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Storm 15

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Gareth Curtis:
Hello all,

I finished building my storm 15 late last year and managed to get a few sails in and thouroughly enjoyed it. This year I am hoping to be a bit more adventurous and go more than a few 100 yards off the beach. Can anyone offer any advice on the following -

Sailing off a beach - this is where I do all my sailing and I must admit I feel a bit of a prat most of the time when leaving the beach as I'm not normally in total control, sails are flapping, the boat is all over the place. Would it be better to row out and set sail in open water, I haven't tried this but I find it difficult on land if there is a bit of wind? Is there a better way of sailing off a beach

Ballast - I'm a total novice (as you can tell) but is it me or is the storm 15 very "tippy" the slightest movement send the boat rocking. It's much better with 2 or more but most of the time it's just me. I was going to add some ballast in the way or sandbags or Water filled containers or possibly putting some lead in the centerboard??? or maybe a steel centerboard.

Reefing - How do you reef your storm 15, do you go back to shore and do it on land, I would imagine if the wind picks up it will be very difficult to reef the sail at sea?? My mast can be turned (I rounded it off a little to much;-) do you think I could furl the mainsail around the mast? I have got a gunter rig.

Anchor - I found the dingy cruising association dingycruising.org.uk and I am thinking of a few trips out with them, they have an excellent saftey list and an anchor is on that list, plus I fancy a bit of fishing!! The question is where do I attach the boat end of the anchor warp? around the mast?? Should I attach some sort of fitting to the kingplank?? should there be some sort of fairlead on the bow somewhere? If you have any pictures that would be great.

And last but not least (there will be more I'm sure) How easy is it to capsize? I had planned to deliberatley capsize last summer but chickened out!! I will do it as I would rather know, but under normal sailing conditions how easy is it to tip? I've had a few hairy moments, mostly down to my lack of sailing skills and it had seemed like if it went another inch that would be it, but I suspect that again that's my lack of experience.

It's a great boat by the way and I had great fun building it (it took 2 years) and even more fun sailing last year. The only problem is the constant questions - "Wow, where did you get that boat?" Nobody believes I built it (neither can I really!!)

Thanks
Gareth
Storm 15 - "The Jolly Roger"

Paul Cross:
Hi Gareth

My father and I are now contemplating our 4th season in a Storm 15 and your questions are pretty much the same as ours were 3 years ago.

Launching from the beach:.....Tricky in any boat when singlehanded; I tend to avoid it if I can but your only problem is when the wind is dead onshore. The Storm will go upwind (just) with little or no centreboard so set yourself (and the boat) up at about 45 degrees to the wind, give yourself loads of room, jump in, sheet in half way and go for it. The best help you can have is a big push from the beach at this point. Dont worry about flapping sails, there is no elegent way to do this, just get the boat moving and the board down asap. If winds are light, the waves and wind will push you back onto the beach, use a paddle on the leeward side to counteract this and get yourself moving.
Rowing out is just as bad...and you then have the problem of setting sails whilst balancing in a small boat...this is not recommended and has been the source of many an argument aboard IONA.


You are right. The Storm 15 is very tippy. This is less of an issue if you come from a racing dinghy background (like me) but can be disconcerting if you come from a cruiser background (my Dad). The trade-off is that the boat is really easy to handle on land and has amazing performance in light winds. We have considered a number of different ballast options. A couple of lesure bateries work well in suitable padded carriers (we use picnic style cool bags)  placed either side of the centreboard case. If you dont use an electric outboard, water containers in the same position will do the job (this also has the advantage of being buoyancy neutral should you be swamped).
We've never considered putting lead in the boat (apart from the stuff in the bateries!) and I would avoid doing anything to the centreboard, its shape and form are integral to the boats performance.
The best ballast is more people! My finest memory of sailing this boat is sailing into Portland harbour from Weymouth bay against a force 4 and heavy chop, with my father and his friend reclined on opposite seats, well forward. our progress drew a thumbs-up from Ben Ainslies support rib who were hanging around for the main man in his Finn...Iona felt balanced, stiff and absolutely in her element.

