Going to windward obsession!

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justanothersailboat said:
Not being able to go to windward is for two kinds of people:
- people who don't mind motoring half the time, and
- people who have the time to do long voyages (and just wait for favourable conditions / go the long way for following winds) rather than time-limited coastal cruising
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I have a bilge keeler, a rubbish engine and no time. :cry:
 
Poignard said:
Tide was the most important factor.

When the tide turned against them they would generally anchor, or sit on a sandbank, and wait until it was favourable again.
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Not just sailing barges - some of the WW1 monitors were so underpowered for their size that they had to wait out tides in places.

They didn't have to worry so much about beating back out of harbour though - being able to deliver your shells accurately over a 25 mile range reduces the need for unloading at a quayside, funnily enough.
 
Not long ago I was taken as 'crew' on a Merlin Rocket. Going to windward? That thing appeared to go directly into the eye of the wind and rise onto the plane while doing so.

Well that was how it felt anyway, must say I didn't understand most of the string...
 
I heard that at the beginning of the 20th century the story of a full rigged sailing ship without an engine was trying to make its way down the English channel.

They tacked back and forth for a week making less than 1/2 mile to windward, before the wind changed direction and they then flew off in the right direction.

I bet the crew loved that. Tacking a full rigged ship several times a day for no appreciable forward progress.
 
westernman said:
I heard that at the beginning of the 20th century the story of a full rigged sailing ship without an engine was trying to make its way down the English channel.

They tacked back and forth for a week making less than 1/2 mile to windward, before the wind changed direction and they then flew off in the right direction.

I bet the crew loved that. Tacking a full rigged ship several times a day for no appreciable forward progress.
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Sounds like my old Vancouver 274 with it's original sails. 😁
 
KevinV said:
I must be some kind of perverted weirdo - going to windward is the entire point of sailing as far as I'm concerned - a few carefully selected bits of cloth, string and stick enabling you to go wherever you want to go - it always feels like a kind of magic 😁
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A similar kind to me. The most important 3 letters in the sailing alphabet are VMG.
 
DreadShips said:
Not just sailing barges - some of the WW1 monitors were so underpowered for their size that they had to wait out tides in places.
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Apropos of that I read HMS Ulysses as a kid and loved it and in recent years was pleasantly surprised when M33 arrived at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. FWIW.
 
wombat88 said:
Not long ago I was taken as 'crew' on a Merlin Rocket. Going to windward? That thing appeared to go directly into the eye of the wind and rise onto the plane while doing so.

Well that was how it felt anyway, must say I didn't understand most of the string...
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Merlins are great boats. I sailed them quite a bit in my youth (I used to love the team racing). But they don't point particularly any higher than most other high-performance racing dinghies and they definitely don't plane on the beat. If you want the latter experience then try an Osprey in a good force 4 to 5.

Back to the subject of barges, from what I've read and been told they can work to windward and often would have. I'm very skeptical about the idea that they'd lay at anchor for days or weeks waiting for a tail wind. They made money delivering cargo from A to B. When you're at anchor you're not moving cargo so not earning.
 
westernman said:
I heard that at the beginning of the 20th century the story of a full rigged sailing ship without an engine was trying to make its way down the English channel.

They tacked back and forth for a week making less than 1/2 mile to windward, before the wind changed direction and they then flew off in the right direction.

I bet the crew loved that. Tacking a full rigged ship several times a day for no appreciable forward progress.
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I remember seeing the track of a sailing ship trying and failing to round the Horn. I think this went on for over a month before they gave up.
 
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