Sail it like a dinghy?

[Quoddy]

I’ve heard it said, that to get the most out of our boat we should “Sail it like a dinghy.”
Upwind and downwind, what would you do to “Sail it like a dinghy” ?
To give you an idea of the boat, it is a high freeboard 5000-6000 lb centerboarder with no keel and 2000 lbs of in hull ballast. It’s 23.25 on the waterline with a 9 ft beam carried aft. It has a shallow draft with the board up of 18” and 6 foot draft with the board down. The rig is a sweptback spreader, no backstay, no traveler, fractional, with a110 jib.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

I have heard the same advice and my understanding is that you should keep the mainsheet in your hand in higher winds with gusty conditions and ease the sheet if she begins to get overpowered.

I find by having the correct amount of rake and curve in the mast, using the boom vang and mainsail outhaul the boat behaves better in stronger winds and less attention is needed. I just had a cunningham added to the mainsail and will try that once the water becomes liquid again .

Bob

 

[Prime Time]

If you capsize or turtle, will your boat right?

 

[RichH]

Dinghy Sailing -
Sail the boat aggressively:
• go out in higher winds than 'normal'.
• flattening instead of reefing;
• tack downwind instead of DDW;
• find your optimum heeling angle ... and do any and all things to keep it there.
• If overpowered the first thing to do is 'close up the companionway' and lock the cockpit lockers and hatches - to prevent 'down-flooding' in case of the boat goes entirely over onto her beam ends and you ship water into the cockpit, etc.
• When hard on the wind / beating, find your 'sweet-spot' - combo of sail trim and heeling angle ... and keep it there.
• Search for and learn to 'fly the keel' (the 'right' heel angle and sail trim so that the keel 'lifts' the boat 'to weather'.
• Use a FULL set of tell tales (+ steering tales) to keep the trim and sail shape ... 'perfect'.
• For your 'next' set of sails, consider to get 'flat(er) entry' racing sails .... or a cut thats in-between a racing cut and a 'forgiving' cut.
• Learn to 'roll-tack' the boat (even if you have a 'big' boat).
• Learn how to SHAPE your sails for each day's conditions.
• Sail often.
• When in doubt, fly the spinnaker.
• Use the TRAVELLER instead of the mainsheet to keep the boat at a constant heel angle when its GUSTY .... but keep the mainsheet in close proximity, just in case.

 

[Quoddy]

That sinking feeling

There’s a video on You Tube titled” huntercapsize02” by” KNIGHTSAIL” were they try to get a H23.5 to go over. They fail even with there best attempt. The H260 is more stable. I don’t think going all the way down and over is as much of a concern as it would be in an actual dingy.

 

[RichH]

But .... note that their companionway is fully closed up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w00suzaDh_A&feature=fvw

Consider what would have happened if they hadn't feathered-up at the last second and the sails became 'held underwater' by the force of the 'wind on the hull' and the weight of the water on-top-of the sails. Good vid, thanks
;-)

 

[kenn]

Dinghy Sailing -
Sail the boat aggressively:
• ...

Since our Sandpiper has many good "dinghy" characteristics, I feel uniquely qualified to comment.

Rich, I 50% agree with your list. Anything to do with paying more attention to boat handling and tuning ... I agree. I still see many big yacht sailors seem to just set the sails once and that's it... no changes unless they stall or get overpowered. Or running sails AND engine, when they don't need to

(Yes I've heard that "gentlemen don't sail upwind", but that's not a dinghy attitude)

But you don't need to be sailing flat-out, or on the edge, or have all the tuning controls of a racing yacht, to be "dinghy" sailing.

I think the "dinghy" attitude can be summarized by:
1 - actually sail, paying attention to everything, trying small adjustments
2 - sail often

 

[shemandr]

I would add to sail like a dinghy would include attention to boat trim. Windward/leeward and forward aft. Dinghys are very sensitive to weight trim. So are keelboats but if you haven't sailed dinghys you might not notice.

 

[Joe]

Dinghy sailors don't cleat the mainsheet... because most dinghies don't have a traveller.

Dingy sailing requires constant attention to your body position.... ballast... because there is none otherwise. Triming the boat by hiking out or trapezing, if allowed, is a fundamental skill.

Dingy sailors use body weight to help turn the boat.

So........ If you want to sail your big dingy... it has no keel.. you must use your body weight positioning to maximize your trimming and turning skills. You always sail with the mainsheet in hand, not cleated, because sailing the vessel on the edge requires constant attention to the main... to avoid the broach.

 

[Don12364]

Rich,
From the video the helmsman didn't feather up. In fact I see he tried to resist the broach but the rudder came out of the water. Also we note the water level came nowhere near the companionway, though they did have the boards in - wouldn't you!

Downflooding at high angles of heel is uppermost in the designers mind and boats are tested for this. These factors contribute to the inherent safety of the design regardless of how the owner sails his boat.
European Categories (CE categories A-D) take particular note of this.

 

[Jalepeno]

If I wanted to sail like a dinghy I would sail a dinghy. I switched to a small keel sailboat many years ago because I prefer the sailing characteristics of a keelboat.