Handling Heel in a Catalina 22 Swing Keel

[markcc13]

Hello everyone. My wife and I have been sailing for a few years exclusively on a Catalina 22. We have only been sailing in inland lakes.

The problem we are having is heeling with wind gusts and how it makes my wife very nervous and tense. I thought it would go away with some more exposure but it has not. Yesterday we were out and when a big wind gust came we became overpowered, I let the mainsheet out to spill wind but not before our railing went into the water. I pulled some of our furling jib in to reduce sail so we had a partial jib and full main sail but my wife was nervous/anxious the rest of the afternoon. We eventually sailed with just mainsail which she liked. She says she likes sailing but it is mainly the cruising lifestyle, i.e. being on the water, enjoying the weather, having a nice cold drink and relaxing. I am similar and can appreciate and respect that. I do want to "sail" though and will want to push the boat a bit more when I am with others or myself.

Is there anything else I can do to reduce the heeling in our sailboat? We still have the original mainsail and last year I had a sailmaker replace the ropes on the edges to keep it flatter. I was told that would help reduce some heel but that maybe replacing the mainsail entirely would help the most. Is this correct?

We don't have any experience on other boats so is the swing keel Catalina 22 just naturally less stable and more prone to heel than other sailboats? If so we have thought about upgrading to a larger boat like a Catalina 28 mk ii or Hunter 295 in a couple of years. These would fit our sailing interests better and be more accommodating for kids.

Are there any other ways to handle wind gusts on a lake besides reducing sail and spilling the mainsail?

 

[Jackdaw]

There is no correlation between sailing well/hard/fast and putting your rail in the water. Leaning to sail your boat flat will not only make your boat fast, but keep your crew happy!

Sail condition and shaping factors. New sails are easier do this. Older sails generate more drag, and that creates heel.

 

[JimInPB]

I think that what you really want to do is reef the main. If you don't already have reefing points in the sail, you may want to have a sail maker add some. Some cruising sails have 2 sets of reef points, so that you can go reefed or double reefed. The less canvas you have up, the less the boat will want to heel.

Try to reef early, before the wind kicks up & gets nasty. Consider reefing before leaving the docks if winds are above 15 knots & maybe even above 10. It's easier to shake out a reef & get the rest of the canvas up under lite conditions, than it is to pull down the main & put in the reef under high winds.

 

[watercolors II]

Sailing on inland lakes will make you a better sailor because of the sudden wind gusts and shifts that you’ll not experience on large bodies of water. It takes much more time and patience to overcome these situations. Before purchasing a larger boat look at adding additional sail controls, such as; travelers, cunningham’s, topping lifts and backstay adjusters. Also, speed comes into play on a lake! Inexperience sailors always tell me they do not want to go fast. I say speed on the highway kills but, on a sailboat the difference of 4 knots over 3 knots is over 30 percent increase which means the keel and the rudder will work faster and better during changing conditions.

So, keep the boat going as fast as you can and learn the additional sail shapes for the wind, the last resort is reefing!

 

[pclarksurf]

Potentially odd ball suggestion but put your wife on the gas pedal so to speak—

If she’s competent at the helm or with the main sheet, having the ability to ease the sheet and or fall off from close hauled may give her confidence in the boat and she also gets to set the tempo as opposed to reacting to yours.

 

[Jacomo Sailor]

Yes, what JimInPB said! Also consider that when you partially furl the headsail with the roller furler, it loses it's shape and you have no way to make it flatter. So even though you made it smaller, if it becomes more baggy, you haven't really helped the situation that much. Your best option (and most balanced) is a reefed main and reduced haedsail. For what it's worth, I have found that my C22 sails much better under headsail alone with no main than it does under main alone with no jib. Try that out next time, you won't point quite as high, but heeling will be greatly reduced without sacrificing drive. With one less sail to control your tacks will be easier and seem less hurried, which will translate into you wife being less stressed.

 

[vhoisington]

So I faced a similar problem many years ago. One of the big things that helped was me going out solo and really learning how the boat sails. Once I had full confidence then it was easier to give her the confidence. My wife can sense when I'm nervous and then she becomes nervous.

Follow the lead of others, learn what makes the boat go in different situations, learn where t he local winds funnel and tend gust. Make sure she has good brace points, if she is secure then she will be less nervous.

Learn to watch the water for signs of approaching wind gusts. On our lake when you see yellow poles in the air it's time to prepare. Calmly ease the main and reduce the headsail. She'll pick up on your confidence and find she isn't as anxious.

It's a slow process took my wife over 2 years to get over our first blood own on our first sail on our Hunter 25. Have patience, learn a lot and enjoy the water when you can.

Fair winds,

Victor

 

[JimInPB]

Learn to watch the water for signs of approaching wind gusts.

This is a real good point, especially in puffy conditions. If you see a gust coming at you, ease the tiller & luff up a little before the gust hits you, then fall back off to proper trim as soon as the gust has gone by you.

 

[Grotto]

Start dingy racing! You will learn to read the wind and water and anticipate the gust, or a big shift. Lightning (and other dingy) racers don't want to swim, so managing sails and weight to stay on the groove becomes second nature. Those skills transfer to your cruising by being aware before you get knocked.

