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Post by robertd on Nov 11, 2006 12:17:12 GMT -4
It's too bad that one-design racing can't get underway in the dinghy class. Sailing dinghies are the the cheapest and funnest (is that a word?) way to get out on the water. And above all sailing dinghies will sharpen one's skills.
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Post by brianpickton on Nov 15, 2006 19:40:38 GMT -4
Robert, I couldn't agree more, but the DYC is not looking like it has an interest in promoting dinghy sailing. The boat I am looking at is the closest thing that I can get to a dinghy that can compete at the DYC with the keel boats. My old Y - Flyer was 18 feet long and the new boat is only 4 feet longer, not including the retractable bow sprit. The PHRF committees have yet to settle on a rating for the Rocket 22. It has ranged from 141 to 105 PHRF (116 to 125 ASPN) so until they get more boats sailing it is difficult to know where it will finally settle down to, although the designer Don Martin has sugested that he expects to see it come in around PHRF 125 (ASPN 120) so that will be the provisional rating that I will suggest if I get one. The PHRF makes a lot of sense since in light air the boat should rate well with most boats up to 30 feet, ncluding the mast head J-29. By all reports a well sailed Olsen 30 will still beat the Rocket 22 in light air but beyond that, with airs over 8 knots, water line length will begin to tell and you would not expect the 22 foot Rocket to beat boats that are 50% longer or more. It should be alot of fun and if everything comes together for me in the next month I intend to order one for this spring. One of the guys from the factory is originally from Bedford and is looking forward to sailing on his old home waters and I wouldn't mind having a clinic with a factory pro. I'll keep you posted as this develops. I'm sure there will be alot of curiosity about the boat if I get one.
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Post by brianpickton on Mar 5, 2007 8:13:19 GMT -4
Check out the Rocket 22 at Rocketboats.com. If everything goes well this boat will be coming to a regatta near you, since the current state of the fantasy has me taking delivery in time for Chester Race Week. ASPN rating provisionally should be 123 - 124. In other words, it will owe Climax time. The boat planes at 7.5 knots, will get up to 17-18 knots in heavy wind, and sails like a witch in light air. It's my hope that this will become the next one design fleet in metro.
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Post by robertd on Mar 7, 2007 22:47:53 GMT -4
Put me down as potential crew.
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Post by brianpickton on Mar 9, 2007 8:39:26 GMT -4
Your there. Barry from DYC has put his hand up for Chester Race Week. In addition to yourself as regular crew I want to get as many people as possible on the boat on Wednesday and Monday nights to give them a chance to experience the boat and promote the class, so there is an open invitation to all and sundry to join us Robert. You up for Chester? With Alan and Barry that would max us out with 4.
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Post by robertd on Mar 11, 2007 15:08:55 GMT -4
Sounds very enticing indeed. I'll do the best I can to work it into my already busy schedule and many thanks for the invite.
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Post by robertd on Mar 14, 2007 8:38:49 GMT -4
Brian: When do "we" take possession of the Rocket 22. ?
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Post by brianpickton on Mar 14, 2007 10:04:03 GMT -4
Mid August. The current state of the fantasy is to have it here for Chester Race Week, which is mid August. Alan Barnes, previously of the Bedford Yacht Club, is the factory rep who will be bringing it here. He is also going to be here in May for a visit and we plan to get together then. The original plan was to race it at Youngstown NJ, CORK, and Chester. However Whidby Island Race Week conflicts with Youngstown, so its off the schedule in favour of WIRW. I don't know what my employment situation is going to be in August, but I hope to race CORK (Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston) and then Chester. So we should be able to get the fall series in at DYC, plus whatever other open regattas we can in August, September and October. On Monday nights I would like to get as many people out on the boat who might be interested in checking it out as I can. I am arranging the deposit on the boat this week and I am just waiting to hear from Rocket about details for the bank transfer.
