sailing the Cal 20

Wow, an exciting sail on the Cal 20 last night. The computer weather site said we had winds of 20 knots from the WNW, gusting higher. I rowed out and reefed the main. Felt like a complete dork with my reefed main because the racers were coming in from the Wed. night race with their Kevlar, carbon, and Mylar sails and crews of six or so. But when I got out there my sail complement was just right--boat going fast, not over powered. And then the wind switched into the north, blowing right down our Bay. Now I was close-reaching across the Bay, bubble in the main and sometimes a luff in the jib to keep her on her feet, leaving this great big wake. Coming about, I headed back on a broad reach, and grabbed my portable GPS. It only registers speed now and that's all I need. My boat speed was over 6 knots all the way. Best of all, reaching back and forth, I wasn't really banging into seas so didn't get wet. Whee! I was so happy that I had reefed, and in fact wished that the sail had a second reef. If it had stayed daylight longer, I probably would have moved to a storm jib. Problem is, it's hard to do anything when single-handing in a blow. I found a bit of shelter to head up and drop the jib, and then dropped the main. For the second time this year I powered onto the mooring. Sailing on is the usual mode, but in a sea it's easier to power because a new mooring kinda poaches on my space. But then there's the worry about the OB motor stalling at an inconvenient time. No problem last night, but by the time I got the mooring lines secured I had a dry mouth, my sign of anxiety. I don't think I've ever sailed that boat as consistently fast. Chris Campbell

Chris, I'm green with envy... stuck here in the desert... thanks for the visual. dEmO From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Chris Campbell Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 9:25 AM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] sailing the Cal 20 Wow, an exciting sail on the Cal 20 last night. The computer weather site said we had winds of 20 knots from the WNW, gusting higher. I rowed out and reefed the main. Felt like a complete dork with my reefed main because the racers were coming in from the Wed. night race with their Kevlar, carbon, and Mylar sails and crews of six or so. But when I got out there my sail complement was just right--boat going fast, not over powered. And then the wind switched into the north, blowing right down our Bay. Now I was close-reaching across the Bay, bubble in the main and sometimes a luff in the jib to keep her on her feet, leaving this great big wake. Coming about, I headed back on a broad reach, and grabbed my portable GPS. It only registers speed now and that's all I need. My boat speed was over 6 knots all the way. Best of all, reaching back and forth, I wasn't really banging into seas so didn't get wet. Whee! I was so happy that I had reefed, and in fact wished that the sail had a second reef. If it had stayed daylight longer, I probably would have moved to a storm jib. Problem is, it's hard to do anything when single-handing in a blow. I found a bit of shelter to head up and drop the jib, and then dropped the main. For the second time this year I powered onto the mooring. Sailing on is the usual mode, but in a sea it's easier to power because a new mooring kinda poaches on my space. But then there's the worry about the OB motor stalling at an inconvenient time. No problem last night, but by the time I got the mooring lines secured I had a dry mouth, my sign of anxiety. I don't think I've ever sailed that boat as consistently fast. Chris Campbell

On 8/11/2011 12:31 PM, ti… [at] ch2m.com wrote: > > Chris, > > I’m green with envy… stuck here in the desert… thanks for the visual. > To complete the visual effect, imagine a few other yachts on the Bay, plus a 114' LOA schooner. It's always fun to race the schooner with the Cal 20. In light air, I win. Once there's more than enough wind to keep me at hull speed, it's "schooner weather" and they win. Last night they were flying too. Chris > >

When I had my Cal 20 Culo Bagnato we had nice tee-shirts [cid:image001.jpg@01CC5817.148BA550] Btw the name means "wet butt" in Italian... I had an Italian Partner. Fun Boats. From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Chris Campbell Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 11:03 AM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] sailing the Cal 20 On 8/11/2011 12:31 PM, ti… [at] ch2m.com<mailto:ti… [at] ch2m.com> wrote: Chris, I'm green with envy... stuck here in the desert... thanks for the visual. To complete the visual effect, imagine a few other yachts on the Bay, plus a 114' LOA schooner. It's always fun to race the schooner with the Cal 20. In light air, I win. Once there's more than enough wind to keep me at hull speed, it's "schooner weather" and they win. Last night they were flying too. Chris

On 8/11/2011 2:11 PM, ti… [at] ch2m.com wrote: > > When I had my Cal 20 Culo Bagnato we had nice tee-shirts > > Btw the name means “wet butt” in Italian… I had an Italian Partner. > I had wet feet yesterday--piedi bagnato?--from outboard-well burbling. Butt stayed dry, thanks to favorable wind & wave direction. When I look down and find the footwell filled up, I know I'm moving. Need to improve my outboard well baffle, I suppose. I'm hoping somebody local buys the other Cal 20 so I we can have a racing fleet. Any two sailboats on the same tack.... Chris > >