We were fortunate enough to have Bruce Bingham and the Wiles join us for her sailing debut and have been able to take her out a handful of times this summer in between projects.
Prior to our guests’ arrival, we pulled Phoenix for a short haul and power wash – new bottom paint was on the to do list but not something we were able to get to before their arrival in June. We had fairly light winds that first sail, but we were so excited to finally have her out, it didn’t matter! She performed respectfully that first sail, close hauled in 5-10 knots until the winds died, then we finally had to motor up and return home.
Heading out on our first sail! |
Bruce and Bill discussing the finer points of mainsail trim |
Elisa and Bruce trimming the genoa |
One thing we learned from this initial sail and from sailing
her sister ship Eager Dreamer, the Andromeda design is surprisingly tender and the
boat likes to heel, especially when close hauled. Even though she weighs nearly
40,000 lbs, when close hauled she will lay over, even in light winds.
I should also mention that Phoenix’s headsail is a monster – a 140% genoa whose car leads, when close hauled, are almost back into the first ports of the aft cabin – just forward of the mizzen shrouds! This, combined with our new, super-stiff 9 oz main, and she can be a bit of a handful! But I digress…
Bruce trimming the headsail. Notice where the car lead is (WAY behind him) |
The new main |
After our light air sail, we decided to take her out a few times in somewhat better air: NW winds 10-15 knots – and again playing around close hauled with the main and headsail. Not only was she tender but there was some definite weather helm the closer we pointed upwind. After letting up a bit on the main sheeting, she settled in and started to find her groove (Bruce would have had a fit at the twist we had in the main, but thankfully he was back in
Close hauled |
Close up of our Phoenix insignia |
We were out of the water for less than two weeks (more about that later), but once back in the water with a clean bottom and new feathering MaxProp and we had a totally different sailing experience. First and foremost, no more annoying freewheeling – drag or noise – while under sail. She also gets up to speed much faster than with the old, fixed prop. Again in NW winds 10-15 knots, but this time at a beam reach, she was comfortably heeling and settling in around 7 knots. We sheeted out the main again a bit to help reduce weather helm, and will incorporate a vang in the future to reduce some twist.
We have A LOT more tinkering to do to really get a feel for Phoenix and to figure out everything she’s capable of. One of the great things about the ketch rig is the numerous sail configurations we’ll have at our disposal, but so far we’ve really only played with the main and genoa. Now that we have her sailing, we’ll be able to play with and tweak the rigging, try different sail configurations and really see what she can do. Stay tuned; you’ve heard about some of the projects, but the sailing/cruising log is just getting started!
Happy Sailing! |
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