im looking for advice on how to trim it or tune it better....
this weekend I got the chance to sail in some of the strongest winds that ive been in..... and there were some surprises.
I was running the genoa which may have been too much by some peoples standards..
the water was white capping fairly good and had about two foot of chop with some powerboat wakes added in.....
I wanted to see what the boat would do... and aside from going really fast, it is hard to hold on a straight course in extreme wind........
the wind was strong and constant but it was also uneven..... it had its moments severity.... I had the boat all battened down and I tried to get it into a controlled knock down..... just for the experience.
but just about the time the bottom edge of the jib was about 6in from the water, and i had the tiller hard over trying to hold it off, but when it was ready, the rudder position made no difference to it..... it would all of a sudden turn itself into the wind..... then the sails would luff a bit until it caught the wind again and then it was back to sailing heeled over.... until the jib was near the water again, which was only about 30 seconds, then it was rounding up again..... i let out the jib a bit and the main as well and it made it a little more controllable, but I never could get to the knock down, as close as i got was getting the cabin window wet but I think that was only a wave.....
so im not sure what it would take for a knock done with this boat, but it seems pretty safe from that in its present configuration because just about the time the rail is steady in the water it rounds up.
my question is.... aside from avoiding practicing the knockdown maneuvers, LOL, what can I do to better tune the rig or trim the sails in strong winds? why does it round up so hard in strong winds? is this kind of normal behavior for a sailboat in these wind conditions? I think i should add a couple of inches to the front edge of my lower rudder board for more area and a better balance.... it was very hard to hold in the strong wind.
and im NOT asking if this is normal sailing, lol.... i know it's not, and im sure it looked stupid to anyone watching me, but i was in school learning about my boat in heavy wind...... I will never be one of the people who stay on the dock because the wind is too strong....
and of all the experienced I gained from this adventure, the single most important thing I learned was something that seemed like nothing when i rigged the boat..... I will pass it on here for anyone who wants a bit of advice from someone with first hand experience in the matter....
DONT EVER FORGET TO TIE A KNOT IN THE END OF YOUR MAIN SHEET.....
why?... well, you would of had to of been there for the full effect, but when the wind is blowing hard and you dont get the sheet cleated good after trimming..... its almost a panic situation when the boom slams into the shrouds and the tail end of your mainsheet has unreeved itself from the blocks and is dragging in the water from the end of the boom..... the wind and the waves dont stop...... and as the action is just beginning to pick up, you somehow have to figure out how to get it all back together quickly, providing everything is still standing and something didnt break.... I was lucky!
....I went looking for experience, and I got some. I wont ever forget the knot again.
this weekend I got the chance to sail in some of the strongest winds that ive been in..... and there were some surprises.
I was running the genoa which may have been too much by some peoples standards..
the water was white capping fairly good and had about two foot of chop with some powerboat wakes added in.....
I wanted to see what the boat would do... and aside from going really fast, it is hard to hold on a straight course in extreme wind........
the wind was strong and constant but it was also uneven..... it had its moments severity.... I had the boat all battened down and I tried to get it into a controlled knock down..... just for the experience.
but just about the time the bottom edge of the jib was about 6in from the water, and i had the tiller hard over trying to hold it off, but when it was ready, the rudder position made no difference to it..... it would all of a sudden turn itself into the wind..... then the sails would luff a bit until it caught the wind again and then it was back to sailing heeled over.... until the jib was near the water again, which was only about 30 seconds, then it was rounding up again..... i let out the jib a bit and the main as well and it made it a little more controllable, but I never could get to the knock down, as close as i got was getting the cabin window wet but I think that was only a wave.....
so im not sure what it would take for a knock done with this boat, but it seems pretty safe from that in its present configuration because just about the time the rail is steady in the water it rounds up.
my question is.... aside from avoiding practicing the knockdown maneuvers, LOL, what can I do to better tune the rig or trim the sails in strong winds? why does it round up so hard in strong winds? is this kind of normal behavior for a sailboat in these wind conditions? I think i should add a couple of inches to the front edge of my lower rudder board for more area and a better balance.... it was very hard to hold in the strong wind.
and im NOT asking if this is normal sailing, lol.... i know it's not, and im sure it looked stupid to anyone watching me, but i was in school learning about my boat in heavy wind...... I will never be one of the people who stay on the dock because the wind is too strong....
and of all the experienced I gained from this adventure, the single most important thing I learned was something that seemed like nothing when i rigged the boat..... I will pass it on here for anyone who wants a bit of advice from someone with first hand experience in the matter....
DONT EVER FORGET TO TIE A KNOT IN THE END OF YOUR MAIN SHEET.....
why?... well, you would of had to of been there for the full effect, but when the wind is blowing hard and you dont get the sheet cleated good after trimming..... its almost a panic situation when the boom slams into the shrouds and the tail end of your mainsheet has unreeved itself from the blocks and is dragging in the water from the end of the boom..... the wind and the waves dont stop...... and as the action is just beginning to pick up, you somehow have to figure out how to get it all back together quickly, providing everything is still standing and something didnt break.... I was lucky!
....I went looking for experience, and I got some. I wont ever forget the knot again.
