Decision Time

[Don Guillette]

Picture this --- you’re sailing up the coast from Newport Beach, Ca to your marina in Long Beach. You’re closehauled in 8 knots of wind. You’ve been on the water for 1 hour, the wind and waves have been consistent, your sails are set for 100% efficiency, your wife is relaxing and catching some rays and you’re enjoying a “tinney” and listening to some tunes (you snow bound guys will have to use your imagination!!). The wheel feels nice in your hands and your boat is responding to you --- life is good!! The above single handed scenario is ME on many occasions.

Then, up ahead you notice a change is starting to take place – the wind and waves are starting to build up. You’ve got some time to kill before you get in it so you start thinking about what you’re going to do when it hits because why wait until the last minute because soon you’ll be in more than moderate air and some chop, which you’re going to have to power through.

So, what are you thinking?? What adjustments to the main and jib are you going to have to make?? How many of you wait until the last minute to make your sail trim adjustment decision??

 

[zeehag]

what would happen with wife if you sailed thru it...
.mebbe, if wife isnt up to the stress of a fun day in heavy weatherhood, take the closest option...1 hour out...can turn and run with prefrontals into safe harbor before storm... ok.. if not... not tooo many safe harbors between newport and long beach...huntington beach may have something, but i am not remembering anything usable by a sailing boat...seal beach? alamitos might be if you are close enough, but if only an hour out, you wont be, so your actual options are go thru it, run back, or heave to until it passes....
.for me,it depends on sailing partner. i would sail thru it and be done with it.
unless it is a huge storm from pnw hell....then i wouldnt-a been out in first place,unless i was riding a prefrontal south, our prevailing directions.
uphill can get truly nasty in weather.
i have sailed into some nasties, but i didnt like it much. we went jib alone, did well with minimal weather helm.
heavy ketch sailing thru is with mizzen and jib and engine to achieve 1.2kts into nasties... we dont go there...
we sailed 37 ft sloop thru many electrical storms in gulf of mexico.
we dropped main and sailed thru but it was not comfortable..no main and partial jib from furling roller furled. boat told us via weather helm when to and how much to reef furler jib.

we were not racing, but cruising, so answers will vary.

 

[kappykaplan]

Reef the main now. If you can partially furl the jib, do so. Break out the foulies.

 

[rufus1138]

im not in a hurry if im there so i reef and change to a short hoist blade (2/3 hoist) then bear off to more of a reach to moderate heel while maintaining more boat speed and try to mitigate hobbyhorsing/achieve a better ride. tack when its over and run into desired port or further adjust for conditions and soilder on.

 

[Don Guillette]

It's not going to be a major blow -- the wind will pipe up to 12 knots or so and there will be some chop but not a lot. In other words, not a reefing situation and I'm cruising not racing.

 

[kappykaplan]

12 kts - no problem! I'd consider falling off in that event, but based on being solo most of the time in my boat, would probably stay on the same point of sail.

 

[justsomeguy]

Kinda happened to me this last Friday, and the old maxim, "if you're thinking about reefing", crossed my mind.

After viewing some whales, we were on a beam reach, and starting to heel more than I'm comfortable with. Yep, I'm a chicken.

But instead of reefing, I just depowered the sails by letting out the sheets a bit, and hardened the vang. We were still surfing down growing swells quite speedily.

I don't believe my little Mac25 has ever sailed faster for me.

If I was close-hauled, I'd bear off and do the same thing.

 

[kito]

Winds of only 12 knots with mild chop and not a reefing situation? I guess if I knew from a distance that it was going to be mild chop and only 12 knots, I wouldn't change a thing. But not knowing the actual conditions ahead and me being a newbie I would probably head into the wind and roll up the headsail a bit. If the wife is on deck sunbathing I would ask to her to come down. Probably the wrong answer but curious to hear the correct one.

 

[rufus1138]

oh 12kts only, lol mabey i would ask the wife to come to the cockpit, my 33 loves more air up to about 20-25 kts with a full main and ratcheting down to a 110/blade ish (still working on what combination of jibs i wanna carry) 12kts might be time to strike the 155 but i wouldnt know for sure yet since i havent had it up in any growing conditions like this, but based on the 110's performance in up to 20kts with full main i would be aware of the change and little else.

