Australia Day long weekend

[Ron Jesche CH21' Sealion']

Last weekend we entered Sealion in 50km passage race. I launched the boat at the river port of Goolwa and we sailed 50km to where the race would start the next day. A great sail and Sealion was very comfortable for overnight. The bbq worked well and we were the envy of our neighbors as we dined on lamb shanks and couscous that my friend Peter prepared the night before. We started the race well, but the wind picked up to over 20knots and the bigger boats pulled away from us. We also made some tactical mistakes that cost us quite some time,but had a great weekend. The Cape Henry creates a lot of interest wherever she goes. Ron

[Daniel]

Great photos Ron. How did Sealion feel in the strong winds?
Daniel

[Dudley Dix]

Love the photos with the bows buried in the reeds.

The strongest showing in a mixed fleet will be in the light to moderate breeze range, when these boats are very fast compared to most. Once the breeze passes about 15 knots the big boats will generally come through due to longer waterline length and this being a displacement hull, not able to plane.

DD

[Ron Jesche CH21' Sealion']

Hi Daniel, I have wind instruments so can give you some pretty good feedback.In the summer we have a fairly strong afternoon seabreeze most days. Our gulf is fairly shallow, so often have 20-25 knot winds with seas to 1.5m at these times. I have taken Sealion out late in the afternoon a couple of times with winds upto 28 knots to try her out. Each time has been singlehanded. I have tried different sail combinations, and find that over about 15-18 knots the boat handles well with the staysail and one reef in the main. I have tried with Yankee and reefed main also and this works well in some conditions. I have both on endless line furlers so it is very easy to roll them in and out and try different combinations. I heave to when reefing , and the boat behaves herself nicely when tucking in a reef whilst hove to. Boat speed is usually still over 5 knots, and the helm feels good.Downwind in these conditions the boat is a real blast. She doesn't roll, or corkscrew down the waves. Make sure you practice reefing in nice conditions early on after launching, so that you're confident when you really need to reef .The surprising thing for me is how dry the boat is. Occasionally there is a little spray over the deck, but with that lovely fine entry there is no pounding or slamming as the boat comes off waves. To your other Question, the platform on the transom has a pullout ladder underneath it, and is well clear of the water so doesn't drag when sailing. Cheers Ron

[Ryerson "Elvee"]

Hi Daniel, I can echo Ron's post on how our Elvee handles.  Heaving to is a breeze (pun intended), she settles right down and is very stable to do whatever needs to be done.  We also do this to reef the main.  Our staysail and yankee are also on rollers.  We use jiffy reefing on the main for the first reef only.

Rye