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Originally Posted by CalebD
I shared and experience with several of the SN crowd here on Bene505's boat where we put in the first reef and reefed in the fore sail. As the wind built up to nearly 40 kt. gusts we put in the second reef and it was really difficult to furl in the fore/head sail but we did. At this point we found that due to the waves we were making only about 3 knots headway with just the main up so we engaged the engine at a near idle speed and the extra forward momentum helped to get us going at a much more comfortably in about 4 - 5' seas. If we traveled slower we would rock that much more and lose forward progress because of it without the engine pushing as well. This was on a 50' sailboat on LI Sound.
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Yes; if your windspeeds are up in the 30kt range, it's probably time to get your sails reefed; or end up with damaged sails. This is the point where flattening the sails and spilling or pinching (pointing higher to the wind) either becomes difficult or dangerous if you are rounded into an auto-tack or a wind shift comes and adds more pressure to sheeted in sails.
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The next day there were 50 kt. peak gusts with an average in the high 30's and we opted for no sails as the waves were a trifle bigger and the wind had shifted to the opposite direction we wanted to go (head winds). Even a smallish body of water can get mad with a lot of wind and real sailors reef and/or start their engines if they want to get home and out of the wrath of the weather. There were 5' rollers avg. out on the water that day which even made a 50' mono hull a bit uncomfortable.
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I don't disagree with your decision to go under motor alone; but some sailboats may not have the power to push ahead into driving waves and wind. So in certain situations having a small amount of sail area like a reefed jib (or storm) and the main at the 3'rd reef or a storm tri can actually be safer than going under motor alone.
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Originally Posted by captainmurph
A few days after my last BVI trip, three Brits who were "supposedly" experienced sailors put a Beneteau 39 on its size and it subsequently sank - mostly because they were sailing in 35K and gusty with the boom swung out as far as the mainsheet would allow - and then, seemingly out of nowhere, had a microburst that piped the wind to over 55K with no warning.
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Something does not make sense with this. While I understand that a 50kt gust would certainly be enough wind to knock a boat onto it's side; I can't see why it should sink so easily. It really should not happen; but as you said since the ports were open and water gets in the boat may not right itself. To me it sounds like the boat was sailing downwind and 30kts -seemed- safe/controlable and then the boat was rounded up and broached when the 50kt gust hit. If they had the sheets fully eased and were either abeam to the seas/wind or facing upwind there is not much way that the boat could be rolled unless the gust came with a huge shift of wind direction.
We had a heavy blow like CalebD described about 2 years ago; but it was just me and my GF heading out into predicted (moderate) winds. As we left the marina the wind seemed a bit stronger than I expected so to be safe we tucked the 2'nd reef in. As we headed out I could see some whitecaps coming across the point/breakwater at 90deg to the channel and I figured it was probably 20-25kts (still within reason for a robust daysail). She asked if we should put out the headsail and I said no; let's wait and see what the wind is like. Glad I did because as soon as we exited the channel we were in 40-50kts. The boat was on a broad reach and the main was eased; but our hull speed was 7kts (only the main on 2'nd reef). At that point I decided the wind was in the gale or storm force range and that our day was finished due to safety. We waited impatiently for a tug to go into the harbor channel and then we came about and went back in.
As a result; I never trust NOAA implicitly and I never set the headsail out while exiting our marina during the winter when we get those gales from due north. If we had gone out with the headsail full we certainly would have taken a knockdown or at least had some white knuckles until the sail was furled.
In the last couple of years of sailing my boat I have learned that the headsail has much more effect on easing the heel than reducing mainsail. So we generally reef the headsail first because although it is a 105% and high-cut it is more sail area and adds much more power to the sailplan than the main alone. So we furl the jib down quite a bit and the boat sails balanced and in control with a full mainsail (in winds up to 30-35kts).
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