So I am watching the weather for this weekend here in Newport RI. Wind with gust over 45mph. I have a 1978 C-27 I am not going out because I dont have enough experience. Most of you do. Would and will any of you be out in this kind of blow?
Wind How much is too much?
- Thread starter Jkenny13
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We are headed to Bristol for a final sail and decommissioning. We plan to get out of Bristol Harbor (exposed to prevailing SW, 30kt of wind means no sleep) and go to Potters Cove for the evening. Tomorrow we hope to sail- probably with a double main reef and no headsail. Monday we start decommissioning.
If the wind is really nasty, we probably won't sail. A fight is just not fun.
If the wind is really nasty, we probably won't sail. A fight is just not fun.
enough wind to scare you is to much...with crew and short sails still hairy...things can go wrong in a hurry if gust comes from unexpected direction...things can break...as soon as you raise sail and get nailed you'll wonder why on earth you went out ....cheer frank
How much wind is too much? It's like the definition of pornography: you'll know it when you see it (or in this case, feel it).
The only time I would knowingly sail in 45 kt winds is if I had no choice in the matter. Gain some experience with your boat and your sailing abilities in lesser winds and gradually build up to what you think you and your boat can safely sail in. As Rich rightly notes, when sailing becomes a fight it's no fun.
The only time I would knowingly sail in 45 kt winds is if I had no choice in the matter. Gain some experience with your boat and your sailing abilities in lesser winds and gradually build up to what you think you and your boat can safely sail in. As Rich rightly notes, when sailing becomes a fight it's no fun.
Tried to do the final race of the season this past Saturday. With a 90% jib and a reefed main, 35 knots (gusting to 45) was not fun. I had two seasoned sailors on board but they had never sailed on a Tanzer 26. Because of the look of abject fear I saw in their eyes, I called in a scratch, and decided to take them on a learning sail for a couple of hours since we were already on the bay. After about an hour on the boat, they were ready to race, but it was too late the race had already started. Too much is something you need to ask yourself. You learn by noting how the handling characteristics change with the different wind and sea conditions. What is it like at 15, 20, 22.5? Have you practiced reefing while under sail? Sailed with just an hanky for a jib out and a double reefed main? What happens with current under these conditions... If you are asking, its probably too much.
- Dec 30, 2009
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I agree, the only thing I have ever accomplished when sailing in conditions like that is breaking things on the boat. I avoid it, as I get older it only becomes more uncomfortable, I wait or don,t go out....Red
I was out in some rough stuff a couple weeks ago with a very small piece of the genoa out and the wind wasnt the problem. The waves and sea state are the kicker. On a 27ft boat I'd be worried about having enough power to get out of some nasty waves or ripp currents caused by the wind driven waves and current meeting. I got caught in a nasty rip current by Port Townsend and crawled and scratched away from it wishing I had an extra 10hp (sails were tucked away due to high winds).
I pay close attention to the NOAA operational wind forcast in my region. The page gives you an hour-by-hour wind direction display, which helps to set up my course for that day's sail. Typically, you want to "beat" on the way out, and cruise on the way back to dock. I prefer the 5-10 (light blue) and 10-15 (green) range, but tend to avoid sailing in my H27 if I'm looking at sustained 25+ winds.
Pay attention to flagpoles. Flags with no motion = bad. Flags waving back and forth = good. Flags starched = watch out. Flags starched and lifting up = fuhgitaboudit.
Our boats are pretty similar, and I suggest making sea trials in different types of weather and conditions. I don't take my family out when it's rough, but always find some adventurous souls. Even on a bad sail, you learn so much, especially what the boat can take. This year, I burried the rail twice (45 degree with this tank) on one of these shakedowns, and I was so concentrating on what the shrouds were doing, I hadn't noticed. What I did notice was water on the cockpit floor, and the concerned look on my 2 crewmembers' faces. They both said,"you didn't see that?"
"Ahwwww, man I missed it!" "Let's do it agian!"
"NO!" Mutiny.
Pay attention to flagpoles. Flags with no motion = bad. Flags waving back and forth = good. Flags starched = watch out. Flags starched and lifting up = fuhgitaboudit.
Our boats are pretty similar, and I suggest making sea trials in different types of weather and conditions. I don't take my family out when it's rough, but always find some adventurous souls. Even on a bad sail, you learn so much, especially what the boat can take. This year, I burried the rail twice (45 degree with this tank) on one of these shakedowns, and I was so concentrating on what the shrouds were doing, I hadn't noticed. What I did notice was water on the cockpit floor, and the concerned look on my 2 crewmembers' faces. They both said,"you didn't see that?"
"Ahwwww, man I missed it!" "Let's do it agian!"
"NO!" Mutiny.
I would most certainly not be out in a 45kt blow. That level of wind is where you will lose sails and spars. The smart people who would otherwise be able to help rescue you will not be out there.
It is one thing to be caught in something like that, survive, and feel a sense of accomplishment. Quite another to deliberately and knowingly take a 27' boat into a 45kt wind. You would only do that if you have not yet fallen deeply in love with your boat.
A mistake that I have made in the past, and hopefully not in the future, is to push my crew beyond their comfort level. By this I mean my wife. While I have been comfortable trucking along and dealing with the waves, she hasn't. This was a poor intro to sailing and I have only myself to blame. I am working on undoing that.
I have since learned to watch her fingers as she moves along the boat. Once the grip curves in along the last bones in the ends of the fingers (the equivalent of sinking her talons into the boat) and she finds her opposable thumbs useless, it is time to either let the traveller down or put in a reef.
If you have crew with you, think about their level of comfort and how divorce means you have to sell the half of your boat that keeps it floating.
It is one thing to be caught in something like that, survive, and feel a sense of accomplishment. Quite another to deliberately and knowingly take a 27' boat into a 45kt wind. You would only do that if you have not yet fallen deeply in love with your boat.
A mistake that I have made in the past, and hopefully not in the future, is to push my crew beyond their comfort level. By this I mean my wife. While I have been comfortable trucking along and dealing with the waves, she hasn't. This was a poor intro to sailing and I have only myself to blame. I am working on undoing that.
I have since learned to watch her fingers as she moves along the boat. Once the grip curves in along the last bones in the ends of the fingers (the equivalent of sinking her talons into the boat) and she finds her opposable thumbs useless, it is time to either let the traveller down or put in a reef.
If you have crew with you, think about their level of comfort and how divorce means you have to sell the half of your boat that keeps it floating.
I watch the local sailing club bozos go out in wind like that, and limp back in later with broken masts, yes broken, bent, demasted, torn sails, etc. I'll just stay in my slip and watch football on TV or read a book. I've noticed over the years that the risk people take with boats is proportional to the amount of money they have to repair them.
This is great advice. We have the fun factor rule: "If we ain't having fun go home" It has worked every time. I have nothing to prove. I have done the big wind and know I can survive it but why do it if you don't need to.
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