Flying downwind on a Balkan Proa

[rael dobkins]

Fast Downwind Sailing over 6 KN, Surfing probably at 10....
Balkan Proa "Crystal Clear" flying away...

From Balkan Shipyards

Keep Shunting,
BSY

https://youtu.be/F25DHERbaGo?si=PZO0u5zXt3yfPMI-

[Ian R]

Happy New Year Rael, bon courage.

Who knows here what the Russkies are doing over there...my Polish mother saw Putin coming, seen them before.

She said, of the KGB person Putin, whose antecedents smacked some of her teeth out in Kazakhstan : leopard doesn't change its spots.

Thinking to surviving is now thinking to survive on your boat when trouble occurs. Which it will, everywhere.

Happy New Year everybody. Sail away.....

[rael dobkins]

I agree, it's going down... Big war in the oven, Europe is getting ready, the Middle East is on Fire, the U.S. will have to deal with it all including China...

I will have to learn how to catch a fish and ride out a storm... I will give it all my best shot, since staying here seems pointless to me. How long have I got? Who cares, as long as I can sail, keep moving, for nothing, with nothing... 

Bad times are on the agenda, so happy I have nothing, around me all have dreams, talking about going on pension in a year or two, their great plans... I keep quiet, as the herd marches to the slaughter... My whole town works in the bomb factory, it went from a dead place with only the guards working there, to a factory that employs thousands yet is constantly, desperately, searching for more man power... It's all pretty sick.

When you teach a herd of sheep to buy grass with money, you can easily make them build their own slaughterhouse, probably with the help of a little social media, you could even get them to slaughter themselves.... 

My 5 cents on the subject Ian.

Keep Shunting my friend, Happy New Year, may the Force B with us...

Just uploaded a vid by the way, very balanced Proa, on all points of sail.

https://youtu.be/djCTi25_AgA?si=Aez0LPJyv15pwJdf

Rael

[Roger Barnes]

Hi Rael, hoping Australia is distant from any money wars, though I guess that more of our young men will have their minds and bodies destroyed by buying into the propaganda waffle.

A question on your rag please

I have read a fair bit about Chinese style sails on the JR website, and many some of their members seem to favour building a lot of shape between the battens, while yours is fairly flat. Is there a reason for that please?

[rael dobkins]

Hi Roger, Yea, it's a messed up planet, where greed rules and honesty will soon become against the law....

It is what it is man.

Yes there is a strong reason, glad you noticed. Fast boats are usually sailing to windward... 

Meaning, you are sailing so fast that you are sailing into the apparent wind, a beam reach becomes a close reach, sails get sheeted in all the way and you're cooking.... I am ether running/broad reaching or hard on it. So we roughly have 2 sail settings, sheeted all out, or all in.

So now choose between the 2 devils, it's 50/50. Do you want power for downwind sailing? Or, do you want close hauled performance? Do you want to sail as close to the wind as possible, so you can make cruising monos look funny...

I sail a touch wider than fine monos, yet much faster. Still, It's not about the race, it's about being able to go where I want, to get off a lee shore, or to sail into that anchorage despite the fact it's piping on the nose...

Down wind? I will get there! less camber=less power for running. Adding camber enhances power for off the wind sailing.

But! less camber=better close hauled sailing, so, better chances, of that leeshore, fading away....

Cruising mono junkies will go up to 12% camber, but they have 200 liters of diesel, we have 8% camber and 5 liters of fuel... That too was a reason I chose to go with the windward devil.

Best wishes, Keep Junking, and Shunting....

Balkan Shipyards