Thank you for coming by!

Very kind of you!

Thank you. Admitedly it is from an abundance of experience so thinking ahead keeps it very simple. But I've been in unexpected conditions too that can raise the blood pressure! :)

Lots of practice! I have a formula for control. 2.7 knots approach. Then of course full reverse when you get there. But allows for full rudder bite

Catamarans are a financial nightmare and unsuitable for blue water sailing long term. Most are built cheaply and sold pricey. Do your research.

I'm not a fan of multihulls. LOL. I guess they make great condos but after decades of yacht racing I have a bit of a performance bias (I like to go upwind well)

@@robbraxmansailing Roger that...speed and upwind performance. Thanks Rob and keep up the good work.

The secret to easy backing is of course the sail drive :) But you also learn the throttle technique, back when I had a shaft drive. Very unpredictable though unless you come in fast.

Have fun!

I'm an expert sailor and yacht racer. I know what I'm doing.

And if your engine fails?

No torsion problem with the furler. I know the clews are stainless. I will look at the tack next time. I know it is integrated with the furling cable that you hoist up. But I don't recall what the material is. After I learned to use the Code0 it's been great. Not good for racing though. It's not something you can gybe. You'd have to furl it to change gybe. Too slow for racing.

Just install an autopilot on it. It's cheaper to install an autopilot on tiller steering

It's a Dufour 390

Your question deserves a video response! Coming soon! The answer may surprise you. LOL

I'll do some teaching in these videos then.

The equipment varies by size of boat. The smaller the boat, the smaller the hardware. For example there's a tiller version of the autopilot. there's a wheel version. On a bigger boat like mine, it's a lot more powerful and there is a direct motor linkage to the rudder. The electronics themselves are small. However none of this is cheap. My prior boat was smaller and much older (40 years old) and it had the similar electronics.

No. Only if the boat is facing upwind at the dock. When it is, then obviously the sail being up is more convenient.

I kept the volume down for the video. The boat always has marine VHF.

Never mind, I just heard you say L.A. in another video...

Yes.

40 foot or thereabouts should be sufficient room. As you go over 40 the costs go up geometrically (slip fees and maintenance)

Proper procedure is to flake the lines. But being single handed and doing a video, I did not bother. The lines are just in organized chaos. They don't get into each other's ways. The idea of a trough is a bad one. More chances of tangles. The trough is useful only for long term stowage. Not when underway. In my case, I throw the many lines at the mast into the boat. That's my trough area. But you cannot do that to the main sheet, jib sheet, furling lines, and spinnaker sheets.

@@robbraxmansailing still would be a easy desing at the base of the winch for lines while minimizing tangles, but we work with what we have. As long as the Captain of the ship is happy.

I have been a Yacht racer for a long time so I'm used to having the lines always flaked and available (with crew). I've seen some other boats (bigger) with compartments for dumping the lines. The problem is that each line needs to be stored separately, not a big well for all lines combined. I haven't seen a design that works for that. I've thought of hanging bags, but these would be more useful for a long passage I think. Fortunately I have a huge cockpit so there's room to lay out lines in separate areas. Thanks for watching!

This boat has new batteries so probably not financially reasonable to switch to Lithium yet. But my prior boat was using LifePO4.

Dufour 40 footer

Main is not "unsecured". Main is correctly angled to the wind. Wind is behind. Sailors always know where the wind direction is. In this case, leaving the dock and going out was a 360 degree turn (so you only saw part of it)

Rob Braxman Tech

I have a magnetic chest mount + handheld. Wish the chest mount could go higher

This is a marina so I don't know what you are referring to. Everything I do here is done on a marina (including pre-hoisting sails if it makes sense)

Sorry. That's not the advice I would give. Instead: Always be aware of where the wind is coming from when you hoist your sails. I may have the sails up when I leave the dock, or enter the slip with the sails up depending on what I'm trying to do. Obviously I would never hoist the sails up if my boat is pointing downwind. The video demonstrates that I know where the wind is in all my moves.

@@robbraxmansailing Understand what you are saying Rob and that's your opinion, I notice you pen has walkways on both sides, as such much better as you cannot clash easily with boats adjacent to you.

I understand that there may be conditions where you are that demands your choices. As an experienced sailor and racer, we generally sail directly from the slip even without motor if the slip is facing the right way. We can back the sail for example to move back and then sail forward normally. On a Wednesday night race day, you would see many boats with mains hoisted ready to leave the dock. My slip in the video has my boat head to wind before I depart and that's easily verified before I let go of the docklines. Where we are, the winds are consistent due to the ocean sea breeze. Now in my particular slip, I have to back in. So I take down the sails before going back to the dock as it would be impossible to maneuver otherwise. The significance in my video is that as a single hander, the less I have to do at the last minute, the safer for me.

Yes

@@robbraxmansailing me too!

See you in the water!

Hull speed is 8.2 knots but that doesn't really limit a modern hull. Downwind it can plane

Who told you that? That is not correct. I've come in on a slip with engine failure on sails alone on a big boat. If you don't have the skills to do that, it is something to work on.

You mean you found this channel randomly? LOL