light wind sailing

[merrimange]

I've sailed probaby 6 or 7 times now in Sol Rayo. 5 or 6 times have been great as I watch the weather and wind speed extremely close. I have never had a problem sailing her. She tacks fine, and I normally sit on the windward side of the boat (I think I read that here or in the plans). I normally go when winds are at least 8 mph - have been pretty good at timing.

However, last night was the first time I had two people in extremely light winds. I weigh 170 and my wife is 125. So, we are no Krispy Kremers. The forecast said 9 to 10 knots (WRONG by far). Note I've sailed w/ 2 people but had 8 to 10 mph winds before.

That's when I noticed the lateral "drift" or leeway (I think that is the right term ) where the boat wouldn't sail at all near the wind ( again - almost no wind, maybe 1 to 2 mph at best). Generally only went where the wind pushed. But - you still should sail some though right? At least I have in other boats - I realize what a boat without a Keel now feels like in light winds.

My questions relates to LIGHT WINDS:

1) what angle to the wind can you get?

2) where should we position for optimal sai?l

3) would weight forward help the small Keel "catch" and reduce the leeway effect?

Other:

Has this leeway been happening all the time in moderate to Heavy winds, or does my sail shape correct this?

Thanks as always.

[Frank Hagan]

In higher wind you do heel a bit, and that puts the chine on the leeward side into the water a bit, which helps with directional stability. I do find it easier to get where I want to go when there's a bit of heel and the chine digging in.

The other issue is one of power. In light air, you don't have much power, so the other forces working on the boat have more effect. I get slippage due to currents in light air that I don't when there's a bit more breeze. But I also find that I can't point as high in light air. My guess is that the pointing ability is hampered because there isn't enough "lift" ... the sail is really acting as a wing, with higher pressure on the side the air flows over, and lower pressure on the other side, which tends to help you move in the direction of the lower pressure side of the sail. With less air, there's less "lift".

I've always kept the main pretty taut in light air, but I sailed with a buddy who insisted on letting the sail 'bag' to catch as much wind as possible. I've tried it both ways, and don't really see how 'bagging' the sail has any better effect. I don't know what the proper sail shape is for light air (so comments are welcome.)

[Charlie Jones]

Man - I am SO glad to see I'm not the ONLY one who spells it BAOT!!!

I do that ALL the time Ray.

One thing to add to Ray's very good post- in light air DON'T WIGGLE!! Once you get the sails set, the boat heeled as you want it ( or not) plant your behind where it needs to be and FREEZE there. NOTHING destroys momentum in very light air as badly as someone moving around, knocking out what air flow HAS managed to attach to the sails.

Man, in really light air, driving ( crawling? ) to weather on the boats I used to race on we would CREEP around the boat. Otherwise you'd get yelled at BIG TIME to SIT DOWN and BE STILL. And these were 30 and 35 footers too.

[merrimange]

Ray - thanks a bunch for your feedback.

Couple of clarifications for light winds:

1. I lace the foot of my main to the boom - you mean loosen the clue / outhaul right or is that comparable?

2. seating arrangement - by leeward rail, you mean rail farthest from the wind - reverse of what you typically or naturally do in higher winds?

I hear you on the beverage - I enjoyed it, but I don't have an outboard yet and was accustomed to moving at least some in a keel boat. So, when I went nowhere, It was troubling to me.

THANKS!

[Charlie Jones]

"THE" Consistently?? You mean you DON'T spell it HTE half the time?

I do- I have to continually recheck my typing. I guess my right hand is just quicker

[capt jake]

"THE" Consistently?? You mean you DON'T spell it HTE half the time?

Hey, I saw that! You can't steal hte spelling style that I developed. :shock: Isn't taht one of those copywritten things????

[John Turpin]

We don't have light wind in Oklahoma. As soon as you raise the sail(s), you're immediately gripping the tiller, coaming, children, and/or comfort item wondering if you'll survive another one.

[umop_apisdn]

One thing to add to Ray's very good post- in light air DON'T WIGGLE!! Once you get the sails set' date=' the boat heeled as you want it ( or not) plant your behind where it needs to be and FREEZE there. NOTHING destroys momentum in very light air as badly as someone moving around, knocking out what air flow HAS managed to attach to the sails.

[/quote']

This is the biggest problem I have in light air, is I get things set up like I want them, and a powerboat goes by, my boat rocks back and forth, the sail goes FLAP FLAP FLAP and the boat gets turned the wrong direction, and now I have to start over.

Sometimes I give up and just sit in the water, eat my lunch, fiddle with the GPS or nav software on my PDA, or work on the boat while waiting for some wind. Or I look around for another part of the lake that does have some wind, and motor over there.

Noel.

[Jim Stumpf]

I have found that on the Vacationer the boom is so heavy that by lifting it just a tad with the topping lift in lite air will help with sail shape. If all else fails I throw one of the kids over board with a life line and tell them to swim for shore.

With a little practice these flat bottom boats will out sail anything on the lake in a ghosting race.

Jim

[PAR]

Light air sailing will test the skills and patience of every sailor.

Anything will kill your momentum, so maximizing any boat speed is paramount.

Inducing heel is good (sitting on the "wrong side" of the boat) as is a good sail set up with slacked out haul, or better yet a "topped" up lift as has been suggested, by Jim. I personally think all boomed sails should carry topping lifts (unless racing) to make life easier and this is an occasion it comes in handy. Taking a little pressure on the lift will put belly in the sail and if the wind picks up it can be made tight by letting the lift go again.

Movement of the tiller or wheel should be deliberate, slow and only when necessary. The same goes for people, as a shifting butt on a cockpit seat can slap the drive right out of the sails.

Passing powerboats are a fact of life, learn to anticipate them by bearing off a little and take the chop as a quartering wave. You can even take advantage of them, using the wake to increase speed, but it does require a deft hand on the helm and good knowledge of your boat's handling abilities.

You can also set the mast up for light air use by raking it aft, to help the feel of the helm. All boats will be very light, possibly even in lee helm under light air conditions. It's very easy to make mistakes with the helm when you can't feel anything (one of the reasons I always have a tiller)or is providing backwards input to your hand, the key is practice and knowing your boat.

[merrimange]

Man - this forum keeps getting better and better. I really appreciate the experience out there. I think I was doing most things wrong, so good stuff for me to dwell on. It seems like most of the best methods for light winds aren't intuitive or logical.

I am going to do a little research before I post any dumb questions about the "best" design for a topping lift. I've sailed enough to know that taking the sails up and down is quite painful, so it can help there also.

[merrimange]

http://weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sectors/centmissvly.php#tabs

I saw this link recommended in the recent "Sailing" magazine. You can change your region. Seems like a good site. Curious if anyone found a better site for weather, windspeed predictions. I don't live on the coast so this appears to be all that's available for me.

[Pat Mellema]

merrimange

This is the site I use to check out the winds.

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=49525

It is set up by zip code so it should be good just about anywhere. The wind indicaters are under details for the days listed. I have found them to be fairly good most of the time. I hope this helps.