jwilson
Well-Known Member
Many years ago I was crewing a 23 ft Hunter 701 with lift keel in a (very) windy horrible weather inter-club race against other boats including a Nic 35 and several other 30 ft plus cruisers and cruiser-racers. We went to windward past one much bigger boat that had decided to heave to, at which point it started sailing again!.
A few hours later we got to the down tide windward mark, and turned for home, close behind many bigger and should-have-been-faster boats. No thoughts of spinnakers, but I was sure that if we 2/3 lifted the keel we'd plane even with jib and reefed main, and no-one else would plane, and we could take line honours in a tiny boat. The owner (who was not much of a helm) was terrified of the idea, and me and another dinghy-sailer crew had to do it surrepticiously and very slowly when he wasn't looking and when the other one of us was on the tiller - difficult on a 23 ft boat. We crossed the line 2nd overall. We'd have been first if the keel had been raised earlier, as towards the end with it about half-raised we were getting really long surf-planes.
In any planing dinghy in serious wind when you can't hold it upright you part-raise the board even to windward, and you never have it fully down on a reach or run unless you're keen on swimming.
A few hours later we got to the down tide windward mark, and turned for home, close behind many bigger and should-have-been-faster boats. No thoughts of spinnakers, but I was sure that if we 2/3 lifted the keel we'd plane even with jib and reefed main, and no-one else would plane, and we could take line honours in a tiny boat. The owner (who was not much of a helm) was terrified of the idea, and me and another dinghy-sailer crew had to do it surrepticiously and very slowly when he wasn't looking and when the other one of us was on the tiller - difficult on a 23 ft boat. We crossed the line 2nd overall. We'd have been first if the keel had been raised earlier, as towards the end with it about half-raised we were getting really long surf-planes.
In any planing dinghy in serious wind when you can't hold it upright you part-raise the board even to windward, and you never have it fully down on a reach or run unless you're keen on swimming.