[Public-List] configuring sailing controls

Sat Jul 5 02:44:11 PDT 2014

Brent

I have spent a lot of time rethinking and rerigging my boat. My 
experience supports the choice of Andersen winches and garhaurer 
equipment. Knowing what kind of sailing you are going to do is place to 
start. My starting points were safety, convenience, and the probability 
that I would sail the boat single handed. I wanted a boat I could sail 
easily when I was past 80. For this reason, I decided to lead the lines 
back and added things not normally found on alberg 30s - for instance, a 
Genoa car system that lets me adjust the lead blocks under load. While I 
did not know it when I started, I was constructing a demonstration boat- 
one equipped as I thought Carl would have recommended had he been alive 
now and advising me with my goals in mind. Since I now teach sailing, 
the boat has become a very good, if not perfect, platform for teaching 
adults to sail.   There are photos of many of my projects on the web 
site. Also, there is a copy of an article published on the boat in Good 
Old Boat in November 2011 on the web site. The article catalogues what I 
had done as of that date and provides some helpful pictures. The process 
has taken about 10 years and was funded on a pay as you go basis.

David

July 4, 2014 at 9:52 AM, Gordon Laco via Public-List wrote:

> Hello Brent -
> Everyone finds their own set up that they're comfortable with.... 
> Here's
> what we did in SURPRISE.
>
> We have a factory-installed wheel, and as with all Whitby-built boats 
> it's
> further forward that is ideal (I remember my uncle telling me they 
> wanted to
> put the helmsman in the same position as if he was at the end of the
> tiller...)
> In order to ease traffic in the cockpit I've left my halyards and 
> other sail
> controls up at the mast.  That spreads crew out when racing, and keeps 
> their
> weight out of the cockpit.  For cruising, we like having the halyards 
> up
> there because ergonomically one can pull more efficiently standing 
> than
> sitting.   When I sail alone, our boat is well behaved enough that 
> she'll
> hold a course long enough for me to walk forward to the mast, do 
> something
> then come back.
>
> I added a triangulated vang partly for performance and partly for 
> safety.
> Performance wise, once set, a triangulated vang doesn't have to be 
> adjusted
> every time the sheet is adjusted.  The safety angle works like 
> this.... Have
> a look at the last foot or so of any A30's boom and I'll bet a beer 
> you'll
> find scrape marks on it from the backstay.  Because our boats have 
> long
> booms, it only requires a few degrees of upward cock to have the end 
> of the
> boom catch the backstay.  That's a bad thing when gybing in heavy air. 
> I
> was in a boat that gybed that way once in a blow and we found 
> ourselves
> pinned on our side with the boom locked amidships.  With a 
> triangulated vang
> the boom can't cock itself up during a gybe.
>
> I altered the mainsheet - we had the 4:1 option which I changed to 3:1 
> with
> massively strong wood shelled blocks.  I like 3:1 because there's a 
> lot less
> line to haul in and even in winds up to 30knts, there's plenty of 
> power
> there.
> We put an adjustable outhaul on the boom with 3:1 in bullet blocks at 
> the
> clew then leading forward to another block which effectively doubles 
> the
> purchase to 6:1.  We put a clam cleat on the boom near the gooseneck 
> so that
> we can adjust the outhaul no matter what point of sail we are on.
>
> I set up a topping lift of 1/4" line such that it's effectively a 
> spare main
> halyard...and we've used it as such once.  Yes 1/4 is way too small 
> for a
> halyard, but I didn't want a heavier line banging around all the time.
>
> I set up a second headsail halyard by hanging a second block under the
> primary one - haven't ever needed that but I reckoned a back up is a 
> good
> thing.
>
> We hung a block about 4' above the spreaders and rove a halyard 
> through it
> that doubles as both spinnaker topping lift and staysail halyard.
>
> We added large radius foot blocks shackled to the life line stanchion 
> bases
> just aft of the primary winches... That ensures that no matter what 
> position
> the genny sheet block is in, the angle to the winch is always perfect.
>
> We moved the old Barient primary winches aft to the spinnaker winch
> pads...and put Harken #42 (I think) self tailing winches in their 
> place as
> primaries.  I wouldn't have chosen Harkens but for the fact that I was 
> able
> to obtain them as my payment for lecturing at the local Marine College 
> on
> rigging.  If I were buying winches, I'd choose Andersens.
>
> There's more I guess but this is getting long....
>
> Gord #426 Surprise
>
>
> On 03/07/14 9:42 PM, "Brent Higgins via Public-List"
> <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi Everyone,
>>
>> Thanks to those that provided guidance on the fasteners & removing 
>> varnished
>> over plugs. I need to do a lot of work to #317 before she's ready for 
>> her
>> first sail. The first step is reinstalling all the hardware & 
>> brightwork that
>> I want to keep. The second will be installing the hardware I want to 
>> add and
>> buying all new running rigging (most the lines are falling apart).
>>
>>
>> At some point, I need to unstep the mast and inspect everything, too. 
>> Before I
>> do, I want to decide on the configuration of my running rigging. I've 
>> seen
>> some great set ups, but being a complete rookie, I want to be 
>> thorough in my
>> research and get it right. Does anyone have video, photos, or 
>> diagrams of
>> their configurations they would like to share, opinions on running 
>> controls
>> aft vs. keeping some forward, suggested websites or reading?
>>
>>
>> I have a traveler installed in the stern, a winch on the mast, and a 
>> winch on
>> the boom, a boom vang, I'll reinstall the winches on the outboard 
>> sides of the
>> coamings, once re-installed, and that's really it right now. So, I 
>> feel like I
>> have a lot of flexibility to choose a configuration that works for 
>> me.
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Brenton
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>
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