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