Mugrace72 wrote:
wattfarm wrote:
How does your set up perform? Did you modify a hooter from Rick White or come up with your own plan? I know you said the sail was custom made for your specs. Just curios, Rick's hooter is giving me about 25% over stock but I have to be careful with the sheets as they are right under me.
I worked with my sailmaker (Joe Waters, Waters Sails, Columbia, SC) to come up with a design that had less overlap and could be sheeted to the shroud. We also decided that the pole needed to be 10' long for the best amount of separation from the mainsail.
Rigging the pole was a big concern because there is a lot of lift generated by the sail. I ended up with a small dolphin striker so as to induce prebend in the pole. I also have end pole and mid pole bridles (Spectra).
The performance is awesome and I am surprised at how easy to control it is.
I haven't tested boat for boat with Rick, but will do so in a few weeks at Put-In-Bay.
I have heard that Rick has gone to a longer (9') pole on his rig now.
If you are interested in a similar sail, I would highly recommend Joe Waters (803) 238-5638. It can be scaled to whatever pole length you deem appropriate.
Pictures from yesterday's test at Pt-In-Bay.
Rick White and Jack Woehrle
Rick and I at Put-In-Bay yesterday ready to go "mono on mono".
However, Rick is still in the developing stages of his new rig and had trouble getting enough luff tension on the hooter.
He needs to lower the pole and I think it will be fine.
Mine has a shorter luff so I can get it pretty tight. That is needed to get it to furl properly.
Someone asked if you can sail with it partly unfurled and the answer is NO...absolutely not. It is either all in or all out. That is because the top tends to roll out more material than the bottom which is restrained but the furler drum. Trust me, it doesn't work well partly unfurled.
After Rick came back in to reconsider his design, I went out in 8-12 knots and sailed for several hours.
It is really amazing the speed that develops on a beam to broad reach. The boat literally leaps out of the water and skips over the waves. Note that this is in the famous Lake Erie chop.
There is no hope to gain an advantage upwind compared to a uni-rig Wave, in my opinion.