Reefing and sail-raising in heavy air conditions

Newsgroups Archive Prior to 2025
1

Repeating a couple of responses to the “How Much Longer…” in their own because they raise a separate and interesting topic.

David Young rdyoung49@me.com

A good and timely question. I’ve owned three auxiliary sailboats over the last 49 Great Lakes sailing seasons, a Nonsuch 30U for the past 27 of those. I’ll be 75 in a couple weeks and still reasonably fit and healthy and hope to sail for a few more years at least. I recently had an experience, though, that suggests it may not be a good idea to sail solo in open water as I have come to enjoy doing on the Nonsuch. Suffice it to say that I encountered higher than expected winds and waves and could not for the life of me get the boat to self-steer for long enough to get the sail up. In the chaos of trying to raise the sail the halyard became so hopelessly tangled that I ws unable to get the sail up even after I managed to motor into the lee of a peninsula several hours later. On the off chance that I ever attempt such a voyage again, do any of my fellow Nonsuchers have any tips for how to get the sail up while sailing solo in such conditions?

David Young
Bay Cat, 30U #402
Suttons Bay, MI
USA

NS 36 CANATARA Rob & Bill rcollie56@gmail.com

Good question. I was just recently in multiple situations with my wife at the helm while I tried to get the sail up. We did it but she found it far too demanding and would rather motor. Upon return to Sarnia I asked our local boat builders what I could do differently to keep on sailing. They suggested I get a much better auto helm so my wife does not have to be at helm. What auto helms are up to this task?

We are also looking into replacing our Arco 40 electric halyard winch with a new Harkin 40st electric. Arco is broken.

One of the options would be to locate control buttons at the helm so I could activate the winch and keep head to wind at the same time.

Any thoughts on either option?

Rob & Gail
Canatara
NS36 #24
Sarnia On. Can

wwood…@gmail.com wwoodruff52@gmail.com

If you have a wheel pilot, it is likely not intended for a boat the size/weight of a Nonsuch 36.

My Nonsuch 33 has a Raymarine Autopilot system with an under deck ram connected to the rudder shaft via a short tiller arm. This system is rated for the size of the boat and holds the boat into the wind while raising the sail with the original electric capstan winch while single handed. Obviously, the boat must be making way in order for the auto pilot system to steer.

The under deck autopilot system has a price tag around double that of a wheel pilot system. The under deck system will steer your boat in all conditions.

Ward Woodruff
N33 #8 Margery
Niantic Bay, CT

2

Responding to David Young’s question about raising the sail on an N30 solo in rough conditions: the first question I’d ask is, do you have an autopilot? It’s very hard to get the boat to self-steer on its own without one because the windage of the mast forward makes them fall off. A lot of people have Raymarine wheel autopilots (actually Autohelm, later bought up by Raymarine). They’re underpowered and react too slowly for sail-raising in difficult conditions, although they can be made a little more effective if you motor faster so that the rudder’s biting better. I don’t know other wheel pilots, and can’t comment on them. I deeply envy those with below-deck autopilots, which are both stronger and quieter.

I’ll be curious to see if others have advice on raising the sail in rough seas, as that feels like something best avoided. Halyard wrapping has happened to a lot of us and the trick is too not allow any more slack than you can avoid, but that’s much easier said than done when the boat’s bouncing.

So another question is, are you sure you want to raise the sail in unexpectedly strong winds and seas? That sounds like a good time to be motoring to a protected spot and then raising at most a reefed main. There may be a way of doing it but, unless it’s your idea of fun, it might be a time for the old saying that a skillful seaman avoids situations that necessitate skillful seamanship.

Regarding Rob’s question about raising his N36 sail, a couple of thoughts. As said, I concur with Ward that an underdeck autopilot is very probably necessary for a N36. There’s a range of competing products available, and I’m sure others can advise on their tradeoffs. The one thing I’d suggest keeping in mind is that many of the size recommendations are based on some combination of boatlength and displacement. However, our boats carry a lot more sail for their length than conventional sailboats. So, if in doubt, size up.

Same for replacement halyard winches. If the Arco’s broken, was it possibly due to undersizing? There’s another thread specifically on N36 halyard raising that leaves me with the impression that bigger might be better, there.

– Bob
Me Gusta
Nonsuch 326U #233

3

I found that in heavy weather, the main culprit was the halyard which had the habit of wrapping around the mast and locking onto the running lights or steaming light. I had this issue with the original wishbone rig as well as my standing gaff rig which has served me well for the past five years. It was necessary to go forward and free the halyard at the mast which was a pain in the neck especially when sailing single handed. The solution was to install preventers at the running lights and the steaming light. I used shock cords anchored to the lights and in my case to the lazy jacks. This solution has worked well since they were installed and had the bonus of pulling the lazy jacks forward when the sail was raised. I am sure one could attach the preventers to the wishbone to solve the problem. Try not to have any slack in the halyard when the sail is down.

