Seamanship in a cherub

[phil_kirk]

I think we managed two acts of seamanship last night at Thornbury.

We had finished race 1 chasing a Dart 15 around the course but well off the RS700.  We started race two but within a minute realised that there was a huge dark cloud comming up the river a visability was dropping fast.  being the only starter in the fast handicap it was an easy decision to make to retire before geting a pasting.  That was act of seamanship one.

the slipway was now a lee shore and we had to get the main down before our final approach.  We beached on the other side of the Pill (inlet) oposite the slipway tipped the boat over and got the main off.  Being at high tide the water was right upto the grass. Those who have seen it will understand.

We then proceed to try and sail with just the jib up. The wind was actually abaiting.  On our first atempt we drifted past the slipway realising that it is difficult to get a cherub to sail with an unballanced rig when foils only work when the boat is moving.  We perfected our tacking under jib alone and managed to get in.

We were second in the first race behind the RS700 while we were sailing off 930.   

[Will_Lee]

I am v impressed by your jib-only tacking. Did you heel the boat to leeward a lot?

[Neil C.]

the slipway was now a lee shore and we had to get the main down before our final approach. 

When it's blowing hard from the south-east at Tynemouth, you get a big surf stacking up on the club beach, which is then a lee shore. The local landing technique is to wait until there are about 8 people standing waist-deep in the water, and then take a run at the beach as fast as you can. When you're about to hit the shore, the 8 people lift the boat clean out of the water with the crew still on board, and deposit you gently on the sand! Scared the hell out of me first time I had to do it, but it works!

[phil_kirk]

The technique was:
 be moving
heel a little to leeward and gently head up
let momentum take you through head to wind.
ease jib right out on new tack before the bow gets blown right off.
get the boat moving on a reach and start heading up as forward motion (speed) increases.

Team work between helm and jib sheet and ballance are critical.  Any windward heel kills pointing.

We find our foils stop working during a normal tack and the jib takes the bow off the wind until the mainsail battens pop on to the new tack and ballence the jib.  sailing without the main makes the effect so much more exagerated. 

I have finished a race in the enterprise in strong winds under the jib and managed to sail upwind and tack much more easily than this.  Sometimes rocker, weight and deadrise angle help.

Last year we sailed the yacht up the solent in a F8-9 with only the storm jib up.  the yacht would point really high when the wind was above 35 knots and keeping the bow down.  When it dropped below 30 the boat fel off the wind 30-50 degrees.  We were trying to save fuel.

Neil they use the same beach recovery method that you described at Clevdon (just down the severn from us) in Goa and Shrilanka.  Steep or rocky beaches are not easy to recover onto and I have yet to try it myself.   Not sure that i would want to.

[dave_ching]

That is one amazing piece of sailing well done.
The only time i tried sailing shiny with just a jib the jib won and we went for a down wind reach.
To be honest that was in the strongest winds in Scotland and I was on the wire even then.
I will have to try that next time we go to a pond. I'll give it a miss at Poole with the cross channel ferry.
I am happy that I can get home on a reach without a rudder but this is much harder than that.