G'day had a brilliant day at Robe South Aus last saturday 5th Jan 2013, did okay in first race but lost my crew in a gust. In second race we went over in good style. Not shown in video is the Hobie 18 T boning a Nacra 5.8 put a 1ft crack in it with 4 inch hole right through they covered it with duct tape and did the second race 3 up. Our diamond wire nearly came completely undone you can see it swinging around after we right the boat, other Nacra 5.8 broke rudder crossbar, Stingray and Hobie 18 broke their tillers but everyone was laughing on the beach, what a hoot. Club officer had the wind meter on the rockwall, when we went over the peak gust was 36kts. Sorry if video is blocked in your country I put music to it.
http://youtu.be/qDEbzavQOOg

Yes, nice indeed.

I'm always interested in the methods of climbing abord which different sailors use after capsizing. I saw that you used a sort of roll on your back method.

Respect, you need to be strong for that.
Your crewmate (a she, isn't (s)he?) couldn't do this on her own. It's nice to be a "chevalier" in that case. (But she ought to practice for safety reasons).

ronald

G'day Ronald, my wife Liz crews for me and were both about 50yo unfortunatley I'm giving her too much practice getting back on the boat, Liz can get back on but it's tiring so it's easier if I drag her up, she says it would be easier if I didn't capsize
regards Jeff

Jeff,

Ha, ha, that's exactly how women think. We, monkey men, will never get used to that.

But I'm jealouse on you because my wife became instantly seasick when I took her with me on the sea years ago.
So, given your wife's age, admiration for her.

ronald

Jeff

Looks good. I would alter the mainsheet block cleat up a hole so it is difficult to cleat from the wire.
Cleating the main to windward is a sure fire way to get into trouble, particualy in gusty conditions.
I have never owned a nacra that I could cleat from the wire.
A good 8:1 with tapered sheet is quite easy to hold and easy to cleat when on the deck with the spinnaker raised.
Worth a though. I am over 50 and still hold the main to windward uncleated on either 5.8 or F18.
Goose

Thanks for the reply goose, I know the standard you sail at and I would do anything you say but my tendons in both elbows are buggered so I have to cleat, thats why my getting on the boat looked so hard and I couldn't get to the nationals this year. I'm looking forward to WA next year see you there.

Goose,

Exlain please a little bit more: uncleated closehauled???????

I sail cats already 25 years and I never ever do this on the wire uncleated (both the main and the jib). The only cat which I sailed uncleated was the very old spanish Patin-a-bela which has no rudders and you have to steer with the point of effort in the sail and the point of lateral resistance of the hulls.

Has this to do with the fact that I never sail regatta's ?

Just like Jeff I have adjusted the mainsheet block in such a way that I can cleat and uncleat on the wire. And that adjustment is a bit tricky to find because the uncleating has to go problemless and quick. By some law of the devil is in that position the cleating never not so effortless anymore!

Gusty conditions, closehauled,reaching or what ever conditions, broaching like a yacht (and turning automatically in the wind) is not a outspoken habit of a cat. Instead of that there is the catapult over the leewardhull !

So that needs a steering reflex from the helmsman.

I would say that's on a millisecond base more important then uncleating the main. But doing both is ofcourse the goal.

Its like making a emergency stop on a motorbike: you grab for the forbreakhandle, turning automatically your throttle down and stamp at the same moment on your rearbrake pedal. But if you do it right you hit the rearbrake just before the frontbreak.

P.S. Like Jeff I have also problems with my tendons, so my cleats are my savers.

ronald

this year both my elbows became very painful

i converted my 8:1 to a 9:1 to help ease the strain on my elbows and shoulders when sheeting... helped a little bit

It looks to me Mn3 that you really need to cleat more.
That with a 9:1 blocksystem should give you the perfect "active rest" for your body to heal.

Holding the sheet constantly uncleated will give too much strain on your joints and tendons. Even with a 100:1 blocking system.

ronald

G'day guys thanks for the replies 8 to 1 is fine for the nacra 5.8 when I went over I didn't have it cleated, goose has been sailing nacras at a high standard for a long time and is spot on with his info all of the top sailors don't cleat their mains, my boat is set up so that the crew plays the mainsheet while I should be playing the downhaul but I don't trust my wife that much. MN3 if your elbow tendons are hurting you could try strapping them like my physio taught me that is a long tape from below your shoulder to above your wrist and a short tape under your elbow pulling from inner to outer. This has helped me enormously and my kids love pulling the tape off with my arm hair.

