The WYC's collected wisdom on chosing a life jacket

            Recently, a club member asked for opinions about the best life jacket to buy for keelboat sailing. Since this issue comes up not infrequently, I’ve compiled many club members’ opinions in an effort to simplify the decision-making process for future members.  Let’s start with Brent’s overview of the considerations involved:

First, do you need/want a Type II vest?  The deciding factor here are whether you want a vest that will likely keep your head out of the water if you are unconscious.  If this is a concern, then you should look to Type II, which narrows your choices quite a bit.


Next, on a keelboat, I wouldn't want to use a non-inflatable vest.  Too bulky.  Yet, on a dinghy, you don't really want an inflatable.  To my mind, one should really have two different vests - one for dinghy sailing and one for keelboats.  If you can't have two, then you'll have to do with a non-inflatable while keelboat sailing.


If you want/need a Type II inflatable, there aren't very many options.  Mustang makes one with a built-in harness.  This is what I use.  I'm quite happy with it.


If you don't want/need a Type II non-inflatable, then you'll be looking at Type III devices, and it really comes down to personal preference, but there are a few big considerations.  First is bulk, but that's not the most important consideration in my opinion, though it's the one that gets the most attention.  Way more important is that it doesn't restrict motion of your arms across the front of your body, and that there are no edges, corners, buckles, etc. that are likely to catch lines.


I would much rather take a bulky vest with a smooth profile than a sleek one with bits and pieces that would catch a line.  In fact, high floatation is a big deal for me.  Most people just go for the lowest-profile vest they can find, but it is important to remember what the vest is for.  More floatation is better.


For a vest to do a good job, it should keep you as high out of the water as possible.  It is there to save your life and not look good.  However, if you won't wear it, it won't do you any good.  So, know thyself.


I use a Type II/V hydrostatic inflatable with built-in harness by Mustang Survival when I don't plan on getting wet (i.e. keelboats).  On dinghies, I wear a Type II by Extrasport (I think).  I require a Type II vest, but as I tend to sail away from the immediate shore, I would probably use a Type II device anyway.

The topic of wakeboarding vests has come up, and while attractive in limited circumstances they should be relied upon only with caution:

Keep in mind, wakeboard vests will generally not save your life.  They will only improve you comfort for a short time.  Many (most?) do not meet the minimum floatation requirements to even meet Type III standards, and those that do are pretty minimal.  These are adequate only to provide a bit of insulation and reduce fatigue somewhat.  Use a neoprene vest only if you are sure you won't go into the water unconscious, or become unconscious or semi-conscious, and rescue is guaranteed within a few minutes.  Otherwise, this is just false security.


These vests are not adequate for keelboat sailing, except perhaps puttering around the lake with a competent crew.  Also, they are not advisable for single-handing except under supervision.  If you don't believe how quickly hypothermia sets in and how important every pound of buoyancy is, come talk to me and I'll tell you tales from the ER.


Of course, each person needs to weigh risks and make their own decision about what precautions to take, but most (all?) neoprene vests only lend a false sense of protection when it comes to sailing.  They are not designed for this purpose.  They are designed for situations where the water is relatively warm and rescue imminent.


The reason there are so many different kinds of PFDs is because there are different levels of exposure to different sorts of risks.  Each requires different measures to mitigate.  If you want to buy just one PFD to suit any sailing you might do, then buy the device for the worst exposure possible.  Then, if you can afford a second device, consider something less capable and possibly less obtrusive for sailing that is less exposed to risk.


However, all things being equal, an inflatable, in addition to being more comfortable than a foam vest, provides more buoyancy and has a better righting capability than an equivalently rated foam vest.  Still, as discussed, they are not really suitable for dinghy sailing because of the high chance of going into the water in a non-emergent situation.  Though, if I didn't need an auto-inflating Type II, I would consider a manually-inflating Type III over a neoprene vest for dinghy sailing.  This way I would have some floatation and insulation, plus the ability to inflate if I had to.  Still, for keelboat sailing, I wouldn't consider using anything other than a Type II except perhaps in conditions where I didn't feel like I needed a PFD at all.


