Squall line hits - proper technique

John T1594 · Apr 29, 2015

White Squall

As I previously reported on this forum:

We got hit by one fast moving white squall last summer on the bay. 70 mph winds for ten minutes. Sails down and just kept motoring directly into the winds.

http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=1053664&highlight=White Squall

patrickince · Apr 29, 2015

I noticed many things I would have done differently from that video on you tube. It was a great learning/refresher lesson. My wife and I watched it independently and we made a independent lists of what we would do in differently and came up with 20 items each. The main one for me was I really feel they under estimated the situation they were in. It will change the prep we do before we go out for a sail for sure. I hope many others learn from this and my deepest condolences to the families of the lost sailors

Gunni · Apr 29, 2015

Beautiful. Tuck a reef and go all day! Why is there always one yahoo in the crew who insists on standing on the cockpit seat like a whooping crane with their head at boom height? As if the helmsman doesn't have enough to do - now he's in charge of someone's cranium.

victorhoisington · Apr 29, 2015

So I'll give my story, first sail with the new (old Boat) we are down the lake about 45 minutes from the docks. Having a glorious sail. No storms, no major clouds around however, I do notice the there are a few high puffy ones, nothing black, no lightning, no fronts predicted or expected. We are sailing along on a nice port tack, the admiral is standing in the open companionway, did I forget to mention we are sailing under full main and 135 roller furling Genoa perfect for the 7 knots breeze.

Suddenly and I mean in the blink of an eye we are knocked over, by a huge microburst, the admiral looks out through the companionway through the open ports and sees green water and immediately panics that the boat is going to sink, the wind is howling, the outboard is fully out of the water but she wants the motor started so we can go home.

The boat appears to suddenly roll horizontal, with the wind howling the admiral panicked and my son looking on like what is going on (he didn't know any better), I pop the jib sheet and let it fly, loosen the main and head up into the wind and we are back under control. Still a lot of noise with flailing main and jenny but now we are upright. I roll in the jenny, tame the main and we are back under full control.

Now this was small and relatively short lived (maybe 5 minutes at most) compared to what was experienced by others but, we had everyone in a PFD, we resolved the immediate situation with no damage (others on the lake lost sails or broke rigging) and ended up sailing home on main alone.

As in the example to start this thread, know what your boat can do & handle, prepare for the worst (especially as skipper) and be aware. Even though we had reasonably clear skies, local knowledge helped me to recognize that there could be an issue so we simply stepped from day sail to storm sail almost without a beat. It did take the admiral two years before she would sail in anything above 10 knots but, she now knows what the boat does in big winds and actually enjoys heavy weather sailing as long as we are in control.

I'll add one additional thought, Second guessing decisions made in the heat of a moment is only good for preparing for how we would handle the situation ourselves. It's easy to say others didn't prepare or didn't make good decisions when I'm sitting at the dock, But i wasn't there, I don't have their specific knowledge or their specific boat. I don't think anyone goes out thinking, lets see how badly I can screw things up today, I do think that some decision we make work and some do not. My sympathies to all who were affected by the storm at Dauphin Island or any other storm. I ask the sea and wind gods to help me see what they did and learn how to be a better sailor and captain.

capta · Apr 29, 2015

The rules that I use to survive squalls have served me well for over 50 years. We've never lost a sail or had the spreaders in the water.
If you can see under a squall, it probably doesn't have more than 40 knots of wind in it and we might reef, if we aren't already reefed. If we can not see under it (it's dark all the way to the water) then the gear comes off the boat! This can be seen day or even on the darkest night. I've had numerous squalls of 70 knots or more in the leading edge and I'm not going to risk the gear, boat or crew over a half hour's progress. If sea room is limited, I'll crank up the engine and head her into the wind, just to hold position.
Though I have only experienced one white squall, it was one of the most terrifying things I've been through in my career. Perfectly clear sky. Moderate 12-15 knot winds. No seas to speak of. Absolutely no visible indication of what was to come.
It began as a low rumble, sort of like thunder off in the distance but continuous, increasing in volume until it was a roar like a huge waterfall, but still no visible indicators. Then white water could be seen on the horizon, about 2 miles away, but still no waves where we were, The noise was absolutely terrifying, especially because there just wasn't anything that should be causing it. At that point we brought down the gear (pre-roller furling) and secured it well.
Soon we could see waves of 6 to ten feet bearing down on us, each topped by a white crest, but it was still calm as could be where we were. I had no anemometer, but I estimate the wind at 65 knots when it hit. Like a brick wall! Still not a cloud in the sky and none ever developed. After the initial gust, the wind eased off to 40 or so and we put up some gear and continued on to Italy .
I had no idea what had hit us until I was sitting with some other sailors in the West Indies and someone mentioned a 'white squall' and it was like that little light bulb popping up above the cartoon character's head.
Don't take a chance with squalls. They are dangerous, powerful storms and it's much better to take them with no gear up, than risk your boat and crew for no good reason. There's always another race next week.

