Mariner’s Web

Flat is Fast (or is it?)

January 12, 2009 – 10:43 am
Sailboat balance is a result of Center of Effort from the sail plan combined with the Center of Lateral Resistance provided by the keel appendage. While in a racing seminar sailing J/24's in Florida's Key West, I first heard the term “flat is fast” - in reference to angle of heel. Minimizing heel angle is almost always the goal of our race crew. A couple of exceptions to this rule that come to mind are: when sailing in our typically light and rarefied Rocky Mountain air we heel the boat enough to assist in sail trim when the wind Gods are not cooperative; and we may heel the boat to weather to project the asymmetrical windward and sail deeper. But with that said it is a fact that in sailboat design and theory the keel or centerboard provides lift (like an airplane wing) and so as ...

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Open Source and Sail Design Software

February 20, 2008 – 9:04 am
In the software business many companies have made their fortune in software development and sales. With the increased competition from the worldwide base of competent programmers, the concept of "open source" software has grown astronomically. Take the OpenOffice product, which is an office suite application that can be freely downloaded in place of purchasing an over-priced word program which used to be the defacto standard. Open Source software licensing provides a way for the common person to obtain free software, implementing the concept that people all across the world can (and will) contribute human resources to the development of a product to make it more viable and robust over time - and the concept works! Talk about world unification! Sail design software is an extraordinarily expensive proposition for the average sailmaker to be able to purchase for use in the loft. It is a tough case ...

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Colorado Wind

January 2, 2008 – 5:46 pm
When I am visiting other parts of the country people don't seem to comprehend that I have been racing one-design sailboats for over a decade in Colorado and Wyoming. Isn't it mountainous ski country to the west with semi-arid high plains to the east? Yes and the lakes are mostly man-made where the sailing season can be shortened by things like low water levels and snow-outs. Each season we typically have a few races that are run inadvertently as windward-windward courses (180 degree shifts), or we may have a race day that consists of a time-out followed by a race where the fleet puts a reef in. The average wind conditions, I would say, is light, but with enough patience it may often become heavy. The wind here in Colorado is best described as fluky, from light to heavy air. An ambitious Colorado sailor just released a ...

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Navigation and the $5 Radio

December 20, 2007 – 12:44 pm
Have you ever noticed the abundance of books on the subject claiming Celestial Navigation Made Easy? I met a bloke who was my celestial navigation instructor who claims to have done latitude navigation by triangulation on AM radio stations broadcasting from major cities on the US Eastern Seaboard. Although he has swallowed the anchor he indicated the cheaper the radio, the more directional it is. Just turn the radio to its best reception and take a bearing on the city. If two or three major cities are in range then you have a fix! Lets face it, a modern GPS is becoming inexpensive and makes navigation akin to following the freeway exit signs. My personal interest in Celestial Navigation is driven by the seafarer's notion of steering by the stars. The great side effect in studying it is to broaden ones horizons so to speak, ...

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Knots to You

December 20, 2007 – 12:35 pm
Our Colorado crew has been busy planning for Antigua Race Week in May. Since most of us are seasonal sailors the subject of a knot review came up. I had just received a message with a link to Grog's Animated Knots and we found it to be a great resource. As usual one website leads to another, and another... One of my favorite knots of late is the square riggers buntline hitch - "better than a bowline", as it will not shake out. So grab a line or two and browse some interactive knotty resources and practice a little marlingspike seamanship (no that's not a typo, I picked up on the old spelling in The Riggers Apprentice by Toss). And don't forget to call your local sailmaker for rigging needs and advice. Knotty WWW Links: Knots Gallery Marlinespike Intro Ropers Knot Pages Grog's Animated Knots

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The Onboard Computer

December 20, 2007 – 12:18 pm
With today’s sophisticated navigational software, digital charts, and interfaces to many sailboat systems such as GPS, radar, sonar, and radio, it’s hard not to agree that a computer is fast becoming necessary onboard equipment. While the ideal solution may be an integrated system built-in to marine specifications, the reality is that the portable laptop PC is what most recreational boaters will purchase and use. Considering the needs of the mariner a laptop should be built to rugged specifications to protect your valuable data. It should also have a display for viewing in outdoor daylight conditions and perhaps some degree of water resistance. In comes Group Mobile, who provides a guide to rugged PC technology and what appears to be a good cross-section of products available today. Although they refer to many high end products I would recommend the FAQ for an introduction to rugged duty features and go from ...

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The Sailor’s Airbag

December 20, 2007 – 8:40 am
While researching sea anchors I came across an article on the web that takes anchoring outside the box. It contains a great analogy of a sailboat at anchor to an arrow on a tether. Find it here. The website provides a lot of information for the series drogue, aka the sailor’s airbag. The drogue is arguably one of the best products out there for riding out a storm at sea. Although this is a commercial web site it is refreshing to note that the author openly shares the data and specifications for designing a series drogue with his fellow mariner. If you are considering a series drogue outfitted for your boat contact Red Sky Sails who has access to the equipment and supplies needed to design and build one for you.

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Safe Surfing

December 20, 2007 – 8:19 am
In a recent copy of Readers Digest I found a definition for a website: “Easy access to lots of useless information”. To find worthy boating information in the haystack known as the world wide web it takes patience and bandwidth. Internet access should include a disclaimer: User Beware - websites you encounter may contain useless, incorrect, or obsolete information. Attaching a computer to the World Wide Web is easy and security can be too if you follow some rules of due diligence. If you haven't been thinking much about security for your computer, on or off the web, then here are links to a couple of good articles to get you thinking about it. Home Computer Security and The Ten Commandments of Computer Security. Read them at your leisure and be sure to bookmark them for future reference if you find them useful. Catch a ...

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Hello Mariner’s!

December 20, 2007 – 7:56 am
This is Brian, the proprietor of Red Sky Sails, a sail loft in Berthoud Colorado. This "Mariner's Web" blog is intended to share information regarding Sailmaking (Sail Design, build, and repair) and all things pertinent to mariner's on the web, specifically topics in sailing, sailboats, rigging, and seamanship. Please feel free to post comments! When in doubt - Share.

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