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The Contessa Corner → Posts by Carolyn
I have a 2000 Boatex 800 for sale. Lapstrake style fibreglass. LOA: 8'3"; Beam 4'6". Includes cat-rigged sailing rig. With oars. Has mount for small motor. Ideal tender for larger boat. In very good condition. $800.00. Located just south of Parry Sound, Ontario.
SOLD
I'm going to replace some standing rigging this winter as I'm pretty sure the wire on my 1974 is still the original. Currently there is a closed-body turnbuckle just above the split on my backstay. I find this very difficult to check and tension every year after launch because it's too high up for me to reach properly. I'm looking for input as to whether I keep the same arrangement and just use an open body turnbuckle, or should I have the turn buckle replaced with a splitter and use a backstay adjuster. Are there cautions to using backstay adjusters on a Taylor Contessa that wasn't designed to have one in the first place? I've seen the photos in the gallery posted by Stephan and John Lee of the adjusters on their boats.
Carolyn
Hello Jordan:
The former owner of my boat had the large drifter and the working jib taped for the furler. He never used the 130 genoa and it still had hanks on it when I bought the boat 3 years ago. I had the 130 recut and taped for the furler and its the only headsail I use now. I sail on Georgian Bay, and last summer seemed to be windier than past. I remember reducing the headsail only once, but after a few outings where I experienced heavy gusts, I began to take in the first reef when the wind was steady around 13 or 14kts. while leaving the 130 full size. The boat immediately became much more mannerly - it didn't feel like I was struggling with a boat that had the 'bit in her teeth' so to speak. I didn't sacrifice any speed or performance - quite the opposite as Ephesus doesn't sail as efficiently with her rails under water. I sail single-handed, so it was much less fatiguing as well. Just under 20 kts I will take in the 2nd reef and reduce the headsail.
I don't know how far you can reef the 130 in heavy wind before it starts to lose its shape. I've been thinking about installing a second forestay and putting hanks on my working jib so I could use that if I needed to. It would be much easier to raise a hanked-on jib than trying to lower the #2 and feed a working jib onto the furler on my own, especially if the wind is up. Typically, a 2nd forestay is kept out of the way by leading it outside the shrouds and shackling it to the base of a lifeline stanchion until its needed. Still pondering this option....If anyone has gone this route, please let me know how it worked out.
Carolyn
I use a guage every season to tune my rig. (In fact, I use 2.) My cap shrouds, forestay and backstay (above the split) are all 3/16" wire so I use the Loos 90 lb guage. The other shrouds on my boat are 1/8" or 5/32" wire (I forget off-hand), so I use the smaller Loos guage for those. I tension according to the appropriate specs included with the tension guages for the diameter of the wire I'm tuning. I tension first thing when the boat is launched, boom on, but no sails, then again about 2 - 3 weeks later. I sail alone, so I don't check the rig whilst underway. Apart from this, I go by feel. If it doesn't feel the same under sail on both tacks, I check my rigging again. I've never found any documentation about tuning a Contessa 26 specifically. There is a post under Contessa 26 Tech Notes, titled "Rigging Notes" that you could also refer to .
Cheers.
Carolyn
Hello Christopher:
I have midships cleats on my '74 Contessa. They are mounted on teak blocks just where the toe rail ends and the jib track begins. They rise above the track by about 1 - 2". I have never had any problem with them fouling the jib sheets. I sail singe-handed, so I use them all the time when exiting and entering my slip. Let me know if you want a photo. I can get one to you later this week.
Carolyn
Hi Ivan:
When I bought my '74 Contessa 3 years ago it came with an Ultrafurl 300. I have the original records which show that it was purchased in 1993. It's still in great condition and works just fine. I've put my 120 genoa on it although I know that the former owner routinely put the 150 on it. The bonus is that its a Canadian company located in Toronto: Ultrafurl/Raudaschl Sails
Hi Barry:
Thanks for posting your progress. I'm looking forward to reading more. Best of luck.
