Russ Thanks for the info! I Hope you don't need the wind seeker often!
Joel Aronson On Aug 2, 2012, at 11:47 PM, Russ & Melody <[email protected]> wrote: 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 _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com [email protected]
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