably manageable, within reason; the chute doesn't really generate lee helm and the keels are far forward on the PDQ32. But he's right about the dragons. The Stiletto had MUCH larger rudders (designed to have a hull flying) and still, if the wind was strong and the you got bow-down power reaching, the helm could get suspiciously light.
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