Carolyn
Hi Picard:
I also have the same sheeting system on my 1974, and have experienced the same problems that John has. The mainsheet block and cam cleat on my boat are mounted on a square wooden pedestal on the port side that raises them off the deck by about 3", just enough for the bitter end of the mainsheet to clear the cockpit coaming. This is just my first season with Ephesus, and I don't know whether the pedestal was installed by a former owner or by J.J. Taylor. I suspect the former. However, I didn't experience much problem releasing the mainsheet when required, except that it required quite a jerk of the arm. There's another Contessa at my marina with the same mainsheet set-up. He doesn't have a pedestal on his boat. Instead, he has the mainsheet cam and block on a hefty lanyard that appears to be about 6 - 8 " long attached to a sutstantial eye on deck behind the port corner of the cockpit. This 'floats' it above the cockpit coaming and probably makes it easier for him to cleat and uncleat his mainsheet.
Prior to sailing season this year, I decided to replace the original mainsheet blocks at deck level on the starboard and port sides with larger Garhauer blocks on a swivel. Bad idea. The swivel on the starboard side tends to eventually twist while I'm sailing so that the mainsheet also ends up twisted on that side. It didn't do the same on the port side because it led from that block to the block and cam. I'm going to replace the new block on the starboard side with the same block I took off which still works well. I'll do the same on the port side since the swivel wasn't really necessary on that side anyway, and so that both blocks will be the same. That was a costly experiment.
As with John, I also find that the mainsheet rubs on the gate latches for my lifelines where where they connect to the stern rail. I turned each latch around so that they open on the outside, so at least the mainsheet doesn't get caught in the latch and chafe as badly. Still, a bit of clear hose over the latch that can be slid off and along the lifeline when it's time to open the gates might fix the problem altogether. I just haven't got around to it yet.
I know some owners have installed travellers on their boats, and I wondered if that might offer any advantages over the original system that we have. I had a traveller on the Bluenose that I owned prior to Ephesus so my current mainsheet setup was new to me as well. As far as I can tell, the port and starboard blocks give the same advantage as moving a traveller car to leeward to increase sail twist. However, I can't honestly say that being able to move the traveller to windward in lighter air or to power up through waves or chop would have made my boat sail faster. Someone with a better grasp of physics or with more sailing experience than I might be better able to comment.
Cheers.
Carolyn
Akay:
Did you get your reefing lines worked out? I rearranged mine this year and and I can give you some input as to what's working and what's not.
Carolyn
Hi John: Thanks for the information. My halyards are external, so they won't be hard to route at the mast base. I'm going to leave the genoa halyard on the winch on the mast. It's a 130 and I plan to keep it on most of the time. If I have to change to a smaller sail, I will hopefully have the forsight to do it before I leave the dock. There is no hook on my boom for the luff reef points. The previous owner led the reefing lines from padeyes on the boom, up through the reef points and back down to a cleat on the mast. This was the arrangement I had on my old boat and it worked well, so it will be these reefing lines I will lead back. The points on the leech are reefed in a similar way, but the lines are routed through cheek blocks on the boom and then through cam cleats about mid-boom. I think I can haul the topping lift and reef the leech without leaving the cockpit as they are now.
I've sailed a 24' Bluenose for a number of years. This will be my first season sailing my Contessa as she sat at the repair dock all last season for an engine rebuild. None of the lines on the Bluenose led back, and the headsail was hanked on. Keeping the boat headed up into the wind and raising and lowering both sails while sailing single-handed proved to be a challenge on a number of occasions when the wind and waves were up. I think bringing the lines aft will be well worth the effort and expense. I've seen the plates for the mast base, but I'm not sure how it would work with the step that I've got on my boat. I was planning to install mast-base blocks, or swivelling stand-up blocks. I haven't decided which, but the mast base blocks are less expensive.
If you've got any photos of the hardware on your boat, and your deckplan, that would be great.
Thanks.
Carolyn
Thanks Christopher.
