by John C. Harris on Wed Mar 27, 2013 10:01 am
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I'll find a larger [gooseneck] if I ever get around to sailing to the Bahamas. (For 99% of sailors and sailing, the standard RaceLite gooseneck is fine.)
Apologies for bumping a very old thread, but there's good information in here. John mentions upgrading the RaceLite gooseneck for those who are considering longer voyages in more spirited conditions. Is there a recommendation for those of us in the 1% who want a stronger solution than the RaceLite?
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It's probably relevant that PocketShip #1 is now at the five year mark and has had plenty of rough handling in big wind. Lots of ugly flying jibes and general abuse, yet the stock Racelite gooseneck is going strong. My comment is based on the fact that in the course of 25 years of sailing I've broken one or two of the Racelite goosenecks. And Murphy's law demands that yours lets go as soon as you're off soundings.
I don't have a recommendation for a stock gooseneck heftier than the PocketShip-sized unit. They're hard to find on the shelf. It'll be something off a 20-25 foot plastic sloop, modified to suit.
Related thought: A few days back Dave Archer asked about adding a kicking strap, or boom vang, and whether it would improve performance. Answer: absolutely. It would reduce twist in the mainsail. Mainsail twist bleeds off power, especially in offwind sailing. Because of the size of the mainsail, the boom vang would need to be substantial, at least 4:1, if not 8:1. Which brings us to a big disadvantage: when you recapture all that horsepower that's been leaking out of the mainsail, the thrust manifests itself somewhere. You'll see it throw a pretty good bend in the boom, but most of the force is on the gooseneck. Kinda like the guys who burn up stock transmissions when they add ECU chips and turbos to small engines: everything attached to the engine better be able to handle the additional power!
The stock gooseneck has proven adequate for the way people use PocketShip. No armchair philosophizing or anguished emails, please.
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Second:
I think the manual indicates 160lbs beneath the floorboards; if you were always solo and not carrying much gear I might suggest 200lbs instead.
Again, thinking about longer cruising in heavier water (Lake Superior, Gulf Stream) Is 200lb enough? Or would the boat benefit by going higher than 200lb under the floorboards, 300-400lb? Microcuisers who have made such passages recommend several hundred pounds of ballast down low.
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If you have cruising stores aboard, I do NOT advocate additional ballast. My observation is that almost everybody is sailing the boat light and unprovisioned, in which case 200lbs beneath the floorboards rather than the recommended 160 seems to yield better handling. But more isn't better. Too much lead will drug the boat's handling in conditions that require liveliness, and the extra lead would make dangerous inroads on the positive buoyancy in a swamping situation.