where do I start. On the way to the club was preparing myself to go out cat rig for the first and my crew decides that he wants to go for a sail.
Got to the club and rigged the boat up sloop then 10 mins before briefing he gets a call out for work so down came the headsail and raked the mast back a bit and was ready to go out and race.
This is where it gets interesting. Got out there and found the wind to be alot stronger than I expected, but still kept with the same rig settings. Trying out the steering to make sure I got rid of last weeks problem I missed the start, then when I did get going I found myself catching the other boats really quickly thats when capsize number 1 happened. Got passed all the boats that had passed me while I was capsized and went round the 1st bouy. The next leg was a reaching leg and had no problems to bouy number 2. Got to bouy number 3 and found a capsized boat in front of me so I decided to tack a little bit earlier than what I would of like but when I moved the tiller nothing happened, when I looked down at my tiller I found it broken so here I am powering straight for this upside down boat with no steering so Unfortunatly had to capsize it again to avoid a serious collision.
Welcome to the 06/07 race series.
I think my main problem was that I think I didnt rake the mast back far enough and was just getting way over powered, What do you guys think? The more explenations the better
Thanks

G'day Wild,

Seems like you're name fits. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

One of the most important things I learnt went I first got into Mozzies was not to be afraid to heave on the downhaul. I found I was sailing with my sail too full. Pulling on the downhaul opens the top of the leech and improves flow over the sail. It also flattens the sail. It is far more important than outhaul.

Try setting your boat up on the beach or at home when it's not too windy. Set the outhaul so the foot of your sail just touches the boom, now play with the downhaul and walk aft of the stern and look at the sail. Better still get someone else to pull on and release the downhaul while you watch the affect from behind the boat. It'll show you what happens to the sail shape when you work it.

Strong wind = Lots of downhaul = flat sail = control.

Trapeze lying flat, drop the traveller a bit if still overpowered. I'll try and attach a photo of Neil doing it well at Eden.

As far as the mast rake goes, how did the tiller feel while you were hooting along (before it broke that is)? Was there any weather helm or lee helm?

Hope this helps. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hey where were you racing ? Ben 654

Raking your mast won't help if you are overpowered.

To depower, like Col said, use lots of downhaul. Also pull the outhaul out and if you are still feeling uncomfortable, centre the rotation.

When you've done all this the sail should be pretty flat. What sort of sail do you have?

It sounds like you went ok apart from the first capsize. How did that happen? Upwind or downwind? Sideways or nosedive?

hey Ben I sailed down at chipping norton lake down near liverpool.

Hey Tim I cant tell you off the top of my head what sails Ive got but the first capsize happened into the wind and sideways but the boat actually came on top of me but I wasnt actually out on trap just hiking out so I think I might have been very unlike and coped a massive wind shift.I was racing against a couple of smaller cats, a 16ft skiff and a couple of monohulls and when I got the boat going I was told I was the quickest thing there. But one major problem I have to try to fix are my tacks I seem to stall alot after Ive tacked <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />.

It took me a year to sought out how to sail an olympic 470 so Im giving my self another year to sought this boat out.
Im also seriously thinking about build a new set of hulls for the folling season hopefully do a few titles as well.
catch ya all later

on my first mossie 1132 an old carter built boat that used to be always sailed sloop riged, when i sailed it cat rigged i raked the mast forward as the boat was verry hard to tack other wise and very easy to stall, but on the current boat new faye boat i have the mast rake a long way back, but i think only myself and tim use this amount of rake most people just run the rig vertical and is probobly a good start for an older boat

I find it hard to tack in anything above 12kts for some reason. I think I am turning too fast and stalling the rudders which basically all but stops me... then I have to back the rudders and mainsail to get going again, very frustrating. What do you guys generally turn your rudders to for a tack, 30/45/60 degree's??? I have seen some guys put a limiting rope on their tiller cross bar so they can't stall the rudders!!!

Tony,

Yep I think you are stalling. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

I think that 30 degrees would probably be maximum but don't go straight to that angle. Get maximum speed and just gently increase the angle until your'e through the eye. Then bingo the wind pushes the bows through and your'e basically away on the next tack.

If you're sailing in chop or waves you may also have to time the tack so that the waves don't push your bows back onto the previous tack. Try to time it so that the bows are just through the wave and you are still turning through the eye of the wind with some speed. That way by the time your bows hit the water the next wave will assist in turning the hulls in the direction you want to go. It's a bit of a learning curve but once you get the knack you'll rarely forget. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

If only I could remember to do all that every time. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Regards,

Peter <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Peter

Thanks... yeh, I was tacking really well a few weeks back but last weekend was just a fizzer, I shoulda stayed home, lol.

I will try your recommendation.. I think maybe because its above 12kts I get a little freaked and tend do things a little quicker than I should. I just need to relax a little...

Hey, I made a mast plug like Tim's on Saturday as well... shouldn't have any problems now with water in the mast.

Cheers..

One other question. How tight do you run your rig tension and do you maintain the tension during the race? The tension on my cat seens to be to loose.

G'day mate,

Why don't you drop down to Kurnell Catamaran Club one weekend and join us for a race. We can go over your boat, tune it, let you know how to trick it up and give you any pointers you may need.

We race Sundays with a breefing @ 12.00 noon. Best to get down there about 10 am.

email me for futher details tornadoalive(at)optusnet.com.au

KCC web site - http://www.kcc.asn.au/

Ive been down to kurnell the last two sundays the first sunday got a few pointers off brian (titan/taipan) which helped Im just wainting till I get a sunday completely off and Ill be down there.
thanks mate

Older Mosquitos do not usually have the centreboard case at the maximum measurement from the bow (3353mm) and as a result need the mast more upright (sometimes even leaning forward).

Pretty well all Mozzies built in the last 10 years have the cases at the limit.

I have a small rope stopping the rudder but the real reason it's there is to stop the rudder box gouging holes in the transom.

I think Peter is right about starting gently with the tack and pushing the rudder over more as you get through the eye of the wind.
Another important point is to stay out on the trapeze as long as possible - until you think you have left it too late!
If you come off trap and then start the tack, the boat is very likely to stall half way through.

My centerboards are at about 100mm foward. If I kept my Centerboards 1200 long but halved their width would that help point & tacking? What dimensions are the best? BEN 654

Ben,

Have a look at the Centreboards thread again. The best thing you can probably do without rebuilding the hulls is get the maximum rake angle of 10 degrees and modify the centreboards to suit. My Mozzie is pretty old and was built with 5 degrees rake and now it's 10 degrees due to some minor modifications (see thread).

Regards,

Peter

p.s. My centreboards are now 1050 long X 250 wide and they work just fine. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />