Mizzen Boom

[Julian Swindell]

Just for the heck of it, I once sailed with just the mizzen, to see what happened. She went surprisingly well. It is not a bad way of approaching a mooring, as you go slowly and naturally turn up into the wind.
Jim Levang fitted roller furling to his BC20. He planned it from the start and built his boat himself (the only self built BC20, he is a very competent boat builder). The mizzen is held in place between PTFE blocks, and he built an enlarged pulley around the base of the mast. As I understand, it really works, you just pull the rope to furl the mizzen. But you do really need to set it up properly, it is not trivial. I might try again next winter.
And finally (when is it ever finally here!) if you are sailing downwind in a blow, you really do need to lift the centreboard. Not right up, as you need a bit to steer, but you want most of it up so that if you do broach, you are less likely to be flattened.

[Graham W]

I found a reference to brailing the mizzen, written by none other than Julian - see http://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,605.msg3629.html#msg3629

I was once very grateful to have had a mizzen sail still standing when the other two sails went over the side, as in the picture below.  The cause was a shroud pin coming unscrewed.

[david]

Peter, Nice video. Thank you for posting it. I also run into the short, sharp chop when sailing in south San Diego bay. A full ballast does help cut through though.

Graham, always gives me pause for thought when I see that pic of yours!

[michaeln]

This might be slightly tangential to the original post. But here goes. Having collected my new (to me - 2009 to the rest of the world) BR20 from its overwintering location in Norfolk, spent some time on the Norfolk Broads, and then a couple of days on Ullswater, I have a three queries for those that know. I had planned to take in Ruttland Water but the forecast was gusts up to 55mph so I drove on.

When sailing on Ullswater in fairly blustery conditions I decided to put a single reef in the main before setting off. I had mizzen and and reefed main set, slipped my mooring and headed off while unfurling the jib. Unfortunately I had not spotted that part of the furling line had got wound below the furling  drum and I couldn't actually set the jib. She sailed well under main and mizzen - well balanced and handled well while I sorted the furling line out. My query is - how safe is it to sail without the jib set? Presumably with the club boom resting on the foredeck the forestay, and hence the shrouds, are not properly tensioned?

A short plank bowsprit came with the boat which could be rigged with a permanent forestay. This might provide a solution to sailing under main and mizzen? However, my initial experiments resulted in the top of the jib furler fouling the forestay so I left the bowsprit ashore. 

My second mizzen related query is jibing. Is the mizzen just left to fend for itself when jibing? Also is the advised technique for jibing the mainsail - quarter plate down, maximum hull speed, grab the multi-purchase mainsheet and "fling" the main across dinghy style from one tack to the other (well what used to be my dinghy style) or sheet in the main to the centre line and then complete the jibe by paying out the main in a controlled manner - cruiser style (well what used to be my cruiser style).

Final query is about the gunter jaws and halyards.  I found the upper yard disinclined to slide down the mast. Should the jib halyard pass inside the front of the jaws and the main halyard outside? I suspect part of my problem was the topping lift which I had passed inside the jaws and which had a series of knots down its length to allow (I think) rapid adjustment of the topping lift.

Enjoyed my initial outings and looking forward to getting the little niggles sorted out and making some of the suggested modifications before a summer of sailing in my home (Belfast) waters.

[Jonathan Stuart]

Michael,

I think it should be fine sailing with jib furled although I've never had a need to sail without the jib. To avoid losing forestay tension with a furled jib you could always use a topping lift - that's what I do and it works well. Also gives you more control of sail shape because you can adjust jib outhaul without affecting anything else. I think there are discussions about this on the forum if you search.

I jibe cruiser style on my BRe. For me the jibe was too "exciting" doing it dinghy style given the amount of sail area on the BR/ BRe. The mizzen is a great sail and looks after itself at all times, including when jibing.

Jonathan

[Graham W]

Hi Michael,

Welcome and congratulations on your purchase.

