Survived 15knt winds , Barely , lol

Status
Not open for further replies.
bella bu

bella bu

.
Jul 19, 2010
15
Oday 23 King Harbor
well, with my 2 months sailing experience i took the 23 out today to try to catch a glimpse of the blue and humpbak whales that have ventured in close by. we exited the breakwall and we healed over to 30 degrees instantly. we were on a starboard tack and the port side rail was close to being in the water.I let out the main, and it healed a bit more then righted itself.My heart was pumping pretty good.lol

the winds were about 15 kts. as i got out a bit i noticed most of the others had there jibs in, so i furled mine in too. coming back i was able to get up to 4.9 knots wing to wing running, that was nice.
But my poor mom, whom this was her first time out on my boat about crapped herself when we healed over.
SOO , i learned to reef , and reef quick .We got back in one piece , and saw two BIG whales,
it was a good day
 
kpgraci

kpgraci

.
Jun 12, 2010
936
Oday 22 Orleans Marina, NOLA
15kts is a nice blow but I'm a surprised you healed over 20 degrees, but you probably have more sail than I do.

The first time we caught some big air and healed over more than expected it was quite a rush - since then we had the Oday 22 out in 10-15 kts and we got about 8-10 degrees with the crew balanced. If all three of us (3 big guys) moved to to the leeward side we got 20+ but even so the boat didn't seem to care.

I was looking for undue strain on the chain plates and saw none and she handled fine so I was not considering reefing. I suspect for my boat the time to reef is around 18-20kts. :confused:

I read somewhere that for each 5kts of wind increase the force on the sails doubles - so there is a big difference between 10, 15 and 20 kts.

Glad you had a good day! :D
 
bella bu

bella bu

.
Jul 19, 2010
15
Oday 23 King Harbor
i have a brand new full batten main, and a brand new 150 genoa.
she healed over to leeward and it looked like my port winch was gonna get wet real quick. I dont know what the actual winds were, i looked on sailflow.com and it said 14-15. do you think it would have capsized if i had done nothing?my instructor said when in doubt let it out(main sheet) so i did. I want it to go as fast as it can , but dont want to go swimming.lol
 
K

kepeterss

.
Jun 8, 2009
20
Oday 23 Ranier, MN
I usually put one reef in the main on my 23 at about 15-20 mph, especially if going to weather. I would also be using my working jib in those conditions. The 150 is a light air sail; wind speeds of 10 or less are ideal depending on which direction you are going. I have learned to reef the boat early. If you are working hard, spilling air, getting rounded up, heeling excessively, it is time to reef. Interestingly, I usually go the same speed or faster after I reef, but it is much more comfortable and I am more in control.

I've had water come in over the cockpit coamings, buried the bow sailing upwind in big waves with double reefed main and storm jib, and came darn close to getting knocked down last summer, but the boat has always stayed on her feet. These boats are somewhat tender, but can take a lot.
 
Indysailor

Indysailor

.
Oct 10, 2009
1,100
Catalina 27 3657 Lake Monroe
We have a 130% genoa on our 23 and have found that reefing in winds above 8-10 knots makes the boat a lot more comfortable to sail. A 10-15 degree heal seems pretty optimal to us, both in terms of how the boat handles and our own interest in being comfortably seated in the cockpit.

The furler on our boat will not reef (Hood 810), so I'll push the cars back to flatten the genoa out as much as possible before I decide to bring it in. We flatten the main as much as it can be, blown out and stretched as it is. That usually works very well up until about 15 kts and the boat handles very well. At 15 or above, sailing becomes more work and more stress on our very old sails than I want to endure, so we just stay in.
 
Indysailor

Indysailor

.
Oct 10, 2009
1,100
Catalina 27 3657 Lake Monroe
Forgot to mention, those are guesses at wind speed. Generally, when I start seeing consistent white caps on the lake, I reef. It could be higher wind speed than I am guessing.
 
Indysailor

Indysailor

.
Oct 10, 2009
1,100
Catalina 27 3657 Lake Monroe
Thanks Rich, I guess we're probably reefing our main at about 10-12 knots here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top Bottom