Successfully tacking through moderate waves

[Old PDQ Message Board]

Successfully tacking through moderate waves

Posted by Roger Ford on October 30, 2000 at 08:30:00:

The past two weekends have produced some welcome windy weather on the Chesapeake
Bay with wind in the 15 to 28 knot range and waves in the 3 foot + range - and
very close together. In these conditions, we've encountered some problems with
completing a tack across the waves while sailing close hauled

A large part of the problem has been that the bottom wrap of the jib sheet
(using about 3 wraps on the winch) has been riding up the winch and wrapping the
whole works up - this precludes a fast and efficient tack. The starboard winch
is somewhat more of a problem than the port

Has anyone else had this problem with their PDQ36? Any suggestions would be
welcome?
Roger Ford
s/v Kokomo 36080

Follow Ups:

Re: Successfully tacking through moderate waves Colin Swithenbank 13:40:10
04/21/01 (0)
Re: Successfully tacking through moderate waves Evan Gatehouse 11:03:28
10/31/00 (0)
Re: Successfully tacking through moderate waves John Frankovich 16:18:23
10/30/00 (0)

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Re: Successfully tacking through moderate waves

Posted by Colin Swithenbank on April 21, 2001 at 13:40:00:
In Reply to: Successfully tacking through moderate waves posted by Roger Ford on
October 30, 2000 at 08:30:00:

Roger: We love the 130 jib supplied with Cadenza for sailing off the wind but
had Triton Sails make a (heavy) 110 jib for tacking or sailing in heavy weather

We've tacked easily in 40 knot (app.). Its an expensive solution but works well

Colin

Follow Ups:

Re: Successfully tacking through moderate waves

Posted by Evan Gatehouse on October 31, 2000 at 11:03:00:
In Reply to: Successfully tacking through moderate waves posted by Roger Ford on
October 30, 2000 at 08:30:00:

Roger wrote:[/i]

A large part of the problem has been that the bottom wrap of the jib sheet
(using about 3 wraps on the winch) has been riding up the winch and wrapping the
whole works up - this precludes a fast and efficient tack. The starboard winch
is somewhat more of a problem than the port

-----------------------------------------
Hi, Roger
I think we met at the PDQ Owners Association dinner as guests of Doug and Cindy

It isn't clear if the overrides occur during the "fast" part of the tack, when
you haul the sheet in by hand, or later when winching. If it occurs during the
first part, then only put one or two turns on the winch, and add the third or
fourth turn just before you put a winch handle on and start grinding

If it's a winch orientation problem, then ensure that the line leads to the
winch between 1-8 degrees below horizontal with respect to the winch drum. 15
degrees is too much and will produce a lot of friction and line wear

You could wedge the winch to change the angle or put a small "deflector block"
just ahead of the winch as a temporary solution

Evan Gatehouse

Follow Ups:

Re: Successfully tacking through moderate waves

Posted by John Frankovich on October 30, 2000 at 16:18:00:
In Reply to: Successfully tacking through moderate waves posted by Roger Ford on
October 30, 2000 at 08:30:00:

Tacking has not been a problem with respect to weather conditions, but you are
correct about the overriding winch turns. This happens altogether too
frequently, leading to aborted tacks or other frantic manuevers. The apparent
reason is that the jib sheets come into the winches at approximately a right
angle, rather than the recommended ~15 degrees

This winter we will remove the winches and install angled bases to see if this
helps. Unfortunately this requires dropping the headliner in both after cabins,
but we've been through a similar activity on our previous PDQ 32 when we
installed the spinnaker winches on it. We hope this solves the problem

Incidentally, we put a shroud roller on the baby stay. This helps let the jib
come through quickly when tacking and reduces somewhat the tendency for the jib
sheet to suddenly go slack and generate overrides

John Frankovich
s/v Cataria 36079