Bill Roosa · Apr 29, 2015

Looks like the primary rule is keep a lookout so you know it is coming and don't have to react with the wind up and boat in peril.

caguy · Apr 29, 2015

capta said:
The rules that I use to survive squalls have served me well for over 50 years. We've never lost a sail or had the spreaders in the water.
If you can see under a squall, it probably doesn't have more than 40 knots of wind in it and we might reef, if we aren't already reefed. If we can not see under it (it's dark all the way to the water) then the gear comes off the boat! This can be seen day or even on the darkest night. I've had numerous squalls of 70 knots or more in the leading edge and I'm not going to risk the gear, boat or crew over a half hour's progress. If sea room is limited, I'll crank up the engine and head her into the wind, just to hold position.
Though I have only experienced one white squall, it was one of the most terrifying things I've been through in my career. Perfectly clear sky. Moderate 12-15 knot winds. No seas to speak of. Absolutely no visible indication of what was to come.
It began as a low rumble, sort of like thunder off in the distance but continuous, increasing in volume until it was a roar like a huge waterfall, but still no visible indicators. Then white water could be seen on the horizon, about 2 miles away, but still no waves where we were, The noise was absolutely terrifying, especially because there just wasn't anything that should be causing it. At that point we brought down the gear (pre-roller furling) and secured it well.
Soon we could see waves of 6 to ten feet bearing down on us, each topped by a white crest, but it was still calm as could be where we were. I had no anemometer, but I estimate the wind at 65 knots when it hit. Like a brick wall! Still not a cloud in the sky and none ever developed. After the initial gust, the wind eased off to 40 or so and we put up some gear and continued on to Italy .
I had no idea what had hit us until I was sitting with some other sailors in the West Indies and someone mentioned a 'white squall' and it was like that little light bulb popping up above the cartoon character's head.
Don't take a chance with squalls. They are dangerous, powerful storms and it's much better to take them with no gear up, than risk your boat and crew for no good reason. There's always another race next week.

40 or more and you might reef? 40 or more and I wet my pants.

At what point would you deploy a drogue? And Off the stern or bow?

capta · Apr 29, 2015

caguy said:
40 or more and you might reef? 40 or more and I wet my pants.
At what point would you deploy a drogue? And Off the stern or bow?

You've got to remember, these squalls are not fronts. We might take a 40 knot hit on the leading edge, but they don't hold that for long, dropping back to maybe 25, for 20 minutes to an hour, so easing the sails or possibly falling off, is usually sufficient on the boats I sail. Visibility is bad and there is often heavy rain, but it's usually over in a hour, leaving one flopping around in a hot, humid calm, immediately afterwards. Then the trades come back and all is well with the world again. This can happen as often as ten plus times in a night (THE Dark and Stormy Night of 2011) or once or twice on a channel crossing between islands, in the West Indies. Sometimes, you can actually sail in between them and remain unscathed.

Ward H · Apr 29, 2015

JackDaw, Thanks for this thread.
I'm getting ready to start my 3rd season and have managed to avoid getting caught out so far but narrowly missed getting caught in a very strong front my first year. My OB failed to start and I had to get towed in. Just got in and got the lines on when it hit hard.
I read these experiences hoping it helps to prepare me mentally for when the time comes that I do get caught in a squall.
John T, I went back and read your account, since I sail on the BB. Good post.

