Bow sprit in high seas.

[Shack]

I'm looking for stories or opinions about bowsprits and their effects during heavy weather (high sea states). Does anyone have experience with bow sprits getting buried in waves and causing damage to a vessel?

[Valiente]

Not yet, but I plan to.

[St Anna]

I have been on the end of a bowsprit in the days before furlers. Actually in the days before one wore pfd's or even harnessed on.- Never crossed our mind.

I was dropping and swapping headsails and hanging on with hands and feet (and toes too!).The boat was surfing down waves and smashing into the back of the next swell. The onboard end of the bowsprit went under green water each time, but the end of the bowsprit never buried itself. It was like being on the end of a trampoline trying to flick me off. The stern never got wet either, athough with low freeboard, plenty of water was running down and over the scuppers. We ran for a full day (24hr) run like this before the weather abated.

Great memories of 'Waitoa'

[Ilenart]

Most I've been in is around 35knts & 4-5m and there has been no problems. I've noticed a lot of designs with bowsprits also tend to have a higher freeboard forward, which tends to shoulder the water aside rather than nose diving. On a recent 25-30kt reach with 3-4m swells we were in company with a Van De Stadt 34 and they described the expereince as "submarening" with waves constantly hitting the cockpit. In contrast we occassionally had some spray hitting the pilothouse, however no green water came over the deck. Admittadly we were in a bigger boat (45ft) however I think a big factor was the raised freeboard forward, where the Van De Stadt's lines are very straight forward, which means the yacht slices through the waves a lot more.

Ilenart

[Jeff_H]

I have spent a fair amount of time of time out on bowsprits in heavy seas and heavy chop. There is a good reason that bowsprits are called widow makers and why working water craft gave up on bowsprits in the late 19th and early 20th century.

In my youth, I thought it was fun to be perched out on the end of the bowsprit, burried up to my neck in green water, hanging on while I tried to wrestle a jib down and lash it to the sprit. In hindsight, in rough conditions this could have been deadly.

To me, any boat that requires a sail that is tacked to bowsprit is not safe for offshore use. From a design standpoint it makes absolutely no sense at all to fly sails from a bowsprit. While some designs were designed around having sprits, to me these are anachronisms and the bowsprits are as fitting as tail fins were on a Cadillac.

If you are buying a boat for coastal cruising and all that you care about is aesthetics then by all means buy a boat with a bowsprit it floats your boat. BUT if your goal is to go offshore, then a bowsprit should be a deal breaker.

Jeff

[smackdaddy]

What's the design intent of the bow-sprit? Is it to allow a cutter rig on a "shorter" foredeck?

[CharlieCobra]

Usually if the weather is up enough to plant the bowsprit, the Genny is already furled. You'll still get green water on the foredeck in certain conditions to deal with when ya douse the Staysail but I'm installing a downhaul to cure that. Does the sprit effect the boat handling in a storm? No, not on Oh Joy it doesn't.

[charlottea]

Why do Shannon's have a bow sprit if not safe for offshore? Just wondering, since those boats have the reputation of being "offshore" boats.

[johnshasteen]

Jeff - How can you say that? Cadillacs with fins are priceless!

[zeehag]

i have a formosa 41 and i havent heard of anyone lately dying due to sprit dunking----at least not outside of guantanamo bay facility......