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Post by brianpickton on Mar 16, 2007 14:43:45 GMT -4
Like the old saying goes, the difference between having an interest and being committed is like the difference between ham and eggs: the chicken has an interest, but the pig is committed. Today I sent off the deposit cheque for the Rocket. I am committed. Delivery is still planned in time for Chester Race Week, and the plan remains to get as many interested people as possible on the boat with the goal of finally getting some one design sailing going in metro in a boat with a modern design, and in this case, one that is Canadian made. I believe I mentioned earlier that I was also looking at the Ultimate 20 and 24 as well as the Mini transat. Neither the Ultimate 20 ( PHRF 144) nor the 24 (108) rates as fast as the Rocket 22. The Mini-Transat was intriguing, but I d=finally decided that I did not want to be involved in a developmental class where the need to build a new boat every 2 to 3 years to remain competitive would be a necessity. What the rating is going to settle in at remains to be determined, but right now it is looking like something in the 102 to 108 PHRF range. That is about 125 to 127 ASPN. SO the challenge for me is going to be getting the boat to sail to its rating when I have not much serious racing in a dozen years. I'm going to owe Climax time, but I'm told by the guys at the loft that everyone should owe Nathan time. It will be interesting to see how that boat does on the Marblehead Race, but I digress. I'm having Doyle do the sails rather than spend the money in Vancouver, so they will have their work cut out for them matching the Quantum sails that are standard for the boat. The idea is that we can tweak them here without having to send them out of province to get the work done. I'm told by Anthony Dutton that there are a number of people siting on the fence about buying the boat, so hopefully my purchase will help them get the picket out of their fundament. This makes me a Rocketeer, and I can hardly wait to be initiated into the secret rites, learn the secret handshake, and get the funny hat and decoder ring. We are also starting a fan club complete with scantily clad cheerleaders and scads of beer for all Rocket Boosters.
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Post by robertd on Mar 16, 2007 21:27:07 GMT -4
Brian: Ok I guess you're the pig and I'm the chicken and anyone who knows us realizes that we're just two "ham and eggers". As you know I've been in a self-imposed retirement phase from racing but YOU just may be able to convince me to be a deck-ape again. I'm all for scantily clad cheerleaders and I'm sure I can be convinced to hoists a few beers.
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Post by brianpickton on Mar 17, 2007 15:31:25 GMT -4
Hi Robert, Let's see, a guy who goes sailing January 1 isn't sure that he can fit this into his schedule. She Who Must Be Obeyed broke out laughing when I told her this. you should warn your wife, or better yet, bring her! Ham and eggers, that's perfect - it takes me back to my early pugilistic roots, where guys used to fight at the club on Gottingen street before breakfast. I'm bringing you out of retirement, Rockie, it's time to race again. Since this is such a tweakable boat tuning and racing is going to be a lot of fun, and it sails like a witch in 6 knots and under, which we get plenty of, while if it gets a bit of breeze it will plain in to the low and mid teens. Word is that it actually handles better on a plane, which it starts to do at about 7.5 knots. Mainsail area is 252sq. ft. and the roller furling jib is 140, for a combined working sail area of 392. Just for comparison sake the original Pocket Rocket designed by Gary Mull to the MORC rule had a 320 sg.ft working sail area and weighed to 630 pounds more, so t his Rocket has been turbo charged. That's not to mention the 603 sg. ft spinnaker or the 635 sq. ft asymmetrical. 635 sq. ft is bigger than the main sail on my old Beneteau f456. That baby is gong to suck all the wind out of the sky, you watch. About the deck ape thing, technically the term on this boat is "Rocketeer". ;D The spinnaker and the asymmetrical, by the way, are known as first and second stage Rocket Boosters You should know that my practice has always been to rotate crew through all positions, including helm. Generally that will mean that you would be on the helm every third week, so that would make you Captain Kong at that point. Weight limit on the boat at this point is 700 pounds. The ideal crew number is 3-4 We need to find another crew for full time fun and racing. Generally my campaign rules are sail boat, drink beer, have fun. If you are not having fun you're not dong it right, as the Madam said to the Bishop. On the rig tuning thing, here is the first bit of info in from the field on tuning the boat using the mast jack and a loos gauge. Speaking of which I need to get a loos gauge. I copied this from the Rocket 22 Blog site. Friday, March 16, 2007 Loos gauge numbers Here are a few loos numbers I have put together so far. "0" on the mast jack is where the mast screw just engages with the mast post (2 or so turns from the very bottom). Mast cap interm lower 0 just tight 3 11.5 sloppy sloppy 5 17.0 " " 6 18.5 " " 7 21.0 loose "" 8 22.5 tight tight 9 23.5 12.0 5 10 23.5 14.0 5 11 24.5 17.0 10 I found that in 10 - 12 knots of wind, 8 turns was perfect. Anything over 15 knots, and I would go with 11-12 turns. Bear in mind, that my Quantum main is cut very full. Depending on the wind this weekend, I may try to tighten the intermediates and lowers slightly. Posted by Jonathan at 2:31 PM 1 comments
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Post by robertd on Mar 20, 2007 23:14:55 GMT -4
Brian:
For the love of God please don't refer to "the Wife" as "SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED". Char read that part of your post and quite likes it, I on the other hand am not ready to totally relinquish all of dignity.
