The Precision 15 is a very simple boat to sail.
It's designed to be reassuringly stable for beginners and roomy enough for up to five.
It's easy to do almost all the basic maneuvers in it, including tacking and jibing.
To get the best performance out of it, there are a few pointers to keep in mind.
Sailing upwind
Most beginners have absolutely no problem sailing upwind in wind that's over 3 knots or so. But in lighter wind, even experienced skippers will find themselves on a slow boat to sideways. Here are a few tips to keep on track and up to speed.
· The most important: Don't pull the sails in too far. In light wind (less than 5 knots), it's easy to pull in the main and jib too far. Watch those telltales (the yarn on the mainsail and jib) carefully, and let the sail out when the downwind telltale starts to flutter.
· Heel the boat slightly, especially in light air. Heeling
the boat about 10 to 20 degrees helps the boat stay on course and
reduces side-slip. It also reduces your wetted surface immensely,
which cuts drag and improves your speed. Heel the boat until it
tracks perfectly on the course you want, with the tiller centered.
In light air, you'll be heeled a lot, but in strong wind, you'll
have the boat nearly flat.
· When you sail close-hauled, wait until you've gained the last bit
of boat speed before you pull the jibsheet in the last inch
or so.
·
Use the travelers for the jibsheet cleats.
Move the fairlead/cleat car all the way to the
inward end of the track (closest to the centerline)
when you're sailing close-hauled.
· If you do start to slip sideways--especially in light wind--you'll notice that your tiller goes over to leeward, to try to head the boat up, but the rudder stalls out and that just slows the boat even further. The right thing to do is sheet out the main and jib, and return the tiller to center to reduce the rudder's drag. Once the boat gets moving again, you can head up gradually.
Sailing on a reach
Move the fairlead/cleat car for the jibsheet cleat toward the outward end of the jibsheet cleat traveler as you fall off to sail on a beam or broad reach.
Hiking
Straps and Hiking Stick
The hiking straps can be loosened to allow even a short person to hike out for practice. But the boat is so stable that hiking straps aren't generally needed.
The hiking stick can be telescoped in or out, once the two parts of the foam handle are twisted to unlock it.
Tiller Lockbox
When single-handing, the hiking stick can be placed in the tiller lockbox, and telescoped in or out to hold the boat on a steady course.
This allows you to experiment with moving your weight and/or lifting the centerboard to steer the boat.
Docking
Keep your speed up until you're near the dock, slow down by turning upwind and if necessary using the mainsail as a brake.
Let out the sheets as you approach the dock, then point the boat into the wind and push the boom forward to slow the boat. With practice, you'll be able stop the boat just a foot or less away from the dock.
If your approach to the dock is too slow, or if you find you need to sail much closer to the wind, it's best to give up and take another try at docking.
Pulling in the sheets when you've slowed to a crawl will cause you to slip sideways, and you may end up banging against the seawall.
Avoiding Capsizes
Although the P15 is so stable that it seems more like a keelboat than a centerboard dinghy, it can capsize, so watch out on windy days when the waves get big.
Most capsizes occur because of a sudden gust and/or accidental jibe. If it's windy, make sure everyone keeps hold of the boat by gripping the rail edge and shrouds.
Be ready to release the mainsheet and throw your weight to the high side if the boat gets knocked over. The helmsperson needs to keep a good grip on the tiller, to avoid losing the tiller and letting the boat spin and broach.
Rig tension
The shrouds should be snug, but not supertight--overtightening the shrouds will just squish the hull and push the mast base down. It's normal for the leeward shrouds to dangle when sailing close hauled in 10 knots of wind. Before you sail, check the shrouds and snug up the turnbuckles if necessary so that the shrouds are just snug.
Rudder Clamp and Anti-Kickup Line
The rudder needs to be locked in the full down position whenever you're sailing in more than 2' depth of water.
The rudder clamp should be tightened hard AND the anti-kickup line (which has the red plastic ball at its end) should be pulled taut and cleated to keep the rudder from kicking up.
If the wind is very light, or if the water is very
shallow, leave the anti-kickup line uncleated, and
position the rudder using only the rudder's screw
clamp. For very light wind, kick the rudder up 20 to
40 degrees for more response.
Before hoisting the boat, uncleat the anti-kickup line, loosen the rudder clamp, lift the rudder, and tighten the rudder clamp. Then cleat the rudder uphaul line to make sure the rudder doesn't slip down.
Anchoring
Lower the anchor forward of the shrouds, and clip the anchor to the bow using the snap hook.
If you capsize:
1. check that the crew is OK
2. don't let them try to climb over the top unless they're light and agile--if they do go over the top, keep an eye on the masthead float and make them get off the hull if the masthead float goes under.
3. uncleat all the sheets
4. unclip and extend the ladder at the transom for easy boarding after you right the boat
5. have at least one person hold the bow painter to point the boat into the wind before righting.
In heavy wind and big waves, it's best to anchor AND pull down the jib BEFORE righting. When single-handing, anchor the boat to avoid having it sail away without you after you right it. Pulling down the jib reduces the boat's tendency to sail away after it's righted.
Before righting, pull in the mainsheet to raise the boom and check whether the boom end is stuck in the mud. At low tide, the boom can lodge in the mud, and the boat can't be easily righted without cleating the pulling in the mainsheet partway.
If you have crew, make sure they're floating between the hull and the boom, holding onto the hiking strap very lightly.
The best way to right the boat is shown in the
photo at right.
From the water, reach up to the centerboard, cross your forearms over the end of the centerboard (try to get your elbows above the centerboard), lift your feet onto the hull above the water, and try to lift yourself out of the water.
The boat should right within 5 to 30 seconds, more time being required for lighter skippers and in heavier waves and wind.
If that doesn't work, check again whether the boom is in the mud.
Once you've freed the boom from the mud, climb up onto the centerboard. If you've got good arm strength, hoist yourself directly up from the water to the centerboard--it's the easiest.
If
that's too hard for you, climb up from the cockpit side of the
hull, onto the mast, then over the top, grab the
jibsheet between the cleat and clew, and swing out
and slide way, way over and down to the
centerboard.
It's a big hull, so it's a long way to the board. Hold onto the rail or the jibsheet.
If you're holding the jibsheet, make sure you don't have the end of it, but rather a bight of the jibsheet between the cleat and the clew, and that you're pulling against the cleat, not the sail, so you don't tear the sail.
Step out to the tip of the centerboard, and lean back and pull.
The boat will come up faster than you expect, and you have about zero chance of clambering in unless you're extremely tall and agile.
Stowing the Sails
Please don't flake the sails--it creases them. Roll them up, starting at the head. If you roll the jib first, you can put it into the mainsail. Try to keep the sails smooth as you roll, and don't tie the sail onto the boom too tightly.
Spinnaker
Both P15's are rigged for spinnaker--all you need to bring is spinnaker, turtle, and sheets (two of them, each approx. 30 ft of 1/4" line).
Easiest launch is port tack, with the spinny in the turtle, clipped to the starboard shroud.
When you're ready to launch, attach the sheets to the spinny's clews and the halyard to its head.
Make sure the halyard isn't fouled, and that the sheets are run outside all the jibsheets, shrouds, etc. There really isn't too much to worry about on this boat, since the jibsheets are inboard of the shrouds.
Fall off to a run, hoist the spinny--it should go up without filling since the mainsail is blocking its wind--and ease out the pole topping lift to lower it, clip it onto the spinny sheet that will become the guy, and set the foreguy.
Now pull the sheet and guy to open up the spinny, and you're on the chute.
