Sailing in heavy weather

[RichH]

Guys,
Again, he has an ODay 22 ... a very lightweight relatively narrow boat with a SMALL keel/CB, a boat that ISNT going to stand up to much more than 25+kts without having severe heeling problems, etc. at 'any' angle to the wind/waves.

So, the advice (by Drew13440, etc.) to especially keep a very keen/wary eye out for approaching weather so he can 'go hide', etc. as quickly as possible is probably the absolute very BEST advice. :-|

 

[higgs]

Properly sailed, the O'Day 22 is up to Lake P.

 

[jibes138]

Hey, I read about a guy from Japan sailing across the Pacific once in a bathtub. For a guy in a bathtub an O'Day 22 would seem like the Queen Mary which also had a real problem with severe weather once when her bridge deck windows were smashed out by a wave. The windows were probably 70 feet off the water. That's why Einstein said it best in his theory of relativity.

 

[Cayennita]

I have raced on that lake quite a few times in a Folkboat and got caught in a storm more than once. We thread a take down line from the head of the sail through the hanks. down to a block and back to a cockpit cleat. Also have netting up forward to prevent the sail from going overboard. Release halyard, pull take down line, leave genoa sheet tight, and most of the time you do not need to go forward. The main has double reef, with the upper being quite up. Reefing is control by single line.
Of course, being a long keel boat made for offshore, we have always sailed through whatever we encountered.
In a light weight boat, follow the take down suggestion, but be ready to drop that anchor or tie up to the many pipes sticking out of the bottom that is only 9' down on the average.