Mike, We fundamentally agree with you that given the situation the only alternative would have been to head up into the wind.
What Bill and I have not been clear about is that the speed at witch the boat will head into the wind is to slow to prevent a near knockdown in strong gusting conditions where you do not anticipate the wind shift. If you can predict the windshift and turn up early is not a bad technique but you need to be able to read the gusts very well. One other thought on a related topic but not applicable with a stuck mainsheet is to head off the wind in the big puffs. A technique use in dinghy sailing in really strong gusty winds is to head off the wind and let the sheets out in order to keep the speed up. If you head into the wind the boat will invariably slow down which decreases the manuverability and makes the boat even more susceptible to a knockdown in the next gust. The belief here is that the boat/keel motion through the water adds to the the stability and decreases the apparent wind. Thanks Doug Kelch --- Mike Frederick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I don't mean to sound argumentative, but the > original post stated that Skip > could not release the mainsheet but only make it > tighter, therefore I > suggested that given enough sea room he could have > steered into the wind to > release pressure until he regained control of the > mainsheet. > > -----Original Message----- > From: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Doug Kelch > Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 9:27 PM > To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats > Subject: RE: M_Boats: Just how Stable?? > > "Doug thinks the mast was parallel to the water." > > I couldn't see the mast but the centerboard was > completly out of the water by a few inches. > > Nothing is as quick as poping the the mainsheet > free. > > Thanks > > Doug > > > --- "William B. Riker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > 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 > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats > > > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! 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