Rocket 22 Sailors

Rocket Launch Pad

2011-10-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share what I've cooked up here for dry sailing the Rocket from our in water slip.

Our marina does not have a lift. We can dry sail the boat but it involves using the boat ramp. The ramp is not too bad but sometimes can get clogged with fisherman trying to get in and out with their boats.

We finally got a slip this year but even a month in and out of the water cleaning the gelcoat every week has left some algae coloration on the bottom which will have to be cleaned off this fall.

I'd been researching lifts a bunch because it just seemed like an ideal solution. Jim Lanter had his on a hydrohoist which looked pretty cool except that the height the boat would sit out of the water would not work here at our marina.

Instead I decided that I wanted a lift I could sail into with the keel down. I would leave the keel down as well. We had our keel bottom painted this Spring with white Petit Vivid ablative paint. It's been very easy to clean this season.

I saw that some powerboats in the marina are already using the airdock system and love it. www.airdock.com. However, the airdock does not work with keelboats.

So I concocted a system where I got 4 old windsurfer masts. I created 2 sets of spreader bars using the masts. They are bound at the forward keel end with ipe wood spreaders and stainless steel hose clamps, making a tuning fork like arrangement where the aft end is open to sail into.

Now we simply sail in and out of the bag when deflated. I take a sail tie and bind the masts at the aft end BEFORE inflating the bag which makes the arrangement quite sturdy as the bag inflates.

I couldn't be happier. The system is very fast up and down. It can be easily deinstalled for the winter and rolled up and stored in our basement.

Rocketing Videos

2011-09-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some videos of Rocketing in the Gorge.

New Owner Hull #3

2011-01-18T16:54:00.000-08:00

Dear All,

My name is Richard Sharpe and my wife and I have just purchased #3 and shlepped her down to Southern California. We have started the process of changing out the old aluminum spreaders, because they are deformed and listening to the horror stories from owners, we decided to get the fix from Forte Carbon as a first priority. I have two questions (only two I hear you say) 1. Has anybody ever put the mast up on the hard with the keel in the up position? If so how the heck did you do that? and 2. What methods of locking down the keel have you used? This one is not locked down.

I see this boat as a big challenge to us, but hope that it will give us lots of fun. We were a kick ass team in an Olson 30, 3rd in the recent Nationals and killer on the coast, but the handicap here is going to kill us. 102 W/L, 75 RLC, 65 OWC. Any help you can give in weight saving, running rigging and sail setting will be welcome. I will now go home and read the blog from the beginning.

Seaweed, Trailers, Engines and other Sundries

2010-09-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

No wind yesterday but since we needed to put the boat back on her trailer after my trailer modification spree, we went for a motor, anchor and a few beers at sunset.

New Tohatsu 3.5hp 4 Stroke. Not idling very well unfortunately, probably bad gas. I really need to get on the program with getting the right gas and treating it etc. These 4-strokes are so finicky.

Anyway, get to the anchorage, anchor up in a kind of weedy area. Realize, oh darn, that full tank of gas is almost empty, wow that was not very far on a tank. So now we have to go against 2 kts of current on the way back which ain't going to happen on what we have left.

Luckily some incredibly tiny cats paws start touching down on a few spots on the river so we decide to try to milk it with the sails. We catch a tiny zephr and the boat takes off sideways. Uh oh, weeds. Try to back her down, no difference. I jump over and see that the whole keel is covered in eel grass. Rip it off and voila, we are a sailboat again.

Anyway, we did get back. Reminds me why I like sailing and hate small engines.

Now for the trailer part. Got the boat on the trailer but it's dark. Backing into the spot is pitch black and tricky tight to back up. My buddy calls me on his cell from behind boat, I have hands free in the truck. What a great idea, 2 way communications and she snaps in perfect.

I just wanted to followup on the trailer. I moved the Axel in previous post ahead 14" whole inches. Wow what a difference. I have turning radius that makes sense, the empty tongue weight of the trailer is perfect at like 80 lbs. With the boat on it, it's now still too heavy for me to lift and I can stand on transom without boat tilting back. If there is still this much tongue weight, what was it before?

This is a huge improvement. Only other possibility is that it doesn't like the highway like this but I doubt there will be any issue at all.

Getting Dialed

2010-09-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

Finally had a chance to test out the new rig tune on our wed night race. It's a success!

Night and day difference by being able to properly flatten the main, especially down low in a breeze. This was with a very light-weight crew.

Now we have a main that is responding to all the controls as it should, traveller, sheet, cunningham, vang both upwind and down. The upwind is balanced and getting effective helm. Downwind is better too with ability to adjust twist properly with vang. This is what I wanted it to feel like. Zero helm zen thing, letting the boat take the waves and move the helm itself with no corrections.

When we started the upwind leg I was sheeting in too hard with traveller too far down I think and we were not pointing or driving properly. Eased a small bit of sheet to induce some twist and pulled traveller up and the boat just responded very well now that the main is flat. I could put top to sleep in the big gusts or sheet in slightly and drive with it properly twisted. So driving with the bottom or all of the main but not luffing.

It is like only 3" of main sheet difference. With the old tune, we definitely did not have that setup at all. The old setup was like a bucket and wouldn't depower.

Even control on the start line is better. Using the vang when we need to make big moves in the breeze, also flattening the boat before the turn.

We did a slight recut on the leech of the main a few weeks ago. We moved the clew in 2.5 in so we could get more outhaul and took MAX 6" out of very broad mid section. 2" off #2 batten. This is to take the edge off around here and push the main slightly higher wind range. Added #1 reef. Thing is, with the old tune, it made no difference. It wasn't till this week that we could properly sail it.

We did try the #1 reef last week in 20-25 and it's really a nice option into the mid 20's and up. Was fast downwind too since it let the asym pull. Did not seem underpowered. We pretty much have to have this as we definitely will have races in low 30's at least. #1 reef setup was a lot flatter than full main even with old rig tune. I'm hoping we take the full main up to 25 in gusts and go with #1 reef if we are higher than that or are not racing and want to chill the boat out.

Lots to learn. Having fun though.

Hey, does anyone read this blog or am I talking to myself?

Trailer Modifications

2010-09-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to modifying the trailer to fix the tongue weight issues.

The tongue weight was extreme and add to this the fact that the trailer jack was loose and prone to slipping made it just a matter or time before someone lost their foot.

So I jacked the trailer up on both sides in back to get wheels in the air, loosened the u bolts on the axel and moved it forward 14"!! It's still well in back of the keel and should be fine with the boat on it. We'll see soon when I put the boat back on.

In the photo you can see the 0" mark way back. This marker the forward u-bolt which is now at 14" forward. The brake line had enough slack to make the move and I only had to reangle the bracket slightly which was pretty simple.

I also moved the forward winch post aft 2". With the boat all the way forward, the speedo was halfway under the bunk which was not great. Boat seems to want to sit a few inches back anyway.

