I finally have a "story" to tell *pop Early last evening we out sailing in a nice breeze. (about 10mph) Well.... "look! see that gust (thunder storm actually) coming up river?" we were on a SW tack. Current running about 6 knots as it always is on the Delaware river. BAM!. Gust hit us broadside!. I'm guessing 30 mph, full sail, full genoa rolled out!. Rudder lost control, water was lapping over the genoa track! She would not round up into the wind!. Finally due to nothing I did she started moving to the west bank while broached to about 9ft of water. even though we let all the sheets fly and finally got the gib rolled in and main down , she still did not round up. Finally, we were in some shelterd water near the river bank. She righted herself. We anchored and went below until the storm passed. This has happend a couple of times now. and each time I was caught off gard. My son always fights with me about reefing and useing less sail. On reading about broaching I'm wondering if the H23 with swing keel is more like a centerboard boat then a keel boat and "trips" over her centerboard? The current was moving south. we were pointed west, and the wind was gusting north against the current. I'd call it the worst of river sailing experiances. All in all though it was not overly terrifying and we did enjoy a nice late lunch while waiting out the storm. I think we did the right things in the pinch of the moment. Letting sheets fly, dropping the sails. and heading for shelter. even though the boat did that on her own LOL! Denise
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Hmmmmmm
You did well to let all the lines loose. You could also head up into the wind to ease the heeling. At that point I'd drop sails and motor out. The fact that your boat wouldn't "head up" might have something to do with the opposing current. I don't envy you with the variables of river sailing.
You did well to let all the lines loose. You could also head up into the wind to ease the heeling. At that point I'd drop sails and motor out. The fact that your boat wouldn't "head up" might have something to do with the opposing current. I don't envy you with the variables of river sailing.
A couple of things you may have missed
Hi Denise: First off, I'm glad you made it home safely and without further incident. If I may, I'd like to comment on a few things in your story: a) squalls can move VERY quickly. A squall two miles away moving at 30 mph will be on you in FOUR minutes. Winds often gust a mile or more in front of the visible squall line so the time may be even less. Bottom line is that you have to maintain a very sharp watch in the summer. Slight changes in the wind speed, direction and temperature can also alert you that things are about to change. I find short sharp gusts of cold air to be a dead giveaway of an approaching summer squall. b) As Michael said, reef early. If the thought even crosses your mind, do it right away. It's much easier to reef when the wind is light (wind force goes up by the square of the wind speed) and it's always easier to shake a reef out than tie on in. c) If the wind hasn't begun to build, a roller-reefing headsail can be completely furled and secured in under 30 seconds. You also should be able to reef your mainsail in under a minute. It may sound a bit extreme but given the speed at which a squall can approach I think you can appreciate why. The key word here is "practice". d) if you had let just the HEADSAIL fly, the mainsail would have forced the stern of the boat off the wind and help bring the bow up into the wind. Your rudder was ineffective because you had no way on, and with all sheets loosed, the sailplan was still balanced fore and aft. The boat had no choice but to be pushed sideways. e) with the centerboard down, the keel area (and resistance to lateral drift) were greatest. That's why the boat was heeled severely in the gusts. Raising the centerboard slightly would have reduced the heel, BUT the rate of drift would have increased. If you had room to drift, that might have been an option. f) this last one is a bit extreme, but if the water is shallow enough you can deploy the anchor to stop the drift. This may not be possible in a channel, shipping lane or other area where you could become an obstruction, especially in low-visibility conditions, but if you're about to drift onto the rocks this may be your only option. If possible, issuing a "pan-pan" or "securite" on VHF Channel 16 can alert nearby traffic to your situation and prevent a collision. I hope these comments were helpful. Truth is, there are so many things that can go wrong and it's not easy to remember what to do in every situation. However, practicing and developing certain habits and skills to the point where they become almost instinctive can help you stabilize a bad situation and buy enough time to figure out your next move. Good luck and happy sailing. Peter H23 "Raven"
