Dear all,

Now I have created a blog. I will log all my Vareo experiences and stupid mistakes etc on: 
http://vikingvareo.wordpress.com/ 

However, here is the posting:

Third test sail

Finally good wind. Today (19 June) the wind force was about 8m/s (no white crests, force 4) and gusty with 10 m/s in the gusts (white crests and force 5). I will not try the spinnaker today!

Cut the rope! (no not the smartphone app)

Until now I had trouble keeping the main sail up as the halyard slipped in the camcleat. When I rigged the boat, I followed the advice given, cut 10cm off the halyard, making the camcleat lock to a fresh bit of rope. It worked perfectly!

Sailing

In this weather I felt unstable, I was tense most of the time, could not relax and quickly got tired. I also tried to figure out the best way to hold tiller and main sheet in various situations (this is already discussed in the Yahoo Vareo forum, I read and slowly learn). While I was out, a family of three(!) went out crammed together in a standard Laser, and I didn’t see them capsize, which suggests that my lacking skill was the main problem this day.

Strange capsize

After  a few minutes on the windy sea I capsized as expected. No problem, when the boat was on the side I (forgot to uncleat the kicker) then climbed out on the centerboard and expected the boat to rise. But to my surprise the boat kept turning until she was totally upside down. I suppose the hard wind against the capsized hull pressed the boat to keep turning. But very strange. My old Laser and my old and much larger Windy, would both rise just by my standing on the centerboard, and never turtle (invert) in that situation. I have learnt that some boat types tend to turtle once they capsize, one example being Laser Vago. I suppose this depends on hull shape or placement of the air compartments in the double hull.

How do you compare Vareo with Laser in this respect? Is Vareo more prone to turtle than Laser? (I think so), or did I not stand enough far out on the centerboard, or was it just bad luck in the hard wind? Perhaps I should seal the mast to create extra buoyancy.

Anyways, I managed to right the boat, and I sailed straight back to the boat club. I wanted to get home before I got exhausted resulting in more capsizes.

Back home I read the advice by Richard Willows: if overpowered ease the kicker & don’t worry about the sail shape!! A common mistake is to have the main in too tight in windy weather, this prevents bearing away in a gust.

And in the Vareo tips of 2005 I read: if windy and tired/not concerned about speed, slackening the kicker allows lots of sail twist and wind to be spilled from the top of the sail, making the boat much less sensitive to gusts

Indeed I made that mistake!

Thinking about Laser

Do I long back to the Laser? Only partly. I never totally loved the Laser. In weak winds it was too slow and boring. In strong winds I easily got overpowered. But I was never a good Laser sailor. Maybe if I had spent more time practicing, purchased a dry suit from the start, or invested in a power kick… Laser is history for me. Now I test how well the Vareo matches my concept of a “perfect dinghy”.

Conclusion

Today was a disappointment. It was only force 4 to 5 and I was not in control. With my kayak can paddle in a gale. Singlehanding my old Windy in force 5, I would be in more control, since the larger heavier boat reacts more slowly giving me time to react. In the Vareo, I felt unstable. If I don’t learn to handle Vareo in strong winds, I should quickly purchase the optional Storm Sail, or admit I’m not as responsive a sailor as it takes for either Laser or Vareo or other light responsive dinghies, and get a heavier dinghy such as RS Vision as single-handed plaything.

To be continued…