Lastly, I fixed the trailer jack and moved it in front of the winch post rather than behind.

New Rig Tune

2010-09-18T15:17:00.001-07:00

So I decided to go back to Alan's advise to make sure I can get the main board flat, especially down low at max tension. The way our rig was tuned still had shit tons of shape in the main at 10 screws on the jack and it was already maxed on. The tensions were like so.

Headstay 20
D1 21
D2 25
D3 14

The problem here seems to be that the D2's were too constricted and not enough bend into top of rig. I decided to start loosening D2s and D3s to try and get the main to flatten considerably while doing a dock tune.

In the end I ended up taking 8 turns off the D2!! and 5 off the D3.

This pushed my MAX to 11 turns on the screw rather than 10, however, it actually reduced the tension on the D1,D2,D3 yet increased my headstay tension which is awesome. It also flattens the sail board flat down low and nicely flat up high. I won't be able to tell until we actually go sailing in a breeze, but I'm optimistic. If need be. we can moderate the settings easily. The D3 might need a few more turns depending on how that works out, especially at the moderate breeze settings.

Here are my numbers at the moment in detail.

I think it also points out that the numbers themselves do not tell the whole story. The tune that I had and this tune are very very different, yet I probably could get to the same numbers as before by just going to 12 turns.

11 turns MAX

11 turns
28 headstay (MAX)
D3 7
D2 21
D1 22

10 turns
24 headstay
D3 6
D2 20
D1 22

9 turns
23 headstay
D3 0 - just loose
D2 17
D1 22

7 turns
20 headstay
D3 0
D2 8
D1 20

6 turns
17 headstay
D3 0
D2 6
D1 18

5 turns
D3 0
D2 0
D1 16

I can't wait to try this setup out. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

You can also see our new #1 reef in the photo. We have a reefing hook that drops on a line through the aft middle hole at mast base and goes down to a block and tackle. On outboard end, there is a floating block and a jammer mid boom. Pretty simple system.

Rocket Report #10

2010-09-16T18:44:00.001-07:00

Well #10 (Ex Shark) has successfully moved to the Pacific NW. Hood River to be exact. This will be the NW heavy air testing grounds. Indeed, this is one powered boat in a breeze.

First of all. The boat is amazing. The deck layout works fantastic. The build and rig, keel arrangement and everything are spot on. Now we need to learn to sail it.

We've been out now maybe 6 times. 3 races, although we were 8-10 min late on our first race and missed the start completely this last wed. Yeah bad form but I don't know, we are messing around a lot trying to figure it all out.

Race #1 : Light air 5-10. Late to start by 8 min. Boat was so powered in the light, we catch up to and passed most of the fleet and even corrected to 3rd (108 rating) after such a late start. Flew the sym chute which was ideal for the lighter breeze. Our rating though started at 132, was rerated to 108 on the spot for the race results, since dropped to 90. Fun night, the boat is a true rocket in the light. Definitely sails to its rating here.

Race #2 : 5-28 kts. Yeah, this is classic late night gorge. One minute it's hold on for dear life, next it's where's the wind. Then it's game on again. And lots of big gusts and shifts. Upwind, we totally don't have the heavy air trim. Cruising great in the lighter, getting flattened in the gusts. can't depower enough. We have 10 turns on the screw. Not sure yet how to find the heavy air groove. Downwind with the sym in gusty shifty breeze...challenging. Fall off a puff in a gybe, slow down, get slammed with another and bye rudder. Also, cruising with pressure and cavitated the rudder when the boat was feeling no helm and quiet. That was a surprise but apparently common with Melges 24s, so lesson learned. So two wipe outs downwind. Dropped halyard both times and quick recovery.

Race #3 : Weird stormy weather which is never good here. Big dark thunderheads, squally stuff blowing through and some rain. This usually doesn't mean big wind for us, more like bad rotten unpredictable wind. Go out early to practice and get hammered in 20-25. We are not being fast, we can't depower. Thinking that our max bend is not flat enough on the rig. Go upwind and try to throw in our new #1 reef to try it out. Mess around with it for too long since there is no specific reef system and have to move cunno and outhaul and safety manually. Already too committed to stop...so basically this makes us late for the start. We are successful though and it looks pretty damn good. The boat feels good too and our upwind is fast in the breeze. Breeze drops...arg! Screw it, lets pick up the fleet and sail the course. Paced a J35 pretty well upwind. Asym set downwind, start pulling. Nice drop back upwind again, set into maybe 18kts. 11s and 12s peak kts boatspeed downwind with the asym and reefed main, Oh that feels good. Finished mid fleet again after being many minutes late for start.

Lessons maybe learned so far.

#1 Sym kite is sketch in a gusty or strong breeze. Asym better choice for higher wind. Sym great for light.

#2 Rudder is tricky bastard. Learning a few things already though to deal. Like flattening boat heel before big turn. Fear the quiet neutral helm downwind. Asym is better for rudder in a breeze.

#3 We don't have a heavy air upwind groove yet. We need it badly. Will be retuning the mast this weekend in pursuit. I know it's there, we just don't have it yet.

#4 The boat is fast. The potential is so there. Rather to squander potential than to have none at all.

Best thing is that everybody is having fun including my wife who is a beginner sailor. It's a great boat for sure. Can't wait to figure her out.

Trailer Balance

2010-08-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

First post as new Rocket owner. Hull #10.

Wondering about the tongue weight on the trailer. It seems awefully high. Maybe that is because I've been towing a boat half the weight, but 2-3 guys can't even lift it.

Has anyone tried moving the axel slightly forward on the trailer? That would help tongue weight as well as turning radius.

As long as there is still decent tongue weight and axel is behind keel, should be good right?

Thoughts?

Rocket #10 is for sale

2010-02-15T15:54:00.000-08:00

Well, the day has come to do something different, and our Rocket 22 is now for sale. Ours is one of the last fully equipped boats to leave the factory, and comes complete with assymetrical and symmetrical spinnakers (both very "crispy"), Quantum sails, carbon spin pole and all spinnaker controls, mast pad, extra rudder and tiller extension, Nissan 4hp outboard, trailer, like new running rigging, HydroHoist, deck cover, TackTick T075 system, anchor, paddle, fenders, docklines, etc. The boat is in excellent condition, having only been sailed about 10 times in the last two years.

Broken Boom

2009-08-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

Raising the keel on Monday the boom broke. The gooseneck fitting, which is mounted on a plate that slides into the boom and is glued in place, let go. The result cracked the carbon fibre for a short distance on both sides of the boom. The boom is 2 years old. Rocket Boats refuses to replace it or it seems, to do anyting about it. In fact, Ivan has yet to reply to my emails. In terms of support, that attitude dooms the boat as a class in my opinion.

Thought the group would like to know.

Brian

Spiinaker and jib together

2009-06-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Have others experimented with launching and recovering the A-Spin while leaving the jib up? Also what about sailing with the jib and spin up and if so, in what conditions? I have seen pictures both ways, particularly with other sport boats, and wondered what others are finding is best, from both a launch and retrieval basis, and from boat speed with the jib up or down while the spinnaker is up.