And many thanks for the invite as I'm trying to get the "wife to be" ( I have another term but she'd kill me if she ever read it on the internet) more into sailing. So I'm hoping you can do for me what you did for Nollind in Calgary
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Post by brianpickton on Mar 21, 2007 8:15:18 GMT -4
For the love of God please don't refer to "the Wife" as "SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED". Char read that part of your post and quite likes it, I on the other hand am not ready to totally relinquish all of dignity.Dude, the secret to marital bliss is to relinquish all dignity. Only by making this selfless sacrifice can genuine bliss be achieved. That's what SWMBO tells me and I have never known her to lie. Well, OK, there was that one time... First question, don't refer to your wife or my wife as SWMBO? My wife even has a T-shirt with that emblazoned on it. I think she is part of an international cabal of wives who carry that title. I think it is called the "She League." The first to carry the title of SWMBO was Queen Cleopatra of Egypt. You know, as in "Cleopatra,Queen of Egypt, Daughter of Ra, Queen of the Blue Nile, Queen of the White Nile....Scourge of the Sumerians, Smiter of the Hitittes,...Protector of the Realm, Keeper of the Flame...Source of all Law (and then when you get down towards the bottom of the cenotaph)...She Who Must Be Obeyed." Of course, you can't get all of that on to a T-shirt. BTW, and just for the record, my official title in my household is "He Who Must Be Kept In Line" I try to carry it with dignity. ;D As for the dignity thing, you obviously haven't been married long enough, but as long as she let's you think you have some...You know what they say: whatever floats your boat ;D Robert, I've got to find a picture of me floating in my bellyboat in a lake in Alberta. You know belly boats? there an inner tube with a seat built in to them that use to go fishing in. There is a picture of me with fly rod floating in my belly boat that a friend of Alexis and another member of the She League captioned, " the Captain's Word Is Law" Dignity? Did you see the sign above the matrimonial door? "Abandon All Dignity Ye Men That Enter Here"
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Post by brianpickton on Mar 21, 2007 9:36:10 GMT -4
This just in from Alan. Planing at 13 knots on the Rocket, that has got to turn your crank.
Hi guys,
This is the latest Quantum main in gusty, strong winds (up to 22-25). We clocked 13 under main and jib. This has 1in taken off the luff from the previous ones. I also have aprox 30in rake measured at the boom. The D1 Loos was 21, D2 25, and the D3 (lower) 14. Even when we were over powered it stayed flat but didn’t flog. There was 2 of us on board, the barber ½ way out, traveler off center by about 8”. I had 10 turns on the mast screw. I think the D2 and D3 are the ones that controls mast bend and the D1 is the one that creates bend. Increased rake neutralizes the helm and reduces foil stall. I heard recently that the reason for increased rake is to bring the CE back and the rudder and keel become canards sharing the lift making the helm light and neutral. I don’t know if its true but I’m a believer after todays sail. Oh ya it was flat water and shifty.
