TOO MUCH WIND?

[capta]

I see this comment often about “reefing early.” Is “reefing early” reefing before the boat “needs” to be reefed in anticipation of increasing wind speed within half an or less, or reefing when not necessary just in case some bigger wind arrives sometime that afternoon, or just being reefed so not to work so hard. Seems like I’ve done all three. I don’t feel good about reefing for a surprise big wind that does not arrive.

Very few sailing the eastern Caribbean would leave an anchorage on a winter day without at least one reef in the main, especially if they were crossing a channel or two that day. It is so much easier to shake out a reef than try and tuck one, especially if one is in the shit. Racers excepted, of course.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Nothing unusual here, just a standard pitchpole. I can't count the number of times I've done the same on my Hobie 16 years ago. It's a wet boat and that's what you do. The boat in the video looks bigger than a Hobie 16, I'll admit, and the wipeout would be a bit more serious. Yes, landing in the wires hurts and there is often blood (usually on the feet if barefoot). Reefing ... on a beach cat? I don't think so. On these boats, you go big or go home. Teamwork is critical. The helmsman buried the hull because he was not stabilizing the boat and the hiker didn't get a chance to set up in the rear quarter before they were going over. Helmsman was weaving too much (understandably, it' not easy at all to track straight in those conditions- very slight rudder movements cause radical course adjustment) and the hiker had to crouch to keep his balance. He needed to be out and moved back but he didn't have a steady-enough platform. When you are trying to stay safe, helmsman sits on the hull. With 2 guys, we would often both be hiked out and standing as far back as possible. With 2 guys, we could right a turtled boat. When I was sailing with a girl, we didn't have enough weight to right the boat (I was only about 175# at the time), so I played it safe all the time with female aboard. Nothing worse than sitting on a capsized cat waiting for somebody to come along to help! The other fail was when the hiker loses it and sweeps the helmsman off the back end.

 

[Joe]

Reef???? Too much wind, cancel the race to avoid the carnage. But you'll never see reefing options on competitive racing dinghies and multihulls. Heck it wasn't that windy anyway. Those guys just got crossed up. Easy to do, done it myself.... alot. Capsizing and righting the boat are fundamental lessons when learning to properly sail dinghies and beach cats. Notice how neatly they got the boat back on her feet. That's taught by all reputable sailing schools. At the San Dieog State/Univ Calif, San Diego owned Mission Bay Aquatic Center, capsizing and righting the boat is part of the curriculum for all their fleet boats (except for keel boats like J-24's).

 

[dLj]

I’ve been hearing this from the old and young salts, the young probably get it from the old, since me sailing days in the GOM, SW FL— > 30 yr past. Is it because at night it’s likely to be more difficult to reef due to dim light, or b/c of the darkness one might not be able to foresee conditions, or something other? Back in the day when you had to go to the mast to reef, darkness could be a factor. Now, with in-cockpit reefing systems, why as a matter of routine sailing be reefed at night, etc? I still wonder. Seems more a matter of sailing lore than actual seamanship.

In my perspective there are numerous reasons to reef at night. Reefing at night allows for a more comfortable night for those sleeping. Most of the visible signs that you may need to reef are not visible. It allows the person on watch one less thing to deal with in case reefing is needed. If sailing with shorthanded crew, your one person on watch can more consistently be able to stay in the cockpit teathered in so much less chance for a surprise missing crew in the morning...

I certainly do not consider it "sailing lore" but rather good seamanship.

dj

 

[kappykaplan]

I certainly do not consider it "sailing lore" but rather good seamanship.