Craig Berg
Hull #5

Traveler purchase

2009-05-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

I've followed Jonathan's lead and added additional purchase to the traveler. I changed the singles on each side to fiddles, adding two parts per side. So far, the load is lighter in a breeze and is still smooth to adjust, making it easier for the driver to adjust on the fly. It does involve more string though.

Furling

2009-05-11T11:07:00.001-07:00

I have been out a few times now this sping, made new mistakes every time out and am having a blast learning this new boat. I am having some trouble with the jib furler and wondered what others have done with theirs. In particular, the furling line going aft to the cockpit comes out of the furler at a fairly sharp angle, so at times is quite hard to furl the sail in, particularly with the wind up. I was trying to think of an arrangement to get the line coming out of the furler at the correct angle (ie: going down at an angle towards the keel) then back to the cabin rooftop to go through the fairlead. It only has to come down maybe a foot. Perhaps a block attached by a line to the small bulkhead at the front of the boat will angle this line down. Anyone else with this problem? Any suggestions?

Secondly, when we unfurl, the jib will generally not unfurl all the way. It seems the turnbuckles on the top of the forestay stop the furler from turning easily. The forestay leads into a fairly large turnbuckle at the top, then to the fitting that goes into the mast. It will turn under high pressure, then does not want to turn back as the turnbuckle lays against the mast and is under too much pressure to easily turn. Anyone else address this issue? Maybe I need a new forestay that goes straight to the mast fitting, without the extra turnbuckle at the top?

Thanks for any comments.

Craig Berg
Hull#5

2009-04-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

I gave the following answer to the new owner of 2214 about how to tune the rocket rig, and I thought I might as well post it here so everyone can enjoy. Understand, that what follows is what I have found for my Rocket, and the numbers maybe different for yours.

It is fairly straight forward to rigging the boat, but getting the boat up to speed takes some finesse. I would recommend acquainting yourself with some literature out there on carbon masts, if you haven't already. Getting the mast into column using the cap shrouds is probably the first thing. Do this on a windless day! I keep the D2 shrouds loose until you have enough turns on the mast screw to induce about 4 inches of pre-bend. Put a few more cranks on the screw until the lowers are still loose and there is enough turns on the mast screw to give the D2 about 10 on the loos gauge (22 on the Caps). Once you start cranking the screw, when you get to 24 on the caps, the D2 should be about 14, and the lowers about 5-7. Recheck that the mast is in column (measure from the top of the main halyard to the same point at the deck - port and starboard). I hope that helps.

CODE ZERO

2009-02-19T18:17:00.000-08:00

My Assos fom Doyle are the 110 and 70. Because of the amount of light air we get in midsummer I am toying with adding a Code Zero to the inventory, which will fly in 35 to 58 apparant. Because of the shorter foot of the Code it would require adding a set of tweakers. I am looking at options for that with Harken's technical department and it will be ineresting to see what they come back with.

I was just wondering if anyone else is using a Code Zero with the boat and what their experience has been, or what the group thinks of the idea?

Rocket on the launch pad

2009-02-12T14:11:00.001-08:00

As some of you may know, we keep out Rocket on a modified HydroHoist in a slip. This allows us to "dry sail" the boat while keeping it in the water and avoid using any bottom paint. It is tied to the hoist with four dock lines. It turns some heads as the deck is some 8' above the dock!

In the two years we have been using this hoist, the boat has survived sustained winds of 60 mph and recent storm burst of 70 mph with no problems whatsoever. Every time a bad forecast is issued, the marina manager gets real sweaty and I cross fingers, knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder, and say my prayers, but so far so good.

The floats can be stood on for any bottom maintenance, and it is quickly lowered with the turn of two valves. The hoist offers a great way to "dry sail" the boat.

2009-02-03T18:39:00.000-08:00

Jim Lanter has asked me about my traveler arrangement.

The photo to the right shows the line and block arrangement under the deck. The line goes out of the block at the top, and across the deck and pod to the other side (see below). This allows me to travel-up in light air (from the leeward side) and gives me the mechanical advantage in heavier air.

lifting point photos

2009-02-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

Fred Chasey with hull #14 has asked me about the lift system that I use to lift my Rocket. The following photos show the method of my madness. The left photo shows the lifting points at the top of the keel (orange) and hull (yellow) straps.

This photo shows the stabilizing blue line P & S to the jib cams.

This photo shows the 1/2" 316 ss bolt with 3/16 SS plates on both sides of the keel trunk as the lifting point. The plates were epoxied to the trunk and butt up against the UHMW top of the trunk.

Northwest winter sailing

2009-01-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

We had a good sail on Sunday with mild temperatures at the first Goosebumps Series race on Lake Union in Seattle. This is an informal race with one start for all boats and is just first to finish. There were three Rockets out and a Pocket Rocket. We ended up with a few extra people showing up so we sailed with 6. This
worked out fine and we all had a good time. After we had some problems that got us late to the start we passed most of the other boats that were out but couldn't catch the other well sailed Rockets.

2009-01-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

From the letter I sent out in October to all the owners, I received a few responses that included some good questions. I will begin to respond to these questions as I have the time. First read the question below from Brian, and then my above response. While I have sailed my Rocket 22 a bunch, I certainly do not qualify as an expert or professional sailor. My hope is to get some discussion flowing from all the owners (not just me!) as to your experiences as well. Please feel free to add your thoughts, photos, & videos to this discussion.

In really light air (under 5 kt), I have every line and the rig tension eased. Make sure you concentrate weight around the keel and give the boat a little heel. The sails are full, but not that much twisted off. Traveler/boom down a few inches from center and vang off. In 5 – 8 kt of wind, I keep the rig tension eased, but sheet in, and vang on a little. Try to have the jib luff evenly along the forward telltales. Unless I have lumpy conditions, once I get some speed on, I find I can sail with pretty flat sails in light air. Have a look at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paqWs74XhLo&NR=1 for some 5-6 kt wind sailing.

Jonathan
**************************
HI Jonathon,

I haven't been able to get out this year for a variety of reasons. This weekend just past we had a very light air double handed pair of races. While we finished at the line second in both races we got killed on handicap, finishing fourth. Setting aside the tactical blunders I made, the question I have is how are you tuning for very light air? I followed my previous practice of easing everything: rig, halyards, outhaul, cunningham and the sails were quite full. We had the jib twisted open at the top and kept the slot quite open. Nonetheless, the boat felt sluggish. I am now thinking that we would have been better served to keep the sails flatter in order to keep the flow attached. What is your thinking?