The other solution would be to move the running light to the hull like the early Nonsuch 30’s.

Especially when sailing single handed and there is a risk of heavy weather, I reef prior to leaving the dock. If the weather turns out to be fine, it is easy to shake out the reef even with the wishbone setup. One of the reasons for my new rig is to use single pennant slab reefing. All I have to do is to tighten up the reefing pennant so the sail is tucked along the boom and then raise sail. With the wishboom one has to work with the pennants and the choker to execute a tidy reef. The new rig has about 10% less sail area and is 5’ shorter on the foot. As a consequence, Mascouche is well balanced no matter how hard the wind blows. We have had her out in 25 to 30 knots with full sail and found her to be fully controllable even in tight quarters.
I am very happy with the setup which has seen me through to my mid 80’s and hopefully into my 90’s, if my ticker holds out.

John Newell
Mascouche 26C1
Toronto

4

Wheel autopilots are fine for motoring in calm seas. They do not react with enough authority on windy conditions. That said I would do the following

  1. At the dock set up both reefs in turn marking the set positions in felt marker / tape. This makes setting the lines quick and accurate.

  2. Use blocks at the clew as it will make securing the clew fast and reduce the likelihood of the halyard getting away. Leave. couple of wraps around the halyard winch to keep tension and reduce the effect of a loose halyard.

When using a wheel pilot you will need some boat speed to counter the wind/wave effect. 3 knots fwd speed would probably do it.

Reef at the dock if the forecast is even remotely in the reef range when solo sailing.

We had a gentleman at our marina who sailed to 92, there was a group of us who would out with him in turn… he’s retired now but I think it a great option…

T

5

David Young wrote in a digest reply…

Bob, I do have an autopilot. It is a wheel mounted Simrad WP30. It is probably about maxed out on a 30U but it has worked adequately since I installed it in 2010. On the day in question the forecast was for winds of 10-15 knots and waves of 1-3 feet. The actual conditions were more like steady winds of 20 with slightly higher gusts and waves of 3-5 occasionally to 7. So both significantly higher than forecast but not extreme. In such conditions, with or without crew, I usually prefer to put up at least some sail. The motion of the boat under sail is much better than under power. I used to be able to handle the boat solo under such conditions but now, it seems, I can’t. To hark back to the original question of how long I intend to sail, I guess m answer is at least a little longer but more conservatively and/or with better crew.

David Young
Bay Cat, 30U #402
Suttons Bay, MI
USA

Thor, as usual, offered some very good advice, as did John. Installing curved metal guards around the mast lights can reduce the tendency for loose halyards to catch on them.

Our boats definitely do feel better with some sail up rather than none. And they should sail just fine in the conditions you describe, once the sail’s up. The problem is that, no surprise here, it’s easier to get the sail up in protected conditions before going out than once out in unprotected conditions.

But, frankly, I think the general feedback seems to add up to: no one does a whole lot better than you did under the circumstances. All we can do is watch the forecasts, avoid the situations if we can, and do the best we can if we get caught out.

– Bob
Me Gusta
Nonsuch e26U #233

6

Another tip which I learned the hard way is to always raise the sail just enough to put some tension on the halyard before you fully raise the sail. Recently I didn’t and found the halyard had got caught around the upper choker block that is attached to the mast. Requiring me to leave the cockpit to free the halyard from it.

Mike
BIANKA
1986 30U
Long Island

7

You are quite correct, Mike!!

Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA

8
  • I agree about reefing at the dock if the weather warrants it.
  • when I attach my halyard to the sail I pull the slack out just behind the mast and then take that up on the winch as soon as I get back to the cockpit.
  • with my Milwaukee drill in the halyard winch I can comfortably sit on the port cockpit seat with the drill in my left hand and my right hand on the wheel. My sail is up in about 20 seconds and I can keep head to wind with boat speed determined by wind conditions.

Paul M
NS30U #211, Sandpiper
Cowichan Bay, B.C.

9

Several issues have been raised. I upgraded my Ray Marine wheel pilot to this spring, it is much more effective in high winds. I usually raise the sail several feet before leaving the dock, this usually prevent problems. However if I motor in a swell the halyard may wrap around the NAV light. In the past I ran a light line forward around the halyard and back to the cockpit to pull the halyard backwards. I would release this line just before raising the halyard. This system worked well but required foresight.

Mike Darlington
Tiroc 26C
Whitby, Ontario