Do you still beat to windward ?

[LONG_KEELER]

I know there are a ton of variables involved, but I have decided to give up the every five minutes stuff single handed. This will probably increase to 15 minutes very soon , and as age creeps, my boat will probably be set up for downwind and reaching only sailing.

I have come up with the idea that our engines are very useful in getting us to a place place where we can start sailing . The old timers didn't have this option so probably stayed at home or had self tackers.

Where are you at the moment with beating ?

 

[Stemar]

My Snapdragon has quite shallow, vertical bilge keels. When it comes to going to windward, she's a real gentleman. As a result, so am I. Having far more horsepower than I need encourages this gentlemanly behaviour.

 

[Poignard]

I enjoy beating to windward and I am lucky in having a boat that does it very well.

Conor O'Brien, author of "Across Three Oceans" (a good read, by the way) came to the conclusion that the best set up )for ocean voyaging) was to have a square-rigged yacht with a powerful engine for getting her in and out of port and through calms.

It seems odd that nowadays when nearly all yachts have bermudan rig, which is so efficient at going to windward, they spend so much time under 'Solent rig', ie mainsail sheeted in tight and engine on.

 

[Daydream believer]

My boat goes very well to windward & that is the point of sail the my Aeries works the best. In 15+ kts of wind I can (or at least my son can) get 6.5 kts boat speed upwind & nail it there, which is fair for a 31 ft boat. However, at 74 I am no longer at my best & 95% of my sailing is single handed. At the end of last season my engine suddenly gave signs that it wanted to give up & go to the scrap yard in the sky. it has had a short period of intensive care ( or at least my wallet has) & if that has not worked it will mean a new engine.
I am now at the stage of - 1) flog the boat ( it will go in days) in a sellers market & buy a MOBO or 2) Keep the boat, put a bigger engine with better more efficient folding prop, such that in very rough weather I can use it like a MOBO ( I am happy at 6kts but can only do 2-3 with extg engine) & still have an excellent sailing boat which will still have value in 5 years time. In the end it would be a cheaper option than buying a MOBO
I think that I will go for option 2 & when people look & wonder why I am motoring instead of sailing sometimes, then I think that I will have a valid reason

 

[franksingleton]

Gentlemen do not beat. Obviously, in some cases, it will be necessary. In our case, Anhinga does not motor sail well into the wind. For us, with few time pressures, it is a case of careful use of weather forecasts. In recent years, forecasting has improved immensely so that is usually possible to watch forecasts and plan ahead for the next week. Why beat or motor sail[ into a headwind today when, waiting for two or three days, will give a gentleman’s wind?

 

[pyrojames]

I beat to windward, but let the autopilot do all the helming...

 

[TernVI]

I enjoy beating to windward and I am lucky in having a boat that does it very well.

...

That's not luck, it's a basic choice you made to buy something fit for purpose.

 

[Biggles Wader]

I beat to windward but only when the tide is favourable. Otherwise I just go in the other direction.

 

[wizard]

I beat to windward, but let the autopilot do all the helming...

+1

 

[Rappey]

If you sail a lot in the solent you always seem to be going against a tide and wind..
I can let go of the helm with the sails pulled in and the boat sails to windward perfectly.
Who needs an autopilot ? ?

 

[BobnLesley]

I beat to windward but only when the tide is favourable. Otherwise I just go in the other direction.

The correct answer: if you're looking at a beat of more than four hours, it's not the wind which is 'wrong', but your choice of destination; sail somewhere else.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Surely, the answer is "It depends". I'm certainly not going to beat up a narrow channel where I need to tack every few minutes, or in a busy area. But if (for example) I were doing a long passage in clear water, I'd do long boards to windward quite happily. In clear water, there's no point in short tacking; the distance you sail is the same. So, for example, to get from Harwich to Lowestoft in a northerly, I'd happily do one board well offshore until I could lay Lowestoft on the next tack.

 

[Neeves]

Only when the alternative is worse.

The last major windward passage was to cross Bass Strait, the alternative was to sit tight, with Storm warning in place - and insufficient confidence on what might happen afterwards. We anchored for the Storm on Australia's mainland - and sods law - when we wanted to mover on - flat calm.

You win some, you lose some.

Jonathan

 

[scottie]

Not having either a boat nor a donkey just eggs

 

[Deleted member 36384]

It depends on the available time. If sufficient I beat to windward.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

My old boat Beneteau 45f5 performance rig and very deep keel went very well to windward.
I will have to see when I get the chance on my Beneteau 46.1 caravan if it will.

 

[Concerto]

I boat a yacht that is easy to sail with a large easy to handle rig on all points of wind, and sail is what I try to do as much of the time as possible. Tacking up the Medway is quite normal and I hand steer, on long passages I sometimes use the autopilot but it does/cannot steer as close as by hand. A couple of years ago I realised at the end of the season I had not bought any diesel that year.

 

[Ceirwan]

In my opinion helming while driving a yacht hard to windward is one the most satisfying things you can do.

Sure if its long slog then let the autohelm take a spell, but reading the wind shifts on the water, nailing the lifts, luffing up in the gusts, playing the traveller and backstay, that's what its all about.
Helps if you have a good sailing boat.

 

[Mysteron]

I thought long and hard before purchasing my boat and decided to get a vessel that I could comfortably manage single handed, particularly up wind, which I enjoy immensely.

 

[TernVI]

It always amazes me that 'cruising sailors' can always find a 'wind bang on the nose all day' to motor into, while those of us who set courses for races are plagued by winds that shift every few minutes and change half way aound the compass as the day progresses.

Personally I like sailing to windward. It's a game, a challenge to do it well.
I'd rather beat to a destination than motor for hours just to get somewhere a little further away.

I think some people get into a spiral of not considering windward performance when they buy a boat, not making the best of what their boat will do, so trying to sail much to windward is not much fun. So then they tend not to practice.
Then there's the YM theory culture which is all about CTS for a motorboat and nothing about how to make the best of getting to windward.