Thanks,
Brian Pickton
Hull #11

2009 newsletter

2009-01-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

Rocket 22 Owners,
Welcome to 2009, and another a year of great sailing is coming up. This past year was a banner year for the Rocket 22; starting in June with the Seattle NOODs one design start with six boats on the line, and national press in several magazines. We did the Delta Ditch down in the SF bay area. In addition, Whidbey Island Race Week (WIRW) hosted the 1st ever Rocket 22 North Americans. Excellent weather, perfect wind, and tight racing all around were the order for this great event.
Roman Cooney brought #4 to Calgary; Craig Berg brought #5 to Nelson, BC; Tim Star brought #13 to New Mexico; and John Plut brought #3 to Seattle; and Fred Chadsey brought #14 to Mobile, AL. Sylvana Yachts (builder of the Rocket 22) has begun building-up hull #15. A new Rocket 22 is currently priced at CND$39,995 – which is something like $33K US. Pretty reasonable for a new sportboat!
This coming year, we will again be hosting the Seattle NOODS, but in lieu of not getting our own one design start, we will enter the 20ft sport boat class start. We will for sure be holding the 2nd Rocket 22 NA’s at WIRW. The date of this event is July 13 – 17, 2009. With six months to plan, every one of you should have the ability to make it there. If not for the whole week, then plan to come up just a few days. My hope is that you would bring your boat.
I know that the local Seattle boats will be there (John Plut, myself, and Mike Mechaelis). A few of you with boats on the east coast/south (Jan Arps, Jim Lanter, Brian Picton, Tim Star, and Fred Chasey) are welcome to fly out by yourself or with crew, and we will get you into a boat. The rest of you owners (Troy Parrott, Mike Seth, Roman Cooney, Craig Berg, John Ommen, and Vincent Parkin) should make an effort to get your boat out for this event. Not only will I guarantee that you will learn a lot about sailing/racing your Rocket, but you will have a great time doing so. Please let me know if you need help with this regatta’s logistics. Do not wait to the last minute to make plans for this event!
In addition to the 2009 racing, the Rocket 22 website has a new curator – John Plut will be updating and pimping the site with stories and photos of your boat, which you send him! The site has a regular blog viewable by the public and is the spot for race results and fun Rocket 22 stories (please add yours here). The owner’s blog (http://www.rocket22sailors.blogspot.com/) is only available to owners, and accessible only through invitation. This blog is the spot to post questions, tips, thoughts, and your experience sailing and racing your Rocket. I plan to post to it on a monthly basis, but I hope that you all will contribute to it as well. I would check the blog on a weekly basis. Any questions or thoughts should be directed to John.
Again, for 2009 I hope you will sail your Rockets as much as possible, plan on attending WIRW in July, and contribute to the blogs. See you out there,
Jonathan Little

phrf

2008-11-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

OK, here is my first post on this blog. Let's see how proficient I am at posting this. Doesn't look too hard.

I recently purchased Hull #5 and it was brought back from New York to the Northwest (Alan Barnes actually organized this and helped facilitate my purchase - thanks Alan) where I think it will be more appreciated. The boat was hardly used and I am happy to say it is in great shape. I need to update a few things that have worn out more through age than use. I'll have questions on that in a future post.

For now my question regards the boat's rating. I will be sailing mainly Kootenay Lake and Okanagan Lake in BC. I understand that PHRF BC mainly deals with ratings in this area of BC, but PHRF NW handles the rest of BC and the balance of the Northwest. Which PHRF do others use and why? Other than a small $9 difference in cost, should I register with one rather than the other? Will staying with one or the other preclude me from participating in specific regatta's?

Craig
Hull 5

2008-06-09T16:15:00.001-07:00

Well, this past weekend I loaded up the car, hitched up the Rocket, and headed south to the fabulous San Francisco bay to compete in the famous Delta Ditch run. This is one of those competitions that was conceived over a few too many rum and cokes as a sort of “dare to do this” event. The idea is to launch the boat in Richmond and then drive the trailer an hour and a half east to Stockton. Spend the night, and then take a chartered bus back to Richmond in the morning. The race starts just off the breakwater from the Richmond Yacht Club, and then heads north (downwind) into San Pablo bay. At the north end of the bay, the race turns east (also downwind) up the Sacramento River, and then up into the delta of the very narrow San Joaquin River. Total length of the race is 67 miles or so to the Stockton Sailing Club, give or take about 300 jibes -- that extends the race another several miles. Except for one short reaching leg, you basically put up the chute for 8-10 hours, and enjoy the ride and flat water.

We left Seattle where it was raining and in the 50’s. and by the time we got to Richmond it was in the upper 80’s, no clouds to be seen, and it felt like someone had turned on a overheat heat lamp! We started in the second wave with ten Melges 24s, a few Mumm 30s, Cheetah 30s, and other light, downwind roadsters. During the first leg up to Benicia Bridge it was fairly light, and we managed to be ahead of just about everyone in our start except one Melges. Entering the delta, the wind started to come up, and the river began to get narrow. Doing jibe after jibe, we started to lose distance to more polished crews and boats flying symmetrical chutes.

We had a few rookie mistakes and equipment issues, but we managed to stay out of the mud and away from other hazards (there was some major carnage out there). It was a fun race and an event not to miss in one’s sailing career. Have a look the following YouTube videos for a few scenes from the start of the race. Sorry we were too tired at the end of day to pull out the camera for the finish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZrVx5y-7rE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GBvc3jXt1U
Also go to Peter Lyons site for some great photos of the event.
http://lyonsimaging.smugmug.com/gallery/5119711_5ok4w#309747826_5uKvW

Big thanks to Sandra for crewing in the race and helping drive the 1750 miles down and back. And also to Alan for coming down to the bay to make my boat go fast.

2008-03-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air, and the Rockets are a buzz in Seattle. Check out the most recent You tube video I shot of the two Rockets on a tight reach across Puget Sound. Kind of fun clipping along at wind speed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOP7Ns3PPtI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcAz_TUwOmA

Summer series racing

2007-07-16T20:15:00.001-07:00

Earlier this year I decided to sail our club's summer series with my wife and two kids as crew. Allison raced on our other boat last year, has some experience, and is good with a spinnaker sheet, but this was to be the first real round of racing for the kids. For those that don't know us, Amanda is 11 and Jonathan is 8. While they have both been sailing for the last 5 years, this would involve the kids having real jobs on the boat. After all, that was one of the primary reasons for buying the Rocket - get a fun, fast boat that the entire family could actively sail.

We sail on an inland lake in the Dallas-Fort Worth area out of the Grapevine Sailing Club, a smaller club on Lake Grapevine. You won't see Pyewacket or Trader here, but we do have a bunch of good people who are good sailers, a fairly active program, and even a number of anarchists. We are slotted in our club's Fleet 1 which is comprised of several J80s, two Santana 30/30 GPs, a Wavelength 24, two Olson 30s, an Olson 25, and anything else with a handicap of less than 190. All of the boats in our fleet are fully crewed by adult crews, and most are typically well sailed. We are the only boat with kids as crew!

