High Wind 101

TimCup · Apr 16, 2009

peter-

I'm not on my computer, so I can't just send you the link, but if you'll google "jiffy reefing", you find lot's of info on how to set up your main sail to reef with one line in a minute or less. And, best of all, it's a cheap upgrade (how often can we say that??).

cup

David10790 · Apr 16, 2009

You have to keep your balance

Hi Skink:

Most times you will want to change down one size on your jib first, and if that doesn't do the job, take a reef in the main. BUT
while reducing your sail area you must keep the boat balanced. By this I mean making sure that the tiller does not become overwhelmed making it impossible to steer. For example, on my boat if I reduced the jib first, I would be fighting a huge amount of weather helm - the boat would be trying to head up into the wind. I would be resisting by adding rudder, and slowing myself down in the process. When the rudder gets overwhelmed, the boat experiences a "round up" - a sudden unexpected and uncontrolled movement to windward. This can be alarming and dangerous.

You need to experiment on your own boat to see what works for your sail plan. Depending on whether the jib goes to the top of the mast (mast head rig) or only part way up (fractional rig) and depending on how powerful your mainsail is, you might end up reefing the main first.

(By the way, to avoid being ridiculed by others on this site: the big white fabric things are sails; the lines you control them with are sheets).

bubba · Apr 16, 2009

Install at least 3 quick reefs to your main sail and call me in the morning.

Franklin · Apr 16, 2009

Skink:

If this (http://southcoastus.tripod.com/sc22doc7.html) is your sail plan, then you have a 150, a 135, and a working jib (100).

If you are asking how to setup your sail plan for a day's sail in heavy winds, that's easy: pick a head sail that matches the sail area you plan on having on your main...aka...if you are planning on having 2 or more reefs set, then go with the working jib. If you plan on 1 reef point or feel you want to start out with 2 but may shake out one, then go with the 135 head sail. If the wind is too strong for all your reef points and your working jib, then go with just the main up.

Now if you are talking about reducing sail while out sailing and heavy winds hit, then I would try putting in reef points in the main first before going to the bow and changing out head sails.

Now my advice is not meant for racing...as racing you always have the correct head sail out and always pushing the limits of them

Also, don't forget techiniques of reducing power of the sails you have up as an option like flatting sails or spilling air but that's a different subject.

sailingdog · Apr 16, 2009

As pointed out...

First, go from the 120% down to the jib, with full mainsail
Then a reef in the main sail
Then from the jib to the storm jib
Then a second reef in the main sail
Then no jib.

If you have to go to a third reef in the main on this boat, you should probably be under bare poles or a storm trysail.

Heaving to is a great storm tactic, and one you should practice under a storm jib and double reefed mainsail. Get a sailmaker to add a second reef to your main. Anchoring is also a good storm tactic, if you have good ground tackle and pick the right spot to anchor.

BTW, it would help if you used the proper terminology. The sheets are the ropes that control the clew of the sails. There are usually two jib sheets—one port, one starboard, unless you have a self-tacking jib setup. There is one main sheet—either attached mid-way along the boom or at the end of the boom.

I would highly recommend you get David Seidman's book, The Complete Sailor, and read it. The book is about $16 at your local bookstore.

BTW, one of the most effective and easiest reefing setups for a main sail is slab or jiffy reefing. It is pretty simple to setup. It requires a line, a block and a cleat for each reef—which control the reef clew cringle on the aft end (leech) of the main sail, and a tack hook or line and cleat for the reefing tack cringle on the forward edge of the mainsail (the luff). It would look something like this:

drawing courtesy bartonmarine.com

Lazy Jacks can make dropping or reefing the main sail a bit simpler too. A good setup for lazy jacks can be found here, and looks like this:

skink said:
Greetings,

I've been sailing inland fresh water lakes here in Missouri for a couple years now with a SouthCoast 22 trailer sailor. I sail it pretty well, but I know that I've got alot to learn about sailing yet. I need information and knowledge about High Wind sailing techniique. Now, I classify high wind as say 20mph or better I suppose, and in Missouri there are pleanty of spring days with winds that gust well over that. That's one consideration is that wind here is often shifty with a steady wind not always being the norm. I have have all three head sails, the storm jib, standard jib, and the 120%? jib, and a single reefable main sail. I don't know the order in which to reduce sail and which sail should be the last sail out in the wind, which directions to bear in adverse conditions for best handling the present windage fi severe. I really havent' figured out a great way to reef my main quickly either or know if I'm doing it anywhere near properly. I don't want to be just a fair weather sailor, I don't mind the cool weather, spray from the rollers hitting the bow, and being on the lake when there is little company. I would just like to head off some misery somewhere down the line... hehheh.

