Not recommended, at least by me. I was doing just that, in the Chester River, of which Doug Kelch spoke. The narrow creek had flat water but gusty winds. I had been luffing by heading up, rather than releasing the mainsheet, to maximize getting to windward. This time, the wind headed in the same direction and I started scooping water. IIRC, Doug thinks the mast was parallel to the water.
I scooped the cockpit nearly full. The leeward seat locker was half full, but no more than a cup full splashed into the cabin. Fortunately, the waves were nil and it drained out in the time it took to run a man-overboard drill and pick up my hat and bag of garbage. Jerry's boats do a nice job or protecting some dumb skippers. PS, Storm Petrel was born in August, 1981, and has shallow seat lockers on both sides. Bill Riker M15 - #184 Storm Petrel -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Frederick Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 1:08 PM To: 'For and about Montgomery Sailboats' Subject: RE: M_Boats: Just how Stable?? If sea room allows, you can also regain control by steering into the wind to spill some wind off of the mainsail when the mainsheet is jammed. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 8:50 AM To: [email protected] Subject: M_Boats: Just how Stable?? All, I was out sailing this past weekend and the wind was a bit gusty and being unpredictable. I was sailing in the Baltimore Harbor and the wind shifts a lot due to the buildings crowding the waters edge. I was on a port tack when a gust of wind hit the boat and healed us over. I was having problems releasing the main sheet. Every time I pulled up on the jam cleat, the cleat adjustment angle would move up one notch. The harder I pulled up, the higher the angle moved. The boat was healed over so much that the starboard gun wale was 6 inches under water and the cockpit was filling up. By the time we were able to release the main sheet we had 6+ inches of water in the cockpit. I was certain we were going swimming. With the exception of our shoes getting wet, everything else stayed dry. I can not believe how stable and well balanced this boat is. I'm not sure at what angle we were sailing (nearly tipping over), but it is far greater then what I am comfortable with, and still the boat remained upright. When we got back to the dock and began stowing our gear, I found the starboard locker full of water. In the end I'm glad this happened on the starboard side, since the port locker was cut out by a previous owner. Which means the bilge would have been full. In the end, it's best to know the limits of the boat. Now I have a better idea of just how far I can heal over before I go swimming. Fairwinds, Skip M-15 #201 '82 Wild Guppy ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com. _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
