There are drifters and there are drifters, on a 15 I'd think about putting the halyard block way up; maybe halfway between the hounds and the masthead. Normally a drifter is about 170 and cut pretty high in the clew, both to get more area and also so you don't have to be moving the sheet blocks as much. On my flush deck 17 I had a 170 made of Dynak, which I think was a 1 oz stabilized spinnaker cloth. I liked the sail, and used it a lot in inland lakes, whiich are usually flucky, and it was at it's best in flucky stuff from 0 to about ten knots. At ten upwind it stretched, but didn't hurt enough to warrent changing sails unless it looked like the wind was building. At ten it really stormed along but didn't point quite as hi as if a good 150 was up. I used it until we wer4e sailing low enought to carry a spinnaker. I really don't know what sheets I had for it but I doubt they were any lighter than3/16. For my Sage I've ordered a windseeker, which is like a dr4ifter but smaller, simply so it will sail in winds so light that the weight of a larger sail would collapse it. Not knowing a whole lot about windseekers I just told the sailmaker to make what he thought best, and expect that it will be about 90 or 100%, and hi clewed. This is guesswork, but i suspect that a windseeker might be at it's best in salt water, which can be very light but is normally much less flucky than lakeseven when it's lite. Also, salt water normally has a residual chop even tho there might be little wind, which will bounce the boat around some and a larger headsail will dump more wind from bouncing. jerry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Don" <sailmonty15@gmail.com> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 7:43 AM Subject: Re: M_Boats: Drifter
Seems like after I bought the drifter for my M15, Jerry or someone else provided the following technique for sail controls. Looked through the archives but didn't find anything.
I have a CDI furler so I hoist the drifter on the old jib halyard. Sail controls are 1/8" line routed outside the shrouds to the back of the boat. I didn't add any special blocks or cleats, just looped the line around the stern mooring cleat. In the light, flukely air on the lake I kept them in hand to try to keep the sail full. When I questioned the size of the control line, whoever it was said "if you can't control the sail comfortably with the 1/8" line its time to drop the sail."
I experimented attaching the tack to the bow fitting, both inside and outside the pulpit and even on top of the pulpit. Occasionally tried running with two head sails. Interesting, but lots of work.
Don M15-248 On 7/4/2011 6:55 AM, Joe Murphy wrote:
Subject: Re: M_Boats: Drifter
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