As a future owner of a Romilly I would like learn something about Romilly’s behaviour in heavier weather. Although I’ve read, that with a tucked in reef she “stands up well to a stiff breeze” and may be sailed “pleasantly in winds of 30 knots” I still have the impression, that she is more a kind of a nice-weather-boat. After all, she is an open open and has no self bailing cockpit! Therefore: What are your first hand experiences with your Romilly in stronger winds, in bigger waves? How does she behave in gusts? Does she feel controllable and safe? Does she sail dry? When do you tuck in a reef, and when do you decide to stay in the harbour?
Thomas Huber
May 22, 09:59 PM
Thomas – Well, you’re right to point out straight away that ROMILLY is an open-bilged boat. We did a swamping test, as required, (on a winter’s day in Dartmouth), and what happens is that the boat sinks by the stern until the transom is awash. At that point the waterline is still below the sill of the companion way, although normally at sea in breezy conditions at least the bottom sliders would be in place.
She can then be emptied with a bucket (6 minutes until water at sole level), but doing that at sea would be a very different matter and it would be reckless to sail offshore in anything like heavy weather.
That said, ROMILLY was designed with the sort of gusty conditions found around estuaries and along coasts. By that I mean that she has a high ballast ratio and narrow waterline, so her stability curve is quite progressive (a wider boat with less ballast has the opposite characteristic in that initial stability is high, but diminishes with increasing angle of heel).
To answer the other questions you raise:
Bigger, longer waves are no problem provided they are not breaking !
ROMILLY carries plenty of canvas for light airs, and the rule in a rising wind is to reef early. She seems to sail faster and more reassuringly after taking a reef.
Finding the right fore-and-aft trim is important to find the right balance between the dryness of the ride and sailing efficiency upwind. Moving crew-weight aft is the instinctive reaction as the bow rides higher and lifts more easily to a sea, keeping the crew dryer. The downside is that the fore-body can start to slam in certain sea conditions, and I suspect the boat is a little slower (any observations on that?). We ended up (by trial and error) with about 80 kgs of lead ballast, secured under the bunk forward.
Off the wind there are no particular problems, but again the rule is to shorten sail early. Reducing sail area on a lug or gaff rigged boat also lowers the centre of gravity of the rig – which, again, makes the boat feel more under control.
I have always been attracted to boats with narrow waterlines and plenty of overhang (flair) in the topsides. That always makes for a drier boat in a seaway.
One word of warning: I was once in a ROMILLY that was knocked down by a heavy and unexpected gust to the point where green water was down-flooding over the leeward coaming. Since then I have always turned the leeward main sheet round the leeward winch and brought it to the weather winch, from which it can be trimmed by the crew (who are to windward).
Another solution is simply to leave only a couple of turns on the leeward winch and take the tail to windward; we put an extra cleat on the bench so it can be cleated there if required (it’s best placed under the coaming so you don’t sit down hard on it by mistake!).
Many boats have been fitted with self-tailing winches, which was the case on the boat on which I was sailing during the above incident. If you do have these winches fitted I strongly suggest you don’t use the self-tailing facility in heavy conditions. When the boat is taking water over the gunwale you do not want to take your own weight down there. It takes too long and also makes the boat heal more in the process.