A Practical Cruising Rig

by Colin June 1, 2008
An OVNI 435 aluminum sailboat with a roller furling yankee, coupled with a hanked on staysail on a detachable stay. The mainsail is fully battened, using Harken cars and mast track. Single reefing lines lead aft to the cockpit handled by a power driven winch.

Here in Europe the standard rig for most yachts sold as “cruisers” is still the sloop, usually with a large overlapping genoa of 130% or more. That might be fine in sunny sheltered waters with an army of gorillas to help out, but is less than ideal for shorthanded crews sailing in windy and exposed [...]

The New Mast, Why?

by John December 18, 2008
Tim and Charlie, of Billings Diesel and Marine, look perplexed at the latest insanity dreamed up by one of their more eccentric customers.

Without doubt the biggest, most expensive and most stressful part of our recent refit to Morgan’s Cloud was the replacement of her mast.

The New Mast, The Benefits Of Carbon

by John January 1, 2009
Tuning the new rig.

Pictures of Americas Cup-class boat hulls breaking in half and their masts, supported by a plethora of rigging and spreaders, collapsing in relatively benign conditions, have given structures built of carbon fibre an undeserved reputation for fragility. But it should be remembered that Americas Cup boats are designed on the ragged edge of structural engineering [...]

The New Mast, Amateur Boat Design

by John January 18, 2009
A Hall Spars technician wraps plastic on a carbon fibre mast prior to sending it to the autoclave machine.

We had an interesting to-and-fro with a reader who thinks that the benefits of carbon fibre for cruising yacht masts are trivial and that the same benefits could be realized in easier and cheaper ways. To understand why this is not so, and why carbon fibre as a mast material delivers such astounding increases in [...]

The New Mast, The Bottom Line

by John February 1, 2009
Fast is fun: Our friend Flax who, with many miles as the owner/skipper of a Swan 41, knows what fast sailing feels like, is in the zone while steering Morgan’s Cloud.

All the above is great, but this post gets to the real meat: How much did carbon fibre cost? And what did we get for that money?

The New Mast, Lightning: Myths, Assurances And Risks

by John February 18, 2009
An Halls Spars engineer inspects a carbon fibre mast using an ultrasound machine.

Let’s start with the myths: If a carbon fibre mast gets struck by lightning it is toast, end of story. If a carbon fibre mast gets struck by lightning, there is no way to tell if it has been damaged or not, so it must be junked.

Mainsail Reefing Blues

by Colin April 18, 2009
Updated inhaul eyes and luff block.

As a young guy, one of the first cruising boats I sailed aboard was a lovely little wooden sloop. Originally gaff rigged, some well-meaning previous owner had changed her to Bermudian rig, doing nothing for her sailing ability (as was so often the case), a weakness that was exacerbated by an oversized mainsail that had [...]

Carbon Boom

by John May 18, 2009

Question: Did you change your boom to carbon fiber or just your mast?

Un-Stayed Masts

by John May 18, 2009

Question: I am curious if you are keel stepped or deck stepped. If keel stepped, could you get away without stays since the aluminum deck could be reinforced enough to hold the mast upright? You could keep running backstays in place for heavier winds.

Spinnakers—Not Getting In A Twist

by Colin July 18, 2009
Spinnaker bowsprit on OVNI 435

Whilst the rest of Northern Europe has been enduring yet another ghastly summer with high winds and inundations, the Western Isles of Scotland have had a memorably warm and sunny season, with long spells of light winds. And as a result we’ve used our new asymmetric spinnaker on a regular basis.

Keeping The Boom Under Control

by Colin August 18, 2009
OVNI 435 Pèlerin under sail with a boom brake from Wichard called Gyb'easy in use.

Many years ago I sailed on a French boat equipped with a boom brake. Perhaps due to one of those curious national idiosyncracies, such devices were (and remain) very scarce in the UK, although they were popular elsewhere in Europe, and I was intrigued to see how it performed. Very well it seemed, as far [...]

Swept-Back Spreaders—We Just Don’t Get It!

by John August 18, 2009
A cruising sailboat with swept-back spreaders

We are all for many of the advances in sail handling systems that have appeared in recent years: roller furling, low stretch exotic fiber rope halyards, solid vangs, and clutches. All these and more have made sail handling on cruising boats easier and, in many cases, safer.

Don’t Forget About The Sails

by John November 1, 2009
Our friends Kim and Erling use good sails, combined with careful tuning and trimming, to make some surprisingly fast passages.

Last fall I got chatting to a couple, new to cruising, on their way down the Intracoastal Waterway in their new-to-them classic Carl Alberg designed Cape Dory 36. When I complimented them on their choice of a good looking and seaworthy boat that also sails well, they expressed surprise saying, “Oh no, she can’t get [...]

How We Buy Sails

by John November 18, 2009
Hallett sails in action: Wednesday night beercan racing on Casco Bay. The red boat is Richard’s, built to his design.

Why do we give so much thought to our sails? Well, first, as we talked about in this post, good sails equal good speed and good speed equals more fun. Speed also contributes to safety because you are vulnerable to bad weather for less time. Finally, if your sails are slow in normal weather, they [...]

Gennaker Furlers Come Of Age

by Colin April 10, 2010
Bartels gennaker furling drum.

There was an interesting piece in a recent edition of French sailing magazine Voiles et Voiliers on gennaker furlers. These gears are very popular in France, and through their extensive use aboard racing multihulls and Vendee Globe boats have undergone real battlefield testing over the last ten years, to the extent that they must now [...]

Reefing On All Points of Sail

by Phyllis May 20, 2010
Phyllis hoists the mainsail on aluminum expedition sailboat Morgan's Cloud.

Morgan’s Cloud is the only boat I have ever sailed on (I only started sailing after meeting John) and so I generally assume that the way we do things on our boat is the way it is done. Which suits John just fine—he’s been able to brainwash, I mean, teach me how he likes to [...]

Light Weather Sails–Choosing What Is Right For You

by Colin November 7, 2010
Light genoa 3

One of the things we like most about the OVNI 435 is the well-stayed cutter rig. In light of experience aboard our previous boat we opted for a yankee (jib-topsail) rather than the standard roller genoa knowing that the yankee maintains its shape and drive far better when well rolled, and is stable and easy [...]

Reefing While Sailing Downwind

by John November 19, 2010
JHH5-12877_thumb.jpg

A few months ago Phyllis wrote a post on how surprised she was to find that many, perhaps most, boats can’t reef or un-reef without rounding up into the wind. A process that is with all its attendant crashing and banging hard on the sails and gear. Not to speak of the fact you can [...]

Making Life Easier—Storm Jib

by Colin February 20, 2011
Will it soon be time to go for the storm jib? A windy day, Ria de Muros

Once a year we like to entertain our neighbours by hoisting our storm jib whilst we’re alongside. Not much new to be learned from it, but it does force us to get it out of the bag and give it a thorough check over for any signs of chafe or other damage. We have a [...]

Making Life Easier–Roller Reefing/Furling

by Colin March 3, 2011
Reducing friction always makes life easier

The old saying that ‘if a job is easy, you’ll do it’, is a good one that we have tried to bring to bear at all times when improving our Ovni 435 Pelerin. If the job’s difficult, you’ll delay it until it’s beyond inevitable and then it can become a hardship. And nowhere is that [...]

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