We are now midway through our series with 4 races run. The first day the winds were averaging 15. During the first race we only flew the chute the last of three downwind legs, but in the second race we flew it on every downwind leg. We were pleased since that was our first real day to race as a team. Our positions were Allison on jib and spinnaker trim, Amanda on foredeck and furler, Jonathan on sprit, tack, and cleanup, and me on helm, main, and spin halyard. Despite some slow points while we went through maneuvers, we scored a third and second.

Our second race day was this past Saturday. Winds were a little calmer at 5 to 10, perfect for us. The first race was a little rocky - we were over early right at the committee boat so we had to find a lane back down, we had some delays at the first chute hoist due to my bad driving while hoisting the spinnaker, we shrimped the chute at a leeward mark during a douse, and made some bad tactical decisions - all of which led to a fourth out of six boats.

Here we sailed through a S30/30 to leeward in the first race, not a good decision, but the little guy got through:

The start of the second race:

The second race started out looking like we would have the same bad luck. During the pre-start we decided to head right after the start because the wind looked better on that side. It was a short W2 with a mid-line finish to weather, so we knew we had to do a good job to get a good finish. At the start, we were last across the line and were behind a Santana 30/30 and getting gassed. Shortly after the start, the S30/30 tacked to head to the right. After getting clear of his air, we tacked to the right as well and rolled him. We played the right side following the puffs, and surprisingly found ourselves at the weather mark first with no other boat close. We rounded, had a good hoist, sailed cleanly downwind with some good jibes, had a clean douse this time, and rounded the leeward mark still in first. The kids were excited, but we had to remind them not to ruin the mojo with talk before the finish. We headed on a short tack to the right, tacked onto starboard, caught a lift and rode it to the finish for our first FIRST!

The battle flag came out, beers and water were popped, and Jonathan helmed as we sailed triumphantly back to the dock.

At the dock, our crew was met by several crew members from other boats asking the kids in disbelief, "Was that you on Shark!?" I could hear my kids respond proudly, "Yeah, and we won!" knowing they beat the big guys.

My first You Tube

2007-06-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Last night I downloaded my first You Tube video (see link below). As Anthony will tell you, it is a bit of a learning curve to get yourself published.

The short clip was taken in 6 to 8 knots of wind and flat calm seas. The wind is on the beam with the asymmetrical and jib baberhauled out for balance. Obviously in a race, one would probably never sail this angle, but it was fun on the day sail.

I will try to get some more videos out soon. The photo above is from the next pirate movie "Pirates of the NW Caribbean". Arrrrhhh!

Jonathan Little

Take a look at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRdZQLTyiJo

New Owner in New Mexico

2007-04-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Please join me in welcoming Tim Star aboard as the new owner of Rocket #12. Tim divides his time between New Mexico and Hawaii (very nice!) and will be taking delivery of his boat in New Mexico in late August or early September for some lake sailing. I've invited Tim to join our blog and hope that he'll jump in when he takes delivery or sooner.

The April issue of SAIL has generated a lot of interest for Rocket Boats and will be up on our website as soon as I can track down our elusive webmaster. If anyone would like a PDF copy now please let me know and I can email it to you.

Thanks and welcome to the club Tim!!

Anthony

2007-03-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our first race day. It was blowing, and Alan was on the boat. That is one fast Rocket! Good times.

2007-03-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

Here is the beginning of the tuning and trim guide I have been developing for myself with the Rocket 22.

This IS NOT a definitive, sanctioned or official tuning guide. I haven’t had the chance to go head to head with other Rockets, and my boat may be slightly different due to small changes that have been made in set up, etc. Given the dynamic state of trim, tuning, and sailing techniques the following should be viewed as my impressions consistent with my sailing style, rather than guide for how to sail the boat. I’ll leave that up to the first Rocket 22 world champion.

It is a collection of my observations and experiences with the boat, and I hope you all will share the same.

I also hope everyone is planning on coming to the Best of the Okanagan this summer to rub elbows, share tips, and have a great time. If you haven’t seen the promotion for the event it is on the Rocket site.

The next phase in this guide will be determining base settings for rake, shroud tension, forestay length, mast jack turns, etc. I am playing with lots of different variables but I think there is light at the end of the tunnel.

This boat is so much fun, because it can be a real challenge in all conditions – but SO rewarding when you nail it. It’s not hard, but occasionally confounding. By this I mean taking a traditional keelboat (e.g. J22) or sport boat (Melges 24) approach only gets you halfway there. It wasn’t until I talked with the 5o5 and 49er guys that the whole thing came into focus…blurry focus. Since throwing my preconceptions out the window I am making leaps and bounds in understanding about how to sail the boat and set it up. I find it a very cool process.

Upwind, the boat is operating in three modes:

Mode 1: 2-8kts we are adequately powered up with the boat being quite weight sensitive.
Mode 2: 9-12 we are already overpowered, but with the right recipe she finds her groove, and the application of some special techniques (like heeling through waves) makes a huge difference in performance
Mode 3: 12-25 doing all that we can to de-power the boat.
Note: I’ve sailed in 25+three times. That’s not fun on any boat, and this is no different although remarkably dry comparatively.

The lack of backstay and mast jack make tuning the boat different than the keelboats I am used to. Normally as the wind comes on we crank on the rig…that doesn’t really work with the Rocket – in fact it is the opposite in some cases. Rig tune at the dock becomes pretty important and the associations of what each shroud is doing needs adjustment.

Sails

The jib

We are asking A LOT of this one little jib. But there are plenty of controls to change the shape. I found it is really important to get the tack low, otherwise the clew height is thrown out of wack.

Jib Halyard

The set up on the boat allows for a ton of range in the halyard tension. I put in enough tension to get the wrinkles just out of the luff. This winter the breeze has been up just about everywhere I have sailed so I have taken to cranking on the jib halyard to round the entry, pulling draft forward. This is helping de-power the sail too…a need that comes on quickly. It is hard to repeat settings without marks on a luff so much of these adjustments are feel/look driven. In the 8-12 range I find that playing the jib halyard is fast.

Jib Sheet

The boat really responds to active jib sheeting. Legs in hiking will make these sorts of changes easy, and should keep the jib trimmers VERY involved in the game. Interestingly, I like to use a leech telltale for the trimmer (leech telltale for the trimmer, luff telltales for the driver). I have placed tape on the top and bottom spreaders to get a better reference point data. Because the clew is so close to the lead block small adjustments make a huge difference. I have found that a very twisted jib (at least matching the mains leech) is quick, and doesn’t backwind the main. I am trimming the bottom of the sail pretty hard and twisting off the top. Again the leech telltale tells the story – but as the wind comes on I sheet hard and if we get stuffed I ease (an inch) and start over. As the breeze comes on I move the lead aft and then ease slightly (two-three inches. Then I move to barber hauling out and sheeting hard again – repeating the process. I have been sailing in big breeze with a luffing main and a hard sheeted jib, but think that easing the jib a bit and keeping the main working might be faster. I am used to using IN-Haulers instead of out-haulers. It might be interesting to see if out-hauling out of a tack and then shifting gears in, on, and forward would be fast. I am treating the barber haulers like the traveler for my jib.