There's a lot of discussion about the best place for jacklines to be positioned: sidedecks as opposed to being on the centre line. I posted a link to a blog about placing the lines along the side of the boat, rising to attach to a shroud, and then returning to deck level. I've never seen this arrangement before. As with the other placements, it also has its pros and cons.
Cheers.
Carolyn
Thanks Jose. Do you have any photos of the blocks at the mast base, organizers and clutches/cleats that are on your boat?
Hi Christopher: Thanks for your input. I'm not convinced about taking the lines back - it's going to be quite expensive. However, I sail single-handed almost all of the time so there is a safety factor whenever I leave the cockpit, although I will have jacklines installed for this season. I'm still thinking about it......
Does anyone else have any thoughts about pros and cons?
I would like to install a second halyard winch for my main halyard (at present there is only 1 winch on the mast). When I spoke to the boatworks where I keep my boat, they suggested that the winch be mounted on the coach roof instead, and that I run all lines aft with the exception of the headsail halyard since I have a roller furler. If the point of running lines aft is to stay in the cockpit, I will have to accomodate the main halyard, vang, downhaul (I have a sliding gooseneck), and at least 2 reefing lines for each of the two luff reef points. I have two questions: What is the best way to install the turning blocks at the base of my mast (my mast is simply stepped into a 1" depression on the deck with no mounting hardware present at all); secondly, the halyard is wire, connected to 3/8" line. If the wire section doesn't reach the bottom of the mast with the sail raised (something I have yet to measure), can I just leave the halyard as is, or does it need to be replaced with nylon line? This would also mean replacing the masthead sheave.
Thanks. Carolyn
Thanks to all who wrote in with your suggestions. Much appreciated.
Carolyn
Christopher: Is your pennant wire or rope, or does it really matter?
The former owner of my boat used 1/4" super low-stretch rope at the tack of the headsails to add length so that the furling unit could be raised to the top of the forestay to prevent halyard wrap. I've read lots of good reasons for attaching it to both the tack and the head. What do the infinitely knowledgeable Contessa owners have to say?
Thanks. Carolyn
Thanks for the link to Stainless Outfitters. It looks promising.
Does anyone use a Rocna anchor? Any thoughts about its efficacy vs. a CQR?
Carolyn
Thanks, Susan. That would be great.
Carolyn
I need to mount/store a 25 lb. hinged plow, and perhaps a second anchor on my bow. There is no roller there now and the drum for my roller furler would be in the way if I were to install typical anchor rollers. Does anyone know if there is someone in the Barrie - Midland area that could make a custom frame similar to the one on Suselle? Thanks.
Hi John:
I have ss backing plates that I will use with the folding padeyes.
Carolyn
Has anyone in the southern Georgian Bay area had a dodger made locally? (By local, I mean anywhere between Toronto and Parry Sound.) The Contessa I bought during the summer came with an old one, but I'd like to have a new one made with windows on the sides as well as the front.
Thanks.
Carolyn
I bought a 1974 Contessa last month that will go in the water next year. It also has a sliding gooseneck like yours.
Currently, I sail a 1970 24' Bluenose with the same sort of configuration. I bought 2 sail slide track stoppers - they have a slide on them and screw down to tighten in the slide track. After the main has been bent on, I put one above the entry gate to prevent the sail slides from falling out when the sail is lowered, and one below the gate and under the boom to prevent the boom from crashing to the deck when the main down. They work very well. It was a simple and inexpensive solution. The bottom stop should be low enough to allow you to control the tension the luff of the main with a downhaul. In other words, the sliding gooseneck allows the boom to lift when you raise the main, but you can then tension the luff according to wind conditions by hauling the boom back down with the downhaul. The downhaul on my Bluenose is a 1/8" line tied to the bail for my boom vang at the base of the mast, runs up and through a small block attached to the underside of the boom at the gooseneck, and back down to a cleat on the mast just above deck level. It's a very effective sail control.
Cheers.
Carolyn
The Contessa Corner → Posts by Carolyn
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