Windaveski
Junior Member
Hi family Ericson,
I purchased a very nice 1979 E 25+ last summer and sail it in the south puget sound. I am generally very happy with the boat but have a few questions and would much appreciate any help.
My background: Been sailing since before I can remember, ~60years. Most of my early sailing was on smaller simpler boats. 30 years ago I got hooked on windsurfing in the Columbia Gorge and haven't sailed boats much since. Now I am learning and relearning.
HELM BALANCE
I have had a difficult time balancing the helm using sheet trimming and traveler. I often have a leeward helm that is difficult to adjust out. The last couple of times I have sailed I started working with the after stay tensioning (something I don't have experience with) and it seemed to help. What is the proper way to adjust the stay tension? Any other balancing options I am missing? Is it possible to overtension the after stay and cause damage.
MAIN SHEET RIGGING
My Traveler is at the forward end of the cockpit and I think the original boom attachment point was directly above it. However the sheet is currently attached to the end of the boom. I think this was done to avoid sheet interference with the dodger. The result is that the sheet 'sweeps' the cockpit. I find this unacceptable for my casual daysailing/short cruising use of the boat.
I would like to move the traveler to the cabin top. I realize this is a pretty big job but don't see any show stoppers except the structural integrity of the cabintop or the boom. My thought would be to buy something like a Garhauer traveler with risers and mount it forward of the dodger. Anybody have experience with this type of modification or thoughts on the structural capabilities of the cabin and boom? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Dave
I purchased a very nice 1979 E 25+ last summer and sail it in the south puget sound. I am generally very happy with the boat but have a few questions and would much appreciate any help.
My background: Been sailing since before I can remember, ~60years. Most of my early sailing was on smaller simpler boats. 30 years ago I got hooked on windsurfing in the Columbia Gorge and haven't sailed boats much since. Now I am learning and relearning.
HELM BALANCE
I have had a difficult time balancing the helm using sheet trimming and traveler. I often have a leeward helm that is difficult to adjust out. The last couple of times I have sailed I started working with the after stay tensioning (something I don't have experience with) and it seemed to help. What is the proper way to adjust the stay tension? Any other balancing options I am missing? Is it possible to overtension the after stay and cause damage.
MAIN SHEET RIGGING
My Traveler is at the forward end of the cockpit and I think the original boom attachment point was directly above it. However the sheet is currently attached to the end of the boom. I think this was done to avoid sheet interference with the dodger. The result is that the sheet 'sweeps' the cockpit. I find this unacceptable for my casual daysailing/short cruising use of the boat.
I would like to move the traveler to the cabin top. I realize this is a pretty big job but don't see any show stoppers except the structural integrity of the cabintop or the boom. My thought would be to buy something like a Garhauer traveler with risers and mount it forward of the dodger. Anybody have experience with this type of modification or thoughts on the structural capabilities of the cabin and boom? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Dave