My advice:  Just plan on getting two vests - an inflatable for keelboats and a foam vest for dinghies.  Get whichever you need first, and get a vest with the buoyancy appropriate to the level of risk you want to mitigate.  If you don't think you'll do much keelboat sailing, then just use your dingy vest.  If you're going to race on a keelboat, get an inflatable or go without  - unless you're going to do any distances at all, in which case you'll want an inflatable with a harness.

Dennis suggests using a floater jacket:

I'm normally a KB sailor, but I do sail dingys.   On the dingy, I always use the clubs PFD's or similar.   They are cheap, quick and don't get easily damaged. 

For years, I tried to use a very nice offshore inflatable PFD on the KB's.    But I seldom really wore it --> not good.   Among other issues was the fact that it had to be worn outside any coat or especially rain coat, so to get the coat off, the PFD had to come off and again seldom went back on.

I sail KB's frequently in the winter - so it is chilly.    Ultimately I purchased a type III Mustang  Integrity Class floater Jacket.   It is thick, having 1/2" flotation all around inside.   It is very warm and having a nylon shell is reasonably dry.    Now, I do look forward to wearing my life jacket when it is cold out, so always have it on when I should.   It is comfortable on most all cool days.    When the weather really does get warm (shirt sleeve), I do go back to the inflatable.    Downside is price.

Of course the floater jacket has no maintenance other than keeping it clean.   I've waterproofed it once and that helped.

As if that wasn’t enough food for thought, John adds the following links to tests of different styles of life vests.  Do consider how they will perform in waves, since you’re most likely to fall in the drink on a heavy day:

I found this interesting when I was researching inflatable PFDs. 

Testing inflatables against traditional PFDs in a wave pool with waves up to 4 feet high:

In fact, the type III inherently buoyant vest-style life jacket proved the real eye-opener for our test crew who had to work hard treading water to keep their faces clear of the waves when using this device.  When another test was conducted simulating an unconscious victim, those wearing the Type III inherently buoyant devices repeatedly sank well beneath the surface as the waves rolled over them.

Above from:

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/findings/Inflatablepfd.htm

More life jacket tests:

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/findings/50/default.asp

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/findings/findings38/default.htm

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/findings/floatingonair.htm

Complete list of BoatUS tests:

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/findings/

USSailing Safety at Sea studies (no life jacket tests):

http://offshore.ussailing.org/SAS/General_Information/Safety_Studies/

Adrian’s experience with on european pfds should also be considered.  Some members have even discussed adding leg straps to their pfds:

I have a Mustang MD3084, which I bought maybe 4 years ago. Here's a couple thoughts:

-Get something with automatic inflation. When I fell overboard, it brought me up to the surface immediately, almost in time to catch the stern of the boat, and close enough to grab the life ring. If it hadn't been automatic, the boat would've had to circle around for me. I tuck the release handle into the PFD when I sail so it won't accidentally get caught on something.

-Get something with an integrated harness. I wear mine all the time, and with the harness already on the lifejacket, clipping in is like a second thought.


-Don't get a Mustang. They use a proprietary plastic ring on the cartridges. When I went sailing in Europe, TSA confiscated my cartridge and you can't find any with the plastic ring outside the U.S. The 33g CO2 cartridges are universal, but the plastic ring isn't, and it's glued on to the cartridges Mustang sells. This is so you will buy only Mustang cartridges, which aren't sold outside the U.S. If it weren't for this, I would heartily recommend Mustang. Go to fisheries and look at all the PFD recharge kits they sell. Buy the PFD with the most "standard generic" recharge kit you can find. If you don't ever plan on leaving the U.S., then a Mustang PFD is a great choice.


