Main sheet 3/4/06
Quote:
I understand that if you get a big gust of wind, enough to tip you over, your supposed let go of the mainsheet, dumping the wind and the toppling force. If that is the case, it seems I will run out of rope.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "running out of rope." When you let the main sheet go to spill the wind and/or come about into the wind, the sail will be "luffing" or flapping. This is what you expect to happen as you come about to a new course. Are you saying that the main sheet is not long enough to release the wind so the sail will luff? The basic Hobie sailing rig is supposed to work on all models, so I would be surprised if the main sheet is not long enough to permit you to come about, fall off (the wind), or for the sail to luff (say when you are coming about, or are pulled up on the beach).
If the main sheet simply is released until the knot in the bitter end catches on the block (or pulley), that is fine so long as the sail is luffing, and the wind has been released so that you are no longer making way. Then to get back to actual sailing, you adjust the rudder while taking in the main sheet until the sail stops flapping and begins to fill. At that time you should resume making headway in a new direction. Sailing is almost always a compromise between the direction you wish to go, and the direction the wind will allow you to go. That is why one often tacks in a zigzag pattern so as to take maximum advantage of both of these (often conflicting) factors.
As an example of what I am talking about, here is my OB pulled up on the beach in about a 15 mph wind. Note how the sail is flapping about like crazy, as is the main sheet. Occasionally, I have even had the wind fill the sail briefly during a gust so the boat actually tipped over on the beach. Now, if I had removed the knot at the end of the main sheet, the boat probably would not have capsized, so in this exceptional case you might say that "I had run out of rope" (or to be nautically correct, I ran out of "line"). Hope this makes sense. BTW, a great little sailing primer is Royce's "Sailing Illustrated", Vol. 1, by Patrick M. Royce, to get you up to speed on sailing techniques and terminology.
Best,
Dick