Posted by Jonathan Engdahl on September 12, 1997 at 18:18:02:
Last Sunday was the first decent wind I've had to try out the lugsail.
The wind was fairly strong and frisky, but not too difficult for a
beginner. My Cape Dory 14 (I haven't named it yet) sailed well under
the lugsail, and I had an enjoyable time sailing, as well as
conducting several experiments.
I got tired of getting tangled in the mainsheet, so I tied a good stop
knot in the very end of the sheet and (while under way!) let the sheet
run through the block all the way to the knot. Now I just have a simple
sheet which runs from the end of the boom to my hand. It wasn't much of
a pull except in a gust, which didn't last long anyhow, and it was a
lot easier to come about. If the wind comes up or I get tired I can
always point up into the wind, catch the end of the boom, and retrieve
the end of the sheet to use the block, thus halving the effort required.
The hardware store nylon rope I'm using for a sheet likes to soak up
water like a sponge, then it feels limp, soggy, and heavy, and it
drips all over the bottom of the boat. Next time I get to a marine
store I'll have to pay out for a better piece of rope.
I realized, once I got out, that the mast was slightly turned, which
caused the halyard block to be on one side of the mast. The sail
performs well on one tack, with the yard leeward of the mast, but
on the other tack the sail seems to be twisted, and there is a large
wrinkle running diagonally (which can also be seen in the S&A movie).
It seems that, with the yard on the windward side of the mast, the mast
pushes against the yard and causes the twist. Just for an experiment
I dropped the sail (on my head and overboard again) and raised it
with the yard on the other side, then came about. Since the block
was on one side of the mast, the forces were all different, and *the sail behaved a lot
better*.
I need to study this some more before I understand exactly what I did.
The halyard was a bit strange in the latter case also -- it came down
aft of the yard, due to my confusion while attempting to move the yard
over. Whatever caused it, the sail had less twist when the yard was
to windward of the mast.
The Cape Dory has no problem coming about with a good wind. The
failure to respond to the tiller only occurs in very light wind -- the
wind forces the nose of the boat to leeward when you want it to come
about. When this occurs you have to use an single oar to get turned
about, or go the other way around and jibe.
I tried the experiment of letting go the tiller to check the balance,
but I either didn't notice much result, or just then something
happened and I never got back to the experiment. I'll have to try
again next time.
Jonathan Engdahl
Bass Lake
Chardon, Ohio, USA