The main

It is a BIG main. I’d like to see a reefing point (or two) put in, but then again I like this boat for its potential in short distance races (under 200miles).

Luff tension

I am going for max hoist, and in fact would be a fan of a halyard lock, adjusting the tension in the luff with the Cunningham.

The Outhaul

The outhaul controls the main more so here than on most boats I have sailed. It really can be eased off and seems to have major impact of the power of the sail. I ease it to add helm/power. In light air the rounded leech seems to help with pointing, but you can go too far with this allowing air to stack up and stall in the sail. The bottom telltales tell the story.

The mainsheet

I drive the boat with a combination of sheet and traveler and because of that am constantly adjusting them. My sheet range is about 6 inches in most conditions. Again, unlike many keelboats that like to stall the top to promote pointing this boat seems to REALLY like flow. I try to keep flow going ALL the time. Unlike the jib, which seems to like over sheeting in most cases the main stalls early, and when that happens the skinny foils stall. I ease the main quite often. In the big breeze I am carrying a lot of luffing – but because I have dropped traveler I try to sheet as hard as possible. As the sheet is tensioned it acts somewhat as a backstay, you can go too far…and you’ll know when you have☺

The traveler

I play the traveler quite a bit. In the light stuff I bring it up to promote pointing and add a little helm. In puffy/moderate conditions I get a serious workout. In big breeze I vang sheet and drop the traveler.

I rarely change the traveler without adjusting the sheet. Under 10 the traveler brings the boom to centerline and the main is twisted – i.e. LOTS of sheet adjustments, as the breeze comes up play both mainsheet and traveler, but more traveler than sheet. Above 15 the traveler is all the way down, vang on hard, and I am back to using sheet.

Vang

In the light air I have it all the way off, because it impacts the leech and stalls it. Above 15 I pull it on hard so that when I blow the main the whole sail dumps and then comes back on quickly when I need it. At the windward mark it comes off again initially otherwise the boat will not come down in breeze. Off the wind it is the throttle! I have mine run differently so that it can be played better from the back of the boat when on plane.

Steering the boat

I think you could remove the tiller and lock the rudder in place on this boat. Upwind, I drive with the sails and weight as much as possible. The rudder doesn’t really steer the boat that well anyway, so when you try and steer with it you are just creating drag that is getting overpowered by the sail plan. I also have had to go away from my point/feather ways and drive with the bow down. I move forward as far as possible in order to stop the gurgle at the back of the boat (note: DON’T leave the motor on the back!). FYI - I think the tiller could be quite a bit longer and recurved.

Downwind in light air I like to stand and help drive the boat with my weight. Downwind in heavy air I am outboard and steer pretty aggressively with weight AND tiller. It is important to get ahead of the boat because the time from stall to wipe out is VERY short. But once you have a groove going weight will get you where you need to go. I also have two downwind modes. The hot and the deep. Deep starts with LOTS of weather heel. Until the helm goes to lee helm. It is a good skill to learn because it makes heavy air jibes a snap. And then hot. The transition is still being worked out. I sail pretty hot until the 9-11 kts zone. I think we loose in this zone because it is pre-plane and we are about 10 degrees off of symmetrical boats. (NOTE: I fly the A-kite almost exclusively). That said, a wavy 10kts and we can work the waves pretty well and sail just as deep as anyone. Over 20kts I switch to outside jibes, keep the jib out and ROCK AND ROLL. You can sail pretty deep (by the lee) and still plane – then the boat trips. We are experimenting with this as our jibing technique in big breeze. It is scary but we think it works and it is WICKED fast…so long as you don’t mess up.

Just a few other things. I am generally sailing with three. I really like the way that works. I am driving and trimming main, my middle person is working the tweaks upwind and trims the kite while the forward person trims the jib and runs the pit. While I’d love the extra weight on the windward leg, I really like the mobility in the boat and think that in the light stuff we’ll crush.

This is pretty darn fun! When my rig numbers make more sense I’ll forward.

2007-03-21T06:30:00.001-07:00

This just in from Alan

Hi guys,

This is the latest Quantum main in gusty, strong winds (up to 22-25). We clocked 13 under main and jib. This has 1in taken off the luff from the previous ones. I also have aprox 30in rake measured at the boom. The D1 Loos was 21, D2 25, and the D3 (lower) 14. Even when we were over powered it stayed flat but didn’t flog. There was 2 of us on board, the barber ½ way out, traveler off center by about 8”. I had 10 turns on the mast screw. I think the D2 and D3 are the ones that controls mast bend and the D1 is the one that creates bend. Increased rake neutralizes the helm and reduces foil stall. I heard recently that the reason for increased rake is to bring the CE back and the rudder and keel become canards sharing the lift making the helm light and neutral. I don’t know if its true but I’m a believer after todays sail. Oh ya it was flat water and shifty.

Alan

Alan Barnes

2007-03-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

I am going to be using the local Doyle loft for building my sails. theyh are keen to take a crack at getting the class's business and I think that competition between lofts should be beneficial for us all over time. Now the question arises with respect to sail shape/type. My question for Alan and Anthony is, are you making progress on building a polar diagram? If not have you asked Don Martin for one?

Second question to Alan and the rest of the owners. What head sails are you using at what angle and wind speed ?

Sailing out west I expect that you have lots of info in the 8-10 knot wind range, but what are using at 15K? What do you think would be useful?

Comments from the Peanut Gallery - But good comments!

2007-03-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

The OD Rules discussion has been stirring up comments from all kinds of places, Sailing Anarchy for example, plus I've also had a few emails from Rocket supporters, one of which I'll share here. Mike is not an owner, but a huge fan of our boat, a really nice guy and he also has some comments worth considering before we draft our OD Rules V2. Anyway, read on.

***********************************

Hey there Rocket Man:

Just stumbled across your rules note on SA and not having bought a boat I realize that I'm in the peanut gallery, but I'll share a few thoughts for what they're worth:

1. Both Chutes: The boat's a cool trainer, arguably better than purpose built boats like the U24, and more exciting than the Colgate. Part of what you could learn is when to use what chute. Or do Olympic style courses with two broad reaches and a dead down leg and use both chutes. Big part of the boat's appeal.

BUT, maybe let local fleets opt for one or the other to keep costs down in the early going if they want to. E. Coast might go syms in lower wind speed on PHRF beer can courses, west coast might go asym. Eventually, I think both is part of the fun.

Alternatively, start selling a 2 chute pack with the boat if you can get the right price point. But both is cool, and your hull is perhaps a bit unusual in that both have their place on the boat -- it will work really well with either, depending on the conditions.

