Obviously, ‘any’ trim during overwhelming conditions that keeps the ‘bottom side down’ will be of benefit.
Conditions as ‘I see it” and why I chose this pic is that the boat is ‘pinned’ (cant open the main traveller any further to release pressure on the main) and with the boom nearly or partly submerged, this boat will probably have GREAT difficulty in heading up if the wind gets even stronger and holds the boom/mainsail into the water by wind pressure. In such overwhelming conditions and dragging the boom, one typically has to ‘bear off’ and ‘take ones medicine’ instead of turning into the wind … which would probably cause even more heeling when the boat starts to ‘trip’ over its keel and the jib ‘reattaches’ to ‘full flow’ power-up during the ‘head up’.
Just my opinion, and as many have also offered, it’s the
jib thats over-twisted and the leech and aft sections of the jib are essentially 90° to the oncoming wind and is probably contributing to the excess heel and with little contribution to 'forward' motion. With all that aft section of the jib fully windloaded and at ~90° (overtrimmed foot) it certainly HAS to be pushing the bow to leeward and with little ‘forward drive’. If the boat ‘could’ go faster the boat would probably be able to more or less better ‘stand up’ due to the increased hull dynamics … and with less heel. I’ll bet they forgot to move the jib fairlead car forward when they ‘eased’ the jib when the winds became ~30kts and gusting probably ~40kts and dropped down from beat or close reach onto a beam reach 'for some fun'!!!!!!!
If the boat attempts to head up now that jib is probably going to power-up, cause even more heel and if they don’t quickly pull in the jibsheet quickly when turning /heading up…. possible sail cloth damage to boot.
If that fairlead would have been more forward it would have been easier to ‘blade out’ the jib in a more controlled manner and not have to go through a jib power-up when the jibs angle of attack becomes ‘better’.
To me, the mainsail trim looks quite good, you can see that the tiller is held nearly on the centerline so ‘helm balance’ is probably OK; but, with the poor jib shape … there’s obviously some ‘cross control’ going on; so possibly the main should go further outboard and more ‘bite’ from the jib should be taken in (pretty obvious for the over-twisted condition). Getting that main further ‘out’ would certainly result in less heel … but its now ‘trapped’ because of the excess heel.
Yes, indeed the boat is on a screaming beam reach, a “Nantucket Sleigh Ride”, and is indeed quite FUN (once you get used to such). I don’t know if the boat is a keel boat or a centerboarder; but, if the boat was a center-boarder or drop keel, pulling up the board or keel by about 50% or so would certainly help ‘trim’ conditions by allowing a bit more ‘skid’ and thus less heel; and then, one can more easily ‘blade-out’ with flat and more correctly twisted sails with the boat ‘standing up’ a bit more. With the board or drop keel partly up the boat if needing to ‘head up’ will more or less ‘skid’ around the turn and with less ‘keel’ to ‘trip over’. When on a screaming beam reach, you really don’t need all that amount of keel or CB, especially with CB partly retracted there will be less drag and less heel causing ‘better’ boatspeed.
In all probability this boat probably decided to ‘go down’ or bear off during a gust to increase it ‘planing speed’ (so its probably not a true displacement hull) …. but when doing so you really have to keep the boat ‘under’ the mast when doing so because if it ‘gets away from you’, youre in for a ‘dunkin’ …. and yes, the companionway seems to be closed up tight on this boat so no need to worry. FUN + a wee bit of adrenalin rush!
In summary of what I think, that jib fairlead car needs to go more forward ….
1. For
more speed and less heel. ….. including ‘blading out’ the jib AND main to keep the boat ‘on her feet’ (more speed, until the boat, if it’s a keelboat, starts to ‘death wobble’ …. then definitely youre going to have to reef deeper, etc. ...... after the cockpit thoroughly drains out.)
2. To better be able to ‘blade out’ that jib if the wind gets even higher, just like you ‘blade out’ a mainsail by 'playing' its traveller!
That’s the way I see it and just my viewpoint; and as stated, any means … so you don’t broach or ‘turtle’ or broach or swamp and then sink is OK.
Just my opinion, your opinion is equally valid too.