Safe angles of heel / scaring the wife

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Dave

Bringing Balance to the Force

OK Jedi Knights listen up. As the boat heels the wind no longer flows across your sails in the same way as when it is upright, so basically as he sail approaches the water in theory it spills all the air and will not continue to cause more heeling. However the rotation of the boat has inertia and the boat will continue to heel more from its own motion until it reaches Force Equilibrium. Rule of thumb is to not heel more than 20 degrees. If it is a few gusts that is ok but a steady heel angle over 20 degrees is POOR SEAMANSHIP and the Coast Guard should yank your license (if you have one). Strain on the rigging causes it to stretch so you will need to tune it up more, and stress on the chainplates will cause them to crack and break and you will lose the whole mast. Then the stress on the sails will cause them to stretch and you will not be able to point your boat into the wind and you will lose all the races (formal or not) that you are in. Just reef the stinking sails at 20 degrees. Regards, Dave
 
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Bill - S/V Calico Dragon

Moderation

Rule number 1 is to keep everyone comfortable on the boat. That is especially true for keeping your wife comfortable if you plan to do much sailing with or without her. As she gets more comfortable and confident in both your sailing ability and hers then you can push the envelope. I would respectfully disagree with those that suggest that you take sailing lessons together. My wife and I did as we thought this was best for many of the reasons given. Unfortunately reality was different. Her interest was less in actually handling the boat so as a result she quickly forgot many of the things she learned. The result was her confidence in me was the same as in herself since we took the same class. We've discussed this and she agrees. Therefore, I'd suggest that you both take lessons from a school but at different times or different classes. She might be more comfortable in an all women's class. Your buddy can be your mentor but I'd suggest the school as the primary source of your initial sailing education. Lastly one of you, probably you, might want to take classes beyond what your wife takes. That maybe good for you and give her a reason to have more confidence in your sailing ability. As I said before making everyone comfortable is your job as captain. If you need the thrill of heeling 30 degrees go do it with others that want to do the same thing. Enjoy yourselves. You won't be sailing efficiently or as fast as you might as others pointed out but you're having fun. Just don't do it to passengers that are scared to death. If you do you'll find your boat up for sale soon. Happy sailing
 
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David

Not sure I agree

With the theory that there is additional strain on the rigging at large angles of heel. As you say the more heeling the more spillage of air therefore the less strain.
 
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Dana M26D

One man's thrill...

may be to go slow with a 30 degree heel, but I prefer speed. Nothing better than getting the last 1/10 of a knot out of the boat on a close reach. I run between 15 and 20 degrees, except for the odd gust to 25. If I can't keep her below 20 degrees with a good sail set then I reef. Every time I have had to reef I have gained speed by keeping the sails more upright. This better redirects wind aft as thrust, instead of upwards off the top of the sail. My boat points to windward better when more upright. I've held a course in a steady gust that kept the windows under water. The wife was down below and thought it neat to look out at the water flying past. It was'nt much fun to fight the weather helm and keep my balance while feeling her slow down. The wife can handle it as well as I except she doesn't like going past 15 degrees when single-handed. That's just her comfort zone so good for her. We took training together and there is no knowledge gap. (Yet again we can wallpaper together without incident.) In fact I refer to her as Captain and me as Captain's Steward. (Sounds cheesey until you remember that the Captain must pay the fines for open alcohol.) Whenever we take first-timers out we keep things below 10-15 degrees until they are confortable with the boat and trust our ability. Everyone has asked to come out with us again. I've heard of others who were scared stiff on their first time out and swore-off our great sport. Anyone can maintain excessive heel. Show 'em the speed instead.
 
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Dave

Reply to David from Sydney BC

David, Think of it this way. Your boat is rotating about a center of bouyancy. As the boat heels there is a righting moment created by the keel so the Force through the center of mass times the distance to the center of rotation is the moment. This is countered by an equivalent moment caused by the center of effort of the sail plan causing the boat to heel. The greater the heel angle the larger the moment. If the moment is larger the loads on the rigging will be larger. Essentially it is a torque applied to the boat in opposite directions one torque applied by the force on the sails and the other applied by the keel and reaching equilibrium for a constant heel angle. The greater the heel angle the greater the torque and therefore the higher the loads on the rigging. This is an oversimplification as the forces are very complex and dynamic including waves and pitching, but it should provide some idea of why more heel equals more force on rigging. Dave
 
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Dave

Calico Dragon

Bill, Your wife is a very wise lady to be scared to death sailing with you. I've seen you sailing and I'm scared to death just watching. At least in San diego the wind will never exceed 5 knots and you should be safe. Regards, Dave
 
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