Thanks to all.

shemandr · Apr 29, 2015

Gunni said:
Why is there always one yahoo in the crew who insists on standing on the cockpit seat like a whooping crane with their head at boom height?

I don't know but there is always one. Some people like a view, I guess.

Jumpstart · Apr 30, 2015

Sailing in storms (long)

I have been in 3 storms that had wind from 55-70 knots. Each situation was different and was handled differently.

Daytime- July 4. 2005 Sandusky Islands Race Wind at start of race was 20 knots of the aft quarter. Fun times. 3 miles into race wind switched to nose and increased to 45-50 knots. Slightly overcast but a clear day. Gusts to upper 50s. We were 7 miles off the coast in 20-25 feet of water. Waves were high frequency and confused 4 footers. I had 2 crew who were both experienced. We put a deep reef in main and dropped the headsail. Manageable but not that comfortable as we makin 5 knots to weather and stll pointing pretty well. Dropped out of race when the other 12 boats had dropped out and we were the only ones left. I attribute our success in negotiating the conditions to a good boat (Sabre 28) and preparedness. We all had on our offshore inflateables from the start. No damage to sails or boat.

10:20 PM June 2008 Mills Race. Night Race. Leading our class sailing upwind in 18knots apparent with a full main and number 2. Scattered thunderstorms predicted. We watched the western sky which had distant thunder and reflected lightning. 5 crew plus me at the helm. All had fully offshore PFDs, crew lights, whistles etc. Crew notices on shore lights disappear and don foul weather jackets thinking rain is coming at us. Wind backs 80 degrees instantly, visibility goes to zero in blinding rain and we heel over 45 degrees even after we release jib sheets and main sheet. Wind goes to 70 and the noise is deafening. Again the Sabre 28 performs admirably. The boat creeps up to weather and just sits there. The waves aren't too bad as the wind has clipped off the tops. Then bang. It sounds like an explosion. I look up and the rig is gone. No slow motion collapse. Most of the rig including sails is banging on the underside of the hull. The boat immediately goes beam to the waves and starts pitching toe rail to rail. I was at the helm and the rest of the crew was sitting on the deck. We couldn't turn on the engine with all the rig and lines in the water so we waited a few minutes for the storm to subside. The crew calmly went about unscrewing the rig and cutting the lines. The hardest part was detaching the forestay which had a threaded pin and 2 locknuts. Imagine laying flat on the deck holding a wrench on one nut while someone stands over you wedged in the bow pulpit turning the other nut. Then consider the boat is violently pitching and it is dark. Yikes. A big thanks to my wife who had the unenviable task of laying on the bow and taking an occasional wave hitting her in the face as we unscrewed the bolts. We finally got everything over the side and waited 5 minutes to turn the motor on. No screech from a fouled line and off we motor the 4 miles to Put in Bay.

What we learned: Back on shore we saw the color radar replay of the storm. Definitely microbursts as the red blobs swept across the course with the purple and violet blobs embedded in the red blobs. It depends where you were whether you got hit with the burst. 400 yards to the west of us they never saw more 45 knots.

Always have experienced crew when racing at night (we did). Have proper safety equipment (we did) and stay calm (pretty much). Hack sawing the rig away would have been impossible in the conditions. We had an emergency antenna for the VHF plus handheld VHFs. We ended up calling the RC on our cell after we started motoring in because the
vhf had a lot of traffic on it.We had a very sharp serrated knife which was especially helpful in cutting the vectran V-100 jib halyard. (We now carry a Harbor Freight ceramic knife at the helm for this). Red bite lights on lanyards for all the crew made the job easier in the dark. Johnson wrap pins on the turnbuckles made unscrewing them pretty easy in the dark.

