true vs. apparent wind

[FastOlson]

Some Very Useful information in this thread! This stuff could be condensed and printed on a card to hand out to new crew.
Apropos of whatever, coming from a time before electronic instruments were common, and enjoying our fancy digital read-outs thru several technical revolutions and over several boats.....
I would only add that the wind instrument really tells you how scared you are,
and the KM tells you how thrilled you are!
Only Really Important readout that we have, though, is the DS !!
(Lots of sand bars in our river).
Cheers,
Loren

 

[Head Sail]

Telltales of the shrouds tell you where the wind is coming from.

Isn't that what the windex does? Maybe use telltales on the shrouds to prevent neck strain or sun in the eyes.

 

[Terry Cox]

Don's Sail Trim chart and User Guide have been very helpful to me in understanding trim and performance. Recommend that you spend some time with him on the forum that he supports. http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?forums/sail-trim-with-don-guillette.17/

 

[Jackdaw]

Isn't that what the windex does? Maybe use telltales on the shrouds to prevent neck strain or sun in the eyes.

Yes it is. Like you said, at the mast top.

The mast top is convenient because it is never blocked by the sailplan, so it always reads. But:

1) The masttop wind is rarely the same wind the majority of your sail area sees.

2) Low tell-tails ARE, and are also in the directly line of sight with the jib tell tails. You can always see them, and don't have to strain your neck.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Aren't tell tails on shrouds 'corrupted' by the wind thru the sails? It's not clean wind. Makes more sense to me to use them downwind.

 

[Jackdaw]

As I stated before, they're only really useful off the wind. And yes you only use the Windward one. But that's where the driver usually sits anyway, so she's looking right at it.

 

[Justin_NSA]

That makes sense. And you are at a tiller on the windward side. I'm at a wheel with a big a$$ bimini overhead. I'm forced to watch my instrument or look thru the stratoglass window at the Windex.

 

[shemandr]

I sailed on Ensigns for several years of racing (I know.) We used cassette tape on the shrouds and it was pretty effective. Very much more sensitive than the windex and after a while you knew where the tape should be streaming for upwind sailing. They would never take the place of tell tails on the jib.
Speaking about dependance on instruments: I got so frustrated by the driver's constant attention on the instruments that I went below on my H356 and shut the instruments off during a race My wife was driving. Never did that again! But I did make an impression. And Dinty Moore for dinner for a week wasn't that bad.

 

[weinie]

I've had yarn or ribbons on my shrouds for years, but honestly, I've found them difficult to use to gauge wind direction. Unlike the windex which has those fin things, there is nothing to reference the yarn against.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I used to gauge the wind in my hair. But I can't do that no more!

 

[BudGates]

I used to gauge the wind in my hair. But I can't do that no more!

Gauge the wind by your wife's hair. She's a lot easier to look at anyhow.

 

[Doug4bass]

After years and years sailing with just a Windex and telltails, our new ride has a great Raymarine wind instrument tied in with the rest of the stuff. I have always wondered what the ACTUAL wind was under sail. Beaufort doesn't always work on Superior. I keep mine set on true, for now, and use the Windex for apparent.

 

[Ward H]

Ward, we'll have to give the spinnaker a go sometime soon, if the wind ever drops below 20 K and the temp drops below 90!

Yep, this is the first season we've had where it's been too hot to go to the boat for a couple of weeks. Hoping this weekend it cools down enough to be bearable. High temps and west winds don't make for a comfortable sail.
Hoping for a nice cool east wind.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

When we motored down from Lavallette the apparent wind and the true wind were EXACTLY the same direction ... right on the nose at 20 to 25 K. That would make true wind speed at about 15 to 20 K. No need for telltales or wind indicator. We just gauged the direction by trying to keep the spray out of the cockpit, which was only partially successful when pointing due upwind, which just happened to be the rhumb line home. There was that exception near Toms River, where we had to bear a little more westerly to avoid shallow water. The depth sounder was making me nervous when we were reading close to 5'. So for about 15 minutes, we got soaked. Ward, I think this weekend will shape up pretty nicely with some relief and a decent breeze. We had some perfect sailing in Lavallette with a sea breeze that allowed us to sail up and down the length of the bay between Seaside Heights & Mantoloking for several hours & heat was not even on our mind.

 

[Pat]

You are correct Jackdraw....I used to rely on the windex totally, but these days I find myself watching the telltales almost exclusively.. I refer to the windex mostly when going straight downwind...we do not have shroud telltales, but rather on the sails....I am happiest when all my main sail telltales are streaming consistently with what the headsail telltales are telling me...i.e. either to head up, head off, or master, you are right on....but speak to me they do....and they are very accurate.