Alan_B
New member
Had yet another bout of being safe and sensible last night.
What's with the weather? For the third time this racing season the forecast has been utterly wrong. It was giving 9kts gusting 12. Got to the boat and it was 20kts gusting who knows what. Popped a reef in and stuck no 2 up. Boat felt great and controllable and going along at a fair speed until we poked our bow out of the bay. Wind was from the north giving some lovely 4ft waves (inland water, Lough Neagh).
A brief discussion followed with the mate and we decided beating and reaching we were fine, but the course was giving a fair bit of running dead downwind. Fine for the rest of the fleet, made up of GK24s, GK29, Maxis, and other big lumps. But for us in our little Hunter Europa we decided it was a bit much. She gets quite rolly downwind and that combined with short sharp waves we decided it likely we would either death roll or end up burying the bow into a wave or another boat.
Question is, (among the rambling) any tips for heavy weather sailing in a small boat? Or is it just the fact it's about as beamy as a coke can?
Tbh, I prefer to be standing on the hard wishing I was out sailing, rather than being far out in the middle of a race wishing I was on shore. Good call but occasionally wish I wasn't buying a house so I could get a bigger boat!
What's with the weather? For the third time this racing season the forecast has been utterly wrong. It was giving 9kts gusting 12. Got to the boat and it was 20kts gusting who knows what. Popped a reef in and stuck no 2 up. Boat felt great and controllable and going along at a fair speed until we poked our bow out of the bay. Wind was from the north giving some lovely 4ft waves (inland water, Lough Neagh).
A brief discussion followed with the mate and we decided beating and reaching we were fine, but the course was giving a fair bit of running dead downwind. Fine for the rest of the fleet, made up of GK24s, GK29, Maxis, and other big lumps. But for us in our little Hunter Europa we decided it was a bit much. She gets quite rolly downwind and that combined with short sharp waves we decided it likely we would either death roll or end up burying the bow into a wave or another boat.
Question is, (among the rambling) any tips for heavy weather sailing in a small boat? Or is it just the fact it's about as beamy as a coke can?
Tbh, I prefer to be standing on the hard wishing I was out sailing, rather than being far out in the middle of a race wishing I was on shore. Good call but occasionally wish I wasn't buying a house so I could get a bigger boat!
