WINDS OVER 35 KNOTS

[JimInPB]

When we hit the beach was in genuary, a 4 day trip to campeche and back, when headed back we know that at two oclock in the morining we were sure that the new north front will hit us. Because the murphy law that afternoon the motor stop to work, and the capitan instead to go as far as possible from the coast, dicided to close even more. We were hit from 10 knots to 45 in less than 5 minutes, one hour later because we cannot even go 90 degrees to the wind we ended on the beach. The coast is very shallow and so there is no significant wave on the beach. We could make ashore unharmed and we could two days later recue rhe sailboat unharmed.

Heavy conditions & a lee shore is a tough combination. Things could have ended much worse -
https://www.cruisingworld.com/how/u...2013-islands-race-tragedy-southern-california
https://www.ussailing.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2013-Islands-Race-Report.pdf

 

[Valerio]

My preferred response to heavy winds will vary with the particular boat in question. On a 40+ foot Tartan, I've come in sailing under bare poles with good results. That boat had a lot of free board & a lot of hull windage. On most boats, & especially on boats that are not built like a brick, I generally prefer to reach for a trysail. This guy gives you a general idea of one way to do it -

On most boats, I prefer to not attach the trysail to the track on the mast, but instead just lash the tack in tight above the gooseneck, run a ring or lashed loop around the mast where the halyard connects to the head of the trysail & depending on the boat, I may run the sheet to the boom or I may run it elsewhere. The guy in the video took a long time to get his trysail rigged. On a 35ish foot boat, I've done it in under 3 minutes with one other person helping me. ...in squall conditions

A heavily reefed main & no jib is my plan B on most boats. On some boats, I will run a small jib & no main. It depends on the boat. It depends on the balance of the sail plan. It depends on the geometric relationship between the location of the keel/centerboard & the location of the mast. In very heavy weather, I very much want to maintain weather helm. I also do not want to allow myself to rely on the motor as my only source of propulsion. In heavy weather, (if not racing) I like to have the motor running & a very small amount of canvas up. If the motor quits & you have no canvas up while you are in heavy weather, the quality of your day is is likely to decrease rapidly.

In very heavy conditions, I don't try to sail too close to the wind. I just get through it & go back to pointing better after conditions improve.

When sailing in very heavy weather (trysail is up), EVERYONE wears a PFD, even the guys down below, and anyone on deck MUST be clipped in. Those are the rules on my boat.

I have a roller main, son the last time y ended up in a wind up to 30 knot i try to unroll just a little part of the main. After two hours of taking taks we ended in the same place. That was a very baggy old main. Now with a newer one i still need to do the same. But is very scary not to be able to go against the wind at all. We sail allways with the coast downwind, and i learn why the old scary saying Coast Downwind.

 

[Valerio]

Heavy conditions & a lee shore is a tough combination. Things could have ended much worse -
https://www.cruisingworld.com/how/u...2013-islands-race-tragedy-southern-california
https://www.ussailing.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2013-Islands-Race-Report.pdf

The lost of the rudder is the worst situation you can deal with, once at 2 oclock in the morning like 30 m offshore with a very old 37 irwin sailboat we had a fail in the jacket that hold inside the rudder cables, in 5 minutes that we manage to install the emergency rudder we spin around like 3 times with a wind of 18 knots, very scary we rolled and dropped our sail with the boom swinning from one side to another. With boat older than 30 year i suggest that need to be mandatory to drop and checq de conds of your rudder. Here we have a lot of very old vessel and allmost each one have suffer a rudder fail or a dismast. The corrosion of the stays is very hard to see and at frist time you see a broken wire you need to replace all your rig because we learn that at this point almost all the wire will have the same rust problem.

 

[SVPardonMyFrench]

With a roller furling jib and main, here’s my guide:

Up to 15, full sail
15-20, roll in Main a little(1st Reef)
20-25, roll in jib 3 turns
25-30, roll Main a little more(2nd Reef)
30-35, roll jib in 3 more turns
>35, fly a handkerchief! Seriuousy, roll in main and roll in more jib, or vice versa depending on how you boat handles.
These are just guidelines to start, adjust them to your boat and comfort level.

Here's 30 knots on a 40.5.. you will see no main, and 1/3 of jib, to 1/3 jib + 1/3 main... Move to 5 minutes 30 secs in to the video if it does start there automatically

 

[Valerio]

i does not look like over 30 knots for me, when over 30 knots in my sea, jajaja, the sea is becoming very white. The flag in the bach the moviment will be very nasty comp to the video. But thats is only my opinion. The main is all in. I tried to sail that way, but because the center of the wind sail is so far away you cannot hold a steady course up into the wind.

 

[SVPardonMyFrench]

i does not look like over 30 knots for me, when over 30 knots in my sea, jajaja, the sea is becoming very white. The flag in the bach the moviment will be very nasty comp to the video. But thats is only my opinion. The main is all in. I tried to sail that way, but because the center of the wind sail is so far away you cannot hold a steady course up into the wind.

It was hovering bw 28 and gusting 33/34 when we have just little sail out. It's shot in the strait of Juan de Fuca in WA, which is a bit flatter than open ocean, and is 5'30 into the video, the rest of the video is much calmer. I found that we can sail on jib only and maintain a course on a beam reach (like here), experienced it both on my 40.5 and on a Jeanneau 42DS on the way down the west coast. But agree that it is less than ideal for beating.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

It is also wise to ask as some do not. I think the OP was very wise to ask for help in this forum. Thank you all for the responses