 

[Gene Neill]

For what it's worth, I have found that my C22 sails much better under headsail alone with no main than it does under main alone with no jib.

Agreed. If I'm flying only one sail, it's definitely gonna be the jib. (Would be the opposite on a fractional rig, I'm told.) Easier to deploy, easier to bring down (even for us hank on people), no weather helm, more power, easier to heave to ...

is the swing keel Catalina 22 just naturally less stable and more prone to heel than other sailboats?

C22's are the only boats I've sailed other than dinghys, so I can't tell you from experience. But I can't recall ever once hearing C22's described as "tender".

Of course, 6-8 more feet LOA couldn't hurt.

 

[markcc13]

Thank you for all the advice. Getting to my general questions I guess new sails will help. Are larger boats more stable? Is C 22 considered average tender for a keel boat?

 

[Parsons]

I will not make a sailing comment, because Jackdaw said it better in five sentences than I could do in a couple paragraphs! I will note that the healing angle, and related fear, is exactly the same on a boat twice your size, but you are much further from the water.

I will complement you for listening to your wife, however. I scared my wife on half-a-dozen boats before figuring out that we differ on the enjoyment we get out of a boat. There are dozens of threads on this, complaining that the significant other does not like to sail, but perhaps it was just handled badly over the years. I recommend that your sailing life will be much longer if the significant other is fully involved and supportive of the time and costs of sailing. If that means that you must plan an anchored picnic, or put in an additional reef when you know you could carry more sail, it is worth it. If the Admiral is not happy, then the fleet does not get new sails. If you would like to push your boat hard, and be macho, take up racing as it is a lot of fun and will teach you more about sailing in a season than a few years cruising. You also get to be with people who what to do the same.

 

[Jackdaw]

Thank you for all the advice. Getting to my general questions I guess new sails will help. Are larger boats more stable? Is C 22 considered average tender for a keel boat?

The C22 is a very modest design in terms of performance, designed to be unintimidating as possible. For its size it’s not tender.

In general, for boats of a similar type, the bigger you get the more ‘stable’ they will seem, meaning that for any given level of breeze they will heal less, and take longer to do so.

But that does not mean that you can’t learn to sail your C22 flatter and still be fast. It just takes more attention, and the desire and ability to react with every puff. Remember EVERY puff or shift REQUIRES a change in trim. If you don’t one of the effects will be excess heal.

 

[rpludwig]

Try employing all the above VERY GOOD advice above before investing in new sails or buying a bigger boat.

I've had the rail in the water and a nervous wife regardless of boat size (22-45), because of my inexperience....it's all about proper trimming, an awareness and anticipation of conditions, knowing when to reef, etc...

Crew with some racers is great advice and will advance your learning curve quickly. The C22 is forgiving, responsive, but not "tender" IMO.

 

[JRT]

Get on a beam as soon as possible, that little trick really helps me.

 

[JimInPB]

Remember EVERY puff or shirt REQUIRES a change in trim.

Please pardon my ignorance. What is a shirt?

 

[LeslieTroyer]

Just teller you can drag the spreaders in the water and burry the windows and it will still come cack uprite.

 

[Jackdaw]

Please pardon my ignorance. What is a shirt?

Typo. Shift. Corrected.

 

[Joe]

Mark...... when a gust of wind hits your boat, it moves the apparent wind direction aft.... which means it is pushing at the side of the sail rather than flowing evenly across it. That's what causes the heeling. If your sails are soft and baggy the effect will be magnified, because it will be difficult to depower them. Gusts are temporary in nature, so reefing down still doesn't change the effect of an abrupt change in apparent wind direction. Anticipation and understanding what's happening is the key.

First, keep an eye on the water ahead and watch for increased ripples (or cat's paws), also for areas along the lake shore that may cause venturi effects that generate some gusting.
Next, make sure the outhaul is on... to flatten the sail as much as possible. Do not put the vang on... it closes the leech and won't allow you to quickly de power with the mainsheet.
Normally, when you get hit by a gust you would ease down the traveler to allow for the change in the angle of attack as the apparent wind angle moves aft... but.. the C22 has a pretty weak traveler.. so I recommend keeping the mainsheet in your hand until you get more confident.... and .. be prepaed to HEAD up, not bear off.. to keep the AWA more forward. When the gust passes you can pull the sail in and ease back down to your original course.

Because you sail on a lake... you need to understand that fluky, gusty conditions are more common than sailing in large bodies of open water... bays, oceans, etc.. One of the guys mentioned dinghy sailing and I agree.. when I sailed my Nacra, or Laser, I NEVER cleated the mainsheet.... 'cause those types of boats will go right over in a gust if you aren't paying attention. Getting your wife involved will be good because she'll learn how to handle these events and won't be as uncomfortable as if she were just a passenger. Let her steer while you handle the sheets.... ask her to watch the water also.. to anticipate the gusts.. it'll be fun.

 

[JimInPB]

Typo. Shift. Corrected.

Sorry, wasn't poking fun at you. I thought that there might be some new slang term that I had missed.