How do I control both sheets from one rope?

[Crag Cay]

Sounds like you have it all in hand. Do your washboards lock in place?

[miniman]

The top one has a catch on the inside to prevent it from lifting. It was more of a security feature initially, but it will also prevent the board from floating away/falling out.

Im also toying with the idea of making a new coachroof out of grp that will replace the garage/hatch. I havent hit upon a perfect shape/hatch idea yet though that both looks great and functions well. It will come though.

When I bought the yacht, it was in desperate need of work/renovation. I read up on the E-Boat, and all the mods required to make it a better boat. These mods, along with a good few of my own were then carried out before I even got her into the water.
She had been used for round the cans racing, and was totally stripped out inside. Im also working on rebuilding the interior to make it more comfy for the odd night away with the wife. Still have to convince her yet though!!

You sound like you know the E-Boat well!?

[Crag Cay]

Both they, and I, have been around awhile!

My friend was helming the one that sunk racing in the Firth of Forth. Its loss had an influence on everyone who sailed GK24s / J24s / Sonatas etc for a while, especially when preparing for ISAF Cat 3 races such as the overnight race at Tarbet Week.

But slowly the collective memory fades and compliance returns to abiding by the letter of the requirements, rather than the spirit until the next disaster happens.

I have been asked on a number of occasions about preparing lift keel boats such as the E-boats and Superseal 26s for offshore events such as the Jester Challenge. As you know, some have made Atlantic crossings in the past despite their attributes not being considered archetypal for such an event! Various radical solutions to ultimate stability were investigated but the primary requirement was always keeping the sea out from getting below.

[miniman]

Hi Crag,
The sinking is still having an effect! Hence all my work!
3 in total have gone down as far as I know.
Ive already had the mast almost paralell to the water. The wife was on board at the time, with her on the sheets of the No1 genoa. I was beating into a good F3/4, and was only a mile from the harbour. It began building, and I was just too lazy to change the genny, so told her to play the sheet out when I told her to.
As you can imagine, she was a bit slow, and a good gust blew us over onto our ear. Both sheets out, and she popped back up. I dropped the sails, and motored the last mile!!
The wife is now more confident than before, and actually ENJOYED the experience! "better than drifting along" was her expression afterwards.
I recieved the hull drawings from Julian Everitt to build an RC model of my boat, and it had a sketch on it showing a bulb bolted to the bottom of the regular tapered fin keel. Im still toying with the idea of adding this bulb, cast in iron and bolted onto the bottom of the keel.
I dont have to worry about drying out, as our marina has 14 foot depth at low water, or launching off the trailer, as she is craned in and out. Still an idea though.
I have however, added ballast internally, by placing lead ingots under the floors and in the keel box. It has definately made a difference. I can only imagine its effect if it was 4 foot lower!!

[TollyWally]

"The wife is now more confident than before, and actually ENJOYED the experience! "better than drifting along" was her expression afterwards."

Now that is a good woman!

[Omeron]

My suggestion is to do away with the mainsail. Get a decent genoa as large as you can fit to your rig, and go sailing with that in moderate to heavy winds. A good genoa gives as much pull as a tender boat can handle when going into the wind. Since its center of effort is lower than the main, you get less heeling moment for the same working area. It is easier to trim and depower. And you are highly unlikely to require depowering anyway.
In such conditions, the main remains under the shadow of the genoa, and contributes little to making headway. As the overall centre of effort moves forward, you also eliminate risk of rounding up. I doubt you will get lee helm as well. Once into the groove it is a sheer delight to steer to a genoa, without visual or other obstruction caused by the main.
One drawback is going downwind. Ofcourse you need the main to sail fast. But my experience in sailing small tender boats is such that, in a good day of hard sailing, you spend 70% of your time trying to beat, and 30% with cracked sails. Windage alone in a light boat gets you anywhere you want to go downwind.

[miniman]

I know when im onto a good thing TollyWally, thats why I married her!!!

Omeron, I do use the smaller genoa when sailing in 25mph or more. She cant sail as high as normal, but it works a treat.

I have now been using my self tacking jib for the past few weeks, and it performs perfectly. I even had one seriously windy day that I used the wee jib by itself, on a beam reach up the coast and back. I had the main with the third reef up as well that day, but it was over-powering her. Once I dropped the main, she took off like a scalded cat, and I could cleat the sheet and steer in comfort.
All of this has really opened up my single handed life with the E-Boat, and made family day trips even safer.