It's good that you sailed in fluky winds. Doing this improves your sailing skills exponentially. I remember when I first sailed my Siren 17. The first sail was an ideal sailing day. Post card blue sky and puffy clouds, and winds in the mid teens. Everything was great, but I was going nowhere. I even cranked the swing keel up a bit, incase I was plowing the lake bed. No improvement. Then, in exasperation, I let the sheet lines out. The sails fluttered. I then slowly pulled them in. Very shortly, the boat started moving. During my first season, the best I could get out of her was 3.5 kts. By the end of the 2nd season, I got 4.5 kts. And by the end of the 3rd season, I was up to 5.5 kts. One day, during that season, I saw a brand new sailboat similar to mine out on the lake. It was a perfect day for sailing. Post card blue sky and puffy clouds, and winds in the mid-teens. But the boat was going nowhere. I had to laugh. I suggest you do two things to make your sailing easier: 1.) Get a mast fly. Mount it to the bow of your boat instead of on top of the mast. 2.) Cut two 20 cm strips of plastic garbage bag that are about 3 cm wide. Tape one to each shroud at about eye level. These will give you a much more accurate indication of your apparent wind.
@SailingWithDave
Жыл бұрын
What a lovely story! I can certainly relate to that myself, just replace "not going anywhere" with "capsizing" and thats where I began!! Good advice on the tell tales. In fact I have been using Tell tales on the shrouds of my new boat, you'll be introduced to in a few weeks time!
@ketaklackfr1442
Жыл бұрын
Hello Dave, thanks for starting this channel who looks amazing and really interesting for beginner. I'm a Frenchie freshly arrived in Ireland this September and, living close to a lake, I'm looking to buy the same kind of boat you own. It's gonna be my first time, I'm excited to discover this new adventure !
@SailingWithDave
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for the comment. The Mirror dinghy is a fine boat to learn with. She's got everything you need to learn a full suite of skills, inclding jib, a little bit of sail trimming and spinnaker system if needed. She's cheap to buy, cheap to own, cheap to fix and there's a tonne of people out there who can help. She's also light so easy to handle, launch and recover and to top her off, she's also a pretty seaworthy little boat capable of some rough weather if you run into it. I don't think you can go too far wrong pwersonally. I'm growing out of my Mirror slowly but surely, but she has been a fine teacher and i'll probably always keep her at the lake for a quick sail even if I ever get to own a larger yacht!!!!
@brucefrye2292
Жыл бұрын
I'm just learning as well, and my lake is crazy gusty all the time. I've graduated this season to a little larger and lighter sail, and so far, have learned a lot! I'm going to try my old 14' aluminum sea king, which I've converted to a sailboat next summer. In the meantime I'll keep watching you and sailing Kate Louise. Nobody sails much here in Wyoming or South Dakota, so they look at me a little strange!
@SailingWithDave
Жыл бұрын
Lakes can be gusty, its because the wind has to move through lots of valleys and hill tops so it gets twisted up and can be quite knarly at times. In Lake Bala when it's a SW wind its much nicer as it tends to come from over much flatter land. At the end of the day though gusty conditions will teach you to sail much better and probably much quicker. They can be a pain in the neck though when you;re just trying to have a nice sail!!
@kimmccullough6802
Жыл бұрын
Another informative video thank you. .ight try telltales on you shrouds and one mid boom to find direction of the wind. In one of your up coming videos could you show the reaction of the boat to or with the different depths of the dagger board for a new Mirror owner?
@SailingWithDave
Жыл бұрын
Hi Kim. I actually did a video of that already but to be honest you can't tell anything is different on the video. If the weather is fine, I'll position the dagger board as the handbooks...IE. 100% down for beating, 66% down for reaching, 50% down for running. In higher winds when tacking I lift it up to about 66% down and it definitely helps the boat not "trip over" itself.
@TheLeePatterson
Жыл бұрын
Dave, I like the new 360 camera angles! Tip: when you gybe, let out the main sail more as you are going downwind you will catch more wind and move faster.
@SailingWithDave
Жыл бұрын
Cheers for the comment. I pull the mainsheet in a little to have the exact opposite effect!! I'm usually looking to go nice and slow through a gybe, don't want to go swimming!!
@Vein76
Жыл бұрын
Great video.
@SailingWithDave
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it
@StregAnders
Жыл бұрын
The 360 camera is working great for this purpose. 💪
@SailingWithDave
Жыл бұрын
Yes I think I can work with it. editing 360 video is a lot more time consuming but I am hoping that I can make something of it. When you view it through a VR headset, its amazing!!
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