Downwind without a whisker pole... and: Parasailor?

[Alan Gomes]

ORC racing rules require boats to hold certificates which are based on extensive measurements and performance predictions. Certificates are published for all boats which race under that rule. There are only a few "Erickson" (sic) boats so published, but a 1985 35-3 is one of them. You should be able to construct a polar chart (based on their sails) using the tabulated data. Other certificates can be found here. Among US certificates, there are also a couple of 1970 Ericson 35-2.

Wonder why the certificate for the 35-3 shows the hull as "cored"?

 

[bgary]

How do you like the sock? I have one for my smaller 1.5oz reacher but I've only used it a couple times. Have you seen any chafe issues when the big scoop is up top when the kite is deployed? I'm still on the fence with the sock. I've thought about just opting for a letterbox takedown when double handing with my wife, with crew it just gets sucked down the front hatch.

It's a good system. Orders of magnitude easier to set and strike when solo (compared with free-flying kite.

Having said that... It is good because it's usually "just me" on the boat. If you have more hands aboard it may not be enough of a win to warrant the price.

Biggest downside (for me) has nothing to do with the sock, it's that I still need to go forward to do some things. PO of my boat thoughtfully put cam-cleats on either side of the mast below the halyard exits, so I could do easily do everything (raise/lower kite, raise/lower sock) from a comfy spot between mast and shrouds on the leeward side. But I didn't love that approach... even in calm water, being outside the cockpit fussing with stuff by myself with boat on autopilot makes me hyper-conscious of the non-zero chances of going for a swim. Yes, I have my inflatable PFD on whenever I'm solo, and yes, I could clip in with a tether, but...

So after doing that the first few times, I fussed with a longer sock-line, running it through a double-block clipped to the base of the mast. Makes it so that I can raise and lower the sock from the cockpit, that helps a lot. With that, about the only things I have to do outside the cockpit are hook up the corners. I usually launch from forward hatch, and stuff the sleeved kite down through forward hatch when done, so I often do those from inside the boat rather than going forward on deck.

My process, once everything is hooked up: raise the sleeve, raise the sock, sheet the kite, adjust the tack-line, smile. On takedown, dump the sheet, lower the scoop, ease the tack-line, snug the scoop-line to tuck the sleeve against the mast until I can get there to lower it down the hatch. It works.

The one thing I've learned (repeatedly) is that I need to be sailing pretty far off the wind while setting/striking, because my wheel-pilot doesn't love the heeling associated a full kite on a close wind angle. So I do all the stuff and then come up to course, if needed, once I have my hands free for sheet and wheel. Again, probably not an issue with extra people aboard.

Haven't seen signs of any chafe, either on the scoop or on the mast.

As you know, the sock isn't cheap. Something like 15 bucks/foot so ~$600 for my 32-III. But... on balance, I'm quite happy with it. Only real reason I'd consider switching to a top-down furler is because I'm lazy, and eliminating a few steps seems attractive.

B