I am an M17 owner based in San Luis Obispo and just an observer on the forum. This thread caught my attention, since I am planning on taking my boat out to the Channel Islands in October. I was wondering how the boat handles, not just in heavy wind, but in the ocean. I would never intentionally take the boat out in any forecast, unpleasant conditions and know it is not designed as a blue water boat, but just wondering if anyone has any experience getting caught out with one or even experience in sailing the islands. The Santa Barbara Channel can be a nasty place and the wind can howl, sometimes unpredictably. I plan on spending a few days and would like to be as prepared as possible. I have had the boat out in 20 knots up at Lake Lopez a few times, but the ocean is quite a different and much more challenging environment. As far as my experience level goes, I have sailed off and on all my life, but the ocean sailing I've done has all been aboard larger sail boats. Also, this trip will be solo which can make things more difficult. Would love to hear any advice the group might have... -------------------------------------------- On Mon, 9/23/13, James Poulakis <picfo@comcast.net> wrote: Subject: Re: M_Boats: My M17 did really nice in strong winds today To: "Ronald McNeil" <ronaldwmcneil@yahoo.com>, "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Monday, September 23, 2013, 10:36 AM The M17 is an amazing little bugger. Winds funnel through the entrance to San Francisco Bay at well over 20 knots on a regular basis. The M17 can handle the wind and beat into it with a flat main reefed way down and a small jib. The first time is concerning. The second time is thrilling. By the third time it's just fun . Jim M17 "Spirit" On Sep 22, 2013, at 2:50 PM, Ronald McNeil <ronaldwmcneil@yahoo.com> wrote:
I'm a pretty new M17 owner and I was very impressed
with how the boat did in heavy winds today. On Lake Pleasant, AZ this morning we had winds 10-15mph. I was alone so I had a single reef in and the gene was rolled in to the size of a working jib. I was very happy at that point with how it was so manageable. I later did a heave to in order to have my lunch. That's when the real wind came. My wife said the underground station clocked a 26mph gust at 11:00, when I was eating my lunch and the boat stayed in heave to without issue. I was moving at over 2 knots but very stable. I wonder if I pulled my keel up if it would of slowed down my forward movement. There was no end to the wind with it steady at about 20mph, so I rolled the gene in and sailed under main alone with a single reef still. Again I was so impressed. It handled the wind with no problem and the boat was so balanced I let the tiller go at one point for about 5 minutes.
I purchased my new M17 without ever sailing one. I
picked the M17 by process of elimination while reading a lot of reviews, stats and stories and fortunately it has been totally meeting my expectations. I'm going to start racing it next month, so we'll see how it does on that front. My last boat, a Columbia 23T, was so bad to windward we didn't stand a chance in the races. They had to keep asking us to motor back to the start line so they could start the next race, LOL. So I'm anxious to see how we will do.
Regards, Ron McNeil Jackpot #675