Beam sea

[BOATKID]

got caught in a beam sea the other day which wasn't pleasant. I wondered after the event if I would have been better to go 45 deg into the swell then 45deg with sea following ( a bit like tacking).
What does the panel think ??
boat was 28 foot sport cruiser with single sterndrive

 

[SteveE]

Having been in a bad one once, we found that tacking was best, nose on always seems the best way to make the best of a bad situation...

Not sure if that is best advice, but made the journey a lot more comfortable...

 

[hlb]

All boats are different, so you have to experiment. Tacking is a good ploy for many. Thing is, all seas are different as well. Many times more speed is better, some times slower. Now mostly with my boat, less on the nose, the faster it goes, the most comfortable. But on another boat last week, slower was better. It could not handle following seas. Needs driving as a rib, Kwackers said, wheel and throttle up and down. Yes tacking through the sea is a good plan mostly. As is adding and taking off power at the right time. Fairly useless on a bigger boat, as the power is slower to make a difference.

 

[PCUK]

Tacking is the norm. Making an uncomfortable trip more pleasant and adding very little to the overall distance.

 

[DAKA]

The most aggressive sea I have ever been in was a beam sea.

The troughs had an airy calm to them-the sun was out and there was no wind, I used the calm and pushed on at 30 knots in the direction of the trough.

While not in the trough the wind was howling, spray was lashing us and it was difficult to see anything.
The wave was doing about 20-25 knots and eventually stated to take us up, at this point I steered up hill, lost the speed due to the incline and then allowed the wave to break over the bow before resuming the parallel course.

It worked and gave us a little respite every now and again from the hell but we were a long way off course, it is times like this that you are pleased you set a safe haven in the gps......chart work at times like this is not possible.

(This was my last boat Fairline Corniche on outdrives, weather forecast technology has improved since then so I like to think I shouldn't be caught out like that again)

 

[gjgm]

yes, some of the RYA books usggests speeding along in the trough, but I never understood how that didnt take you way, way off course, just delaying the isuue.

 

[DAKA]

If you were heading to Poole from Alderney you would end up at the shingles or if heading for the Shingles from Alderney you would end up at the nab and then enter the Solent on the east side.

Or you could end up at Eastbourn instead of Brighton but safe and more important the wife and kids happy to go again /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

 

[ThereAndBack]

I just put up the mainsail and let it take the strain...

Ooops - wrong forum. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[oceanfroggie]

There is no right answer to this query as every boat and sea condition is different. On a planing boat at sea I generally prefer a beam sea as you can push the speed on and it's more comfy. In a head sea say F5-6 it's not possible to keep the speed up due to colliding heavily with the swell waves, but it is when beam on to that.

On the other hand on a short sharp chop say wind against tide and light swell it can be rolley, especially on large fresh water loughs where head to sea is better for our vessel, or on an estuary with short steep waves.

On lough derg displacement boats frequently "tack" to strong wave action, but some larger planning vessels find it easier to really get the speed up and glide off the top of the waves (ie like a knife through butter), but this doesn't work at sea in longer wave lengths due to the pounding.