Sorry Jeff, for breaking in on your thread ones more. You closed it off, but for me an interesting point revealed itself here, namely the aging catsailor who catches troubles with his tendons and joints.

In fact I should open a new topic about this subject but let me first throw a feeler about this here.

You and Mn3 were so honest to confess that body-problems influence your catsailing. Let me asure you are not alone !
Knowing this forum a bit by now, I guess that there a lot of catsailors here who are round or above fifty's.
So, unless blessed with wonderfull genes, most of us will encounter this invisible zone (which finally will finish atleast your catsailing period ).

Problem is that a lot of us don't recognise the omen of this phenomenon. Especially for the guys between 40 and 50 years (peak years of a trained man !) this is a non-subject which they loudly avoid (ofcourse with the usual macchismo).

But it is really worthwile to discuss about the implications on the catsailing itself and the necessary adaptations on your boat. Righting after capsizing, climbing abord, sailing with the sheets cleated, etc, etc are all parts of the sport which become more difficult with age.

I, speaking for myself , had to go already years ago on this road. Most unwillingly, but forced by bad genes and some bad use of my body in wild circumstances. So I have to pay the price now and each year I seriously wonder how long it will still go on the Northsea.

It keeps me wondering to other catsailors who are also (just) arriving in this "grey-zone".

ronald
born 1946

I cleat often when sitting on the tramp, can't cleat from the wire.

Thanks, can you PM me, or post me a picture of this?

MN3, can't you cleat on the wire because of the prefixed angle from the sheetblock?

And so yes, why don't you change that angle?

ronald

I could change the angle (and have in the past) but I prefer it like this.

Usually when I go out on the wire, the main is still cleated, but if/when i need/want to adjust it... it will uncleat, and i wont be able to re-cleat it.

If i change the angle downward to cleat from the wire, it makes uncleating from the tramp a little harder for me

You finally made me think the matter over, MN3 and the solution is quite simple.

I'm always sailing with a shorter wire because of incoming waves! So ther's no difference for me, block-anglewise, on sitting or hanging out.

This steeper position hanging out is absolutely necessary, because otherwise I'm in real danger getting hit and bumped off the hull and ending free flying towards the stern of the lee hull.

So, a higher flying position for me on the wire gives me only one fixed blockposition for both on the tramp and outside on the wire; cleating and uncleating have exactly the same ease; it forces me to backdown the hullflying a bit and finally it saves my back!

One downside: it doesn't look so cool.

ronald

I'll upload a photo on the weekend of my strapping. My cleat is set as a hair trigger and can only just engage the sheet from on the wire, I had trouble uncleating when sitting in and put a long shackle from the block to the traveller, this didn't change the clearing angle from the wire but made it a lot better sitting in. Go with what works for you Ronald it looks even more uncool getting washed off the boat and dragged along I've done that before

Yup! that would help...

You're right, a thread about adapting a beachcat to an aging sailor would likely be a worthwhile endeavour.

I'm not quite in your age bracket (but very close), but I consider myself "lazy" in the respect that if I can figure out something that involves less effort and achieves the same result, I opt for that method.

Righting the boat after capsize - there are several methods available that seek to increase the leverage you can apply to the boat for the purposes of righting it. I prefer the "lazy" way of gaining weight (which is surprisingly easy and enjoyable )

Climbing aboard - near the top of my old righting line, I fashioned a permanent loop that I could put my foot in to get a step up to start the climbing process. It was low enough in the water to get in, and by supporting myself by the shroud base, I was able to get my waist about 1/2 way up the side of the hull. I could then grab either the shroud or the trapeze handle and slide the other leg up on to the hull. My next iteration will probably be a second loop lower on the rope so I don't have to do the "deep knee bend/squat" to hoist myself up.

Sailing with the sheet (main) cleated is becoming more of a practice for me, but I'd be the first to admit it's probably slower and requires more rudder movement than sawing the main or spinnaker.

Also as we get older, we opt for more simplistic setups... uni-rig boats vs. sloop, solo sailing vs. two-up, and eventually the slower, less likely to flip boats (Hobie Wave) come to mind (although they are harder to move on the beach than an A-cat).

Thanks Jay, I totally agree with your approach (except for the gaining of weight).

The climbing aboard procedure over the side via the shroud base is (alas) for me impossible because in waves I have to keep the cat down with my weight on the windward side.

ronald