C-26 Limits...if any

[amayotte]

Hello wise sailors.

I have just come back from sailing in the biggest wind of my sailing life so far and I am curious as to know how much the c-26's can take.
I have read as much as I can find on the forum about this but am looking for more in depth stories of sailors experiences.
The winds were about 20 knots gusting 25 and she did amazing...until I hit a reef, but that is for another topic.
I had the main double reefed and wanted to sail strictly with that to see how much weather helm there was. It actually did really well; there wasn't a whole lot of weather helm at all to my surprise. That was probably because I was sailing between a broad and beam reach and she was heeling between 15 and 20 degrees.
What I'm trying to figure out is:
Has anyone come into enough wind to lay the sails on the water or turtle these boats?
What is the optimum heeling angle for sailing these boats?
Has anyone turtled a C-26 and what caused it?

This all basically comes from my fear of pushing her too much and watching her sink or worse yet, hurting a passenger. I am fairly sure she can take more than I can but I would like to know how much without having to learn it out there.

Thanks for the help,
Adam

[ronc98]

I had the same fear when I first started sailing mine. I have never had a knockdown or anywhere near that. I have been out in 25 substained and 35-40 ish gusts. Sailed with a reefed main, I do not have a double reef, wish I did because it sounded like the mast was coming down a few times. I had her healed over enough to allow water to spill into the cockpit. She was amazing, I was a wimp. I think she can handle way more then what we think they can handle. Windward has some great pictures of his healed over ALOT.

Granted healing her over enough to allow water to enter the cockpit is not fast and not fun, I was simply trying to find the her limit so I would know. I was experiementing with way to much sail in way to much wind.

[Windward]

In fairness to Windward this should be a long response, and thus will need to wait. However, steady winds mid 30s with gusts > 60 are not a problem according to my anemom, assuming you don't have waves to match (you'd be screwed then). I've never encountered conditions on our lake where I wouldn't sail Windward, and she's out when everyone else is not. I usually singlehand, although I do have a couple of deranged friends who've come out with me sometimes.

I have some pics of milder intense conditions (no one else is out to take 'em when it's really gonzo) but no time to post just now.

It ain't the wind that'll flip you, it's the waves it kicks up. The C26 could get flattened, but without waves she'll come right back up. Don't remember the actual angle of vanishing stability, but it's something like 130+. Really hope never to test empirically.

Wind's been blowing hard enough that it takes the tops off of the waves and carries them down the lake horizontally, with the spray never dropping while you watch it. One day, before it freshened up and we came out to play, iti was strong enough to flip a pontoon boat.

While we're inland except for some excursions to the coast, every now and then the winds have been high enough and consistent enough there to kick up decent waves, and I've shipped greenwater (not just spray) before while tacking, and got lightly pooped (Lifesling blocked most of it, but pretty unusual).

I've gotten slammed in gusts hard enough to submerge the leeward winch (fortunately I sail with the washboards in on those days) and put about 20 gallons of water in the cockpit. Need to spill the main then (duh! Should have spilled it earlier....), but boat comes back up like convincingly, and never feels like she'll keep on going. This stuff's even more interesting in the wintertime, when the spray freezes on the deck and the lines remain fairly rigid.

You do need to be appropriately reefed. For me, appropriate reefing can mean a double or triple reef in the main and a 70 sq ft yankee that may be furled to about 30 sq ft. Smart money's on a harness, tether and jacklines, too. I've made almost 6 kt upwind under 2nd reef and a partially furled yankee, and > 8 kt on a reach with the same sails up.

Your rig needs to be up to this as well, or you might have an interesting dismasting story to share.

[ronc98]

I always love Windwards post.

[NYCSAILOR]

thanks for sharing the experience aboard windward...looks like I will mostly be singlehandling as well and curious as to your set-up your find best..

I would be most worried as windward cautions that the 20 year old bulkhead give way and the chainplates, rig collapses...ther is also no compression post to speak of so the deck might collapse / cave in..rudder falling off etc. these are my nightmare scenarios...

I know ther were some owners sailing tothe bahamas...I would be very curious about the bluewater performace as they are the most likely to get some real waves as well as wind.

[amayotte]

Thanks a lot for the replies, I always feel better after reading those. Windward I must say that sailing with you would definitely be more than what I could handle. Amusement parks could probably build a ride based on your rides, I'm sure.
But I do feel better now knowing how hard you guys push the boats and they are still floating.
As always everyones posts are greatly appreciated,

Adam