O'Day Upwind Sailing
- Thread starter DannyO
- Start date
- Status
My O'Day 22 doesn't point much past 60 degrees or so. I always figured that it was due to the shoal keel, maybe it's a family trait? What do you have for a keel?
I don't know what the exact angle is, but I'm guessing about 60 degrees on my boat, which comes from my memory of setting up the wind indicator (it's about the middle range- Davis recommends 55 degrees for extremely windward boats). It may be 65, but either way, you should be able to point higher than a beam reach. Otherwise, you can't really ever navigate anywhere until the wind shifts. Which would not have been a real selling point for a production boat. 
Your forestay may be too loose. What happens is that your forestay sags to leeward as the wind blows stronger. I found that adding back stay adjustment (which you tighten when pointing) really improves pointing. The fore stay keeps the sail shape more blade-like and you decrease the draft of the sail as the wind increases. It's probably the best performance improvement I've made to the boat.
That sounds right. The sail should not be luffing just closer than a beam reach even if the boat does not point well - poor pointing has nothing to do with a sail luffing (IMHO) - luffing has to do with the airflow over the sail, so a combination of angle of attach, a stretched sail , and improper tension somewhere in the rig. On my 22, which is not a great pointer, I can get to within 30* before speed starts to drop considerably - which actually comes in handy in high winds.
Lets get our terms synchronized (notice I did not say correct). We had a big discussion on this a while back and I don't want to repeat it.
SO for the purpose of this thread the wind angle we are talking about is the direction the wind is going over the deck (yes apparent wind)
With that said, what I hear you saying is you can't "get upwind" much more than 90 degrees (beam reach) from the direction the boat is pointing when the wind is coming directly down the center line of the boat (in irons)
Consider for a minute that the apparent wind is a product of both the boat speed and the true wind speed. So when conditions are light you (all of us actually) have trouble pointing. In 4 knots of wind I can make 2-3 knots of headway so the direction the wind is over the boat is something like 60 degrees from in irons. As the true wind speed picks up you can point "higher" (less angle between the tacks) for the same reason.
Ice sailors have this problem in the extreme (they can go 70 mph in 20 mph winds!!!!) Every way they go is beat due to their speed.
What you have to do is build up speed and turn into the wind SLOWLY over the course of 5 minutes or so. Build boat speed, re-trim, turn a little into the wind, build speed............repeat till you are making your own wind and going in the direction you want.
Key to all this is keel,(deeper is better) and your boats ability to sail very closely hauled. You might want to consider getting a barber hauler or making one.
Or just wait till you have more wind than your boats hull speed.
SO for the purpose of this thread the wind angle we are talking about is the direction the wind is going over the deck (yes apparent wind)
With that said, what I hear you saying is you can't "get upwind" much more than 90 degrees (beam reach) from the direction the boat is pointing when the wind is coming directly down the center line of the boat (in irons)
Consider for a minute that the apparent wind is a product of both the boat speed and the true wind speed. So when conditions are light you (all of us actually) have trouble pointing. In 4 knots of wind I can make 2-3 knots of headway so the direction the wind is over the boat is something like 60 degrees from in irons. As the true wind speed picks up you can point "higher" (less angle between the tacks) for the same reason.
Ice sailors have this problem in the extreme (they can go 70 mph in 20 mph winds!!!!) Every way they go is beat due to their speed.
What you have to do is build up speed and turn into the wind SLOWLY over the course of 5 minutes or so. Build boat speed, re-trim, turn a little into the wind, build speed............repeat till you are making your own wind and going in the direction you want.
Key to all this is keel,(deeper is better) and your boats ability to sail very closely hauled. You might want to consider getting a barber hauler or making one.
Or just wait till you have more wind than your boats hull speed.
One other thing you might check is the location of the jibsheet lead blocks. If they are too far aft, the top part of the jib will luff too early, and if too far forward the bottom part will luff. Some boats lead the sheet through a moveable block on the toe rail, then to a fixed turning block farther aft, then to the winch. If the moveable block is omitted, the jibsheet lead will be way off and may cause the problem you are seeing.
wont point higher than 90 degrees!
Something is definitely wrong here. Shallow draft, baggy sails, poor tuning etc: Any boat will
point higher than 90 degrees. This means you can make no progress upwind First get your rigging in tune This means 1. tight head and back stay 2. mast perpendicular this means straight up and down. no rake or forward lean. 3 uppers moderately tight. 4 hoist your sails so they are set as best as you can. Even a boat with old baggys sails and shallow draft should point inside 60 degrees If it dosent hire a consultant to look at it.
Something is definitely wrong here. Shallow draft, baggy sails, poor tuning etc: Any boat will
point higher than 90 degrees. This means you can make no progress upwind First get your rigging in tune This means 1. tight head and back stay 2. mast perpendicular this means straight up and down. no rake or forward lean. 3 uppers moderately tight. 4 hoist your sails so they are set as best as you can. Even a boat with old baggys sails and shallow draft should point inside 60 degrees If it dosent hire a consultant to look at it.
I agree with Sandy Stone. Position of jib sheet fairlead is critical. Had same problem with our first boat. Foot was tight and luff flapped in the breeze. installed track with moveable car and problem solved. Also gap between mast and jib may be too wide. Get a copy of Sail Power by Wallace Ross. Good reference source.
- Status