I don't mean to criticize this skipper, but as I read his story, a number of questions come to mind....and maybe I'm overly cautious, or maybe just a big chicken....but here goes:
He was sailing under a roller reefed headsail (genoa no less) only.....and trying to beat to weather? I don't know the boat, but he also says the WWP's don't go to weather well. So as I read it, he was using a sail combination (poorly set headsail) only....a recipe for leeway, on a boat that would not go to weather well anyway. And when the story started, he was on a starboard tack, which was blowing him away from shore. Would he have done better sailing with a double reefed main only, on port tack? He would have been more head to seas...drifting to starboard and back to the lee of the shore. With the wind veering counterclockwise, he would have eventually been on a beam reach towards shore. As for the roller reefing, it is convenient, and I've observed a number of boats on our lake sailing under the headsail alone as they can quickly roll it out and be underway and just as easily take it in. I wonder if he wasn't using this technique for ease of use, as opposed to using a double reefed main, which would have been a better sail for these conditions, but more work to set? And just imagine if that rope had jammed in that roller drum? And he was sailing at night in rough conditions? His motor was an old seagull. I've never had the pleasure of using one, but the quaint nature of them aside, I don't thing anyone would place them in the category of reliable. Fine piece of equipment to hang on the transom if you want to putter around in protected waters....but not go to sea with. Again, I've not used one but from the stories I've heard, they tend to quit running when they are needed the most. I've never had occasion to use it, but my boat came with a sea anchor. I carry it on trips to the Chesapeake, and if I was sailing Lake Michigan, I'd have it aboard. If you imagine his predicament, he could have put that rig out and "parked" himself where he was till the worst of it blew over. You rig it to hold you about 45 degrees to the wind and waves, so it all just slides past. You are not beam on to get a knockdown, you are not stern to where you can get pooped, and not head on sailing back and forth. There may be other factors involved, and again, I wasn't there, so I don't mean to be too critical of this guy. My point is to use his experience as an educational tool so that I or others wouldn't find myself in the same predicament. And as is often the case, the boat came through it and the skipper didn't. Howard On 5/6/05 4:33 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Bill, > > I expect this is the story you are referring to? > > http://potter-yachters.org/stories/sosmall/ > > It's an interesting read. > > Tod > > _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
