wind hole

[wotayottie]

Racing today - lots of good things though the result wasnt one of them. One was an early night on board the boat, waking up refreshed and then with the boat well set up for an 0800 lock out. Beats getting up at 0530 for an hours drive to the marina any day.

However for the first time I hit a wind hole in the middle of the Bristol channel. Other boats sailed happily onwards whilst where we were the anenometer simply did circuits round the dial for what seemed like 15 minutes but was probably two or three. I never used to believe that wind holes existed but this one did.

Difficult to imagine any tricks to get out of one but suggestions welcome. Perhaps more to the point is there any way of spotting one before you sail into it if there are no other boats nearby.

 

[Muddy32]

I normally start the engine!

 

[lpdsn]

Difficult to imagine any tricks to get out of one but suggestions welcome. Perhaps more to the point is there any way of spotting one before you sail into it if there are no other boats nearby.

Was it obvious from the surface appearance of the water? Get the crew on the rail who is best at it to give you feedback on the wind strength ahead. Doesn't always work, but sometimes you can spot them in time to go around. Always handy to know which side of a beat or run has the most wind.

PS the bit that many boats get wrong is not to have someone looking aft on a run.

 

[Judders]

I never used to believe that wind holes existed but this one did.

Really????

 

[wotayottie]

Yes it really existed.

Yes in 30 years of sailing I have never experienced anything like this. Light winds, no wind, howling gales, everything but a patch of rotating gentle breeze which affected only one boat in a 20 boat fleet. It was almost like a very very weak tornado and it had us doing pirouettes (?)

 

[lpdsn]

Yes it really existed.

Yes in 30 years of sailing I have never experienced anything like this. Light winds, no wind, howling gales, everything but a patch of rotating gentle breeze which affected only one boat in a 20 boat fleet. It was almost like a very very weak tornado and it had us doing pirouettes (?)

You've been missing out then.

Maybe the other 19 spotted it.

 

[mrming]

PS the bit that many boats get wrong is not to have someone looking aft on a run.

I remember the day I realised this now glaringly obvious tactic.

 

[roblpm]

Racing today - lots of good things though the result wasnt one of them. One was an early night on board the boat, waking up refreshed and then with the boat well set up for an 0800 lock out. Beats getting up at 0530 for an hours drive to the marina any day.

However for the first time I hit a wind hole in the middle of the Bristol channel. Other boats sailed happily onwards whilst where we were the anenometer simply did circuits round the dial for what seemed like 15 minutes but was probably two or three. I never used to believe that wind holes existed but this one did.

Difficult to imagine any tricks to get out of one but suggestions welcome. Perhaps more to the point is there any way of spotting one before you sail into it if there are no other boats nearby.

Well I believe in them now. My crew went racing without me last Wednesday. Just 3 of them instead of the normal 5. We are usually pretty rubbish even fully crewed. So I am at home and wait for the results to come up. 10pm. They are second out of six. 3 dnf. I asked them what happened but it was dark so they didn't know! Apparently the other 3 boats becalmed and tined out. My lot just kept going! Bad form doing so well without the skipper!!

 

[wotayottie]

You've been missing out then.

Maybe the other 19 spotted it.

It would be helpful if you would spread your wisdom and tell us how to spot wind holes.

 

[lpdsn]

It would be helpful if you would spread your wisdom and tell us how to spot wind holes.

I thought I did in post #3. Anyway, have your crew on the rail looking for the wind strength ahead. The surface of the sea (ripples) gives you an idea of what the wind is doing, so you can work it out from the variations in colour and texture. It is definitely an acquired skill/black art. I consider myself OK at it, but I definitely know people that are better. Once you find a crew member who is good at it keep him.

 

[Yacht Yogi]

Hi. Jim Saltonstall's Race Training book talks about wind holes forming under cumulus clouds, well actually it's the wind hole that forms the cloud. Warm rising air does indeed form a gentle mini-tornado and as the air cools as it rises, so the clouds form. Glider pilots, free-flight model fliers and other users of the air spend lots of their time hunting out these rising "thermals" of air.
Conversely, cool descending air causes an out-flowing gust.
It is all this thermal up-and-down flow activity that creates the gusts and wind shifts amongst the general gradient wind. To spot the wind holes and favorable gusts you need to have crew on the rail watching the water surface (and what's happening to the other boats around you) and keep one eye on the cloud formations and movement in the sky.

 

[Sandgrounder]

Yes it really existed.

Yes in 30 years of sailing I have never experienced anything like this. Light winds, no wind, howling gales, everything but a patch of rotating gentle breeze which affected only one boat in a 20 boat fleet. It was almost like a very very weak tornado and it had us doing pirouettes (?)

You should try sailing on Windermere, or any other water with steep sided hills close to. You regularly will see cat's paws coming at you fro two or three different directions at the same time and there are small areas where there are often wind holes. Makes life interesting!