CS15 Windward Performance in Force 5?

[W. Micawber]

Hi, Folks. First sail of the season required I reef. This is the first time I've used the mizzen in the 3rd mast position. Windward performance was not so good. I could not tack worth a hill of beans and going to windward was more than iffy. Perhaps I should have used the main instead. I think I would have had better luck. I have sailed this boat reefed down with 62 sq ft quadrilateral spritsail in 30 mph winds with good result although it was a very wet ride and probably could have used another set of reef points in that wind situation. I'm not so sure the 45 sq ft mizzen was enough sail for this amount of wind.. The good news was that reefing kept me dry and eliminated any risk of capsize. Under full sail, the water was very cold (50!) and Spray was flying everywhere!!!!! The bad news was that getting back to the dock was touchy.

What techniques do I need to keep in mind when sailing in this reefed mode?

[Randy Jones]

Others on this fourm have great sucess with the third mast step but I had two experiences similar to yours in my CS17. I wrote my trouble off to something unusual about my boat, sails, or sailing skills. My solution has been to add the second row of reef points in each sail and keep sailing as a cat-ketch.

I'm sure someone will be along soon to help you out and perhaps I'll figure out what I was doing wrong as well.

[PAR]

Where was the centerboard location?

[W. Micawber]

Where was the centerboard location?

PAR, I had the centerboard raised slightly and the mainsail was furled and standing in its step (I don't know if the latter had any effect, but I mention it just in case it becomes a factor because of wind resistance.)

[MisterMoon]

These boats like a bit of power to get through the waves, so it's important when going upwind to leave enough sail out to give you the oomph to crash on through. You will get wet, but that's half the fun. If you were only on the double-reefed mizzen in big waves, I'm not surprised you couldn't make any progress to windward. The windage of the furled main isn't incosequential either.

On this past Saturday we sailed across Pensacola Pass and up Pensacola bay in a nasty chop that formed against the tide. The wind started out pretty brisk early in the morning, but was down to 12-15 knots by the time I started out. Knowing it was going to be rough water, full sail was called for. We blasted through the nasty chop without any trouble although it was a very wet ride. It's just the nature of the beast that these boats are wet upwind in waves. If you aren't getting wet in those conditions, you probably aren't going anywhere.

See the speeds between mile 80 and 90 on this site for the nasty bit. http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view/?trip_id=304490

I've sailed my 17 upwind in 25 gusting to 30 with two reefs in both the main and mizzen. The boat was easily balanced and easy to control and capable of handling even more breeze in that configuration. FWIW, don't usually put in the first reef until it's solidly over 15knots and have sailed reasonably comfortably unreefed at 18 with gusts over 20. On the Beaufort scale, force 5 is 17-21 knots (19-24 mph). I'd probably go single reefed if I was looking at an upwind day. If I had a long reach or run and I was feeling sporty, I'd go full sail.

Having sailed the boat a bunch of miles in the last few months, I no longer have any desire intstall a center mast step on mine.