first launch / no go upwind / what's wrong?
lduffy@wcvt.com
Thu, 03 Jun 1999 15:37:59 -0700
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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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I proudly launched my recently aquired Potter 14 #456 in a bay of Lake
Champlain last week, knowing it would be a shakedown cruise. But I
didn't expect to be towed back, exhausted. DO THESE THINGS GO UPWIND?
We tacked close hauled back and forth on the same line (+/-90 degrees to
wind)for several hours in reasonably steady moderate winds and simply
side slipped, actually loosing ground. Occasionally we caught a
momentary surge but then lost all momentum. Sails were full all the
time. Half the time we couldn't even come about. Yes, The centerboard
was down! The tiller has some (correctible) play in it but not enough
to justify continuous full tilt to the sideboards. It didn't seem to
matter whether rudder was up or down. Also didn't matter whether jib
was up. The lower rudder appears to be homemade of plywood. Was the
original metal? Can that explain it all? Any other ideas? PLEASE tell
me this is not what Pottering is all about.
Totally frustrated in Vermont