Alan
Alan Barnes
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Post by brianpickton on Mar 22, 2007 14:45:27 GMT -4
Just after Alan was telling us about getting Jim's boat up to 13 knots Jonathon emailed the owners to report that he had gotten his Rocket up to 18.2 Knots! This was followed by KB's email that I have reproduced below. Man, this boat is looking like it is going to be a blast!
Here is the beginning of the tuning and trim guide I have been developing for myself with the Rocket 22.
This IS NOT a definitive, sanctioned or official tuning guide. I haven’t had the chance to go head to head with other Rockets, and my boat may be slightly different due to small changes that have been made in set up, etc. Given the dynamic state of trim, tuning, and sailing techniques the following should be viewed as my impressions consistent with my sailing style, rather than guide for how to sail the boat. I’ll leave that up to the first Rocket 22 world champion.
It is a collection of my observations and experiences with the boat, and I hope you all will share the same.
I also hope everyone is planning on coming to the Best of the Okanagan this summer to rub elbows, share tips, and have a great time. If you haven’t seen the promotion for the event it is on the Rocket site.
The next phase in this guide will be determining base settings for rake, shroud tension, forestay length, mast jack turns, etc. I am playing with lots of different variables but I think there is light at the end of the tunnel.
This boat is so much fun, because it can be a real challenge in all conditions – but SO rewarding when you nail it. It’s not hard, but occasionally confounding. By this I mean taking a traditional keelboat (e.g. J22) or sport boat (Melges 24) approach only gets you halfway there. It wasn’t until I talked with the 5o5 and 49er guys that the whole thing came into focus…blurry focus. Since throwing my preconceptions out the window I am making leaps and bounds in understanding about how to sail the boat and set it up. I find it a very cool process.
Upwind, the boat is operating in three modes:
Mode 1: 2-8kts we are adequately powered up with the boat being quite weight sensitive. Mode 2: 9-12 we are already overpowered, but with the right recipe she finds her groove, and the application of some special techniques (like heeling through waves) makes a huge difference in performance Mode 3: 12-25 doing all that we can to de-power the boat. Note: I’ve sailed in 25+three times. That’s not fun on any boat, and this is no different although remarkably dry comparatively.
The lack of backstay and mast jack make tuning the boat different than the keelboats I am used to. Normally as the wind comes on we crank on the rig…that doesn’t really work with the Rocket – in fact it is the opposite in some cases. Rig tune at the dock becomes pretty important and the associations of what each shroud is doing needs adjustment.
Sails
The jib
We are asking A LOT of this one little jib. But there are plenty of controls to change the shape. I found it is really important to get the tack low, otherwise the clew height is thrown out of wack.
Jib Halyard
The set up on the boat allows for a ton of range in the halyard tension. I put in enough tension to get the wrinkles just out of the luff. This winter the breeze has been up just about everywhere I have sailed so I have taken to cranking on the jib halyard to round the entry, pulling draft forward. This is helping de-power the sail too…a need that comes on quickly. It is hard to repeat settings without marks on a luff so much of these adjustments are feel/look driven. In the 8-12 range I find that playing the jib halyard is fast.
Jib Sheet
The boat really responds to active jib sheeting. Legs in hiking will make these sorts of changes easy, and should keep the jib trimmers VERY involved in the game. Interestingly, I like to use a leech telltale for the trimmer (leech telltale for the trimmer, luff telltales for the driver). I have placed tape on the top and bottom spreaders to get a better reference point data. Because the clew is so close to the lead block small adjustments make a huge difference. I have found that a very twisted jib (at least matching the mains leech) is quick, and doesn’t backwind the main. I am trimming the bottom of the sail pretty hard and twisting off the top. Again the leech telltale tells the story – but as the wind comes on I sheet hard and if we get stuffed I ease (an inch) and start over. As the breeze comes on I move the lead aft and then ease slightly (two-three inches. Then I move to barber hauling out and sheeting hard again – repeating the process. I have been sailing in big breeze with a luffing main and a hard sheeted jib, but think that easing the jib a bit and keeping the main working might be faster. I am used to using IN-Haulers instead of out-haulers. It might be interesting to see if out-hauling out of a tack and then shifting gears in, on, and forward would be fast. I am treating the barber haulers like the traveler for my jib.