-When I was in sailing school in France, we had inflatable PFDs that were super tough, with an integrated harness with a crotch strap. It is slightly less comfy, but a crotch strap is way more secure, and will allow someone to pull you back onboard by the harness. I doubt I'll ever find any harnesses with crotch straps for sale in the U.S., but if I did I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
Here's one close to the one I used:
http://www.certec.eu.com/fr/produit.php?famille=nautisme&lang=fr&id=69
Here's an example of one with leg straps:
http://www.certec.eu.com/fr/produit.php?famille=nautisme&lang=fr&id=45
Keep in mind that the more complicated it is to put on, the less likely you are to use it...


-Other features: if it doesn't have a whistle, put one on it. I also wish mine had a pocket to put a strobe. I have to clip the strobe to the PFD, but it's not very secure.

This takes us to the matter of strobes.  Finding a crew overboard in the dark is nearly impossible.  Brandon tells us that “after doing some ‘toss crap in the water at night and see if you can find it’ drills with Dan in the KB Skipper class, I would NEVER sail at night without it or a PFD.”  So make sure everyone has a light on them if you’re sailing at night.

If you don’t find a pfd with an integrated strobe, consider Raz’s words:

A great strobe to have is the C-Strobe made by ACR. It runs about 30 bucks at fisheries and runs on 2 AA batteries. This is a strobe that NOAA uses and is excellent, proven technology.  When Brandon and I taught a keelboat class last year that did a lot of night sailing, we made all our students get a strobe and I think they all chose to get this one. Practice turning it on a few times so that the muscle memory is there if you ever find yourself in the drink. 

For a very worthwhile five dollars, you can get a little clip that attaches the C-Strobe to the oral-inflate hose on your PFD. This is nice because the strobe stays safely on the inside when the PFD is packed, but is really easy to access if the thing inflates.

And just so you don’t forget to do everything possible to avoid falling off a boat in the first place, skip forward to about 4:30 on this video John found:

http://youtu.be/WsMnrP-ZqaQ

Use jack lines at night or when things get rough.

Aerodynamics of Lift 101

            Many sailors can tell you that sails operate on the same principles as airplane wings.  The only difference is that the sail is oriented vertically in order to produce a horizontal force, while the airplane wing is oriented horizontally in order to produce a vertical force.   That being said, I think very few of us really understand how they work to generate this lift.  The object of the upcoming series of articles here on the telltale will be to break this down in less technical terms that don’t sacrifice accuracy.  I’ll start with the basic theory and then extend it to explain the interaction of two sails close together, like a jib and main.  Before we get to that however, I want to point out one explanation that is just plain wrong.

Bernoulli’s Principle and the Equal Transit Myth

            Like most kids that watched Top Gun, I thought airplanes were pretty cool and wanted to be a pilot.  When I tried to look into the encyclopedia to understand how airplanes fly, I was given an explanation that depends on Bernoulli’s principle.  But what is Bernoulli’s principle?

Bernoulli discovered in 1738 that as a fluid’s speed increases, its pressure decreases.  Intuitively, this makes some sense.  Imagine you are a particle of air approaching a high-pressure region.  As you approach it, you start crashing into more and more other particles since they are packed more tightly together there.  Crashing into particles is a drag and slows you down.  If, on the other hand, you are approaching a lower pressure region, then there are fewer particles in front of you to counter the force of those crashing into your posterior.  As a result, you accelerate into the low-pressure region.  In practice this phenomenon works in both directions.  If you cause an increase in pressure you will cause a decrease in speed.  If you cause a degree in speed you will cause an increase in pressure.

            That’s fine, but what does it have to do with airplanes?  Well, the conventional explanation asks us to look at a cross-section of an airplane wing.  Since the wing is shaped so that there is a longer curved surface on top and a shorter, straighter surface on the bottom the air across the top has to move faster in order to reach the trailing edge at the same time.  Thanks to Bernoulli we know that if the air on top of the wing is moving faster than the air on the bottom, it will have a lower pressure.  Since there’s more pressure below the wing than above it, the result will be to push the wing, and whatever’s attached to it, into the air.  This explanation is sometimes called the “equal transit myth” and it is plain wrong.

