Sailing in 50-70 mph Winds
Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:45 am
OK,, I know,, But...
Mowed the grass, sanded on the project boat, chores done, what to do??
A windstorm was coming over the Cascade range, slamming down into the Palouse farmlands picking up dust, powerlines were blowing down and at least one fire was started... and Pam wanted to go to the lake!
We had to take the porta potty back and a gas tank anyway after the 4th weekend... so I figured we could maybe sail with just the stormsail, leave the motor in the water just in case and see what he C-22 would do in stronger winds.
We learned:
1. Be ready with your wet gear before a wave breaks over the starboard side. Had that happen as we came into the short choppy waves rounding the point into the first of the winds. Made for a Monkey Butt day..
2. Keep the top hatch closed. Makes sense when ya think about it...
3. We couldn't point into the wind at all. We could sail on a beam reach, not losing too much ground downwind, but if we were in trouble and different circumstances could run out of lake. A valuble lesson...
4. Would be nice to have a second , even third set of reef points in the main. I never thought of raising my main. Maybe with a third reef point we could have pointed into the wind??
5. Watch the water and plan your course changes after a gust, be smooth and keep your speed up. Boat speed is your friend! It keeps you steering and powering though the waves.
We hit almost 6 mph with just the stormsaill, and it was a smooth ride after getting down the lake a bit where the waves weren't so choppy. Pam was scared we might roll too far and get doused... but she did awesome! If we had more time I think we would have had some nice surfing further down the lake. We were on the lake from 1500 'till 1800, the peak of the winds until it just died down to a nice 10-15 mph breeze and we had to go.
To get back we motor sailed and Pam went below to stay drier and warm as we punched waves. Here again we had to tack, to keep the motor from porpoising out of the water, which I learned can ruin your impellar, a $200 repair if you don't do it yourself. It didn't take to much throttle though (15 HP Honda) and we made good time getting back.
It was good to see what the boat would do. I think we'll feel better about our sailing over all. Of course I took video, but I dropped the connector that mounts the camera case to the rail mount into the lake at the dock. I'll look for that later after the water warms up some more... So it's hand held video done when we weren't toooo busy.
Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/bhacurly#p/u/0/YlI-AT3qBH8
Love my C-22
Billy
Mowed the grass, sanded on the project boat, chores done, what to do??
A windstorm was coming over the Cascade range, slamming down into the Palouse farmlands picking up dust, powerlines were blowing down and at least one fire was started... and Pam wanted to go to the lake!
We had to take the porta potty back and a gas tank anyway after the 4th weekend... so I figured we could maybe sail with just the stormsail, leave the motor in the water just in case and see what he C-22 would do in stronger winds.
We learned:
1. Be ready with your wet gear before a wave breaks over the starboard side. Had that happen as we came into the short choppy waves rounding the point into the first of the winds. Made for a Monkey Butt day..
2. Keep the top hatch closed. Makes sense when ya think about it...
3. We couldn't point into the wind at all. We could sail on a beam reach, not losing too much ground downwind, but if we were in trouble and different circumstances could run out of lake. A valuble lesson...
4. Would be nice to have a second , even third set of reef points in the main. I never thought of raising my main. Maybe with a third reef point we could have pointed into the wind??
5. Watch the water and plan your course changes after a gust, be smooth and keep your speed up. Boat speed is your friend! It keeps you steering and powering though the waves.
We hit almost 6 mph with just the stormsaill, and it was a smooth ride after getting down the lake a bit where the waves weren't so choppy. Pam was scared we might roll too far and get doused... but she did awesome! If we had more time I think we would have had some nice surfing further down the lake. We were on the lake from 1500 'till 1800, the peak of the winds until it just died down to a nice 10-15 mph breeze and we had to go.
To get back we motor sailed and Pam went below to stay drier and warm as we punched waves. Here again we had to tack, to keep the motor from porpoising out of the water, which I learned can ruin your impellar, a $200 repair if you don't do it yourself. It didn't take to much throttle though (15 HP Honda) and we made good time getting back.
It was good to see what the boat would do. I think we'll feel better about our sailing over all. Of course I took video, but I dropped the connector that mounts the camera case to the rail mount into the lake at the dock. I'll look for that later after the water warms up some more... So it's hand held video done when we weren't toooo busy.
Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/bhacurly#p/u/0/YlI-AT3qBH8
Love my C-22
Billy
