Howard, do you have a jib downhaul rigged? Given you only had 30 seconds or a minute, I'd a turned up some and dropped that baby like a rock. A reef would have been good too, but I personally can't tie one in in less than a minute or so, and that might not have been fast enough. I've sailed in some nasty stuff under main alone, and though it's not terribly efficient, it works pretty good for as long as you need to do it. After dropping the jib, I'd then go onto a broad reach, allow my spincter to thighen up, then prepare to loose the mainsheet and point up some. It's really a judgment call. t On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 3:07 PM, Howard Audsley <haudsley@tranquility.net>wrote:
For those who have been waiting with bated breath (and those with bait on their breath):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n_n_z77Y-A
Bottom line is it tows well. Second half of that clip I was on a beam reach in enough wind for the occasional white cap. Full main and a 110% jib and now and then hitting 5.4 knots even towing a tender.
What I failed to notice as I was shooting this was the squall line racing up from behind. If you look close, there is a group of 30 somethings following me. I heard later on that a Hunter 30 put her coach roof windows in the water on the first blast. Caught all of us flat footed. No time for rain coats or luxuries like that......I threw the camera forward and grabbed for hatch boards and just got them in when trouble arrived.
I survived the first blast, and let out the main, she tried to round up until the wind caught the 110% jib and drug us back down, Which brought the main back into action and we rounded up again. So I let go all the sheets and the halyards and went forward to get the main down and control of the flogging jib. Five minutes later we were still in a downpour, but the wind had returned to normal so the sails went back up and we were off again. Wet, but still in one piece.
Instinct let me down this time. Rather than than the main sheet, I should have first dropped the jib sheets and let those flog. She would have rounded up and stopped, or sailed on a beam reach to the new wind, which was about 30 degrees off from where it had been coming from.
Any other ideas for flat footed squall survival tactics?
On Aug 4, 2009, at 2:04 PM, Howard Audsley wrote:
On Aug 4, 2009, at 9:53 AM, Doug Kelch wrote:
Howard Audesey built a nice dinghy - lets hear his report :-)
Thanks
Doug Kelch
I am thinking an M15 IS a dinghy! It will sail in and out of anything, can be beached and will ferry at least 5 guys to the dock for dinner.
This is the boat I built:
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n165/haudsley/Picture260.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n165/haudsley/Picture229-1.jpg
Rows well. Sails well. Have not tried towing it with the M17 yet, but that is coming next week. At 10 feet, this one is too big to do anything with but tow it.
It's very stable. You can stand up and walk around in it, so getting in and out is pretty easy. Some are really jumpy. This one doesn't seem to be, but even the worst of those can be handled with practice.
Problems with towing hard boats.....aside from drag......seems to be when the weather pipes up and the tender either flips, fills with water (making it a good sea anchor), or it wants to run at different speeds than the main boat, in which case it can ram you.
Some cures would be to put either an self bailer or drain plug above waterline to remove water from a swamped boat. To slow it down, you can drop a warp off the stern to create some drag, or something I've though of, but never used, rig a sort of towing harness.
Years ago, we used these PVC tubes to tie up our boats to flooded trees for crappie fishing:
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n165/haudsley/Picture004.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n165/haudsley/Picture008-1.jpg
The PVC pipe kept the boat a safe distance from the tree, so it wouldn't bang into it when boats passed, leaving us bobbing in the chop.
Replace the loop with a line and snap shackle or clip and you have a way to fend the boat off. Rig two of them from the stern cleats and it's going to follow along at a safe distance. In really rough weather, keep a warp out off the stern and it won't slew around.
One of the guys I sail with tows an injection moulded plastic dinghy (same material as hard kayaks). It is lighter than the boat I built and takes some serious abuse without complaint. It's an older, no name brand similar to the ones sold by West Marine. Jumpy....but rows well.
Howard
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