Help me figure this out - planing upside down, or sailing a torpedo?

[Hartley18]

I used to have the same issues sailing the old Impulse dinghy (a 12' cat-rigged rocket-ship) in winds that I really shouldn't have been sailing in...

It took a bit of practice, but the basic technique was to make your less-than-gentle turn on the top of a wave and hike out the stern (literally over the stern of the boat) as hard as possible easing the mainsheet at the same time.

With the bow pointing skywards, the boat would then literally launch itself off the top of the wave you were on, skip off the back of the one in front and away you went on a "Screaming Reach" (the wind is screaming, the boat is screaming, you're screaming!..).

On a boat with a jib, it's a bit more controllable than it was for us: Pull in hard on the jib as you make the turn to depower the boat a bit, wait for the wave crest and then let it out to go flying. Timing is everything, but it's awesome fun!!

[ardoin]

My girlfriend at the time used a technique where I would throw my body over the windward rail as she made the tack and then she would tighten the backstay and leave the jib up; "Screaming Reach" is a good name for it! But we seldom had big swells. I would usually scream as we would come close to flipping it. She said that pulling the backstay would pull the CE of the mainsail further back and keep the nose from diving. It was a move she learned in Mobile Bay. I could never pull it off, so when i was at the helm I just reefed the jib in the tack. It may have something to do with the difference in body weight (she was 95lbs and i was 160lbs).
Glad you found good use in my recommendations Lancer28! If you are brave, try one of the variations of a Xtreem Screaming Reach and see if that will work as well. Just be prepared, more than once our boat capsized and we were pulling the mask out of the mud.

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by ardoin

My girlfriend at the time used a technique where I would throw my body over the windward rail as she made the tack and then she would tighten the backstay and leave the jib up; "Screaming Reach" is a good name for it! But we seldom had big swells. I would usually scream as we would come close to flipping it. She said that pulling the backstay would pull the CE of the mainsail further back and keep the nose from diving.

That's a good idea! I guess it would - but only if you've got a backstay. Not all fractionals do..

Originally Posted by ardoin

It was a move she learned in Mobile Bay. I could never pull it off, so when i was at the helm I just reefed the jib in the tack. It may have something to do with the difference in body weight (she was 95lbs and i was 160lbs).

Weight isn't it - actually the more weight the better - but to pull it off you've got to be quick on your feet. Many a time I wasn't fast enough and the bow ploughed in.. Lancer-style!

Originally Posted by ardoin

Glad you found good use in my recommendations Lancer28! If you are brave, try one of the variations of a Xtreem Screaming Reach and see if that will work as well. Just be prepared, more than once our boat capsized and we were pulling the mask out of the mud.

LOL! I assume you meant "mast", but given the speed at which the boat will capsize if you stuff it up (approximately the same speed as the wind!), if you happened to be near a mud bank at the time you just might be referring to your face!!

[ardoin]

Call me chicken and i type faster than i read (mask mast only one letter different )
I always thought it was the weight that made it easier for her to pull it off. Never planted my face in the mud but just about every time that boat went over we were working to free the mast from the mud. Vermillion Bay is shallow and muddy, managed to avoid the oyster and shell bars.
Now i'm missing the small boat... it was great fun.