            Even as a child, I could never understand what principle compelled the air on top of the wing to reach the trailing edge at the same time as the air on the bottom.  In fact, there is no such principle.  For one thing, consider that unlike an airplane wing, a sail is nearly two-dimensional: the air flowing over the windward surface travels almost exactly the same distance as the air flowing over the leeward surface.  If this conventional explanation for lift were correct, sails couldn’t produce lift, but we all know that isn’t true.  Interestingly, experimental evidence has shown that not only do particles going over the two sides of a wing get to the trailing edge at different times, but in fact the particles that go over the top (or leeward side on a sail) reach the trailing edge long before their siblings on the other side.  Bernoulli’s principle is still true, but the equal transit theory isn’t the reason that the particles on the leeward side are going faster.

Air Circulation and Starting Vortices

            So let’s forget about that equal transit and start from the beginning.  Imagine a sail that’s luffing in the wind.  The air pressure is equal on the top and bottom of the sail.  Now start sheeting the sail in slowly.  All of a sudden, the sail is catching air on the windward side and deflecting it.  This causes a higher pressure and hence lower speed region on the windward side.  However, this isn’t lift.  It’s drag.  Right now all that pressure is in the same direction as the wind, which is of no use in going upwind.  As those particles reach the trailing edge of the sail, the pressure difference between the windward side and the leeward side will be so great that the air coming off that edge will swirl into a tiny tornado, called the starting vortex.  This vortex is absolutely essential to setting up the conditions for real lift to obtain.

            Thanks to the Baron Kelvin, we know that angular momentum in a bounded fluid is conserved.  In other words, when the starting vortex is created by our sail, there must be another vortex that spins in the opposite direction but with the same strength.  This is called Kelvin’s circulation theorem.  By some miracle of physics, the equal-and-opposite vortex is centered on the sail itself, and induces the air around the sail to go even faster over the leeward side and even slower over the windward side.  This further enhances the pressure difference between the two sides of the sail and begins to generate lift proper.  Now that it isn’t just the force of the wind hitting the sail but the force of the wind being bent around the sail that can push a boat in directions other than straight downwind.

            The insight that there must be a circulation field to help drive the flow of air around the sail is called the Kutta-Joukowski theorem.  Its major limitation is that it only explains the flow of a two-dimensional fluid.  A lot of strange phenomena happen at the edges of airfoils that have to contend with three dimensions, but I’ll have to move on to those later.

Science in your Home

            Most of this information is a rehashing of the explanations put forth by Arvel Gentry.  He describes a simple experiment that you can perform in your bathtub in order to see the circulation fields around a sail-like airfoil.  I really recommend trying this out at home.

            Fill your bathtub with just a few inches of water.  Not too much, just three inches or so should do.  Then, sprinkle some kind of dark powder over the surface of the water.  Gentry recommends pepper.  I used ground nutmeg with success.  Now, fashion an airfoil.  A simple one can be made from a small piece of waxed cardboard like a milk carton.  Start with a flat piece and bend it very slightly into a gentle curve.  It shouldn’t curve as fully as a laser’s sail;  Because water is so much thicker than air it doesn’t take as much curve in the airfoil to generate the same lift.  Make sure the piece is tall enough to reach completely to the bottom of the tub and still be sticking up above the surface of the water.  Place the cardboard airfoil into the water near one edge of the tub (although don’t let it touch the edge).  Place it so the length of it is pointing to the other edge of the tub and parallel to the long axis.  Now, move it in a steady line across the length of the tub and lift it out of the water when it’s still a decent distance from the other edge.  Thanks to the spices in the water you should be able to see a vortex left behind where you first started the motion of the airfoil.  That’s the starting vortex.  When you lift it from the water you should see another swirl, opposite in direction and also larger and slower than the starting vortex.  This is the circulation vortex that was following the airfoil along and is left behind when it is lifted from the water.

