Do you still beat to windward ?

[LONG_KEELER]

As opposed to just being close hauled.

Maybe there are less people sailing, and the rivers are clearer of traffic, but this season seems more people doing so .

Are you still up for it ?

 

[alant]

As opposed to just being close hauled.

Maybe there are less people sailing, and the rivers are clearer of traffic, but this season seems more people doing so .

Are you still up for it ?

Bit rude that question surely.

 

[NormanS]

As opposed to just being close hauled.

Maybe there are less people sailing, and the rivers are clearer of traffic, but this season seems more people doing so .

Are you still up for it ?

Who are these "less" people?

 

[{151760}]

If the wind's force 3 to 4, and it's for no more than a couple of hours, yes, we'll beat.

 

[Bru]

Only if I can still get to where I'm going before closing time

 

[chubby]

If the tide is with me to add a knot or two to my SOG and I am only going say down the solent I will beat even in a motorsailor but on a long trip eg cross channel, the engine comes on for motorsailing

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Definitely. This year from St Albans Head to Dartmouth, on to Salcombe, to Plymouth, Fowey and finally Falmouth where we motored the last bit with no wind. After Salcombe it became a point of principle, and every header was tacked upon. Each leg was directly upwind, even to Plymouth and was mainly 20-25kts. We sailed it mainly because Weymouth was as far West as we got last year and we were going to get to Helford no matter what.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Depends on the weather, sunshine, warm & dry we'll beat, cloudy, cold & wet or a big sea and we motor sail while I hide behind the spray hood and let the autopilot do its thing. Tide? What's that?

 

[aquaplane]

I was talking to someone a couple of years ago and they said if the speed drops below 4Kts the engine goes on, I thought at the time it was a bit much.

Ever since I have realised that it's not a daft regime on the West coast of Scotland where 20+ mile days are usual and favourable tides last 6 hours.

But I got a nice warm glow recently in a decent breeze, we had only 10 miles to go and beat all the way in my motorsailer.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Only in extremis, which usually means "if the weather isn't what I expected", because I never plan a trip to include beating to windward. I will cheerfully throw in a tack or three to get round a headland, but for any significant distance the engine goes on. It costs me a lot of money and bother and it might as well earn its keep, to paraphrase a recent Tom Cunliffe article.

I go sailing for fun and, for me, beating to windward is not fun, so I don't do it.

 

[Gwylan]

Depends a lot on conditions and who is on board.

Chaps and we sail for the fun of it, with an eye on E.T.A. and V.M.G.

With the CiC on board if the speed reaches 4 knots V.M.G then the engine goes on.

 

[Robin]

When we had our sen Legende 41 back in the UK, the engine was really only for flat calms, one of the benefits of a boat that not only sailed beautifully but close to the wind and in light winds as well as strong. a boat that only likes stiff breeze or has to be sailed 'free' i s not fun. Nowadays we are in the confines of the USA ICW, with narrow channels, close proximity to shallows, and a smaller 36 footer with in-mast mainsail then engine gets more use than I would like, not the boat's fault however, just circumstances. We were doing 5.5kts in 11kts apparent last weekend, on our seatrial sail with buyers, upwind albeit not as close as we did back on the SL41 when our optimum upwind was 7kts at 28 degs apparent wind angle. On the ICW almost every boat is a motorboat much of the time with just occasional interludes of pleasure

 

[Uricanejack]

Not sure I understand the question. Beat or close hauled don't they kind of go together?

If I can get there on one tack, I am quite pleased, close hauled or not.

Perhaps its odd, but I like sailing to windward. so yes I do both.

As long as I have wind available I like to use it. can't see the point of this motor sailing so many of you seam to do.
perhaps it helps to have a boat which sails well to windward.

If the wind dies or I get tiered of it. The engine is an option. I prefer the sound of nature so if possible I leave it off.

 

[Otter]

Close hauled yes but gentlemen don't go to windward

 

[geem]

Well we have to get back from Curacao to Antigua in November against the wind and current. It will be 400-500 mile beat to windward. Suspect it may be a mixture of sailing and motor-sailing depending on the sea conditions.

 

[adwuk]

I love a good beat, and our boat does it effortlessly. The best beat, I believe, must also involve the Sound of Mull.

 

[jakeroyd]

Answering the question slightly differently.
I tend to motorsail to windward quite a bit because my boat is small and everybody is going faster than me anyway.
But if I can do 4kts over the ground, not always a good VMG as well, I'll beat

 

[Poignard]

(...)
Are you still up for it ?

With a Twister and new self-tailing sheet winches?

You bet I am! :encouragement:

 

[dylanwinter]

I love a good beat, and our boat does it effortlessly. The best beat, I believe, must also involve the Sound of Mull.

I agree - beating up some of those sounds with the tide underneath you makes a centauir feel like an ocean greyhound

if the tide is against you then drop the hook and have a snooze for a few hours

 

[ex-Gladys]

Still being one of the working classes, frequently I am in a position of "having to get there", so motor more often than I would (although this season we've done a spit under 700 miles and only 40 Engine hours - of which a lot was on our two weeks cruise to Eastbourne, and a recent trip up to Limehouse and back- average season hours is 70 for about the same mileage). On days when I've just been out for a day sail, we've had some really good beats, working the wind shifts, and tides. I also agree that sailing is for pleasure for me not an endurance test...