How many reef points do you have in your main? I have two. On the old main without the battens, you could be in some pretty wild stuff and still be sailing relatively flat (head of sail would twist off), and fast with the 2nd reef and a storm jib (mine is about 60% as I recall). And she will still heave to in those conditions, but will want to fore reach if you don't have it right. I can't recall having ever buried the rail for any length of time. It gets wet at round 25 to 30 degrees of heel, at which point I have or will do something to get her back upright. She will sail faster and with less effort if she is in the 15 degree heel area. When I was testing my windvane, I took her out in 20 to 25 knots of wind, with gusts higher. She had the double reefed main, traveler to lee, and storm jib. Hard on the wind, she was heeling about 15 degrees and doing 5+ knots. On a broad reach, she would be sailing flat at 6 knots. I was shooting video and she was sailing herself. The knockdown is only likely if you are stopped or have rounded up and slowed down too much. And there are other ways to de-power the main. If you have a traveler, you can move it to the leeward side, and/or let out some mainsheet so that the sail twists off at the top. You can do the same thing with your jib, moving the sheeting point aft to tighten the foot, and let the head twist off to spill some wind. Essentially, the bottom half of the sail is the only thing pulling. It's less area and the center of effort is lower. If you have rolled up your 110 and still wallowing, roll it up all the way, tuck in your reefs and you should be able to survive some pretty fierce stuff. And if you have your board up, and trying to go to weather, you will be at it awhile. You will be sliding (making leeway) way off your mark...essentially, just sailing back and forth in the same area. Going to weather, put the board down. It also lowers the center of effort to keep you from heeling as much. And get everything in the cabin low and as forward as possible. Howard On 7/14/05 10:42 PM, "Gilbert Landin" <gilbert@mindgame.com> wrote:
I have the same problem with my M-17 Heaving to. Mine is especially hard when I have the storm Jib out. Not enough sail to backwind properly, got that fixed since I installed a CDI Furler and am using the 110 jib. Love that thing for single handing. It is esp helpful in 2-3 foot chop and a head wind that buries the rail. BTW It is really scary to bury the rail, I usally sail with the CB up and when the wind starts to howl 20+ knots the wind puffs will bury the rails. I go into a pucker factor 5 mode and round up or dump the main. So far I have not had water come over the combing into the cockpit, but I can see that happening. How common is a knockdown on these boats?
gilbert