Gypsy Wind Trimaran - Lake Erie Summer Sail 2 - Sept 2024

Описание: Could have easily stayed out for a week as the weather was consistently east winds with relatively mild wind conditions. This, in spite of weather reports to the contrary. But I had told my wife we were going to Cedar Point on Friday, so had to pack it in.

I was finally over the cold, or whatever it was I had, and had the energy to enjoy myself. It is too bad I did not bring the charge cable for the stern light as upon checking after the first night it appeared to be on its last legs. Wrong! The morning light just made it appear so. This resulted in my bailing out of anchoring outside of the Vermilion River by the public beach. I did not want to be there with other boats passing close by without an adequate night stern light. I really wanted to get some chicken paprikash and Toft's ice cream.

Two weeks ago, after thinking out loud about it quite seriously, I am now not as set on selling the boat. I had someone indicate an interest in a YouTube notification, told them to make me an offer, but haven't seen a reply. I suppose I could be talked into selling for the right price. Be prepared to write a check, or make a bank fund transfer, that has to clear my bank before I will view any offer seriously. It is what I had to do when buying the boat and even than didn't take delivery for another 6 months while we sorted out how to get the boat from Nevada to Ohio! I do a lot of different things, thus have plenty to keep me occupied, but maybe it is time to cut back a little. The paratrike alone keeps me busy with maintenance, repairs, and redesign work.

Meanwhile, during this sail I reinforced an important point. While the Jenny is useful for off-wind and lighter air on-wind use, when on the wind the Jib will allow the boat to point at least 10 degrees higher, offsetting any boat speed advantage with the larger Jenny. Quite possibly the Jib allows up to roughly 20 degrees higher pointing, but I am being conservative with numbers, allowing for any possible wind shift that may have occurred while swapping sails during the comparison. I was surprised when noting this advantage and was able to sail directly to Sheffield Lake Landing without the additional tack that was going to be necessary while flying the Jenny. And the Jib can be tacked, deployed, and stowed much easier.

Depending on the boat orientation to the wind, the Jenny can be a handful if still deployed after the wind increases above 10mph. It will not furl neatly, leaving a loose head that can catch the wind, pull loose further, and become a real challenge to then stow. It caught me by surprise the first time it happened as, from the cockpit, you cannot see the head of the Jenny - that it is loose - but will find out quickly if the wind is high enough to get it to loosen further and start to flail. Keeping the Jenny halyard really taught helps with reducing this tendency, but just furling tightly and securing before the wind gets above 10mph and then deploying the Jib is a wise choice. The first time this happened to me was prior to having the tiller lock installed, and not having the auto steer connected, and with winds that had built quickly. Single-handed sailing makes situations such as this more challenging. I ended up seeking shelter behind the outer Lorain break wall, raised the rudder and centerboard, and with the south wind luckily blowing me safely offshore spent 20 minutes sorting out the mess. The wind was really blowing at this point, and I had earlier brought the sheets forward while trying to tighten the furl to stop the flailing, so they were an absolute tangled mess. Don't think you are going to just man-handle the situation. Plan ahead and be conservative. This boat will still be moving along smartly with the Jib flying and making better headway if going to windward. That's my two cents and I am sticking to it! Don't be bull-headed like me!

Not sure if I want to sell the boat ... hmm. It is a lot of fun. If interested, you should do some homework to see what trimarans are fetching on the new and used market. I am not aware of any other trimaran with its capability at this size in the world. It is not perfect, but it sure is beautiful to look at, sail, and fun to be on. Don't plan on crossing oceans with it; that is not what it is designed for.
rusvandyke
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Links that might be interesting. Al is a good friend when in Helena. Not sure if YouTube will allow them to stay:

https://missoulian.com/lifestyles/rec...

https://bigskyjournal.com/alan-kallio...