last september i got caught in a blow on carr inlet (south puget sound); winds about 20, gusts into the mid-20s, seas 2'-3'. i had too much sail as the current main only has a single reef - i'm looking to changing this situation before the '07 season begins. i also don't have a storm job. i went down to just the jib and found you can't make any headway (not to be unexpected in a sloop) ... i was not loosing ground, and the boat healed only slightly less. i did three tacks looking at the same houses on each side of the bay and called it a day (broke out the 'iron horse' and went into a nice cove for a cup of hot coffee). after this experience i did a forum search and found some comments from jerry m. about the M15 in heavy winds. i looked and couldn't find his posting to share, (maybe someone else has or knows the correct search terms to find the helpful post) but this is what i remember - *most of the 'power' in the M15 comes from the main. *releasing tension on the main (letting out the sheet, or taking down the sail) takes all the tension off the forestay resulting in the jib 'bagging' and therefore making heal worse. *you need to reef the main and balance the boat in order to gain ground. jerry commented that if you get the right amount of sail the M15 will really go. i agree that if you get the right balance (using both sails) the boat is a fast, stable, and amazingly dry for the crew (in the above situation when i was under sail i got little spray in the cockpit ... only when i began to motor did i get wet). when running downwind the discussion changes - the only reports of a M15 (or M17) i could find that 'turned turtle or were knocked down where when the boat was running with the wind. i've not experienced a knockdown in my montgomery, but have on much larger boats. in all those cases the excitement happened when going downwind. david scobie M15 #288 (as yet not named) Harry & Nancy <nanarry@shaw.ca> wrote: Also,is it possible to sail with just the jib --------------------------------- It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar.