How We Reef Our Mainsail Sailing Downwind Reefing downwind has a reputation for being awkward, and on a lot of boats, it genuinely is. Paikea adds a few of her own complications to that reputation — a mainsail halyard lock, a sticky spot in the mast track from a locking mechanism that was filed in […]
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Fast in Light Airs: Caribbean to the Azores Some passages start with drama. This one started with a countdown, a somewhat vague sense of “not the Caribbean,” and a weather picture that was changing daily enough that the plan was simply to leave and see what showed up. Saturday, June 3rd, departure finally locked in,
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This week we take a detailed look at how we service the winches on Paikea. Winches should be serviced regularly on every yacht. As a general rule of thumb you should service your winches every 1000 nautical miles. Ours were well overdue for a bit of TLC in this episode. Shayne had used a new
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Key Message: This post tackles a pervasive myth in catamaran sailing: that sidestays should be designed to break before a hull flies. We explain the flawed logic, the physics of righting moment, and why the sailor’s awareness is the most critical safety system on the water. Author: Shayne and Anna A dangerous piece of advice often
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How to Trim the Jib Upwind on a Catamaran Most people’s relationship with a jib sheet starts and ends with a winch handle — pull it on when you head up, ease it off when you bear away. That gets you moving, but it’s a long way from actually trimming a sail well. Getting real
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Why We Had to Fix Our Mast Rake — and What Happens When You Get It Wrong Two years ago we replaced Paikea’s front beam with a custom carbon one. The new beam was angled upwards to lift the trampoline higher — better clearance, better performance. What we didn’t fully account for was that raising
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