            The whole operation should look a bit like this.  Note the starting vortex that trail behind each time the wing is accelerated, and the effect of circulation around the particles just in front of the wing.  Further experimentation can be had right in your browser thanks to some folks at NASA.  I definitely recommend playing with that for a few minutes.

Let’s Be Honest, This Doesn’t Explain Everything

            The biggest problem in this model of lift is that there is no explanation of why the circulation field that gets kicked off by the starting vortex should follow the airfoil as it moves through the airstream.  It’s just as much a bit of voodoo as the old equal transit explanation’s assertion that two particles just had to get to the back of the wing at the same time.  According to some new research, this circulation field doesn’t even exist, although after doing the bathtub experiment, I’m inclined to believe my eyes.  As mentioned above, this description of things is inherently two-dimensional.  The effects of a third dimension are harder to understand but also important to getting the most out of a sail, a topic that we’ll cover in future installments.  Until then, stay cool.

Snooze 'n' Cruise Fall 2011

University Bridge

The snooze 'n' cruise last weekend seems to have gone well for all.  The boats departed from Union Bay on Saturday with a fresh breeze.  Sailing to Blake Island under these conditions was fast.  Weather stayed clear until late Saturday night, but everyone had made camp by then.  Sunday's return to Seattle was under a gray sky but without rain.

All parties reported that the food was noteworthy.  The sandwich line, in particular, was a paragon of efficiency says Ben Lukes.  Ben was also the photographer of the event, and made his photos available.

At The Ballard Locks

Camp on Blake Island

Blake Island Marina

Historic Telltale Issues Available

Thanks to the diligence of Scott Voltz, a former telltale editor, you can find a piece of sailing history on the web.  I'm not talking about the wooden boat museum or John Courter.  Rather, you can read back issues of The Telltale going back to 2000.  Links to the same are now available as part of this web log's back issues as well.

One WYC member's crewing stories in Mexico

Interested in crewing somewhere warm? Take a look at the blog of this WYC member who's doing just that.

By KYLE PENNELL

I took winter quarter off from UW to crew on sailboats in Mexico and Central America.  With some luck and guts I was able to find a beautiful 53 boat to crew on after being in Mexico for 24 hours. 

I think a lot of members might be potentially interested in doing this but might not know how to get started.  Right now I'm keeping a travel blog which I will turn into a "how to crew" site when I have time in the next couple of months. It's amazing down here, I'd love to help others get into crewing.

Check out Kyle's blog at: whyyoucamethisway.wordpress.com/

The Finn: take another look at this WYC boat

Learn more about the club's Finn, a boat that gets great reviews from club members Jay and Alexia. 

BY Jay Flaming and Alexia Fischer

Alexia takes the Finn out on the bay. Credit: John Courter

There has been quite a bit of debate around the sailing world concerning the appropriate classes for the next summer Olympics. The current classes include the Europe, Finn, 470, 49er, Laser, Star, Tornado, and Yngling.

(See http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/classes.htm)

One of the most contentious classes has been the Finn, which is the men’s heavy-weight single-handed dinghy. Some people have pushed for eliminating it, arguing that there is no need for multiple classes of men’s SH, while its supporters argue that the Laser’s design leaves large, muscular sailors without a competitive boat. If you are interested in comparing, we have a 470, Lasers, and a Finn in our club. The Laser is the basic novice single-handed boat in the WYC, and the Finn requires an intermediate SH and a rig rating.

The Finn has a Portsmouth number of 90.8, just a bit faster than the Laser, at 91.1, and a bit slower than the Lightning or 470 at 87. It has a reputation for being the most athletically demanding single-handed dinghy, especially in high winds. The Portsmouth numbers indicate that the Finn is only slightly faster than the Laser, despite a much larger sail area (both are cat rigged, with only a mainsail... the Finn has an are of 10.6 square meters to the Laser’s 7.06), so it isn’t the most efficient hull.

