Cape Dory 14 found me

[kpenokie]

One day a Cape Dory 14, in reasonable condition, showed up in my yard. Made a set of oars for it and am now trying to sail/row it. Need suggestions as to where to place the sail when rowing. Rowing with the sail on will manly be when the wind cuts out and I have to get back to the dock or while in a area too narrow to tack against the wind. If I lower the sail with the mast still up, the boom and sprit are in the way. I suppose I could brail the sprit and boom to the mast, but that seems like a lot of windage. Any suggestions?

[rbgarr]

Brail is the best, simplest bet for short distances like you say. You only have to raise it high enough to sit under the boom, not raise it up all the way alongside the mast.

[TerryLL]

If your boat carries the modified gunter rig your best option to reduce windage is to lower the gaff as far as possible and wrap the boom, gaff, and sail around the mast. Cinch it all together with a couple of bungies.

[Thorne]

Can you link the brail line to the aft end of the boom as a topping lift? Under certain conditions you might want to pull the sprit (if it isn't tied / fastened to the upper corner of the sail) and just row with the boom raised enough to clear your head. You can also raise the boom completely against the mast, depending on how it attaches (yes for most jaws, no for goosenecks).

Some photos might help. I take it the mast is lashed to the mast? If you change that to leaving it lashed to the boom, it becomes easier to remove completely while on the water.

[wingless]

My 1994 Edey & Duff 11' Columbia dinghy has the same problem when rowing w/ the mast, boom and sail.

My plan next time is to try attaching the halliard to the end of the boom, to raise the boom, to provide rowing clearance.

[Thorne]

I'll see if I can describe things better.
1. Have the sail permanently attached to the boom, not the mast. Use robands or hoops on the mast.
2. Set up a topping lift rather than fooling around with the halyard -- always risky if the wind pipes up.
3. Pull the sprit off the sail completely, and either tie upright to the mast or carry in the boat.

That way you have the ability to reef onto the boom, extending the sprit down/forward with the snotter. For rowing only you can then in light airs brail the sprit up to the mast, and raise the boom enough to clear your head. In heavy airs you can pull the sprit, lower the sail onto the boom, and raise it enough to clear your head for rowing with the topping lift.

Even though it isn't a spritsail, here's my dory skiff with the sail pulled down onto the boom, then raised enough to row, held in place by the topping lift going up and the mainsheet going down and back.

[kpenokie]

Here is the rig: file:///C:/Users/KENHOM~1/AppData/Local/Temp/S-1_spar_system.pdf

Because of the sprit rig, it doesn't work to have the sail attached to the boom and not the mast. I do think others are right-- if I lower the sprit and then bungee the sail to the mast it should work. Thanks for the quick suggestions.

Now I need to put in some reef points per a previous thread about the down wind sailing characteristics of this boat.

[TerryLL]

That link can be viewed here:

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...par_system.pdf Should be the first link on the page.



It's the standard rig, a modified gunter with the gaff vertical against the mast. The brochure refers to the gaff as a sprit.

[Thorne]

Kpenokie - that file you reference is on your C: drive -- so it isn't accessible to others. But no problem, if it won't work then it won't work. I can't find any images of a Cape Dory 14 with a spritsail, so am not sure how yours is riggged. http://www.capedory.org/specs/cd14.htm

Edited to add: OH - it is a GAFF RIG! How interesting that the brochure has the wrong name for the rig! Yeah, you won't be pulling the gaff off the mast easily, that's for sure.

Edited to add: Oh! A folding or sliding gunter rig. From the pdf it appears to be folding, i.e. it swings up against the mast, rather than sliding up vertically.

[wingless]

My dinghy has a single pulley for the halliard w/ the mounting bracket riveted to the mast. There does not look to be a good way to add a second.

Here is my dinghy w/ the boom raised by the halliard and the sheet holding it down.

It was secure and out-of-the-way for rowing, not too bad to switch for sailing.

[Thorne]

Pick up a spool of nylon seine twine, aka tarred marline. Lash and glue the lashing to the mast, then use the free ends of the nylon to attach the block(s) of your choice to the marline. Easy, secure, and the system has worked for centuries. You can lash and glue, or lash through a hole with rounded edges. Want two more blocks? Lash them 180 degrees apart.

Here's an oversize block for my mainsheet and a clip for the tack of the mailsail lashed to the gaff end of the boom -


And another block lashed through a hole in the aft end of the same boom -

[kpenokie]

I can now validate the down wind issues! Was out in a bit of wind, but she was well behaved up wind, but when I eased her around down wind she nose dived on me. Barely kept her upright but did ship some water. Dropped sails and rowed her in. Not sure about this boat. I don't like the idea of having a risky sail down wind in conditions where up wind is not a problem. I could put in some reef points or modify the mast position, but I'm not sure the better option might be to replace it. Thoughts?

[timo4352]

Getting your weight aft does not help?

[kpenokie]

Weight was all the way aft.

[Dan Weeks]

Did you ever put reef points in your sail? If so, I'd like to hear how it went. Looking to do the same thing with mine.

Thanks!

Dan Weeks
CD 14 Hull number 54

[kpenokie]

The plan is to move the mast step back so that just aft of the front seat, but other projects have intervened. Hopefully will get to it this year and be able to report on results. I haven't gone the rout with the reef points as it doesn't feel like the boat is overpowered. There is just too little volume forward when going down wind. If moving the mast forward does not work, I will probably get rid of the boat as it doesn't feel safe.

[Dan Weeks]

Thanks much for your prompt reply. A CD 10 owner reported the same issue and moved his mast step, which is even farther forward than on the CD 14, back quite a ways aft and wrote up the result here: http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/07/...hrew/index.htm


Dan