Hi Denise: First off, I'm glad you made it home safely and without further incident. If I may, I'd like to comment on a few things in your story: a) squalls can move VERY quickly. A squall two miles away moving at 30 mph will be on you in FOUR minutes. Winds often gust a mile or more in front of the visible squall line so the time may be even less. Bottom line is that you have to maintain a very sharp watch in the summer. Slight changes in the wind speed, direction and temperature can also alert you that things are about to change. I find short sharp gusts of cold air to be a dead giveaway of an approaching summer squall. b) As Michael said, reef early. If the thought even crosses your mind, do it right away. It's much easier to reef when the wind is light (wind force goes up by the square of the wind speed) and it's always easier to shake a reef out than tie on in. c) If the wind hasn't begun to build, a roller-reefing headsail can be completely furled and secured in under 30 seconds. You also should be able to reef your mainsail in under a minute. It may sound a bit extreme but given the speed at which a squall can approach I think you can appreciate why. The key word here is "practice". d) if you had let just the HEADSAIL fly, the mainsail would have forced the stern of the boat off the wind and help bring the bow up into the wind. Your rudder was ineffective because you had no way on, and with all sheets loosed, the sailplan was still balanced fore and aft. The boat had no choice but to be pushed sideways. e) with the centerboard down, the keel area (and resistance to lateral drift) were greatest. That's why the boat was heeled severely in the gusts. Raising the centerboard slightly would have reduced the heel, BUT the rate of drift would have increased. If you had room to drift, that might have been an option. f) this last one is a bit extreme, but if the water is shallow enough you can deploy the anchor to stop the drift. This may not be possible in a channel, shipping lane or other area where you could become an obstruction, especially in low-visibility conditions, but if you're about to drift onto the rocks this may be your only option. If possible, issuing a "pan-pan" or "securite" on VHF Channel 16 can alert nearby traffic to your situation and prevent a collision. I hope these comments were helpful. Truth is, there are so many things that can go wrong and it's not easy to remember what to do in every situation. However, practicing and developing certain habits and skills to the point where they become almost instinctive can help you stabilize a bad situation and buy enough time to figure out your next move. Good luck and happy sailing. Peter H23 "Raven"
Your small boat knockdown
Sounds like you already may know whats wrong and surviving your trials may help. You said: "This has happend a couple of times now. and each time I was caught off guard. My son always fights with me about reefing and useing less sail." Your son apparently knows when to reef but you, Captain, need to keep an eye to the sky ALWAYS. Peters' right about pulling sails early but with all the lateral force there is virtually no way to pull the board once shes over on her side and please don't send anyone forward to attempt to set an anchor or manually pull the jib in that situation. Where's the outboard to help headup in this deal? Please tell us you were in PFDs, carry a VHF and have practiced or discussed MOB procedures too. well, you kept a cool head and rode it out in one piece so you won this one. Now you will hopefully watch the sky, reef early(son, what do you think?) or pull the sails completely, practice safety drills and start enjoying every aspect of sailing(even the occasional knarly/nasty weather). Be safe(1st) and gain confidence(2nd) then have fun(3rd). Michael s/v "Bonafide" PS. Did you really mean "Current running about 6 knots"? You may need a whitewater kayak not a sailboat
Sounds like you already may know whats wrong and surviving your trials may help. You said: "This has happend a couple of times now. and each time I was caught off guard. My son always fights with me about reefing and useing less sail." Your son apparently knows when to reef but you, Captain, need to keep an eye to the sky ALWAYS. Peters' right about pulling sails early but with all the lateral force there is virtually no way to pull the board once shes over on her side and please don't send anyone forward to attempt to set an anchor or manually pull the jib in that situation. Where's the outboard to help headup in this deal? Please tell us you were in PFDs, carry a VHF and have practiced or discussed MOB procedures too. well, you kept a cool head and rode it out in one piece so you won this one. Now you will hopefully watch the sky, reef early(son, what do you think?) or pull the sails completely, practice safety drills and start enjoying every aspect of sailing(even the occasional knarly/nasty weather). Be safe(1st) and gain confidence(2nd) then have fun(3rd). Michael s/v "Bonafide" PS. Did you really mean "Current running about 6 knots"? You may need a whitewater kayak not a sailboat
Hindsight is a great teacher
and now we have a new traveler instead of the old pop&lock one that came with the boat. We did not have the motor on, it would have helped... even though the broach would have had it out of the water momentarily. It all happend so fast that we were sitting in calm water in less then 2 mins I think. For the little experiance I have I did better then the last time we got hit sidways. I'm not giving up yet! H23 really sails nice in and fast is light winds. All the advice is greatly appreciated too! Thanks all!
and now we have a new traveler instead of the old pop&lock one that came with the boat. We did not have the motor on, it would have helped... even though the broach would have had it out of the water momentarily. It all happend so fast that we were sitting in calm water in less then 2 mins I think. For the little experiance I have I did better then the last time we got hit sidways. I'm not giving up yet! H23 really sails nice in and fast is light winds. All the advice is greatly appreciated too! Thanks all!
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