What is a power reach and when is it best used (advantages and disadvantages)? Will it work with all sail plans?
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I wonder if you are thinking of what we used to call a "blast reacher". They were high clewed genoas with a large overlap popular in the late '60's and early '70's. The high clew made sheet lead location less critical and they were typically sheeted outside all to a foot block right aft. The theory was that they could be carried higher or in heavier winds than the spinnakers of the day. Spinnakers got better, sail inventories got smaller and racing became more oriented to set courses than long distances and the blast reacher went extinct. It has, however, been kind of re-invented in several guises ranging from "code 0"'s to screachers to very flat asymmetrical spinnakers.
Advantages, disadvantages and workability are pretty dependent on usage -- maybe you could give more details about what you are looking for.
--Tom.
HaL: You've got me on this one. I've never heard of a power reach and thought it might be a new term that slipped by me but I can't find anyone who knows what it is. Please provide more details.
Power reach details
I was following the Vendee and power reaching was mentioned and I read that the Vendee type boats were optimized for power reaching. I am unfamiliar with the term and wondered what it was. The following are some quotes from various places.
“Down wind broad reaching is fast and swerving, shaking the crew from side to side and thrusting them forward as the bow compress over the wave ahead. Wind her up a few degrees, push the keel out to max, sheet on and you have a power reach power play on your hands, ready to throw crew out their bunks and generally make life on board a touch more challenging than usual”
“Golding reported, "This is a time for a big push as our courses slowly bend around towards Cape Town. The lead boats are plunging southwards in the search for westerly breeze. As we head south very slowly we are being lifted onto the course, but rather than take the lift we are easing sheets and continuing to power reach to the south."
Mike Golding, ECOVER:
“We are just power reaching now – lot of leaning over, lots of water over the boat and accelerating quite hard. Doing about 20 knots at the moment, a fairly consistent 20 knots and then surfing up to 23 knots, so good speed. If the conditions stay the same, we can keep these speeds up, it’s pretty straight forward, not too hard and the seas are quite nice – not slamming or anything. If the seas start to change, that’s when it gets a bit difficult.”
“Luke Shingledecker, a naval architect with FYD. "There's a cap where the angle of vanishing stability [the point at which a boat capsizes] goes lower as you go wider, and this generation will be tucked right up against that cap." With the beam pushed to a maximum, PRB's upwind performance will suffer in waves, says Shingledecker, but the emphasis with these boats is power reaching, and that's where wide beam comes into play.”
I was following the Vendee and power reaching was mentioned and I read that the Vendee type boats were optimized for power reaching. I am unfamiliar with the term and wondered what it was. The following are some quotes from various places.
“Down wind broad reaching is fast and swerving, shaking the crew from side to side and thrusting them forward as the bow compress over the wave ahead. Wind her up a few degrees, push the keel out to max, sheet on and you have a power reach power play on your hands, ready to throw crew out their bunks and generally make life on board a touch more challenging than usual”
“Golding reported, "This is a time for a big push as our courses slowly bend around towards Cape Town. The lead boats are plunging southwards in the search for westerly breeze. As we head south very slowly we are being lifted onto the course, but rather than take the lift we are easing sheets and continuing to power reach to the south."
Mike Golding, ECOVER:
“We are just power reaching now – lot of leaning over, lots of water over the boat and accelerating quite hard. Doing about 20 knots at the moment, a fairly consistent 20 knots and then surfing up to 23 knots, so good speed. If the conditions stay the same, we can keep these speeds up, it’s pretty straight forward, not too hard and the seas are quite nice – not slamming or anything. If the seas start to change, that’s when it gets a bit difficult.”
“Luke Shingledecker, a naval architect with FYD. "There's a cap where the angle of vanishing stability [the point at which a boat capsizes] goes lower as you go wider, and this generation will be tucked right up against that cap." With the beam pushed to a maximum, PRB's upwind performance will suffer in waves, says Shingledecker, but the emphasis with these boats is power reaching, and that's where wide beam comes into play.”
Re: Power reach details
The Ullman sail trim site contrasted a "power reach" with a "close or beam reach," indicating it's what many would call a broad reach. Assuming the maxies sail more like ice boats than like my sedate cruiser, this presumably is their max Vmg.
The Ullman sail trim site contrasted a "power reach" with a "close or beam reach," indicating it's what many would call a broad reach. Assuming the maxies sail more like ice boats than like my sedate cruiser, this presumably is their max Vmg.
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