Lol…. Really great writeup Martin, thanks. For my fellow mere mortals I’ll chime in to support for the masthead light/windex reflector approach. I discovered it by accident one blustery night, works well.
Dave 33-2 windstar. Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 26, 2023, at 5:47 PM, Martin DeYoung via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > > “A masthead wind instrument works at night.” > > Absolutely, except when it doesn’t. During the 1982 Vic-Maui race on a Britt > Chance designed 54’ IOR boat in trade winds reinforced by a tropical storm > nearby (steady high 20’s, gusts to mid 30’s) the wind instruments were > lagging behind the actual apparent wind enough that we needed to improvise. > It was the kind of dark wild night that made Mister Toad’s Wild ride seem > tame. We had a reaching spinnaker up (slightly smaller sq area and > shoulders) with a full mainsail. AWA of 160 was our target. Boat speeds were > running in the low teens until a good surf then headed into the high teens. > > I was watch captain with two other, experience crew on deck. We were quickly > schooled by the wind gods that relying on the wind instruments resulted in > being caught by the lee at the end of a surf. (The apparent wind goes forward > while surfing then quickly back to “base line” when the boat slows.) > Naturally being caught by the lee in those conditions often resulted in a > spin out/round-up/broach, mostly to weather. (Spin pole up, boom in the > water.) The owner would occasionally stick his head up from below > complaining about the ride. I would suggest we were at the top of the > spinnaker’s wind range. He would indicate maybe we needed better drivers.) > > On this particular night we resorted to dividing up the information > processing tasks. The helmsman concentrated on the compass using a base line > course as a guide. Another crew concentrated on calling out AWA as shown by > the lighted Windex. (Usually something like “5 high” or similar. When the > Windex indicated we were by the lee a noise similar to an aircraft’s stall > warning buzzer was used.) Driving was intense enough we stood ½ hour tricks > rotating through the positions. This technique allowed us to sail fast, > diving deep to ride the best waves and limit the spin outs to mostly gentle > low impact events. > > Until it doesn’t. At the end of our watch (+-2AM) the new watch gains the > deck and includes the “hired gun” rock star sailmaker helmsman. The rock > star guy total ignored my recommendations on how we got through the last 4 > hours. He steps behind the wheel (a very large diameter wheel popular with > IOR boats) and starts sailing like he was in charge. Shortly there after he > drives into a leeward broach that lays the boat flat enough that the mast > head was hitting the top of waves and most of the deck crew was left hanging > by safety harnesses. I imagine it was exciting down below. The rock star > lost his footing and rotated “ass over tea kettle” into the leeward corner of > the cockpit. (Still holding the wheel.) The mainsail attempted to cross to > leeward but was trapped by a line wrapped around a coffee grinder winch > handle. > > As I was in the mid/crew cockpit and closest to the line trapping the > mainsail I pulled out my trusty sailing knife and cut the line (line was part > of a failed preventer). As soon as my knife blade touched the highly loaded > line the mainsail violently crossed to leeward splashing into the water. Now > that the boat was freed of the tangled mainsail load it stood up straight > (ish), the spinnaker popped full, and the boat took off downwind. > Unfortunately the rock star was totally disoriented, the rudder still hard > over and the boat went into another broach therefore completing the coveted > “banana split”. > > Once we got the boat sorted and back on its feet the owner stuck his head up > from down below and said “OK boys we can take the spinnaker down now”. We > spent the next day or so under twin headsails still making speeds in the low > teens but under much better control. > > Martin DeYoung > Calypso > 1971 C&C 43 > Port Ludlow/Seattle > > Sent from Mail for Windows > > From: dwight veinot via CnC-List > Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2023 12:54 PM > To: Stus-List > Cc: dwight veinot > Subject: Stus-List Re: Racing at night > > A masthead wind instrument works at night. Learn your sail trim vs wind speed > and wind angle in the daylight. Should be the same in the dark > > On Sun, Feb 26, 2023 at 1:01 PM David Knecht via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > I just read an interesting article in Practical Sailor on red vs. white > lights and night vision. It reminded me to ask a question of those more > experienced about night racing. I have only done this a few times and found > upwind steering at night to be a real challenge. I normally steer by the > genoa telltales. In light, shifting winds which we inevitably encounter at > the darkest hours, it is especially important to steer well to keep the boat > moving, but it is hard. We used a hand held spotlight to periodically check > the telltales, but that destroys night vision. Are there better solutions? > Thanks- Dave > > S/V Aries > 1990 C&C 34+ > New London, CT > > > > Please show your appreciation for this list and the Photo Album site and help > me pay the associated bills. Make a contribution at: > https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > Thanks for your help. > Stu > -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile > > Please show your appreciation for this list and the Photo Album site and help > me pay the associated bills. Make a contribution at: > https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > Thanks for your help. > Stu
Please show your appreciation for this list and the Photo Album site and help me pay the associated bills. Make a contribution at: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks for your help. Stu