The main
It is a BIG main. I’d like to see a reefing point (or two) put in, but then again I like this boat for its potential in short distance races (under 200miles).
Luff tension
I am going for max hoist, and in fact would be a fan of a halyard lock, adjusting the tension in the luff with the Cunningham.
The Outhaul
The outhaul controls the main more so here than on most boats I have sailed. It really can be eased off and seems to have major impact of the power of the sail. I ease it to add helm/power. In light air the rounded leech seems to help with pointing, but you can go too far with this allowing air to stack up and stall in the sail. The bottom telltales tell the story.
The mainsheet
I drive the boat with a combination of sheet and traveler and because of that am constantly adjusting them. My sheet range is about 6 inches in most conditions. Again, unlike many keelboats that like to stall the top to promote pointing this boat seems to REALLY like flow. I try to keep flow going ALL the time. Unlike the jib, which seems to like over sheeting in most cases the main stalls early, and when that happens the skinny foils stall. I ease the main quite often. In the big breeze I am carrying a lot of luffing – but because I have dropped traveler I try to sheet as hard as possible. As the sheet is tensioned it acts somewhat as a backstay, you can go too far…and you’ll know when you have☺
The traveler
I play the traveler quite a bit. In the light stuff I bring it up to promote pointing and add a little helm. In puffy/moderate conditions I get a serious workout. In big breeze I vang sheet and drop the traveler.
I rarely change the traveler without adjusting the sheet. Under 10 the traveler brings the boom to centerline and the main is twisted – i.e. LOTS of sheet adjustments, as the breeze comes up play both mainsheet and traveler, but more traveler than sheet. Above 15 the traveler is all the way down, vang on hard, and I am back to using sheet.
Vang
In the light air I have it all the way off, because it impacts the leech and stalls it. Above 15 I pull it on hard so that when I blow the main the whole sail dumps and then comes back on quickly when I need it. At the windward mark it comes off again initially otherwise the boat will not come down in breeze. Off the wind it is the throttle! I have mine run differently so that it can be played better from the back of the boat when on plane.
Steering the boat
I think you could remove the tiller and lock the rudder in place on this boat. Upwind, I drive with the sails and weight as much as possible. The rudder doesn’t really steer the boat that well anyway, so when you try and steer with it you are just creating drag that is getting overpowered by the sail plan. I also have had to go away from my point/feather ways and drive with the bow down. I move forward as far as possible in order to stop the gurgle at the back of the boat (note: DON’T leave the motor on the back!). FYI - I think the tiller could be quite a bit longer and recurved.
Downwind in light air I like to stand and help drive the boat with my weight. Downwind in heavy air I am outboard and steer pretty aggressively with weight AND tiller. It is important to get ahead of the boat because the time from stall to wipe out is VERY short. But once you have a groove going weight will get you where you need to go. I also have two downwind modes. The hot and the deep. Deep starts with LOTS of weather heel. Until the helm goes to lee helm. It is a good skill to learn because it makes heavy air jibes a snap. And then hot. The transition is still being worked out. I sail pretty hot until the 9-11 kts zone. I think we loose in this zone because it is pre-plane and we are about 10 degrees off of symmetrical boats. (NOTE: I fly the A-kite almost exclusively). That said, a wavy 10kts and we can work the waves pretty well and sail just as deep as anyone. Over 20kts I switch to outside jibes, keep the jib out and ROCK AND ROLL. You can sail pretty deep (by the lee) and still plane – then the boat trips. We are experimenting with this as our jibing technique in big breeze. It is scary but we think it works and it is WICKED fast…so long as you don’t mess up.
Just a few other things. I am generally sailing with three. I really like the way that works. I am driving and trimming main, my middle person is working the tweaks upwind and trims the kite while the forward person trims the jib and runs the pit. While I’d love the extra weight on the windward leg, I really like the mobility in the boat and think that in the light stuff we’ll crush.
This is pretty darn fun! When my rig numbers make more sense I’ll forward.
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