Whisker Pole Beam/Broad Reach?

[James]

Sunday we headed home on a beam/broad reach. 2' swells and the boat was pitching and rolling. Our 153 genoa was set correctly but the rolling seas caused it to flop and collapse. We decided to use the whisker pole and this kinda helped.Is this a good option for this type of sailing? Going wing on wing seemed worse becuase the steering was so eratic.Comments

 

[Wayne]

Point of sail

James My last time out I was on the same point of sail in very heavy conditions, its just that point where you have the swell/waves hitting you on the stern at an angle, it so uncomfortable and does throw you around alot. Running straight down wind is better but very slow and as you say is hard to keep on track. I find that by running a little say 15-20% off the wind is probably the best for comfort and speed. You have a big Genoa so I would just be using Genoa only, I suspect your main was taking most the wind out of the genoa. Experiment next time to get the right combination.Good Luck

 

[Kevin B]

What was your wind speed?

James, you didn't mention the wind speed in your area on Sun. On Lake Ontario on Sunday we had 2-3 foot swells with very light winds, probably around 3-4 knots. Its almost impossible to sail off the wind in those conditions as the sails flop every time you drop into a swell. Kevin

 

[Bob]

Depends

If the wind is steady, and the sail won't shape well otherwise, it works pretty well. Also a good technique in real light air when the weight of the sail won't let it shape out. However, it the wind is shifting a lot or is real puffy it gets pretty tricky.