i14 single handed

[j.harkin]

i've recently brought an ice i14 (still waiting for it to be trucked to me so dont have any photos yet) its all carbon and kevlar, with carbon rig, t-foil, racks etc and i was wondering how my chances of sailing it 1 nutjob up were? without a headsail and in under 7kts of course. i currently own a javelin 14fter which i sail single handed alot, has 50sq/ft less sail than an i14 and i cant really handle it in any more than 10kts. goes really fast with only 70kgs onboard though

[Shu]

One nutjob to another:
My shu 1 was originally designed with a modified Javelin rig, and I have taken that out 1 up several times. It is definitely a handful above 12 kts. I have a self tacking jib, which makes it possible to sail with both main and jib.

Once, I sailed it with the full I14 rig 1 up in winds of maybe 5-8 kts. Some gusts of about 10 kts made it a handful.

The critical thing at the upper end of these ranges was tacking, and getting out on the wire quick enough with the main eased the correct amount. Not quick enough and the jib pinned the bow down, which I couldn't counter by trimming the main without capsizing. Then I ended up in a push-a-war with the tiller extension trying to get out. I probably should have pulled the daggerboard up more.

I cannot sail my boat without the jib, so I'm not sure if that will work for you or not. My main observation on making the (double-handed) step up from the Javelin-sized rig to the I-14 rig was the immense power of the main and how quickly it could get everything out of balance. Perhaps with enough forward rake you could make it work.

I wouldn't try it without a chase boat nearby though.

[j.harkin]

thanks steve. this one doesnt have aself tacker, so like i did on the jav, i'll stand th rig up so its vertical. it has fully adjustable shrouds so i can tweak it while sailing aswell. i just thought it might be a fun challenge for the days when the crew says 'na f**k that theres no wind!'

[koenraadvds]

Hi

I tried it last week with 5-6 knots of wind. Everything went well until tacking. The boat kept pulling windwards and was dead in the water going backwards. Trying to get it back sailing proved to be very difficult. Gybing did not work because I couldn't do enough counterweight when the boom comes across (even very slowly)

How can we deal with the fact that the boat want to go windward after tacking? Is it not enough speed? I don't run the jib, because I'm already overpowered.

Capsizing and pulling the boat back up worked fine with standing on the blade with an extension cord hanging off the rack and a mast float in the head of the mast. Any tips or tricks guys? Here in Belgium there aren't a lot of people sailing skiffs so it's hard to find crew. It's all about the catamarans over here..