 

[Benny17441]

My only projected action at the last minute would be to refresh my drink. I would calmly put one reef on the main and reduce the size of the headsail with the furler. In order to keep speed I might turn the engine on so as to counteract the early reefing. If it is a squall I would want to punch through it in the opposite direction and be in it the least amount of time. Turning back would mean running ahead of the storm and that is not a position I like to be in.

 

[weinie]

Tighten up the outhaul and adjustable backstay (if I had one, but i don't) to flatten the main. I'd probably think about bringing the traveler over the centerline to windward (if it is not there already) and prepare to ease the mainsheet to throw in some twist if the heeling got too much. I'd also make sure the halyard is snug to move the draft forward if its gonna get a bit choppy and prepare to foot off a couple of degrees as needed to keep the boat speed up.

On the genoa, I might drop a notch back on the windward fairlead for the next tack.

12 knots is about the cutoff point for me to reef...
If was with wifey...I'd reef the genoa a tad.
Single hand or with guy crew, I'd be full sail and work the traveler in the gusts.

 

[ebsail]

Well having only 60 years of sailing experience, I can say that when things deteriorate, they may rapidly deteriorate much further.. First, I would turn back towards home. Next, I would certainly put a reef in the main to cut down on the coming additional heel angle. It will keep the wife happy. This will also keep the boat very slightly under powered and easy to handle. That leaves the roller furler to easily cut down the total sail area 10 to 50% more (our jib is close in size to our main) if things go bad. If things really go to pot, you can sail on a scrap of jib which is easy to tack, and the reefed main. Or if desperate, go to the reefed main only which gives you a self tacking rig. The wife need not be called to action. Always easier to add sail when the wind drops, than to reef when its blowing like h--l. A pleasure cruise should have a limited amount of excitement, if you want the wife to continue sailing.

 

[Stu Jackson]

8 knots to 12 knots is not deteriorating conditions.

It's improving conditions for sailing!

Flatten the mainsail, be prepared to adjust the traveler, consider perhaps moving your jib fairlead based on wind strength and enjoy the sail!

 

[hman]

12knts?

That's almost becalmed on San Francisco Bay in the summer....LOL However, in the spirit of the post, I would tighten the main halyard, out haul and the boom vang to flatten and twist off the main. Since I don't have roller furling, I would take down the jenny and hank on the 90% jib. Oh, and bring the admiral into the cockpit and tell her the view from the windward side is gorgeous, why not hang your feet over the side and take it all in?

 

[Joe]

What would I do? Nothing.... except wake the wife and tell her we're going to start having some sailing fun.

 

[Apex]

change the radio station?
Where is the wife sunbathing at, and does she have tan lines?
I re-read and for continuing course close-hauled, flattening the jib and main further if possible seems about right. If already bladed then it WOULD seem to be a reducing sail area situation, esp to keep balance, why fight the wheel?

 

[Don Guillette]

I just picked 12 knots to illustrate that reefing was the last thing on my mind. What I'm thinking about is what I have to do to power up the boat to plow through the chop. What adjustments would a sailor make to accomplish that goal -- some of you have hit on it already??

Apex: Every So Ca girl has tan lines!! None that I know have a "mayonnaise complexion"!!! My wife's favorite spot is the cockpit seat with her back to the cabin wall.

 

[Joe]

I just picked 12 knots to illustrate that reefing was the last thing on my mind. What I'm thinking about is what I have to do to power up the boat to plow through the chop. What adjustments would a sailor make to accomplish that goal -- some of you have hit on it already??

Apex: Every So Ca girl has tan lines!! None that I know have a "mayonnaise complexion"!!! My wife's favorite spot is the cockpit seat with her back to the cabin wall.

When the chop comes I might move the fairlead forward a bit to power up the jib and ease the outhaul to give the main a bit more oomph.

 

[kappykaplan]

On my boat, if I'm already closehauled, I'm already powered up when the 12 kts hits.

 

[zeehag]

dang only 12 kts...i need 20 to move this here boat ...lol.... dont even have to reef for 12 kts...just go...