Reefing is an issue....we have tried many approaches with this rig, even considering two main halyards. Furling the sail around the mast is a non starter with a sprit/gunter rig..dont even think about it.
The simple answer is that it is impractical to reef at sea single handed and very difficult with two on board.
We follow the rule before we go out:.....if you are asking yourself do i need to reef?...then you need to reef. The Storm goes just as fast with a reef in the main as it does without one...it just takes a little longer to get to hull speed. I would estimate that 60% of our sailing has been with a reefed main. We have, on occasion shaken out a reef at sea but conditions have to be perfect to do so.
You can of course lose the jib, but we find that the boat is far nicer to sail with jib and reefed main than with full main and no jib. I have sailed Iona with 3 on board in 20+mph wind like this, she behaves beautifully....any more wind and we dont go out.

Anchoring..we have a large cleat on the kingplank and fairleads on eash gunwhale..ill dig out some pics for you and post later. Taking the warp around your mast would be fine.

We have never capsised IONA. Despite some alarming heal she has a flat bottom and will sit on her chine well.It is difficult to knock her down. Remember; in this position most of the wind has been spilled from the sails and the sprit is far higher than a boom and so does not dig in to the water like a dinghy. Apart from a couple of dodgy situations with surf, i have never felt like she was going over.

Hope some of this ramble helps...

Regards

Paul Cross

Paul Cross:
A couple of pics showing the cleat and fairleads.

The first one show the Bayraiders that were ahead of us on the Teifi raid last year.

Rgds

PC

gerald turner:
Well so many questions most of which have been covered,
Regards to thhe Dinghy Cruising Club is YES ,join them they are very helpfull and friendly, if you are close to the South coast they regulary hold day sails from Chichester harbour and the Solent , the other 3 regeions don't meet so often but do Join us!

Gareth Curtis:
Paul, Thanks for the detailed response your rambling was just what I needed.

I popped down to my local habour yesterday, but was single handed and the tide was right in (so no beach just rocks). I would normally get the boat off the trailer on the slip, then push her around to the beach, then take the car back, then set sail. I thought of launching inside the habour, then rowing out, but without a beach I was going to have to set sail in the water. I ended up, for the second weekend in a row going home with a dry boat. Frustrating and a little bit embarassing!!

I have seen pictures (probably not a Storm 15 though) where the mainsail and boom were folded up on the mast using bungees (is this a habor furl???) Would it be possible to do this before leaving the beach, row out then release the bungess and voila???? I'm going to give it a try when I have a wetsuit on and some friends around to help.

There is another beach not so far away which has beach, whatever the tide so I'm going there this weekend and I won't be coming back with a dry boat. ;)

As for sailing of the beach, I've always been able to do it, although I haven't faced a serious swell yet, or strong winds. It's just it was always so undignified I assumed I was doing the wrong thing. From now on I won't worry what the girls in bikinis think of my departure!!

I know what you mean about extra people being balast, We sailed with three adults and three kids and it flew along in a very light wind. I just need some more crew (if anyone in west wales is interested (Llanelli area))

With the reef, I didn't even drill the second hole in the mast till after I hade been out a few times (I didn't think it was that important :o) Since then I have almost always sailed with a reef in.
You say the boat is more balance with a jib, what does that mean? I have only used mine once, I had assumed that less sail was safer for a numpty like me.

With the anchor, if you can't drop / raise the sails at sea, what do you use the anchor for? I had visions of sailing out , dropping the sail, catching a 10lbs sea bass, raising the sail and coming home with my prize???

Nice to know you have never capsized, my brother and his friend both fell out of my boat in a foot of water as they went side on to an incoming wave, it was very funny. I'm hoping to sail with somone who can take the boat to it's limit so that I know where that limit is.

I'm possibly a bit to cautious and intense, but I want to take my kids sailing with me and I want them to love it, If I'm not in control, they'll know it and I wouldn't want them to be scared or more importantly put off for life.


Thanks again for the advice and photos. I will be buying a anchor, & faileads and possibly copying your fancy jib furler, but I think I need to get the basics right first.

Gareth
The Jolly Roger

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