Just how much does it take to overturn a wing keel

[Bob Noble]

I just don’t know who to ask. I’ve just started sailing my Hunter 23.5 and the Admiral is afraid we’ll tip over when healing. Just how much does it take to overturn a wing keel on a Nebraska lake?

 

[Ed Allen]

here is some scoop

The answer is a difficult question. But in short alot! Ast he boat heals, the amount of effort it takes to lean the boat further increases. As the boat leans over more and more wind is spilled out over the top of the sails. secondly the as the boat tips the keel has more and more leverage because it it being rotated to increasing angles of leverage. that means the more the boat leans the more it wants to stand up. If you combine the two factors, the sails decreased leverage and the keels increased leverage, get the idea. the wing keel boat is a great design and you should be fine. It is rare when someone knocks one down.Secondly the more the boat heals the more the boat will want to head into the wind. you can feel that in the tiller. so the boats seeks its natural stability itself. it wants to go upright. Third if you let off the sheets and let the sails out you relieve the pressure and the boat stands back up. on windy days take the boat out and heel untill the rail is close to the water and you will begin to see how it works. it should take a lot of wind to roll it over. what if it does go? hang on! release the sails and the boat will right itself very quickly.It is hard to get used to a tipped world. let the admiral drive and feel how the boat works and you will grow into sailing much faster. day sailor and small centerboard boats are much more likely to roll than yours. I doubt you will ever experience it.

 

[Gary]

my lesson on weather helm

I asked the same question of my instructor on a 27' HUNTER he said "lets try to roll her" with the jib in the water and the rail wet the main tight the rudder came out of the water and we rounded up into the wind setting the boat down WOW WHAT A THRILL he said "most of the time it takes hitting or ridding the waves wrong with high winds to roll them".

 

[joe phibbs]

here is a thread

here is a thread to other sites on stability. See where they lead, albeit you might need to brush up on your high school physics to get through some of the stuff. Joe

 

[Bob Fliegel]

Waves and not Wind

I don't think a sailboat, of a significant size, can just be blown over by the wind. As Gary and Ed said beatifully, simple physics will cause the sailboat to self right or round up into the wind.As a worse case, though, I have read on this forum of an instance where a sailboat was blown so far over on its side that water came over the cockpit side and BECAUSE THE CABIN HATCH BOARDS WERE NOT IN PLACE IN ROUGH WEATHER, the cabin flooded, then the boat would not right itself and began to sink.To make things worse, the sailboat's shipper had stowed all PFD's in the cabin and, once the cabin flooded, they were inaccessable.I learned three important things from this story: 1) PFDs remain on deck, 2) cabin and deck hatches are closed in rough and semi-rough weather, & 3) wind action will not flip a sailboat.It is wave action that will overturn your sailboat. As for me, I sail a Hunter 260 on the Great South Bay of Long Island, NY. I am quite certain the wave heights have never exceeded 4 feet on the bay even on the worst of storms.I think the real question is how large do waves get on your lake.Regards,Bob

 

[Mark Major]

Then there is

"Pitch pole"...I've been in seas to 8' following, with gusts 25kts as well, surfing over ten knots, main single reefed with no jib. An experienced sailor aboard in such conditions seemed wary of potential, but it didn't happen. I've pushed this boat to these limits, but wonder, has anyone crossed the line, and how? Mark Major, s/v Lesismor, 86H23