Can you sail with limited heel?

[saurav16]

Is it possible to sail with limited heel? I was sailing today in my catalina 27 there was a catalina 34 we were following. The 34 was going slightly faster than us but we were heeling a lot more while the 34 was not heeling that much at all. Is it because that the 34 has a larger and heavier keel and also the beam is bigger? What can I do with my sails to reduce the heel. We were both sailing with the jib and the mainsail. Thanks in advance.

[hphoen]

The rule is...less sail, less heel. Put a reef in the main and hank on a smaller foresail (or roll in the furler if that's what you have.) My boat sails best at 15 degrees heel, so I adjust the sails to achieve that, and it really does make a difference.

[T37Chef]

You don't say what point of sail you were on but if close hauled try moving the traveler to leeward and tighten the foot of the sail using the outhaul. Tighten the halyards as well

[saurav16]

Well the wind was changing a lot it was between a beam reach and close haul.

[sailingdog]

Yes, you can sail with limited heel... get a multihull.

If you're on a leadmine... many of the newer designs are going to be faster if they're sailing relatively flat. Reefing and using the sail controls to flatten the sails—outhaul, cunningham, boomvang, backstay tensioner, etc.—will help keep the boat sailing relatively flat and often faster than when the boat is heeled over 25˚+. Most monohulls start to develop serious helm issues when heeled excessively due to the profile of the boat's hull as it heels. Having the rudder over more than a few degrees due to the helm issues is going to act as a brake and really slow the boat down quite a bit as well.

[saurav16]

Ok well all the adjustments outhaul, boom vang and so on are adjustments for the Main. What kind of adjustments can you do to dump wind from the jib? I assume the jib cars, in heavy wind u want to adjust the jib cars back towards the cockpit to dump wind and flatten sails? Is that right?

[arbarnhart]

On my little boat, the traveler position makes a big difference.

[kai34]

Originally Posted by saurav16

Ok well all the adjustments outhaul, boom vang and so on are adjustments for the Main. What kind of adjustments can you do to dump wind from the jib? I assume the jib cars, in heavy wind u want to adjust the jib cars back towards the cockpit to dump wind and flatten sails? Is that right?

Sail choice is very important. I would say if you had to start dumping wind and are thinking about messing up the sail shape by flattening it out, its time for a sail change. downsize.
-kai

[imagine2frolic]

Don't forget more watewline can equate to more speed also.

[Rickm505]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Yes, you can sail with limited heel... get a multihull.

Precisely My thought as well.