Bimini Babe 0 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Well thank you all for the sleepless night I endured last night worrying about encountering heavy weather on my imminent first offshore trip. Oh God, I'd better get some better backing plates for the aft cleats and test-fire the storm sails and attach tie-down straps to everything everywhere and stock up on seasickness meds and buy a swivel for the para anchor and fit an extra bilge pump and and and......... Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 An interesting point I picked up in the Wooden boat forum - surface drift. In 60-70 you can expect 2-3 kn of it, that would stop most boats trying to go upwind. Link to post Share on other sites
DrWatson 375 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 yeah i hadn't thought about that surface current effect either. quite considerable. in a fast 40' racer dropping off far enough to have enough speed and still maker 3 knts to windward while contending with breaking seas comin more and more sideways the further you drop sounds like a hell of a balancing act... Link to post Share on other sites
Mothership 6 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 BB, a simple rule friends of ours apply in upwind situations: it's time to turn around when it's rough enough that the drinks start spilling, and the cheeseboard contents starts sliding. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 BB - test firing the storm sails is essential, can't tell you the number of times I've fit them at the dock and find they sheet off the end of the boat. Link to post Share on other sites
Chewing Gum 17 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 My question is how to stop jib shaking itself to pieces going to weather in high winds. One thing I guess is getting enough leach cord tension. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Leech cord needs to be bulletproof (like the rest of the sail), plus since area is no biggie it can have shitloads of hollow in the leech, but most important is to have the sheeting position correct, hence testing before you go out. Booboo might like to confirm that for me. Link to post Share on other sites
PaulR 3 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 most important is to have the sheeting position correct, hence testing before you go out. Perhaps instead of abandoning races when the winds are too strong, hoisting code flag Y to indicate storm jibs and deep reefs or trysails ONLY and allow us all to use these sails and see how and where they do sheet to. That way we will all become more familiar with our equipment. Then the race may be excluded from series points and allow others to stay in their berths yet will also encourage others to go for a sail in seamanship manner and try their equipment. It is useless hoisting storm sails on a flat calm day. The best area to practise storm sail setting and changes is on half tide when the wind opposes the tide causing short sharp sloppy seas so the yacht bounces around a lot. e.g. mid channel near North Head in a 28 to 30 knot SW near gale with a flood tide. This I have done with my lady crews and they survived So crews have to hang on, it is uncomfortable, you will get wet etc. all good practice so that when 50 to 60 knots happen offshore, one is prepared. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 most important is to have the sheeting position correct, hence testing before you go out. Perhaps instead of abandoning races when the winds are too strong, hoisting code flag Y to indicate storm jibs and deep reefs or trysails ONLY and allow us all to use these sails and see how and where they do sheet to. That way we will all become more familiar with our equipment. What a marvellous idea. My trysail and storm jib are carefully stowed in the forepeak and I am loathe to even look at them, but I know this is bad seamanship. Our last boat, Panache. had a dedicated trysail track and the trysail sat in a bag at the foot of the mast. On Bintang, I try to justify this obvious demunition of safety awareness by thinking that we are older and therefore wiser, and that because we are glued to metVUW we know what weather we are going to have a week in advance. This, I know, is unwise and unseamanlike. We shall have to work on this! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Excellent suggestion Paul!!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites
Fogg 427 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Before we started most of the offshore RORC races we had to sail the boat through the start gate with our storm jib hoisted to demonstrate we had one and that it was correctly rigged. Otherwise you were DNS'd. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Well thank you all for the sleepless night I endured last night worrying about encountering heavy weather on my imminent first offshore trip. I have said for years, that the British Sailors are good at Navigating, because a lot of their sailing is up samll creeks that dry out at low tide. Kiwis are great practicle sailors, because if we don't go out ion days it is blowing 20kts, we would most likely get one day sailing in per yr and the rest would be calm weather motoring. NZ certainly is a challenging place to sail. As already said, it isn't so much the wind, it is the current with huge volumes of water trying to fit between and bend around our country, the unbelievably deep waters shelving to shallow, the Rocks and Banks in the middle of no where and that we tend to get very confused Sea states. Of course this is still something I have to excperience, but I keep hearing that once you leave NZ waters, you get into the more settled Sea states and winds. So don't worry too much BBabe. Although for some reason everytinme Team Wheels tries to take on a fair stretch, we end up getting a good Butt Kicking. But in saying that, we have learn't so much more in such a short time due to those experiences. I think that as long as you have others with you that have some experience, then the anxiety level is less and you will learn so much more about the boat and yourself and gain so much mnore confidence in both as well. We can head out and take on so much more now. What once was scary to us now is, "what were we worried about". I can't say it gets any more comfortable, but you do learn how to cope. The only thing I still struggle with is the endurance though. Only because I get tired extremely fast and once I am tired, I struggle with the head games. That may never change for me. Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I'd have to agree with booboo's post. With the exception of the storm gear. Island time will go to weather in most condidtions up to about 50Knts. It's uncomfortable (with proportional sea state) and hard on the crew and gear. I try (hard) to avoid it. What can be done and what is fun is different. We have a seperate track for the trisail, and it lives on the deck in a bag. Saves space below, and is easier if/when you need it. I have a gale sail (A trisail with a pocket that wraps around the furled headsail) which is good and you don't need to remove the headsail - although I would if I had lots of warning. Once we cannot make progress, if my destination is to weather we use a parachute. Slowest rate of drift = least possible searoom required, and, set correctly helps to shelter you from the worst of the seas. Downwind I have a basic rule I once read that seems, in my experience again to be accurate. Once the breaking crests are about 1/4 of my waterline length its time for a drouge or to turn and heave too using the parachute. Link to post Share on other sites
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