Henry, I dont have your phone number but I have something "dangerous" for you (sheet pump). If you see this, please give me a phone call 303 773 9068

wh

Hello from Down Under
My name is Jamie and while I don't sail an ice flyer I have experimented with the death stick ...sorry sheet pump
I am very interested your take on the sheet pump as I have been running one on my yacht for some months now with good sucess . So far I haven't found it to increase my speed but I use my sheet pump to steer with as well, giving me a joy stick control . This is especially fun when flying a wheel .The only danger with this seems to be that the sheet is cleated so a safety measure when the stick is pushed forward it automaticly releases the sheet (also if you let go of the stick it will release the sheet) sorry I cannot seem to post photos on this page

Id have a hard time doing without an "death stick" now (here is a description here http://iceflyer.com/sheet.html ). Its basically a cleat on a joystick and sheet cleats no doubt increase your chances of getting flipped. You cant be "sleeping" and its best to take the rope out of the cleat when going into a turn. One time I flipped my ice boat likely pushing 60 mph because I was messing with the adjustable outhaul and had just left the sheet cleated when a huge gust hit and another time, I flipped the boat on a parking lot because you slow down a lot after a rubber burning turn and you need to let the sail way out after the turn (but it was cleated).

Im not sure it is about performance (maybe some?) but it certainly is about comfort and range. I can sail hours and hours with it (one time landsailing I did something like over 350 miles in three days - my hands would have been hamburger without it) and it also has allowed me to use big sails in high winds because I can still control the sheet with the extra leverage.

I normally have my left hand on the stick and have the rope in my right hand. My right hand cleats/uncleats and tightens or adds slack to the sheet. The block above my head is a ratchet block. In extreme light winds, I dont use either the death stick or the ratchet to get max feel of the sail. In light to moderate winds, I just use the death stick without the ratchet - still to get max feel of the power in the sail. If its fairly windy and I also have a big sail on, or I have been sailing many hours and am tired, I will use both the death stick and the ratchet.

But there are some conditions where the pumping on the sail seems to make a difference expecially during acceleration? There is some "natural frequency" of the sail where you can do a bunch of small and fairly rapid pumps and Id guess that it has some effect..

There is a design flaw on the sheet pump shown on the web site. Normally, you want the joy stick to be free to move forward, backward, side to side but you do not want it to rotate. The problem with rotating is that when you go to pull the sheet out of the cleat, it is easy if the shaft does not rotate but its not easy if it does rotate. The configuration shown will not rotate in most positions. However, if you get it all the way forward, it can rotate and the problem is that generatlly if you get it all the way forward, your "in trouble" and just when you really need to uncleat, you have a hard time doing it. It hasnt been enough of a problem for me to try and fix this problem but its certainly worth making anyone thinking about using one aware of.

I personally really like the Death Stick but would be leary of recomending one because of any possible liability I might have - and it no doubt increases the chance of getting flipped so you must make sure the mast helper/roll bar is safe for flips. For the most part, Ive sailed many-many hours using it with no flips and havent flipped for a few years. But I have no doubt flipped because of using it and would no doubt hate to give it up.

Jamie, I thought you might have said that when you let go of your death stick, it releases the sheet? Mine doesnt do this but it sounds like a great safety feature.

I just worked out how to post photos
In the first one you will see that pushing to stick forward changes the angle between the sheet rope and the cleat. This allows me to uncleat the sheet by pushing forward or letting go of the stick. This is usually done when on the point of rollover and has the effect of dropping the wheel fairly hard but at least I am upright.

The second photo shows the cables that operate the stearing.
So I can sheet on and steer through the death stick.
I too have fliped this yacht many times but the Death stick was not 100% to blame. Mostly flying a wheel and sliding the rear end around in a gibe was the reason for my rollovers.

I too use a ratchet block after getting blisters from a good days sail. as I still hold the sheet for much of the time espesially when tacking and gibeing.
This yacht has under gone many changes since these photos new sails,new wheels etc and since bending the front forks while in full lock in soft sand on the weekend will under go much more.

Jamie, thanks.. Sounds like you and I like to sail in a similar manner - "Mostly flying a wheel and sliding the rear end around in a gibe was the reason for my rollovers."

Interesting that you can both steer and sheet with your design.

I like that on the design on the ice flyer web site you can cleat/uncleat regardless of where the death stick is (which I utilize constantly) but I like that you design uncleats by itself when you let it far forward. Maybe some sort of combination of the two would be good..