sailing with open ports
- Thread starter sailorladyliz
- Start date
just my opinion bill 1565 but you don't seem to understand that this is a friendly site where people can ask questions and get civil helpful answers. eg: a member asked a question about phrf numbers to which you rudely answered wrong forum. now this insult to a member. lighten up.
Liz, the answer is no. However, Bill is right --- the chance of getting water down below is very high even on a calm day. A wave from another boater could easily swamp the deck and then get down below. It just isn't worth it. Just two days ago our skipper neglected to check all the ports before we left and in calm conditions we got tons of water down below and drenched one of his saloon cushions big time. Not worth it. Open them up when you get back into port or at anchor.
STU;
Good response and thank you.
Noanker;
You are correct. As a former dealer, I found the level of experience is different with customers. I would use terms that everyone knew and made it a practice when teaching, there was never a dumb question because all of us have asked questions with others scratching their heads as to why asked and yes I was there too when I was young and now even with model trains. This is a good forum for others to help fellow sailors as you were pointing out.
Good response and thank you.
Noanker;
You are correct. As a former dealer, I found the level of experience is different with customers. I would use terms that everyone knew and made it a practice when teaching, there was never a dumb question because all of us have asked questions with others scratching their heads as to why asked and yes I was there too when I was young and now even with model trains. This is a good forum for others to help fellow sailors as you were pointing out.
I agree, Take a chill pill Bill. No need for rude comments, Sorry we can't all be as smart as you!!!!!!
Liz;
As the leading asker of dumb questions on this forum I understand that sometimes you just need to validate (or invalidate) what you believe to be true. Everyone here had to learn sometime.
Only thing I might add to these answers is that it depends on which ports you're referring to. Strictly speaking if you're referring to a port that would be on the side of the boat and yes, leaving these open is an invitation to get water in the cabin. (Unless you have aft facing ports that open into the cockpit but those won't allow much airflow). Sometimes I will leave a hatch on the top of the cabin open for a while if things below are getting a little stale. Best to do this only when you're motoring though because if you're sailing, one of the jib sheets might rip your hatch cover off when you tack.
As the leading asker of dumb questions on this forum I understand that sometimes you just need to validate (or invalidate) what you believe to be true. Everyone here had to learn sometime.
Only thing I might add to these answers is that it depends on which ports you're referring to. Strictly speaking if you're referring to a port that would be on the side of the boat and yes, leaving these open is an invitation to get water in the cabin. (Unless you have aft facing ports that open into the cockpit but those won't allow much airflow). Sometimes I will leave a hatch on the top of the cabin open for a while if things below are getting a little stale. Best to do this only when you're motoring though because if you're sailing, one of the jib sheets might rip your hatch cover off when you tack.
I find this to be a VERY good question. We sail with the ports open on our H260 and have never thought about the possibility of water coming in. Occasionally I'll try leaving the forward hatch open under sail but have found the jib sheets really do get caught in it. Your question was dumb only to those who either asked the same question years ago or found out the hard way. Thanks for asking it.
I occasionally leave the head ports open on my O'day. They are small enough only a small amount of spray may enter. On my sailing waters I won't see high enough waves to swamp the deck. If I was in the ocean I would button up tight.
For the reasons mentioned by Kermit and others, I never leave the front hatch open while sailing or motoring.
For the reasons mentioned by Kermit and others, I never leave the front hatch open while sailing or motoring.
When considering the blustering speed at which sailboats move the ports will have no measurable effect.
To validate and answer the question, it is not recommended to sail with your forward hatch open. Quite often I find myself wanting to, however experience has taught me not to. Apart from the jib sheets getting caught I sometimes find myself in massive waves caused by inconsiderate huge MOBO's. When bouncing through there have been occasions where the v berth has gotten wet. I sometimes will sail with my side ports open to get fresh air into the cabin. These open inwards and are located much higher, so even with healing, I doubt that water will enter in, nor is there anything that exterior equipment will hook on to them. Its all about thinking it through.
I want to believe that Bill 1565 was being humorous with his answer and meant no malice to the question.
I want to believe that Bill 1565 was being humorous with his answer and meant no malice to the question.
Com'on guys. Great sailors that we are know that anything that interrupts laminar flow over the boat, and that which ultimately creates turbulence, and therefore drag, will retard forward velocity of the sail boat, i.e., slow it. However, the effect would be so minuscule that it would disappear entirely into the "noise" of the variation in velocity [made good] due, for example, to accumulated microseconds of poor sail trim or otherwise being off course. The question resembles in principle the one of weight. Every extra piece of weight on a sail boat contributes to slowing it down. So, if I cut my toothbrush handle in two, and bring only half of it, will the boat go faster than if I brought the whole thing aboard? Yes, but only a fanatical racer looking for picoseconds, or even femtoseconds, worth of savings in finishing time [i.e., VMG] over a 7,000 n.mi. course would either bother or care!!!
Thanks for all the replies. Just a little clarification of my question. I was working inside the boat and had the side ports open and the hatch, then I deceided to go sailing. I closed the front hatch, grabbed my pfd, untied the lines and took off. On my way back to the marina the boat was settled in at nice speed and a good heel, then I happened to look down in the cabin and realized I had left the ports open and starting overthinking the speed. So I just thought I would throw the question out on the forum. Again, thanks for the replies.
"Over thinking" about what affects a sail boat's speed is how designers ultimately come up with faster boats. Nothing wrong there!!