First Sail on the F17

Master UniRig sailor I ain't!

Winds were 18 with gusts, so I chickened out and left the chute on shore for the first sail. Having never trapped before, I was concerned that I'd be going swimming, so I had a good warm wetsuit on.

I'm pleased to report that I'm no longer a trap virgin, and that the boat never came close to flipping. She was fast, pretty dry, and fun. Can't wait to get on the water this weekend.

I've got a lot to learn...

details?

Well behaved boat. I deliberately depowered the hell out of it before heading out - max rake, lots of downhaul, limited the rotator, outhaul and travelled out.

I need to tweak some things on the boat - the traveller line is frayed/showing the core and binding up. The mainsheet cleat on the block doesn't allow you to trim without it cleating the line - have to change that angle up a bit. The rotator control lines need to move so I can play with them while on the trap/rear.

The boat feels substantial - steering was my best depowering tool in the puffs intially, then I used the traveller since the mainsheet was hard to adjust quickly. But she came up off the water predictably and responded well to tweaks.

I looked ugly as hell getting out on the trap, and am curious as to techniques that people use for getting out (where do you put your feet/hands). Any comments? I practiced on land before I left, but it's different when you are moving and trying to control the main/traveller line (but you all know that). Gonna have to do more crunches.

Looking forward to learning the technique of this boat.

Now that I've sailed it, I'm going to reread the tuning guide that Bob pulled together. I'm sure it will make much more sense.

Now that I've sailed it, I'm going to reread the tuning guide that Bob pulled together. I'm sure it will make much more sense.

YEP!!

When you get out on the trap, I found that putting a hand on the rail as you go out helps immensely. I also first got comfortable on the trap on steady days, when I didn't have to worry much about what the boat was doing. If I remember correctly I used my tiller hand to brace myself while I got my front foot out, then got the back foot after that. Make sure that your trap is set to a comfortable height.

Another first sail on a F17, I went out for the fist time today and it sailed like a dream. Pointed even higher than I expected wasn't too bad handling the chute and steering but I can see I need to spend some time in the gym before Midwinters. Only go in trouble once, the first gybe I made with the spin up I almost flip her. On my Hobie 18 I gybe to a deep reach and power up and fall off so instictively I over steered and almost went over, other than that it was a perfect day on the water and can't wait to get back out there!

All right Andrew!

I had my first race this weekend. It was Portsmouth v. mostly Lasers. What a blast. I definitely have to work on my angles, but the boat was sweet, fast and fun.

I'll try to download the Velocitec files to see how ugly it was, but what a ball. Bob's help on tacking and gybing came in handy for sure!