Thread: GIS sail tweaking

Originally Posted by BobWes

I'm thinking there isn't any one right way to do things... we all need to find what works for each of us and our Goats.

Yep, and keeping it fun, which it is!!

Joost, perhaps you are right. I still may fiddle a bit with the sheet to solve the other problems (traveler/tiller contention, my dissatisfaction with the location of the last block). But I'll leave the foot lashed until I have a stiffer boom.

Warm beer, it's ALL fun. Whether I'm out on the water trying new things, in the garage messing with the hardware, or lying in bed just thinking about it, I'm having a ball. And when it all comes together and I'm zipping down the channel at near the speed of sound, that's the most fun of all!

I sat through a rather boring CE course last Friday. Afterwards I told my assistant that it was OK with me - I spent most of the time rigging the boat in my head. Particulary, I was working out an arrangement to quickly attach my luff reef point. )

Originally Posted by paulie

...having the sheet run back to where I'm sitting rather than forward along the tiller -- seems wrong to me. ...

This just caught my eye. I'm not saying right or wrong, but MIK has commented that we Yanks have a definite bias toward sitting astern. I read a similar observation made by John Welsford on Joel's Navigator Site (The author had the pleasure of having JW join him in his JW Navigator for a sail at Port Townsend). John G. might have more insight into MIK's observation, but I gather that the GIS does best with the crew at or near BH3. Hence, the mainsheet block at BH3.

Dave, I think my problem with the sheet is much more idiosyncratic. I'm just being weird about it.

Almost all sailing dinghies have the last mainsheet block on the floor at about the point where the skipper sits. That way, when the skipper hikes out, the line comes straight up to him or her, perpendicular to the gunwale. There's no sideways pull on the skipper -- much more noticeable the farther out you hike -- and the tension can relieve a little of the stress on the skipper's quads and abs.

You can see this on the rigging plans of just about all racing dinghies. Some, like 420s, have the entire sheet tackle running up and down at that point, hitting the boom in the middle somewhere. Others are rigged like MIK's suggestion, with the sheet running forward along the boom and then down.

None of them have the sheet running forward from the transom like I propose. Any racing skipper would look at that and think it's just WRONG. MIK's way is (closer to) the "right way" for most of the dinghy sailing world.

My problem with it is that I've got the last block on a bridle which brings it to about the top of the middle thwart. That's okay in a good breeze when I'm sitting up on the gunwale (usually just aft of bulkhead 3, as MIK suggests). But in lighter air, I tend to sit on the floor, just behind BH3, to balance the boat better. Then the block is too high, and I end up ignoring it, taking the sheet directly off the boom. (I followed someone's suggestion -- I can't remember who, but thank you, whoever you are -- to put the ratchet block on the boom for these situations.) That doesn't feel comfortable either, and I've got the block and bridle getting in the way for no benefit, and I have to hold the sheet in my teeth if I want a free hand to do something else with.

I can shorten the bridle to bring the last block lower. But then it will grind against the aft edge of the seat on a reach or run. I've thought about moving the bridle back a foot or so, running it between saddles screwed into the floor (into the runners -- I wouldn't rely on just the plywood to hold them!). That would lower the block and move it into better position. But, even with the runners for support, I'm not sure the floor was meant to handle that kind of strain.

My other idea, running the sheet forward from a block on the transom, is from my larger-boat experiences. It would free up the cockpit and I could hold the tiller and sheet in one hand. But it would also unbalance me when hiking out, so it might be a disaster. I can imagine trying to take in a little more sheet when beating, slipping sideways, and capsizing in a flash.

This is why I haven't used any screws or bolts yet on my boom and yard. Everything is still movable and reconfigurable. I try it one way, then try it another. When I've finally got a setup I like, I'll make it permanent. Until then, I'm having fun experimenting.

Ah... I see. In my mind I pictured you sitting back by BH4 where you could have the tiller and the mainsheet in one hand and some sort of diversion in the other (beverage, camera, significant other... let's keep it clean) like a big-boat skipper.

Consider also that some have advised that the forward boom block can help prevent the boom from slipping forward along the mast if the boom block is positioned a little bit forward, causing your tug on the sheet to pull back slightly on the boom. You'll probably want to avoid the opposite effect.

Certainly the design is flexible enough to accommodate each skipper's preferences. John and MIK rigged GIR's mainsheet center boom to suit their needs during TX200. Reconfigurable attachments facilitate this process.

Ah! I love the image. Lazing back in my enormous yacht, martini in hand, captain's hat on my head, thinking ahead to a relaxed dinner with Biff and Buffy at the club while my paid crew tucks the boat away.

"Buffy dah-ling, is that a Goat Island Skiff pulling up to the slip?"

"Goodness Biff, I believe it's that Paulie fellow. They say he built the thing with his own hands!"

"Smashing! Let's have him for dinner, shall we? Esmerelda! Uno more-o por dinner-o, por favor!"


(or something like that...)

Any recommendations for good waterproof cameras that can take video?

I installed my new lego and parrot feather wind indicator (yes you read that right) over the weekend. It seems to function perfectly, I will post a new vid ASAP. It was the necessary ingredient, along with the waterproof camera, to further the pointing discussion.

The feather is a blue and yellow macaw feather from a local bird sanctuary - very spiffy.

My son's Kodak video camera takes beautiful images and is waterproof. It's the only reasonably priced camera of its kind that I know of.

He's had two of 'em, actually. The first one was lost when its mount broke while in moderate conditions sailing his Hobie 16. The flexible tripod mount broke, not anything on the camera. He had a safety line on the tripod but nothing to keep the camera aboard should the tripod or tripod mount fail. Live and learn.

Originally Posted by warm beer

Any recommendations for good waterproof cameras that can take video?

GoPro seems to be all the rage. I picked up the lower-end model over the summer and used it once in my car. It's not particularly inexpensive, but it sure seems to be bulletproof. The low-end model doesn't accept the video screen back, so aiming is a little bit hit-or-miss.

I just saw a commercial on Cartoon Network (my son watching TV) for Hot Wheels Video. Literally, they've put a little camera in the nose of a Hot Wheels car. So... there's that...

IIRC, John Goodman uses an Olympus Stylus Tough - though I don't recall the exact model - for his videos. I'm thinking about one of those - but probably not until next spring.

Cool, thanks for the recommendations. I'll check them out.

Video Racer | Hot Wheels