2. Hiking: Seems to me sport boats love righting moment, and need to be flat, so I'd love wires. But I think I might go legs in. This boat is very broad and powerful as it is, and I keep hearing how M24 crews hate life because they sit out, get beat up, enjoy life beyond the windward mark for a 5 minute rinse cycle and repeat. Not a trait you want to copy. In fact, I'd talk to Mr. Clean about all the things the M24 sailors hate, and at least ponder changing all of them. The M's apparently are virtually two classes in one, with pros running programs, and everybody else getting really good cast off sails after every race.

3. Sails: Unlimited materials and no purchase restrictions would worry me. Your niche is to be a more pocketbook/amateur/tweaking friendly M24 in a sense. The M24 pros buy a new jib for every second regatta (or so one hears), and you need look no further than SA for a humourous rant about what you need to really run a competitive M24 campaign. Again, you don't want that.

Not arguing for white sails, mind you, or that you should keep sail sales all to yourself. But if you could find a happy medium -- a modern low stretch material with a little longevity to it -- and then have a sails per year limit with a breakdown/destruction exception, you'd help draw folks into a high-performance, lower cost of ownership plan.

Maybe the class could revisit materials at established intervals (5 years?) so that you can take advantage of developments without breaking the bank for current owners. I'm not good yet with the materials, but you're looking for the sweet spot in price/performance/longevity and then to prevent the winning with checkbook thing.

I'll ponder some more, and take a better read when I get a chance, but these are the gut reaction.

Cheers,

Mike R.

***********************************

Anthony:

After I sent along my gut reactions, I ran across your owner’s blog and saw discussion of the "owner/driver" concept. I think I'd go with whoever that was who said no "owner/driver" but not pros on the boat during sanctioned races.

This one's harder, because if the pros adopted you the way they have the

M24 (unlikely anyway), they give you a huge profile. But they probably also seriously mess up the level playing field, lead to big intimidation, tend to make the racing too "serious," and so on.

But as a guy who crews all the time, I gotta tell you that the night I was invited to drive the Taylor 38 I was crewing on in what turned out to be 15-18 knots (surfing anyone???) was a really good time -- don't know any better way to encourage new ownership than that. You also want families to let kids drive, etc., etc.

Cheers,

Mike R.

Michael D. Rowe

***********************************

My one more thought for today is about the weight limit. I think it important, and I think it may need some thought and experimentation even if it slows down adoption of the rules. Here's the "why," but I'm not in a position to tell you "how."

This all goes back to something Major Hall taught me about what makes a "good" one design back when I was getting into racing sailboards (and he was coaching the Olympic development program). The rule of thumb, as he put it to me then, is that in a good one design fleet, the fastest boat would be no more than 10% faster than the slowest boat sailed in some minimally competent way.

This made great sense to me then, and it still does. It keeps the racing close, if prevents new folks from getting discouraged and thinking they're idiots who will never perform. It keeps the fleet together and keeps the racing interesting and challenging. And it's dang hard to do in modern boats, ESPECIALLY in modern boats that plane.

In the Rocket, you have a lesser version of the problem I was describing for sailboards off the wind, AND a distinct problem relative to holding the boat down in heavy air/displacement mode, it seems to me. The trouble is, you don't know how MUCH of a problem you have in either category until you get out on the water and test (maybe you could do it with velocity prediction programs, but I doubt it).

What you want is clear enough -- you want the least restrictive weight rules possible (to make it inclusive and keep everybody happy) consistent with something close to what I've always thought of as "Major Hall's dictum." This may well mean a min weight to prevent lightweights planing away early, and a max for heavy air. The really cool part is that my instinct is that this will be one of the least weight sensitive boats around because of its basic hull form and high-powered sail plan. Of course, my instincts about these things are often flat wrong, but you're WAY better off than the sailboarders, and probably better off in this sense that something like the M24.

But you want to get this right, because if the good guys are planing away and regularly leaving the newbies wallowing, it's not good for the class. And you may need something provisional, because unless you can actually go out and do boat-to-boat testing in a variety of conditions.

OK, that's all from the non-owners gallery for now. Hope this doesn't convince you that I'm totally out of my tree.

But let me do one more thing . . . Having read a couple of Kristen's comments on the blog (all good), and realizing he's local to my neighborhood (hope he's having fun with "Count Down"), I'm collecting my earlier thoughts below and passing them along to see what he thinks (not to mention collecting everything in one place for you -- at the very least, we in the peanut gallery should make things convenient).

Best Regards,

Mike

Loos gauge numbers

2007-03-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

Here are a few loos numbers I have put together so far. "0" on the mast jack is where the mast screw just engages with the mast post (2 or so turns from the very bottom).

Mast cap interm lower
0 just tight
3 11.5 sloppy sloppy
5 17.0 " "
6 18.5 " "
7 21.0 loose ""
8 22.5 tight tight
9 23.5 12.0 5
10 23.5 14.0 5
11 24.5 17.0 10

I found that in 10 - 12 knots of wind, 8 turns was perfect. Anything over 15 knots, and I would go with 11-12 turns. Bear in mind, that my Quantum main is cut very full. Depending on the wind this weekend, I may try to tighten the intermediates and lowers slightly.

OD Rules Process Update

2007-03-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I've had a couple of calls and emails asking about the intended process for fixing the Rocket 22 OD rules and a proposed time frame. I spoke to Al this morning about this and our intention is to have everything done by the end of April. We've been getting some excellent feedback from people which will be incorporated into the next draft, hopefully to be completed by the last week of April. We have the Strictly Sail Pacific boat show from April 18th to 22nd which will be an excellent venue to solicit opinions and thoughts. Once the show wraps up we'll immediately get to work on the second draft and send it out to owners only for review. After that I'd like to schedule a conference call for everyone and we can effectively have our first owner's meeting minus the chips and beer. You'll have to go to your own fridge for that, but hopefully we'll all be in the same room soon! If anyone has other ideas send an email or post a comment.

Thanks,

Anthony

OD rules

2007-03-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

I don't yet have our boat, but have watched its construction through pictures from Alan. We are anxious to get it, and hopefully will have it soon when Alan brings hull #10 to DFW. Although I haven't even sailed the boat, here are some rules comments that I hope will be helpful.

First, with respect to the motor, I saw an interesting ad in a WM flyer for a battery powered motor with built in battery that weighs something like 25 pounds. That type of thing would probably be more than sufficient for us lake sailors, but would put others at an extreme disadvantage weight wise where that type of motor would not be an option. The same could be said with respect to the small 2 strokes, etc. Therefore, perhaps a weight minimum would serve an equalizing purpose and allow for different owners to use their preferred motor.

Second, let's make sure the rules allow the TackTick T075 and instruments like it, especially since Rocket Boats offers it in the boat package.

Third, why not allow boats in 1D events to carry both spinnakers, and allow the crews to decide which one and make changes even within a race. That would make for some interesting tactics.

Fourth, I can see the advantage of going with a 750 pound weight limit for crews to allow 4 men to sail the boat. It would not be much of an issue for us since we sail with women on board. Also, I propose that the rules state that the crew that weighs in must sail every race in the regatta, not just the day's races.