Peter

Franklin · Apr 16, 2009

skink said:
...and then I have one other old jib smaller yet that I have been calling a storm jib.

Most likely, that is a working jib. Storm jibs measurements are like 3x7x9. Easy way to think about it...if the headsail's tip touches the mast, it's a 100. If it covers 50% of the main, it's a 150 and so on and so on. These of course are approx.

skink said:
...
The last sail in the wind would be?

It's best to use the last sail as the main normally because it will not cause a vibration in the mast which could lead to metal fatigue and a broken mast. Now Fractional rigs sometimes can get away with it because the head sail is so small.

skink said:
...also in general is weather helm casued by too much mainsail area?

Weather helm is caused center of effort being too far aft. This COE is dictated by many things such as the sail plan, sail trim, hull shape and healing and keel rudder design. You can't change your hull or anything under the water so lets stick with the sails.

A fractional rig (which I would be surprised if you did have) would have the mast a little forward of the keel than a mast head rig, so running with main only doesn't produce as much weather helm as a mast head rig. The idea is to get a good center of effort over the keel. Too much pull aft of the keel gives weather helm and too much pull forward of the keel gives lee helm. Think it this way: if you are standing on a dock finger and have a dock line to the stern cleat in one hand and a dock line to the bow cleat in the other, when you pull on the stern cleat, the boat would turn away from you and visa versa. Same thing under sail. If the main sheet is pulling away from the wind more then the bow is being pushed away from the wind, then the boat will want to round up. If the head sail is pulling on the forstay away from the wind more then forces against the stern, then the boat will want to turn down wind. It's your job to balance these forces.

If your boat produces a lot of weather helm with heavy healing, then running just the head sail with help offset that to balance the boat (mine is like that due to the wide stern). But, because I have a fractional rig, my mast is in a good position where using just the main doesn't produce a lot of weather helm as long as I'm not healing too much. The weather helm created by the wide stern on my boat with the little weather helm from the main it hard on the rudder and the helmsman.

You don't have swept back spreaders so you don't have to worry about reaching, but boats like mine with sharp swept back spreaders can't let the main out much so the main is almost useless in reaching without the jib.

Hope this helps.

sailingdog · Apr 16, 2009

It depends a lot on the boat... some boats will do well and can heave to under bare poles, others can't heave to without some sail up.

Check the smallest sail... it may not be a storm jib... a storm jib is a pretty small sail... One common recommendation is that a storm jib should be limited to 3% to 5% of I^2 in area. If you have an I of 34.5', like my boat does, the I^2 = 1190.25 sq. ft. 3% of that is 35.75 sq. ft. 5% of that is 59.52 sq. ft.

Weather helm is caused by a lot of different factors. Too much mainsail is part of the problem...since the main sail tends to cause the boat to turn up... another part of the problem is when the boat is heeled too far over... the center of effort goes far to one side and gives the boat a turning moment, and part is often due to the asymmetric shape of the heeled hull.

Many boats do far better with only a reefed mainsail, rather than only a jib. Most can't point very well under just a jib.

skink said:
The last sail in the wind would be? the main reefed as much as possible, or no main with smallest jib? The jib is hard to release in high wind and variable wind gusts make me feel uncomfortable not being able to release it easily and spill air at least it seemed important to me at the time!! I was thinking that a reefed main and no jib might be more proper at that point but I've not been there yet!

also in general is weather helm casued by too much mainsail area?

I need to learn how to heave to also, on lakes in Misery you're never very far from a cove or safe haven from the wind, however I do want to be able to handle adverse conditions and sail in unpredicable weather.

sc22nMisery
Skink