Sail #3 

For sail number three of this season we decided to sail off the mooring as our downwind neighbors were out sailing so we had room to maneuver.  We decided to sail off the mooring with the mainsail only for easy maneuvering. Because there was a little bit of wind and we had room, we did not “walk the mooring” pendant amidships to orient Rosalind favorably to the wind. Instead we dropped the mooring pendants and let Rosalind fall off and catch the wind.  Rosalind took somewhere between 30ft (9 m) and 50 ft (15 m) to turn 60 degrees and then the main sail started generating power and she started making headway.

It was a hot day so we decided the plan was to only use the main and jib, saving a little bit of work in the sun uncovering and covering up the mizzen. Our plan was to sail out to Red 4 (about 1.2 nautical miles) only with the mainsail, get a better sense of the wind, then roll out the jib once the river opened up. Sailing down the river we soon realized that the actual winds were stronger than forecast. Instead of gusts to 16 knots, we were seen gusts to 22, upper end of Force 5, lower end of Force 6. It was still very smooth sailing in foot-high (0.3 m) waves and nothing like experiencing these winds in the ocean because the river was very flat with the exception of some powerboat wakes. With the stronger winds we were doing 4.6 knots broad reaching (wind almost from behind, on the aft quarter), so we decided to just enjoy a sail with the main only. On the way back, close hauled, we were doing 3.7 knots. In the flat river pushing into wind over 20 knots, it felt a little windy but with the flat water Rosalind moved upwind very gracefully and did not feel like overcanvased (like we had too much sail up). In this outing we found the upper limit of sailing with the just the mainsail. Rosalind’s helm was very light. While we could have put out a little jib to increase our speed downwind but I do not think she would have been happier with more sail upwind. There is something to the well proven adage of “do not put up more sail downwind than you can carry upwind”. While we could get to the same total sail area by a reefed main and partly rolled out jib it is important to know how Rosalind behaved with only the mainsail for situations were tight maneuvering and short handed are required so this was a great test.

Rosalind on a abroad reach in the West River

We enjoyed the sail out to the Rhode River. It is great fun sailing with different sail configurations in different wind conditions. It is allowing us to learn how Rosalind performs with her new mainmast and new mainsail. Another fun sail in the logbook.  

Sailing towards the Rhode River