Jonathan has just replied but here's my version.

Q1: We all sail downwind with not a great amount of contribution from the jib, unless dead downwind and with it poled out to the opposite side from the mainsail, so no problems there.  In strong winds from astern, some have concerns about the mizzen forcing a broach but I haven't found this to be a problem so far.  Upwind, you'll find that weather helm is increased without the jib but as you've probably already found, it should be manageable.  Don't worry too much about shroud tension, as long as the mast isn't waggling about, isn't leaning to leeward much in the tabernacle and the windward shroud is taut.  One way of increasing shroud tension without flying the jib is to use the spinnaker halyard (if you have one) to raise the back of the jib boom up a bit.  That's what Jonathan calls his topping lift, essential on a BRe.  This is also a good way of playing with jib leech tension in light airs.  Assuming that your BR is gunter-rigged, you may need a halyard crane on top of the mast to separate the forestay from the jib furler.  Alternatively, a fiddle block  (original equipment on some BR's with spinnakers) may provide a bit of separation between the two lines. In strong winds, I leave my bowsprit (mostly used for my second foresail, a flying jib) in the car and am happy to do without any sort of forestay.  As for the jib furling line, make sure that it goes into the furler square on and dead centre and keep some tension on the outhaul as you furl it in.  When you let the jib out, make sure that you cleat off the furler line with a small amount of tension in it once you have fully unfurled.  Don't have too much line left on the drum when the jib is furled. My furler was always jamming until I figured this out.

Q2: Yes, if the mizzen is sheeted in amidships (and that is how you want it to stay), then like the self-tacking jib, it can be left to its own devices when tacking.  As for jibing the mainsail, I grab the mainsheet as it swings across to stop it crashing on the other side. Or if I want it to jibe without changing course or wind angle, I grab the mainsheet and pull it over, until it reaches the angle when it will jibe.  I then hang on as long as I can to cushion the jibe.  Others  (including Jonathan) have more sophisticated techniques!

Q3: I used to have problems with the yard sticking up and down the mast because my gunter jaws were set too narrow.  I forced them apart a bit and it solved the problem.  Make sure that the parrel bead strops around the front of the mast are not too tight.  I always make sure that all lines down the mast are outside of all the parrel bead strops and never have any problems with the yard snagging on anything.  When I let go the main halyard (as long as the mainsheet is off and I'm more or less facing into the wind) the whole lot comes crashing down into a neat pile on top of the sprit boom, guided down and held in place by my double topping lift.

Solving niggles is half the fun!  And you can learn all sorts of tricks from sailing in company with other BR's and BRe's at one of the rallies or raids.  Perhaps not so easy from Belfast.

[Jonathan Stuart]

That's the first time my jibe technique has been called sophisticated. My family would beg to differ but thanks Graham!

[markbatey]

I hesitate to offer advice being such a newbie here, but I found that my gunter yard stuck from time to time as well. Slackening the outhaul helped me here - especially when raising the yard - get the sail up first, then tighten the outhaul - works for me anyhow.

M

[maxr]

Graham W said:

'In strong winds, I leave my bowsprit (mostly used for my second foresail, a flying jib) in the car and am happy to do without any sort of forestay.'

May you never break your jib luff in a good breeze, Graham . About two years ago, we were beating into a choppy and very gusty force 5 (in a Hawk 20), and the jib luff wire broke when we fell off a wave and slammed. The only thing then stopping the mast from falling back into the boat was the 'redundant' wire forestay - which in a Hawk (like many smaller boats) is usually under no tension because the jib luff tensions the rig. The sailmaker told us the jib cloth held because it stretched until the forestay took the weight, and it wouldn't have held the rig up on its own in a strong breeze. So, I think I'd prefer a good strong forestay, even if it's redundant most of the time and spends some of the rest getting rolled into the jib. Also, the mast shake when tacking with a slack rig was spectacular, and may have caused the forestay to break two strands. I don't know if mast shake with a slack rig is universal, or particular to that boat design - but that's why I'm very interested in proper rig tension.

