This is a follow-up to an earlier discussion on sailing H23s to windward: I was out sailing yesterday under full main and 110 jib in near-ideal conditions. Wind was 12-15 kt with 10 to 15 degree shifts. There was a light chop and no current. The hull was clean but not scrubbed and my keel could use some fairing. With crew weight to windward, about 5 degrees of weather helm and playing the traveler and mainsheet in the gusts I could point up between 45 and 50 degrees of true wind (I measured headings on opposite tacks and divided by two) Boatspeeds measured with GPS were between 5.2 and 5.6 kt. Easing off slightly and sailing 50 to 55 deg. off the wind produced a surprisingly substantial jump in boatspeed (6.2 to 6.6 kt). The weather helm also dropped to almost zero. Earlier today, I did the math and here's what I found. Please correct me if I incorrectly defined the terms used in the discussion. "Velocity made good" (VMG) is a measure of how effectively a boat works its way to windward. VMG is the speed over ground (SOG) times the cosine of the angle of the course over ground (COG) relative to the wind. SOG equals boatspeed only when there's no current. COG and heading are not the same, but since I was reading COG with the GPS (so it's actually "track" and not COG) I figured the leeway was automatically included. Again, please correct me if I'm wrong. When hard on the wind (45 to 50 deg.), my VMG ranged from 3.3 to 4.0 kt. while a tight close reach (50 to 55 deg.) yielded VMG from 3.6 to 4.2 kt. In other words, it appears that gains in boatspeed on a slightly lower course really do offset the slightly wider angle sailed to the wind (and the longer distance sailed over the ground). However, good pointing ability is still a viable option as long as you can maximimize the available boatspeed on that heading. Any thoughts or comments on this? Peter H23 "Raven"
Some observations while sailing an H23 to windward
- Thread starter Wanderer138
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This confirms two things...
One: my own observations in my H23 on Long Island's Great South Bay, where I can point to 45 degrees but not make that much speed. With the treveller all the way to windward and the boom to windward of center, just before the sails start to luff, I can point high and make progress. Easing off the course, the jib (original 110) and the main and heading at about 55 degrees to the wind we fly. The difference is at least enough to compensate for the course angle, and in stronger winds more. Two: Peter is the 23 guru!
One: my own observations in my H23 on Long Island's Great South Bay, where I can point to 45 degrees but not make that much speed. With the treveller all the way to windward and the boom to windward of center, just before the sails start to luff, I can point high and make progress. Easing off the course, the jib (original 110) and the main and heading at about 55 degrees to the wind we fly. The difference is at least enough to compensate for the course angle, and in stronger winds more. Two: Peter is the 23 guru!
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