Oday 22 MH shoal keel tacking angle

[kpgraci]

Fellow Oday 22'ers with MH shoal keel, what is your tacking angle?

I have my wind vane setup with 60* between the upwind markers and I get the best bang for the buck just off that, so I'd say 35* off the apparent wind.

I don't have any currents or tides to deal with, and generally sail in under 2 foot seas, looking at my past sailing tracks I consistently have a tacking angle of 120*, which seems like a lot. Now this is actual COG I'm looking at, so that includes leeway. I'm talking about winds in the 10kt range.

My mainsail is pretty blown out and while I know a new sail would be an improvement I wanted to see what others with the same boat saw for their actual tacking angle.

It would actually be interesting to get that information from any boat, really, so please chime in.

I had this discussion that has some very good information about tacking angles...after re-reading that I'm thinking 120* is not that unexpected, but a new main has to be an improvement.

http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=125264

 

[ruidh]

I see about that in my O23 with a shoal keel and c/b and new sails in the last 2 years.

For example: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1312451

New sails certainly helped my tacking a bit.

 

[kpgraci]

Hey, that's a pretty cool app. Your tacks do look similar to mine. I've got this track I'm using as my basis, I know on this trip I was sailing just in that perfect spot on both tacks, but it's very similar to many of my trips.

 

[25yearslater]

Hello KP. My 22 with the shoal keel was about the same even with new sails. I bought it out of the showroom all shiny and new in 78. After about 15 degrees of heel it often made as much leeway as forward progress. While this was before GPS and so forth a straight shot down the river close hauled would yield a couple of tacks to the lake. Still miss that boat even though the 27 is all I could hope for. I often considered another 22 retro fitted with a deeper fin keel but decided on a recycling project instead.

 

[ruidh]

Hey, that's a pretty cool app. Your tacks do look similar to mine. I've got this track I'm using as my basis, I know on this trip I was sailing just in that perfect spot on both tacks, but it's very similar to many of my trips.

Those angles look a bit bigger than 120 degrees. My protractor says around 130. I think you could make up those 10 degrees with new sails.

You sail closer to the wind on a downwind leg than I do.

 

[kpgraci]

Those angles look a bit bigger than 120 degrees. My protractor says around 130. I think you could make up those 10 degrees with new sails.

You sail closer to the wind on a downwind leg than I do.

Yeah, 130*. If I recall that little jog at the "G" pylon was a (near) accidential jibe.

 

[ruidh]

I figure there must be a reason the big racing boats gybe on a downwind leg and don't just go downwind. I also want to avoid the unintended gybes having been caught by a few. The track I linked had a ripping downwind leg almost at hull speed. I set the course by using the windex to keep the wind 45 deg off the stern.

The thread you linked above was interesting. I knew from experience that I wasn't making as much headway in light winds -- I could see it on my tracks -- but I hadn't thought about why.

Basically, I read the sails and not the windex when choosing an angle of attack. I only use the windex as a rough guide when tacking the boat and then tune it in once the sails are set.

I like Everytrail because it's easy to share tracks on Facebook. I usually upload from my Garmin rather than use the app. You can add photos to a track based on the picture time v. the GPS time (with an offset if they aren't in sync) but I prefer to watch the dot move rather than a slideshow.

Estopa (who sometimes posts here) uses it frrom time to time as well.

 

[kpgraci]

Racers don't go DDW but instead do what has been termed 'Downwind tacking' because it's faster. I just sail for the fun of it so I just point and go without really caring how fast I get there. After all, It's the journey, not the destination.

But still, I'd like smaller tacking angels

 

[Joe11688]

Next year I plan on rigging my boat with a home made boom break using a Black Diamond Super Eight, two single sheave blocks and some braid line. If it works out OK, I'll post it on this site. One of the guys in my club started using it last year on his Seaward 22 with excellent results, so we'll see what happens.