Mizzen track

[Gordonmc]

Here's one for the deck-gear x-spurts.
My mizzen sheet attaches to the deck with a triple block on the centre line. The sheet then comes forward to a block and jammer just aft of the (centre) cockpit.
At the weekend I was beating into the N'ly and while the genoa and main were doing what they do best the mizzen was flogging, even sheeted hard in.
The only way I can think of getting it to work more efficiently is to put a track on the aft cabin roof so the lower block can be positioned to windward of the centre line.
Unless anyone has a better plan (?).

[wully]

Buy a cutter or sloop rigged boat?

Or more seriously,

Drop the mizzen when beating? I thought that ketches were only any good when on a reach of better?

Or drop the main and sail under foresail and mizzen only?

I have never sailed a ketch so that's only wott I've read, but I will let you know how I get on when I win the lottery and buy a Swan 65.....

[DaveS]

Would it be worth first trying a temporary lash up to pull the block upwind using a bit of string to see if it works? If it does then the time and cost of fitting a track might be worthwhile.

[Fingal]

Hard to give definitive advice from a distance but as a former ketch sailor my first question would be about balance? If the boat drives well to windward and shows no sign of pernicious lee helm with the mizzen stowed, it may be that it's not doing much and could simply be dropped if hard on the wind. The mizzen is permanently operating in the turbulent airflow off the main so it can be difficult to get a mizzen to set well at all. They need to be cut very flat for that reason.

The other possibility is that the main is over-sheeted and the flogging mizzen is telling you how much leeway you are making? Or possibly that the main is loosing its shape and the airflow aft is more turbulent as a result. To put it more generally the problem may not necessarily be with the mizzen but something to do with the cut or trim of sails further forrard.

Apologies if this is egg-sucking advice. The most important use of a mizzen for me was always to compensate for windage forward when manoeuvring under power and as a heavy weather sail.

If you do indeed need to move the sheeting point to windward, instead of a track you might consider two separate sheets, from points either side of the centreline. That give you a lot of control over both the sail shape and the angle of the boom (you don't say whether there is a kicker or vang in the present arrangement).

HTH