Portsmouth numbers are calculated for optimal crew weights. The Laser’s optimal crew weight ranges from 143 pounds to 187 with the standard rig, while the Finn’s optimal skipper starts at 187 pounds and ranges up to about 250. Height is an advantage on both boats, as getting the weight out farther on a lever arm provides better ability to combat heel. Competitive Finn sailors are generally taller than 5’ 10”. Does that mean you must be 6’ tall and 200 pounds to sail it?

http://offshore.ussailing.org/Portsmouth_Yardstick/Text/section_i.htm

Our Finn is one of the lesser sailed boats in the club. Club members have mentioned that the boat’s reputation for having a low boom, complex rigging, and a perceived need to be a big sailor are reasons they haven’t taken advantage of it. Jay Flaming and Alexia Fischer, both first time Finn sailors, took it out for test sails this fall to evaluate how those concerns bear out in real life.

Jay’s Report

I should state from the beginning that I am not a fan of the Laser. I find it uncomfortable, too small, and to me it feels slow. In general, I prefer to sail keelboats or daysailors for social sailing, or catamarans when I want to go fast. However, I have been wanting to get more practice in the single-handed class, to work into a skipper rating, and I just never feel like going out on a Laser. So, on October 31, I took the Finn out for a try. At 6’4” and well over 200 pounds, I anticipated finding the Finn a better fit than the Laser.

It was a shifty day, with winds varying between five and fifteen knots, with gusts to twenty knots, predominantly from the south. Rigging the boat was pretty simple. The halyard has a hook on the mast, like a Hobie 16, but easier to operate, because it is lower down and easier to manipulate from the deck. There are a lot more sail controls, mostly run to the cockpit, including a boom preventer, outhaul, a vang with a tremendous mechanical advantage, cunningham and adjustable hiking straps. There is no trap wire. The lines were all colored differently, and it was fairly easy to make adjustments under way. The traveler was very difficult to adjust, because the continuous adjustment line was pretty short, making it hard to adjust without pulling the line out of the cleat.

The winds were stiff from the south when I left the dolly launching ramp, so I tried to short-tack my way out down to the ship canal end of the docks. However, I kept popping the traveler loose when tacking, which resulted in the car sliding completely to leeward, and making it hard to make progress upwind. Since there was a small crowd on the docks, and I didn’t want to look like too much of an idiot, I decided to turn and run downwind rather than beat. The big boom whacked me on the head on the gybe, but the boat accelerated like a rocket on the turn. I was immediately impressed by the performance on a run. The preventer pulls the boom out easily, so you don’t need to push it out like you do on a Laser.

On the turn past the outer docks, I picked up a gust at the wind line and the boat easily planed out towards Webster point. I looked back and saw an impressive rooster tail behind the transom. The boat feels very fast. When I brought the boat up onto a beat, I had to hike out harder than I have done on any other dinghy in any conditions. I quickly found myself with the backs of my knees on the gunwhale realizing that I needed to flatten the sail. I had tied the Cunningham too loosely, and I wasn’t able to harden down on it sufficiently, so I never got it as flat as I’d like. There is a block arrangement that provides advantage below decks, which limits the travel of the line. I had been warned about this on the docks but thought it was ok. I recommend checking this before you leave the docks, as it is impossible to fix underway. The mast bend on this boat is awesome.

I spent about three hours sailing the Finn, and I found it to be very responsive, easy to tack, and a real blast. I hit my head fairly regularly, and so I often eased the sheet and/or vang to keep the boom up a bit higher than a truly competitive sailor would like, I think. I still ended up with a big lump on my head at the end of the sail, but there really is plenty of room to clear under the mast if you’re more coordinated than I am. Towards the end of the day, I found myself missing easy maneuvers, and eventually realized that I was just physically exhausted. In the puffy winds, I had to move in and out of the boat continuously, which was quite a body core workout, and sailing the boat in the higher puffs required a bit of muscle... the sheet loads are higher than most dinghies, and you can’t get by with lazy hiking.

