With 340lbs on the wire going up wind in constant 15mph breeze, the I20 can be set so one hull is skipping and the speed through the water is very fast. However with the main as flat as it can go and the traveller 6 inches out I find the boat coming up and down to much when the wind gets gusty, between 10 & 20mph.
In monohull sailing books they tell you to trim for the lulls, that is roughly 12mph in this case, and then depower in the gusts. Is this technique good for the I20?
In winds between 10 & 20 the driver of an I20 can adjust the traveller and steer a straight line to keep the hull skipping but after about 20miles in one direction it gets to be a real work out.
On the Hobie20 with minimum weight again on the wire the traveller need not be worked as much in gusty conditions. Instead the downhaul is played to flatten the sail by the crew, a constant trim again to keep the hull just skipping. The I20 downhau however l is almost non existant and hard for the crew to trim which relys more on the traveller to dump the air.
Any confirmation on using traveller only or any alternative ideas regarding up wind trim on the I20 in gusty conditions would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Ianb
Ian,
Here is my take on the subject. I can sail the I20 well in anything that I can fly a hull in however I suck when the wind drops. I also sail the H20 competitively so I can do a fair comparison.
First, if I ever had a crew I could work with on an extended basis on the I20 I would hand the main off and have him/her work it and I would hold the traveler and make gross adjustments rarely with the traveler.
Now in fact I pretty much sheeted the heck out of the I20 and left it sheeted as I don't have the physical ability to work the main like I can work the H20 main. I let it off in the big gusts but it takes all I got to get it back in. That I20 mast is about as stiff as they get unless I've just got too use to the H20.
The trick I found after racing at the Alter Cup last year is to fly the hull higher so you never kiss the water. Touching the water with the windward hull is slow. So I would fly it significantly higher than the H20. I found this to be the answer to upwind speed. In the lulls the hull would almost come down and touch the water but not quite. In the puffs I could steer up quick enough to keep the boat flying fast.
Keep One Hull Flying,
Mike Hill
Thanks Mike
The crew holds the main sheet right now but we tend to play the traveller to keep the sail flat with less drag.
I shall certainly try getting the crew to trim the main more in gusty stuff and also keep that hull flying.
Ian,
Not that I'm the expert but whoever is doing the adjusting to the sail to keep the hull flying should have the Main Sheet in his/her hand. When you release the main you are getting rid of the lift on the top of the sail where it wants to pull the boat over. If you release the traveler you are releasing lift throughout your sail and therefore not getting rid of the forces trying to pull you over as quickly.
Mainsheet, steering, and downhaul control the heel of the boat.
Traveler is an adjustment that gets played with when the wind has changed for a longer period of time than just one gust. To give an example if the wind is up I might adjust my traveler 3 or 4 times on a windward leg from C to A mark. The main is adjusted with every gust that can't be easily steered into. My downhaul is usually adjusted 10-12 times on a trip to A mark. However I usually wish the downhaul was adjusted more.
Mike Hill
H20 #791
NICE thread guys.
My left shoulder was only mildly sore the next day also. My crew de jour didn't play the traveler. If I can the get the boat to quit drinking water....
Todd