Storm sail Tacticks

BobM · Jul 28, 2009

Reef

Nasty. Did you put a reef in the main? or two? Is the main repairable. I have a spare main, but have literally never pulled it out of the bag to see what kind of shape it is in.

I rigged my boat two weeks ago, post my backstay replacement. When I was running the reefing lines (I had never run them last year) I realized that the owners "I never used the second reef" statement was likely due to the fact that the brand new line was obviously ten feet too short!

I ran the first reef and debated about, but finally decided to order the line for the second reef. Although I don't typically go out in weather that could call for a second reef I concluded that most people you do use it probably didn't plan to use their second reef either

but were happy to have it.

Cpt. Jon · Jul 28, 2009

Royal Flush,

Sorry to hear about getting caught in the weather and shredding your main sail, where were you when you got hit by the storm? If I remember correctly you have some kids, were they on board? If so, how did they handle it?

It was really blowing on Sunday, we opted not to sail as the tides & weather weren't really on our side, plus 2 weeks with having all kinds of family in town took a toll on us and so we had our first day lounging around the couches day in a long long time. There were some really nasty storms that came through, but most of them hit just north of us (like a mile or so... we hardly got any rain). I was watching it on radar and it was nasty. Several areas had lots of hail. I bet it's an experience that you won't soon forget, sorry about the damaged sail, but I'm glad that it seems you made it out of it alright. (?)

The lightning is the scariest part, even if you can drop anchor and get below it's scary being out in that on the water!

sailaway78 · Jul 28, 2009

Sometimes

Sometimes you just get caught, and there isn't much you can do. I highly recommend though that you learn to reef the main. You should have a couple of reefing points in the sail, maybe three. Learn to use them, quickly. I got caught offshore in some really nasty stuff a few weeks ago. Wasn't that rough, as the wind kept shifting directions, but very confused seas, and winds from 40 to 60 knots. Lightning was the scariest part. As long as you make it out with no injuries, and only a torn up sail, then I would say your are ahead of the game.

Alan · Jul 28, 2009

Nice N Easy makes a very good point. You should practice putting in your reef at least a couple of times a year. Do it several times till you get it down below 1 minute, 30 seconds is better. I've watched some skippers doing it on a clear fair weather day and it takes them 5 MINUTES!! I can only guess how long it would take them in the real thing. Don't forget to harden the halyard outhaul and vang to make the main as flat as possible. If you partially furl your genoa don't forget to move the genoa leads forward to their correct settings.

catsailor · Jul 28, 2009

Reefing and smaller sails are great for a good breeze, but for thunderstorms - bare poles.

Royal Flush said:
I know silch about storm sails and when to use them. I'd probably be limited to a storm for the mian. I have a front roller furled sail.

I got a little weather experience Sunday. I could see the storm in the distance and was making great progress. I rolled in my genoa as the wind became very shifty and battened down the hatches. Right as I returned back to the cockpit my main was sacked by the sudden rush of gail force winds. My main was shreaded and quickly turned into a ghostship main. I flipped on the little 12 hp Yanmar and we had to hove too for nearly an hour and surf the waves. The boat held it's ground beatifully. I then got to work on getting over my fear of lightening during the next 4 storms.

The wind can realistically hit 70 knots, you have no good way of predicting the magnitude or direction, and there are no sails that will work in those conditions. In a micro burst, the wind is practically falling down on the boat, to fan out when it hits the water.

Practicing reefing on an easy day is great. In reality, you can always see thunderstorm weather approaching with enough time to get the laundry in. If you cannot reach harbor, get enough room so you don't get blown onto a beach. A good engine is your best plan. If it fails, the tiniest bit of main or jib; you will need to try each on a breezy day (20+ knots) to see what balances best. Your goal is control, not speed. Feather into the wind - I guess this is something best learned on a dingy.

higgs · Jul 28, 2009

Since the main will be the sail that mostly determines heeling, I would get it down and go with a small shred of a head sail. If I did not think I needed to go anywhere - ie let the storm blow me - I would douse all sails.

I would rather have up a small jib than a main. - at least on my boat. Mainsails produce heel. This is not to say a jib cannot heel one over, but jibs are easier to control. IMHO.

BobM · Jul 29, 2009

main sail

I couldn't figure out how to post to an email. Send me your email address and I'll send you a link to a photo gallery.

Bob

Todd Smith · Jul 29, 2009

Sail area and balance

higgs said:
Since the main will be the sail that mostly determines heeling, I would get it down and go with a small shred of a head sail. If I did not think I needed to go anywhere - ie let the storm blow me - I would douse all sails.

I would rather have up a small jib than a main. - at least on my boat. Mainsails produce heel. This is not to say a jib cannot heel one over, but jibs are easier to control. IMHO.

Heel would depend on how much sail area you have up. I don't see that main or jib would produce more heel for the same area. Now if you can't reef your main as small as you can roll up your jib, I see what you mean about "easier to control".

But if you are trying to actually sail somewhere that's not a beam to broad reach, using just a small piece of jib might not actually work well.

Todd

Franklin · Jul 29, 2009

Speaking of Storm sail Tactics, I read a story of a guy sailing to Hawaii in a 21' boat with his friend. When it was blowing 40+ and waves 30', he said they couldn't get the sea anchor to work so they put out a little headsail and sailed, get this, on a reach, and would cut up into the wave if they felt threatened by the shape. First time I've ever heard anybody do that before. Interesting. Of course, it's also the first time I've heard of somebody sailing to Hawaii in an old 21'er too

Stu Jackson · Jul 29, 2009

A guy sailed to Hawaii on a West Wight Potter

a few years ago, written up in Latitude 38. It was the "stretch" 19 foot model!

Hermit Scott · Jul 30, 2009

What are the dimensions of your main?

MrBee · Jul 31, 2009

higgs said:
Since the main will be the sail that mostly determines heeling, I would get it down and go with a small shred of a head sail. If I did not think I needed to go anywhere - ie let the storm blow me - I would douse all sails.

I would rather have up a small jib than a main. - at least on my boat. Mainsails produce heel. This is not to say a jib cannot heel one over, but jibs are easier to control. IMHO.

My daughter and I were just out today, nice winds in the high teens at time, maybe a gust to 20. We have an Irwin 10/4 and I can tell you I would put up a scrap of Main before the Jib. I suppose it depends on the boat but I have found with ours that trying to sail in heavy wind (Not sure about winds above 25) that with the Jib only, it tends to swing the Bow around and we have a hard time heading any place except a broad reach or run. Drop the jib, pull out the main and our boat is balanced. Or main and Jib.
I think you need to experiment with YOUR boat to find what will work best with that Hull form.
Remember this... If the winds are high and the jib is out with NO main and the boat tends to fall off the wind and is hard to maintain a reach or close reach then you Need Main.
We will be replacing the Main this winter and the new one will have 2 reef points, we only have one now.

Bee