MAX EBB — "A
nd the race committee will strictly enforce Rule 55," the speaker announced sternly. "No exceptions." There were groans from the people sitting in the row behind us. "What's Rule 55?" I whispered to Lee. Lee Helm was not sailing on my boat for this regatta. She had a better offer, and had signed on to call tactics on a much faster and much newer boat than mine. But she was sitting next to me at
"This is just envirotokenism. What am I supposed to do?" the skippers' meeting, and I needed to find out what all the flap was about over this Rule 55. "It means no trash can go overboard," she whispered back. "And, like, that includes rubber bands and yarn used for stopping the spinnaker." "Really?" I said in surprise. "Even if it's biodegradable, like pure wool yarn?" "No exceptions," she said. "It's right there in the rule book." The people sitting behind us, evidently the afterguard on an even bigger boat than Lee's ride, were not amused. "This is unsafe!" they protested loudly. "We can't set a spinnaker without putting it in stops." "Sorry," said the principal race officer, repeating what Lee had just said to me. "It's right there in the rulebook." "I'll go back to the loft tonight and see what I can put together for tomorrow," we
overheard one of the sailors behind us say in a reassuring tone. "You'll like what we've been doing with zippered socks." Apparently one of the crew was a local sailmaker, and the owner had the budget for an overnight adaptation to the new restrictions. "Lee, my heavy-air spinnakers are all stopped in rubber bands," I complained, "and I don't have a sailmaker on call to make a new launching sock for each sail. This is just enviro-tokenism. What am I supposed to do?" "Chill, Max. Sometimes tokens are important. And, like, even if it's not, you know, a substantive change in our litter footprint, it sets a good example." "Fine, but how am I supposed to set my spinnakers if the wind is up tomorrow? They're predicting small-craft warnings." "Quiet please!" scolded the principal race officer, who felt the need to repeat most of what was already spelled out in the sailing instructions. But he also announced a new award, the Clean and Green Trophy, apparently sponsored by the State Department of Boating. It was based primarily on how many recyclable containers we brought back to the dock and how much of our lunch garbage went into compost, with points off for singleuse water bottles.
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s soon as the talk was over, Lee had some suggestions for how I could solve my problem with Rule 55 compliance: "There, are like, several approaches Elasticity and strength of #19 rubber bands, the most commonly used size to this," she exfor spinnaker stopping. There is a surprising amount of variation: Average plained. "First, you can build a breaking strength is 6.2 pounds, standard deviation is 1.15. sock with a zipper for each sail. I mean, not like a spinnaker snuffer with its own halyard and everything to pull it up and down. T his is ju st a plain lightweight sailcloth tube with a big plastic zipper. It works just like a jib bag on a big boat: Zip it closed around the sail, and pull the zipper pull off to one tail of the zipper at the
bottom end. Then, when you set the sail, you break the zipper at the bottom, and the zipper and the sail open from bottom to top. It's, like, better than sail stops, 'cause it's really, really hard for the top of the sail to open before the bottom. Pretty much impossible, actually, and if you know for sure that the sail will open first at the bottom and last at the top, you don't even have to worry too much about twists inside the bag — they rotate out as the sail fills from bottom to top." "You think that's what those high rollers sitting behind us are going to do?" "Most likely. I don't think they have time to add the zippers directly to the sails, like on some of the maxis." "Okay, but I don't have my own sail loft, and I don't have a sailmaker on my crew list. And besides, half my sailbags with zippers are sailbags with stuck zippers. So I'm not sure the zipper sock is really the way to go for an old low-budget operation like my boat. What can I do for tomorrow?" "If not zippers, then Velcro," Lee stated as if she were quoting ancient scripture. "You mean fuzz on one luff tape and hooks on the other?" "Naw, that would just fold the sail in half. You need a tight wrap around the sail. You also need to simulate the stretch and breaking characteristics of the yarn or the rubber bands, but you need to keep the Velcro ties captive after they let go. Not hard, with a little experimentation." "But Lee, the race is tomorrow! I don't have time to experiment." "No prob, Max. I've already done the experiments, and here's what you need. Go to the office supply store and get a few packs of Velcro straps, the ones with the little cut-out opening at one end. Then go to the chandlery and get the thinnest Dyneema line they sell. Kite string works too. You'll also need some sail repair tape. And dig out your sailmaker's palm and a big needle." "Got the repair tape," I said. "I also have some pretty thin Dyneema. I think I see where this is going." "Number 19 rubber bands have a breaking strength of, like, six pounds, plus or minus, when loaded as a loop." "Do we set up the Velcro to peel apart, or to fail in shear?" I asked. "Peel strength is way too low," Lee advised. "You need the Velcro to take the load in shear, but you'll be surprised how little contact area you need. That means you can cut the Velcro ties to be very, very short, tied to the ends of the