I never felt like the boat speed was as high as it should have been (and at one point I found John Courter keeping up with me in a Bravo, but I’m getting used to this in any boat). I did find a big bushel-basket sized wad of lily pads and weeds on the rudder at the end of the day, which must have been slowing me down quite a bit. With a bit more practice, a repaired traveler, and no weeds, I think it would be faster.

Before I de-rigged, John recommended that I try a capsize test, since the boat reputedly brings in a lot of water after recovery. I was surprised at how difficult it was to capsize the boat, as it developed quite a bit of stability at about the time the rail hit the water level. I wasn’t able to do a dry capsize, as I felt like the mast was going under when I started to climb up the centerboard trunk, so I jumped in. The boat righted easily, but it brought in about a foot of water in the cockpit. I wasn’t able to get enough boat speed to get the auto-bailers working, and any movement in the boat made it very unstable as the water flowed around. I think if I had bailed for a couple of minutes first, it would have been fine, and the bailers would have functioned with less water in the boat. There was a plastic bailer lashed to the mast.

At any rate, I found the Finn to be a fun upgrade for a sailor of my size versus the Laser. It felt faster at my weight, and more comfortable. However, I don’t think I could sail it as long, at least without some more conditioning. I was surprised by its stability, and interested to see if a smaller sailor would find it enjoyable.

Alexia’s Report

I watched Jay take the Finn out on October 31 to capsize it. He had a little bit of an audience because we were all curious about how it would right. I heard stories about how it capsizes easily, is nearly impossible to right, and if you do right it, it comes up full of water and is pretty much unsailable after that. These reasons and the stigma that it is only for heavier sailors in any wind had caused me to be apprehensive about the boat and not bother with it. After all, I could take out a Laser, which I enjoy doing.

We all gathered around Jay and watched him try and try again to capsize it, but it wouldn't go over! Once he got it over he had it upright in no time and was able to sail it full of water. After seeing this I realized that all these stories were for the most part bogus, and I had to give the boat a try.

I took the Finn out Sunday, Nov 7. The boat rigged very easily. The main rigs like a Hobie 16 where you hook a grommet in a fork in the mast. Then, you adjust the downhaul, outhaul, boom vang, bailers and other rigging. The trailer is a bit heavy but I was able to put it in the water with little trouble. The rest is like rigging an FJ; put the centerboard down and the rudder in and it's good to go.

There was stiff 10-12 knot breeze on the bay with gusts up to 17 knots. I also tried to tack it out of the South end of the docks but had little room because of a submerged tree and a huge motor boat tied up at the guest dock for a wedding. I ended up heading down and running out of the North end. I jibed around the North end of the docks, got into some wind, and the boat took off. I had to hike out hard and feather up in big puffs to keep the boat level, but it was pretty stable and not too difficult to sail. The boat had a lot of power but it wasn't too overpowered. It was a blast on a beam and I was only a little slower than the cats cruising around. I intended to only go out for an hour but two went by very quickly! The boat was incredibly fun and fast.

Alexia hiking out on the Finn. Credit: John Courter

The whole time I was out there I didn't have an accidental capsize. It was easier to jibe than a Laser because the main sheet block is by the centerboard like and FJ. It also felt more stable than a Laser going downwind. Tacking was not a problem either. The boom looks low but there is a lot of room in the boat to duck under it.

I wanted to give capsizing a try to see how someone lighter would do with righting the boat. I decided to try and sail it over but failed miserably. I would get going real fast on a beam reach, sheet in all the way in a puff and try to keep the boat heading straight. The boat would lean over hard, then round up and level out. It was surprisingly very stable at a 50-60* angle of heel. Finally after about 6 attempts, I just jumped over to the leeward side when it leaned over and it finally capsized. Because I was on the leeward side I couldn't do a dry capsize but I believe it is doable. The boat was very easy to right. Unlike the Laser and the FJ, the centerboard is almost at water level, which means someone with minimal upper body strength can easily get themselves on top of the board. The trailing edge of the board is very sharp though!

