Hi Chuck and Joel,
Yup, used in extremely light air when the genny won't stay set,
with the crew weight to leeward.
As Chuck surmises, it's used when you have to sail in no wind (racing).
If we set it just before the boats stops then we can pick up a 1/2
knot over the genny. We strike it when the one holding the sheet
declares enough load to fly the genny. It is important the one
holding the sheet doesn't "play it like a fish". The goal is to get
air flow moving across the mainsail.
If I'm cruising in the harbour, no place to go, just the wife & I
hanging around then I will pull out the furled genny a bit and keep
the sheet tight to the shrouds and use it to move air over the main.
Not as effective as a windseeker but better than nothing or a fully
unfurled genny that won't set.
Raise the genny and strike the windseeker is common.
If used with a genny or spinnaker then it becomes a staysail (even
though it's not attached to a stay... weird eh?).
Crew: "Why do they call it a staysail, Skipper?"
Skipper: "'Cause it stays in the f*cking bag!"
Note: above comment does not apply to the windseeker, but those IOR
type spinnaker staysails... although we use Gracie's old daisy
staysail as the windseeker.
Cheers, Russ
Sweet mk-1
At 08:08 AM 02/08/2012, you wrote:
I'm trying to learn more about the windseeker. I guess it's only
for racers or engineless sailboats, cause any cruiser would turn on
the engine in this windrange. We've had a few races where the wind
died just before the start or in the middle of the race. If the
boat rolls to leeward the genny acts like a big break and stops the
boat. I think the sail is used to get the boat moving and once you
see some speed, roll out the genny. You probably need a crew light
on their feet, so their movement doesn't stop the boat as you set or
take down the windseeker. I wonder if it can be used with the genny
and/or the spinnaker?
Chuck
Resolute
1990 C&C 34R
Atlantic City, NJ
----------
From: "Joel Aronson" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, August 2, 2012 10:52:18 AM
Subject: Re: Stus-List Lake Ontario results
Any sail you can see through intrigues me! Is a windseeker used to
ultra-light winds in place of a gennie?
Joel
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