Sail - July 2018

SAIL MAGAZINE

Follow us on social media

LETTERS

SUPPLEMENTAL READING

I am a decades-long powerboater (sorry) with experience on the

Great Lakes as well as the Gulf of Mexico. I’m old(er) now and

am enjoying my peace and quiet with a loved but old 27t sloop. I

know how to make it do what’s necessary, but I know I need some

help. I am budgeting a trip to a sailing school for next spring, but

want to improve my vocabulary i rst. “Pull on the rope there” won’t

cut it. Is there a sailing dictionary I could study that has all these

terms (with pictures!) organized for an old cat to learn new tricks?

— Ryan Corman, Fargo, ND

It’s somewhat ancient and long since out of print, but we’d recom-

mend Royce’s Sailing Illustrated. It’s not a dictionary, per se, but it

is chock full of terms, ideas and expressions—a great picture book

for just leai ng through on a rainy day, with tons of fun arcane facts

along with pretty much every sailing term you could ever imagine.

Otherwise, Sailing for Dummies is a good primer, and not just for

dummies!—Eds.

(PS: In this month’s Gear section, there’s also some information on a

set of reference cards that may interest you.)

RUDDERDRIVE FIX

In Trialing the Rudderdrive (May 2018), Sam Fortescue made

important observations regarding the location of the Hanse 315’s

electrically driven propeller; it is “liable to cavitation” and “poses

a hazard to swimmers.” Both of these issues could be resolved by

reversing the direction of the drive pod; putting the propeller on the

leading edge of the rudder. h e stress on the rudder bearing should

be similar since the force is on the same axis. Of course, the selected

prop would have to stay folded/feathered at cruising speed and only

open when rotated.

— Mike McCarthy, Knoxville, TN

ANOTHER PROP OPTION

Your May issue mentioned some good options for folding and

feathering props, but did not include the Featherstream prop,

made by Darglow Engineering Ltd. I installed one of their props

last year on my Friendship sloop as it was the only one I could i nd

that would i t in my rudder aperture. It performed faultlessly all

last summer, including a i ve-week sail from Cape Cod to Maine.

It has increased my power and sailing speed considerably. h e

folks at Darglow did an impressive job in working to size the prop

diameter and pitch to the exact specii cations that match my boat.

h e customer service was spectacular.

— Bill Lundquist, Brookings, OR

Want to share something with other readers?

Write to us at [email protected].

We took this photo while

anchored in Peck Lake for the

night on the return trip from

West Palm Beach. There are

four boats sailed by kids and

teens and a riverboat that keeps

them all fed in the Maranatha

Adventures program.

— Buddy Brown,

Vero Beach, FL

We shot this photo on our 2004 Beneteau 50, No

Doubt, one evening while heading back to Liberty

Landing Marina in Jersey City, NJ. It’s directly

across from where a photo from the March 2018

issue (in front of One World Trade Center, NYC)

was taken. Personally, I prefer ours!

— Marc J. Kornutik, Jersey City, NJ