Dead-stick landing in 20+ knots
- Thread starter Jackdaw
- Start date
Some background!
At WYC lots of the boats sail in and out of their slips. Often the entire J22 fleet will head out sans motors. The Capri fleet requires motors, but it seems like only half of them work at any given time. Unlike most sailors, having a reliable motor is NOT a priority with these guys! ;^)
The mooring field outside the slips is positioned to allow a fairway down the length of the deck to open water. But when the wind blows in that direction it gets narrower!
Dan (the boat owner) sails his boat a lot without using his motor and comes in like that often. That just happened to be a day with bigger breeze. And yes its a bit of risk for people next to him. But these Capri 25 are battlewagons.... and they carry the scars from decades of racing. Most owners joke that their sails are worth more than their hulls. And its true!
At WYC lots of the boats sail in and out of their slips. Often the entire J22 fleet will head out sans motors. The Capri fleet requires motors, but it seems like only half of them work at any given time. Unlike most sailors, having a reliable motor is NOT a priority with these guys! ;^)
The mooring field outside the slips is positioned to allow a fairway down the length of the deck to open water. But when the wind blows in that direction it gets narrower!
Dan (the boat owner) sails his boat a lot without using his motor and comes in like that often. That just happened to be a day with bigger breeze. And yes its a bit of risk for people next to him. But these Capri 25 are battlewagons.... and they carry the scars from decades of racing. Most owners joke that their sails are worth more than their hulls. And its true!
"Just more wind.." that's like saying I always jump off the top of a five foot ladder, so today I will do it off a 10ft ladder.
Your attitude changes when some one rams your boat and you spend a year in repairs. Its not even the money....
I wish I could sail like that!...Heck I wish I could sail at all, but my boat has been in repair for a year.
I raced jet skis and off shore power boats back in the 90s, and even to me that looked on the edge... LOL
And at 67 , I don't heal as fast now.... or move as fast or climb as well or even get out of bed as easy, and today just bought a rope ladder to help get into my RIB...
Regards,
Viper... as in a Scarab Viper... 1450 HP
Your attitude changes when some one rams your boat and you spend a year in repairs. Its not even the money....
I wish I could sail like that!...Heck I wish I could sail at all, but my boat has been in repair for a year.
I raced jet skis and off shore power boats back in the 90s, and even to me that looked on the edge... LOL
And at 67 , I don't heal as fast now.... or move as fast or climb as well or even get out of bed as easy, and today just bought a rope ladder to help get into my RIB...
Regards,
Viper... as in a Scarab Viper... 1450 HP
IMHO, everyone should be able to sail into/out of their slip. I was always taught that there are 3 engines on a boat, 2 up high and the iron genny below, and knowing how to fully utilize each both together and independently was the sign of good seamanship. Our club used to not allow folks to sail into their slips but after having members crash land with their motors more often than with their sails we changed the rules. Now we teach a course on how to sail into and out of a slip so that everyone knows how.
Watching the video , I understand the practice runs. Having had to dock a 20 ton boat at the fuel dock in Berkley with no engine, you learn very quickly that being able to dock under sail when the engine died is a skill everyone should have. Heavy air just means things happen faster but if you notice he had lots of help, practiced so he understood what was going to happen and then committed to the run. Nice sailing, and excellent boat handling. Throwing a line and trying to haul the boat in would have put at least one or two people in the water, if you could catch the line and, in my opinion would have been much more dangerous. The video makes it look like he came close to hitting his neighbor but I bet if you were up close you would be able to see that he never really got close.
By the way stopping a 20 ton Hyalis at the fuel dock under sail and getting to parade off onto the replacement boat while everyone watched was fun!!.
Not reckless, just good sailing.
Watching the video , I understand the practice runs. Having had to dock a 20 ton boat at the fuel dock in Berkley with no engine, you learn very quickly that being able to dock under sail when the engine died is a skill everyone should have. Heavy air just means things happen faster but if you notice he had lots of help, practiced so he understood what was going to happen and then committed to the run. Nice sailing, and excellent boat handling. Throwing a line and trying to haul the boat in would have put at least one or two people in the water, if you could catch the line and, in my opinion would have been much more dangerous. The video makes it look like he came close to hitting his neighbor but I bet if you were up close you would be able to see that he never really got close.
By the way stopping a 20 ton Hyalis at the fuel dock under sail and getting to parade off onto the replacement boat while everyone watched was fun!!.
Not reckless, just good sailing.
Last edited:
Nice and well executed. In my teens, when I was learning how to sail, all manoeuvres in the marina were done under sail (and we were tested on that as a part of the final examination). Now, most marinas, as mentioned, forbids coming in and out under sail.
Similar situation, but on a 30 footer.
'
Similar situation, but on a 30 footer.
'
i figure he was waiting on a puff to go through so final approach was in the lull. his top speed in the video is max 2 mph, not scary. his crew is ready. the dock blocks all windage on the hull. his parking brake / stopping brake is his mainsail. nothing has more drag than a flagging main. has 4 buds on the dock to catch a line.
piece of cake
if you do not believe me then go to a kids sailing school and get an 11 year old flying junior driver to explain it to you.
a lot of skippers dock their boat like my 89 year old mother enters a freeway, now that's scary.
piece of cake
if you do not believe me then go to a kids sailing school and get an 11 year old flying junior driver to explain it to you.
a lot of skippers dock their boat like my 89 year old mother enters a freeway, now that's scary.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,876
Bosman. They were very skilled. Had the sails down and wrapped before they were in the slip...
Ready for a post sail beer. Suspect one of the crew was waiting for the tie up to hand them all chilled glasses of ale... Or maybe it was wine as they may have been french....
Liked the music background.
Ready for a post sail beer. Suspect one of the crew was waiting for the tie up to hand them all chilled glasses of ale... Or maybe it was wine as they may have been french....
Liked the music background.
have only done it once-in a Catalina 22 when the outboard refused to run and was only going for the end of a t dock. Still, it was scary but thrilling and I can attest this guy has good skills. In my case the next day the motor still wouldn't work so I thought I'd just sail off the dock-hey it worked the day before. OOOOOPS, not so lucky that time but thankfully there were several people to help fend me off the other boats till I got way on!.
Or "you have a responsibility to avoid collisions" and he made zero effort. Was it a race? If not, since there was open water and no reason for him to have intentionally kept a collision course, a "starboard" claim is kinna weak. These generally settle more like "you pay for yours, I'll pay for mine."
I was glad I had my engine AND my neighbor to help us out yesterday. Our thermals kicked into overdrive yesterday with the 95 degree temps. My landing was dead downwind yesterday afternoon.
