Anti Capsize / Damage and Sails

[Fanie]

Sorry Meanz....I don't reply to junior members

I see there are members, junior members and senior members, but no big or small members Probably a good thing

Mr Mercedes Beanz, you have to take into consideration that any and all protective and preventative gimmics in vehicles will of course be pushed to the limit by someonem and the same would happen in a boat.

Nice avatar, do you know who it is

[oldsailor7]

I think Meanz Beanz post # 102 says it all.

Only on a slippery racing cat ---more so.

[Fanie]

Originally Posted by Richard Atkin

Fanie, I think the best way to avoid capsize or pitchpole is to reef the sail and slow down or generate a lot of lift at the bows.
I liked the idea of a sheet release system when I first started reading this thread....particularly for beaching.....but now, after reading everything people say about unwanted release....caused by waves.... I have changed my mind. Wow, there's a lot of dots in that sentence.
I agree with Meanz Beanz. Just play it safe.

The idea of the sheet release is not to compensate for neglegence or unattendance of the controls. The idea was to, when a squal that would otherwise cause damage to a rig, release the sail just before the point where the sails will get ripped off, torn, or a mast broken.

I don't have the same sailing experience you guys have, but there seem to be some occasions where stuff gets buggered up by the sudden impact of a wind. I've read some articles, in some, sails were ripped up and some had broken masts. Maybe they were old boats with rotten wooden masts or expired sails.

If you guys tell me it's not something to worry about, it happens very seldom, then it probably won't be worth the effort to make one. If squal damage is a frequent occurence then it should be considered.

[Manie B]

Nice to read the old thread again

thanks guys

this is what originally sent me in the direction of the gaff rig for my cat one day

for one i dont have to turn the boat into the wind to lower the main

[Meanz Beanz]

Hey Fannie, did you know that the introduction of ABS dramatically increased the number of roll over accidents?

[masalai]

Manie, did you know that another man died as a result of being hit by a boom - don't use mainsails.... with boom -

Similar thing applies to "releasing cleats" as applies to self lifting rudder blades - prone to happen at the WRONG time -

A sacrificial rudder blade - at least will allow you to continue for a while without ripping the whole rudder assembly off.

Correspond with Bob Oram, he has a system that seems to be workable and the sacrifice is a half inch dowel that should break and is easily replaceable...

[Fanie]

Hey Fannie, did you know that the introduction of ABS dramatically increased the number of roll over accidents?

I guess you have to weigh it up against the amount of accidents it prevents on a daily basis in the first place. If the ABS proved to be a disaster instead of a solution they wouldn't use it any more. You can take your's out if you want to

[Meanz Beanz]

It ain't that simple... car sales and insurance are two different things, the insurances companies just adjusted premiums to cater for the differing damage (less accidents but much worse). All the car companies have done is pile on extra tech to compensate for it, things like ESP's, side air bags etc.... I wonder what will happen as we drive to the limit of the new tech?

Anyway it illustrates the law of unintended consequences, **** happens even with a well researched well executed product....

[RHough]

I just skimmed through 8 pages of this.
To all those that made comments that gimmicks are no substitute for good seamanship. +1
To all those that think it is possible to have a gust or sudden squall catch a boat by surprise and the gimmick would be a safety feature, you are not good seamen and no number of gimmicks are going to help. -1
If you know your boat and are constantly aware of conditions, you never have enough sail up unattended for it to be a problem, you never leave the sails unattended when conditions are threatening or unstable, or you reduce sail and speed so that you can safely leave the sails unattended for a period of time. Until you know what conditions are threatening, you should maybe man the sheets until you do.

Flame away.

[yipster]

Originally Posted by RHough

Flame away.

no plus nor minus point for me i guess, still, i dare say, the computer and robots will take over