Schooner Main Sheet

[Clyde A. Phillips]

This is for all you owners of Newporter schooners, but especially for Paul and his neat Pink Cloud.  Let me start by saying that this is based on Paul's pictures, none of which give me what I need to know.  It is based also on my experience as a rigger which was self taught and I'm not an educated teacher.  All I have are my instincts which have never let me down, though I may have many times come up with rigs that are way over engineered.  So, Paul, take this with a grain of salt--it may taste better that way.

You said that the horse/traveler rig is mid way on the boom.  That's a concern of mine because the strength of the boom to withstand the loads that will be put on it is all in its resistance to bending.  I would hesitate putting the sheet outside of the last third of the boom, and a quarter seems too long.  An accidental jibe will put tremendous pull on the boom that has as its only absorber of that pull the position of the sheet at mid point.  That scares me, though it would quickly reduce the sail area in a hard blow.

The drawing above is highly schematic with only a suggestion of the truth, but it will help you to understand what I'm saying.  I would rig the sheet as shown on the diagram.  It gives both holding power to the end of the boom and a "hold down" against the tendency of the raising of the boom, helping to maintain the desired sail shape and power.

Another thing to note is the topping lift being at the end of the boom is countered only by the sheet in the middle of the boom.  This gives the topping lift to have more power over the mid boom sheet, thus allowing more movement of the (bending) boom in no sail running in a seaway.  The topping lift needs the boom end sheet to keep the boom under control.  But remember, tag lines from the end of the boom to each side of the boat is a good idea for boom control regardless of the placement of the sheet.

This is, remember, my suggestion backed only by intuition.  It may be sound, it may be full of holes.  But it is something to think about.

Have fun with that rig, and thanks for the open invitation to sail with you.  There is no boat that has given me the fun and joy that Newporters have given me.  I even enjoy being able to pass around my feeble attempts at providing wisdom.

Peace and good sailing, from The Old Man, home from the Sea, and missing it.  Clyde 

[Clyde A. Phillips]

Paul,  I must concur with your ways of doing things.  I took my concern, as I said, from information I knew to be incomplete.  But just wanted an ocean sailor to be aware of things.  I also use these seemingly personal notes to inform(?) other readers of some things, so what I say is not all that personal.  I appreciate your response.

Me, I like, actually love, to point into the wind.  The Newporter doesn't point all that well, not very much off a broad reach, so I like to try different things to get closer to the wind.  I also love rough seas and half gales.  I remember that my father use to sail his boats so that the green water is lapping the forward corner of the cabin.  That puts a quarter of the beam of the deck under water.  Fun, although I think now that that's not the way to get the most speed.

Our little research vessel I use to captain had a Jimmy 4-72 diesel that pushed her to about 7-1/2 knots (the figure I used in navigation) and at one point she was burning 4 gph.  After a $8000 overhaul the burn dropped to that of your Perkins.  But a gallon and a half burned to cover seven nautical miles is not to be sneezed at.  A lot of boats get one mile to the gallon.

Pink, as #53 is one of the west coast iron ballast boats.  I worked on Newporters at the last three yards where they were built on the east coast; all on the Maurice River in South Jersey.  Most of the building crew also worked in all three yards.

Peace,   Clyde

 

[paul ~ sv; pink cloud]

Noted clyde, i gave this much consideration. My reply is this.. I will use the traveler in my off wind points of sail, so an accidential gybe is not nearly as bad as if the main is only teathered via a boom end main block (now thats a scary gybe) i removed. And as a rule on my boats i alwsys set a gybe preventer (with rubber spring ) to the rail. I use this same block for a vang on pink cloud.. But now i will need less use of the vang as the traveler will hold the sail in shape much better for reach and down wind.
Truth is, im not a poind to westher guy. Especially in s 56 yr old boat! If the wind is on the nose or close. I fire up me perkins. I get 7 knts at 2200 rpm at 1.5 gal an hour.
So i use her as a motor sailor very happily.
On the topping lift concern. I replaced the lift halyard with 3/8 with a 900 lb rating. So i doubt i or my crew will break the boom by to much up tension when we are stowing sails. Also i do have a teather from boom to the port arm of the davit i connect when at the slip and then firm up the topping.
Also, i added backing plates at the point i drilled the boom to help dpresd this load from s single drilled 3/8" hole.
Thank Cylde!
Hey, did you work on Pink? Hull #53?
Aloha
Psul & Jan