Dingy won’t go down wind

jrudge

jrudge

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Wonder if the forum can help

I have an inflatable sailboat

https://www.sailboatstogo.com/content/Aquaglide_Multisport_270

Opinions asside it actually goes quite well and is very stable. It is on a motor boat so there is no option for a laser or similar

I have just been out in it and going upwind is fine but I could not persuade it to go downwind. It would turn and then pivot back into wind

Had a radio so the kids came and rescued me in the rib.

I would have thought that going downwind would be simpler then upwind from a sailing point of view and would welcome any suggestions that might improve matters.

Edit. I have just noticed that the forestay has slipped and the mast is angled slightly backwards and wondered if that was responsible.
 
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If the mast is raked back it will luff up, similar to a windsurfer and pulling the mast backwards.
 
We have the same Aquaglide on our cat and it goes downwind OK ..... but getting the mast held up securely is a bit of a pain and you need the thing to be pumped up really hard. You have installed the keels I assume, 'cos without those it just blows sidewards all over the place.

Richard
 
Dinghies are strange animals. I was thinking that lack of a keel could be the problem too. I once had a little pram (moulded by Prout's) that sailed perfectly well, except that it would not go about with the plate right down.
 
RichardS said:
We have the same Aquaglide on our cat and it goes downwind OK ..... but getting the mast held up securely is a bit of a pain and you need the thing to be pumped up really hard. You have installed the keels I assume, 'cos without those it just blows sidewards all over the place.

Richard
Click to expand...
Many thanks

The keel is on ( I did check in case it had fallen off )

Will re rig in the morning and see how we go !
 
If the problem is not excessive mast rake then maybe having all that sail over to one side is overcoming the ability of the rudder to hold a course.

With a windsurf you would tilt the sail over to windward to bring the centre of effort above the boat (not sure if that can be done on this dinghy though). On a normal sailing dinghy you would heel the entire boat to achieve the same result. This may feel odd, and you might have to heel further than you think, but once you find the groove it can be very balanced and you can then steer by heeling the boat more or less.

Good luck!
 
jrudge said:
Wonder if the forum can help

I have an inflatable sailboat

https://www.sailboatstogo.com/content/Aquaglide_Multisport_270

Opinions asside it actually goes quite well and is very stable. It is on a motor boat so there is no option for a laser or similar

I have just been out in it and going upwind is fine but I could not persuade it to go downwind. It would turn and then pivot back into wind

Had a radio so the kids came and rescued me in the rib.

I would have thought that going downwind would be simpler then upwind from a sailing point of view and would welcome any suggestions that might improve matters.

Edit. I have just noticed that the forestay has slipped and the mast is angled slightly backwards and wondered if that was responsible.
Click to expand...

Shorten/tighten forestay.
 
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