We have had a decent summer with our new to us 27-3, however we had our butts handed to us out on Lake Erie the last two times out. Both times I did due diligence checking the marine forecast for wind and waves, both times it ended up being wrong so we were caught in conditions that were challenging. The first was a wind change from he predicted 4-6knts to somewhere above 15 gusting higher, waves were supposed to 1-3' but ended up more like 3-6'. For those not familiar with conditions on this lake, the waves are somewhat square, there are no rollers, only walls of water with short intervals. We took water over the deck and coach roof several times. Normally I would approach the waves at 45* under power, this boat seems to handle them better square on but that's not very pleasant. We figured the hull from the keel forward was out of the water before landing in the trough with a boom. The mast was doing a pretzel dance. We never got the sails up, managed to pick our chance and turned back. Anyone have a better tip for waves and large boat wakes?
This last weekend we were out doing .1 knots, (yes that is Point 1), both sails rolled all the way out. Within a minute the wind clocked around 90* and went from nothing to 15-20knts catching us on the beam. We were over canvassed and over powered so I kicked the mainsheet out of the cleat to spill the wind and right the boat. We wanted to reef the main but it was impossible to roll it in until we headed directly into the wind. That depowered it enough to winch it in about half way. Unfortunately the jib was now flogging and wrapped the sheet around the forward deck cleat before we could get it under control. My last resort was to start the diesel, get the jib rolled in and run with the wind until we got into a lee shore where rwe rolled in the rest of the main. I will admit to some confusion as this is our first boat with the RF main sail. How would you handle this differently?
This last weekend we were out doing .1 knots, (yes that is Point 1), both sails rolled all the way out. Within a minute the wind clocked around 90* and went from nothing to 15-20knts catching us on the beam. We were over canvassed and over powered so I kicked the mainsheet out of the cleat to spill the wind and right the boat. We wanted to reef the main but it was impossible to roll it in until we headed directly into the wind. That depowered it enough to winch it in about half way. Unfortunately the jib was now flogging and wrapped the sheet around the forward deck cleat before we could get it under control. My last resort was to start the diesel, get the jib rolled in and run with the wind until we got into a lee shore where rwe rolled in the rest of the main. I will admit to some confusion as this is our first boat with the RF main sail. How would you handle this differently?