[michaeln]

 Thanks Jonathan, Graham, Mark and Max for the welcome, advice and encouraging comments. Lots to digest and apply. The Forum is a great resource for those in the more BR remote areas.

[Julian Swindell]

I went out last Saturday in fairly strong, and increasing wind. When the helm started getting heavy, rather than reefing as I usually do, I rolled up the mizzen round its mast, to see what effect it had. Firstly, the friction between the mast and the mast supports was so high when under wind load that furling it by yanking a rope wrapped around the mast just wouldn't have worked. The mast would have needed to be mounted on ball bearings to be possible. But twisting it with both hands wasn't too difficult and only took 30 seconds or so. With the sail furled, the helm was much lighter, and control was better than with all three sails and the main reefed. As the wind still increased, I reefed the mainsail and she carried on sailing very well. Again, having the mizzen off meant she tacked more easily in the strong wind. So there are good reasons for dowsing the mizzen, just as there are different good reasons to use it.

[Peter Taylor]

I've now implemented a mizzen furling system on my BC20, Seatern, and tested it a couple of times if only on a rather short sailing trip - so far it seems to work. The furling reel is created from a split nylon tube with tufnol cheeks top and bottom holding it together. The lower mast is wrapped in Chafe tape to decrease friction and the bottom hard wood disk has furniture polish applied (!). The mizzen boom can be detached from the sail and stowed under the side deck.  It has a snatch block at the clew end and a side-entry clamcleat for the out-haul rope. The latter is made fast to a stanchion cleat on the boom gantry when the mizzen is furled. Photos attached, more details including  sources of the bits used on my Seatern blog under June:

http://www.seatern.org.uk/SeaternDiaries/diary_2015_june.php

Peter

[David Hudson]

How about making up some hoops of knicker elastic joined by line at regular distances and bunch them at the head of the sail.

This would be similar to tying a spinnaker with wool ties for hoisting.

[Peter Taylor]

Having now used my mizzen roller furling system some more times I'm really pleased with it.  The only change so far is to move the stanchion cleat for the (when furled) out-haul line to the forward leg of the boom gallows, and I may also lengthen the outhaul line.  Both changes are to make it easier to keep hold of the outhaul as I pull on the furling line to furl the mizzen.

It should have been very obvious, but it still surprised me just how much more difficult it is to heave-to with the mizzen furled. The jib makes the bow fall away and I need a bit of mainsheet to counter it but the result then is more forward motion needed before the helm has the desired effect. No longer am I almost stopped when hove-to. I may find myself unfurling the mizzen (if furled) specifically for heaving-to.

However Seatern is definitely much better balanced going upwind without the mizzen, while on a very broad reach or run the mizzen is more use than the jib.  Being able to easily furl and unfurl the mizzen means I'll be changing sail plan more often in future!

Peter

(and all done without knicker elastic!)

[Peter Taylor]

A further update: the main disadvantage of my furling system for the mizzen is that the mast makes more noise - banging against the cheeks when the mizzen is furled and creaking somewhat when the mizzen is set.  I assume that's what the rubber sleeving around the bottom part of the mast (which I've covered in Chafe Tape) was there to prevent.  I may try adding Chafe Tape on the cheeks which hold the mast and see if that helps. 

Other than the noise, it seems to work well.  the other day I furled the mizzen with ease while Seatern was beating without bothering to luff up or heave to. The wind was around force 4 - enough to have Seatern heeled with all sails set and tanks full and to make me start thinking of reefs.

However... I'm beginning to think that the main advantage of my new furling arrangement is the ability to detach the boom from the sail. Once the boom is removed and not threatening either to get caught up on the boom gallows or to thrash around, rolling the sail around the mast is much easier either by hand or by using the roller system.  I'm curious that no-one else seems to find having the boom attached to the mizzen a problem?

Peter