July 2012- Chicago Mac Race. 10:00-3:00am
Helming a 43' Morgan. The center cockpit Catalina/Morgan Nelson Marek 43 is a tank. We were taking the spinnaker down as it it started to gust into the 30s and it was getting dark. We were south of the Manitou Islands in Lake Michigan. Boat started to roll then pitched abruptly back sending one of the crew at the mast head first through the shrouds. He reached to break his fall and put his arm between the shrouds as he fell. Immediate compound fracture. We turned the motor on but left the main up as we surfing at near 9 knots with main alone and we needed to get into Leeland Michigan to get crew to the hospital. About that time I received a cell call from my wife who was watching the weather radar at home. She warned me of 2 monster thunderstorm lines that looked to be converging over our position. About that time a 30 degree wind shift hit us with a massive gust. The main auto jibed violently and tore the vang out of the mast. We scrambled to get the main down in now 65 knot winds as I dropped the engine into gear. Again blinding rain but this time there was the mother of all lightning storms. We counted 13 boats within 350 yards of us in various states of distress. I had 2 of the crew on deck to spot for boats or people in the water. Pretty scary stuff. The rest of the 10 man crew were below decks tending to our injured crew and monitoring the radio. Fortunately we had 1 crew who is a paramedic and had his crash bag. This was important because the our injured crew started going into shock. The crew member slowly improved as we headed towards to Leeland. We still had a 2 hour motor to Leeland. We were in contact with the CG and emergency personnel on shore but a CG rescue was not an option as they were too busy with other distress calls and the search for the now missing Wingnuts crew. We were 14 miles for Wingnuts at the height of the storm but were in no position to aid in the search. Amazingly the CG kept broadcasting messages to assist in the search off Beaver Island in Lake Huron. It took us a little while to realize they should have said Beaver Island in Lake Michigan. We did get to Leeland at 3:00 in the morning. Our boat was too big to get into a dock so we squeezed about a 3rd of the way into a dock and transported our injured crew off the boat on a stretcher over the bow. He was treated and released a day later for a compound fracture. Further surgery was needed.

For a big heavy boat the conditions were manageable with the sails down. The center cockpit is nice as the helm is out of the way of the spray and the visibility is good. Preparedness is essential. The Mac race safety requirements work Having someone with emergency medical skills is invaluable in offshore races. Dropping out at the first sign of trouble is not a bad idea especially in storms. The only scary moments were the lightning storm and having that many boats near us under marginal control.

Jumpstart · May 1, 2015

With rod rigging an 18 volt grinder with diamond cutoff blade would be the trick set up. Keep in waterproof bag with charged spare battery. The bolt cutters should work but could be a handful with the boat pitching all over the place.

Kestle · May 1, 2015

Jackdaw said:
There has been a lot of talk about the boat-handling on that Youtube video of the Catalina 34ish that was in the DI race, and things that could be done better. Here is a video that shows most of what was discussed in practice. Background: Bayfield Race Week, 2012, July, Lake Superior. The day called for 40% of thunderstorms and squall lines (25-40 knots), over a lake breeze of 12 knots. Not uncommon for a July day in mid-america. RaceWeek SIs call for PDFs to be worn at the start and finish off races. On Kestrel we have a boat rule that the skipper can call for PFDs all-race, which we did in this race due to potential conditions. We have Sirius Satellite weather at the helm. so I could see what was coming. It was also VERY obvious seeing it come over the water; 30-40 knots breeze and rain. Not gale-strength but enough to ruin your day. 00 seconds We are beating upwind at the windward mark in 20 knots of breeze, but are watching the wall-line frontal cloud bearing down on us from port 30 seconds We call to drop the head-sail. A 367 can sail in almost anything with a flattened main only, and this gave us time and options. 1:15 minutes Discussing options with tactician and crew boss. 1:22 minutes Abandon racing. Now its all about crew and boat safety. We plan a direction that gives us best wind options and water to maneuver. All this before the crap hits. 1:40 minutes Based on above we turn and reach in front of the wall. This gives lots of options re direction and besy point of sail in the coming breeze. And we flatten the main so it looks like a sheet of aluminum. Very little lift. Pit goes and turns on nav lights, and call in our abandonment. Check crew, all accounted for; PFDs verified, now foulies on. 2:50 minutes Wind builds to 30+ and we reach across the face at 10 knots. 3:50 minutes In the squall, more wind, rain, waves etc. We got back safe and sound, no damage. Several boats destroyed sails and some had rigging damage. The abandonment not hurt our score as the entire race was abandoned when the line hit the RC boat. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm3VodUT2Ts">YouTube Link</a>

I noticed you didn't reef, and the foot was loose. Why?

Jeff