Fifth, I would limit sail purchases to one jib per year and mains/spinnakers every other year.

Sixth, no changes to foils or standing rigging should be allowed. I am in favor of the current provisions that do not allow fairing of the hull or keel except to repair damage.

Finally, I would prohibit pros on board during class events. On the other hand, I would not limit the steering to the owner as long as the owner is on board.

OD rules

2007-03-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

I have gotten a lot of input with regards to the draft of the OD rules. Rather than put them in my words I will copy for you viewing and input. Read On and let me know your thoughts. Alan.

****************************

Thanks guys for finally getting a set of OD rules posted. I have a question about the sail portion. You mentioned that " 9.3 No sail shall have a hole or aperture other than the normal and attachment points." Does this mean that the next main I get I won't be able to put a reef in it? I'm planning on moving to Hawaii next summer and there are times when having one small reef makes all the difference.

Just thought I would ask. Just to let you know I'm having a blast on the water. The boat is in Shilshole with Jonathan and we are having a great time sailing. I'll be trying to figure out when I can get the boat up to the factory for the touch up/ new mast.

I'll chat with you guys later.

Jeff

****************************

Al,

Today I would have loved to have either another 250lb guy on board. With a constant 20kts of wind with gusts in the 25+ range either a reef or a combined crew weight of another 180+ lbs would have been nice. Which brings me to another part of the work in progress. " 12.1 Maximum crew weight shall be no greater than 700 lbs. The crew's torso must stay inside the lifelines.

So with the average guy being 180 lbs you'll top the weight limit by 20 lbs. And if I'm lucky enough to get a guy that's over 200 to come along on days like today what am I to do tell him he needs to diet? I'd be interested in what the other owners have to say about this. My thoughts would be to move it to somewhere between 750 and 850. With something about the same crew that starts the day needs to finish the day, or something of the sorts.

And something else that I would like to discuss with the other owners is the helmsman restriction. Some races it would be great to have the owner/skipper rule. But at other times it would be nice if you could swap it up and have someone like yourself down and at the helm.

Well I'm not sure how many other of the rocket owners have read the rules yet. I let Jonathan know about it and I'm hoping to discuss it with him tomorrow down at the boat.

Thanks for your time. Looking forward to seeing you down here with another boat.

Jeff (owner #1)

****************************

Alan,

Here are a few of my thoughts concerning OD class rules:

1. I am not too strong on owner-driver rules because I encourage my crew to learn all the positions on the boat, including driving. I maybe would suggest owner on board rule. What I do hate, however is when a boat discards their regular crew or driver in favor of a "pro" in order to win a particular regatta.

2. Limiting number of new sails per year purchased. no rule on material of sails,
3. rigid rules should be made concerning hull, keel, spar, and standing rigging modifications. Running rigging can be modified. Boat to be weighed at major regattas.

4. for major regattas, have to declare entire crew, so that there is no crew swapping depending on wind/weather

5. carry standard list of equipment including motor (minimum HP & amount of fuel), safety gear, number of sails, measurer's certificate for sails, weight, & equipment.

Jonathan (owner #8)

****************************

Howdy Gents -

So i was wondering about Rule 9.3 today. It came to mind as I was thinking about an a-kite retrieval system. Nearly all the systems I have seen would require holes to be added and reinforced in the kite. This rule would not allow this system to work. Is there a specific reason for this rule's inclusion?

Thoughts?

Also, I would like to start the process fo securing the PHRF certificate for the Chesapeake. Any chance you could forward the PHRF data you've used in other regions in order to make it easier to register?

Thanks!

Kristen Berry

kristen@galeforcesailing.com

****************************

Cool.

Three notes so far:

1) The sail # thing. I've already changed mine to conform with local PHRF racing (7666) & ALL of my sails, including Jib have the # (Another local requirement). I suppose I could change back to 2203, but...

2) 700 lbs??? I thought that this was for people OVER 40!!! ;) Seriously, as I figure it, I either sail with 3 people or get a girl/ kid as the 4th hand. My crew, when sailing with 4, comes in at 750lbs, assuming 5 lbs of gear per crew member (and that I lose 5 lbs).

3) Why the requirement to carry hatch cover & drop board? While I'm at it, why the anchor? Lot's of weight there. Also, there are now 2.5 HP 4 stroke motors (a few lbs lighter). Do you feel they are too small?

Regrading your other questions:

a) Max crew Weight: See above. The fundemental question is do you want to encourage 3 or 4 person crews?

b) The boat is deliberately supplied with both options. My personal feeling is that each race/regatta should specify its choice (a) Also,

b) Symmetrical (Captain's choice). For now, we are ALL still exploring the options. It will be great to see what the other owners feel on this subject.

c) Ah, what the hell. We all want to go fast. If we can go faster by legs out, then so be it. Any other opinions?

d) Owner/Driver: I'd say "owner must be aboard", but can get someone else to drive "Non-Professional". I do think there should be a "professional" rule. Sorry, but I guess you, Ken & Don can't sail against us. Boo-Hoo. ;) If the owner is a clutz, then they pay the penalty in weight.

Those are my two-bits for now.

Cheers,

-Gray

Thank you`

2007-03-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

Anthony -

Thank you for setting up this Rocket 22 sailor's blog. I look forward to sharing info about sailing the boat, upcoming races, and podium finishes.

Here in Annapolis, the winter is starting to break, and it is PERFECT Rocket weather. Two of us went out this weekend to work on some downwind manuevers. We hit 12.8kts on the GPS on Saturday sailing in about 18-22kts. What a rush.

Thanks again -

kb

2007-03-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks Anthony for setting up this Rocket 22 owners site. I hope that this will be an opportunity for us all to share a bunch of information on how to make these boats go faster.

This past week I bought a Loos gauge (PT-2) 3/16 -1/4" for measuring shroud and forestay tension. I have begun to compile a matrix of mast jack turns and shroud/forestay tension. I will post it here by the end of the week. With the mast jack at "0" (where it just engages with the mast post) , I have the cap shrouds tight, but with no tension. At some point you may to to get a gauge, or borrow one to get a feel for how your rig is set up.

Jonathan

Calling all Rocket 22 Owners and Sailors

2007-03-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

We've been getting quite a few emails recently from some of our Rocket 22 owners and their friends who've been out sailing with them. I've put a few of these emails up on the Rocket Boats blog but thought it was about time to launch a new blog dedicated to our owners and any other Rocket sailors. This blog will become an integral part of our Rocket 22 Class Association website which should be up by the end of the month, but in the spirit of there is no time like the present, I've created this new blog now.

As the number of Rocketeers grows we'll be introducing other elements to the class association website such as forums, racing and tuning tips for the benefit of all Rocket owners. Any other ideas will always be welcome. We want to make the class association and website as collaborative and interactive as people want, so please let us know what you'd like to see and how we can make the site and blog better.

Thanks. Anthony.