It didn't take much effort to get the boat up, but it did come up full of water. I sailed it around with all the water to see if it would empty, but it didn't. It was still pretty stable with all the water; I just had to be more aware of the heal and how far the bow was being pushed down. I started bailing it with a plastic bottle which worked and then I headed in.

I was also really tired at the end of my sail. Hiking the boat was physically demanding and a great core work-out! I was a bit sore the next few days. I can't say if it was more or less fun than a Laser, they are too different. I would definitely take the Finn out again though!

Last chapter of old boats of the club, the keelboats

The final installment of the "Old Boats of the Club" series.

By JOHN COURTER

San Juan 21
This boat and the Penguin are the only two classes of boats that the club had gotten rid of before I joined. I don't remember anyone telling me anything about this boat. Pretty much the only thing I know about the San Juan 21 is that it has a swing keel.

More information here.

Bristol Caravel 22

The blue boat in the middle is the Caravel,
the boat on the left is Excalibur.

This is known as a sturdy cruiser with a lot of interior room. While not a stellar sailor, it wasn't bad. One thing that made it worse was when a know-it-all student who was keelboat fleet captain decided that the 110% lapper, which was the biggest sail that came with the boat, was too small and decided the boat needed a 150% genoa. A sail was purchased and a track installed. Now we had some horsepower. The problem now was that this was always the last boat to Blake Island if it was upwind.

Years later I, I mean the know-it-all, did some math. I had finally noticed that at best with the genoa the boat tacked through 120 degrees. When sailing with the lapper which sheeted in between the uppers and lowers to a block on a post at an inboard position the boat could tack through 90 degrees. This means if I changed jibs from the genoa to the lapper I could point 30 degrees higher, but would lose some speed. I would have to lose more than 30% of my speed or about a knot if I were doing hull speed under genoa to make it to my destination later with the lapper. Since sailing that much slower under the lapper would be a rare circumstance the lapper would have been the sail of choice for most any upwind work. By the time I had figured this out the club had bought a used replacement lapper that no longer sheeted to the post, but instead had to be sheeted outboard to the genoa track, so it didn't point very well either.

Caravel with its original lapper.

More information can be found here.

Islander Excalibur 26

This felt like a fast boat, and it handled well. My first cruising adventure was as crew to rescue the boat from Skyline Marina in Flounder Bay near Anacortes. Keelboat users will trade off in the Islands to save having to take the boat back to the club. Apparently one user left the boat at the marina and the next person didn't show up. The first person made no arrangements with the marina. A week later the marina called us and asked us about a boat that had been left in the marina with no payment.

I was taught a lesson on this boat. I was sailing along rail almost in the water and the boat had almost no weather helm. I commented to the more experienced sailor how well balanced the boat was with no helm. He looked at me funny and said look at the tiller. I then noticed that I had the tiller in my lap, at least 20 degrees from straight. That's when I learned that a well balanced spade rudder makes it so you don't have to pull hard on the tiller even when there is massive weather helm causing you to drag the rudder through the water like a big brake.

More information about these boats here.

Columbia 26

The Columbia 26 was not a well liked boat. Maybe it was the nearly flush deck that made it look funny, maybe it was that some felt that it was a poor sailor.

See the information here.

Cal 25

A donation that needed a fair amount of work. Deception, a Catalina 27 was donated before it was put in service and the Cal 25 was subsequently sold.

Neptune 24

People complained about the transom being weak. I discovered that the transom wasn't attached to the deck anymore, so when you pressed on it you could move it in to create a gap at the hull deck join. The importance of a bridle on the spinnaker pole was demonstrated when the foreguy connected to an eyestrap in the middle of the pole caused the pole to snap. The shock to the mast caused the tang for the lower shroud/spreader base made of pot metal to fail, now that there was no lower the mast bent...

Information here.

Stone boat

I forget why we took a donation of a 20 foot ferrocement hull with a wood deck. If you see any mention of stone boat fleet captain in old club documents, you now know what it refers to.