Short Wave Sportfishing wrote
I assume you guys are talking about a close reach?



Wayne.B wrote:
Sort of. To be a truly close reach the wind angle has to be forward
of the beam and that generally requires a jib or specially cut
reaching sail.

I'd agree. The "official" point of sail is with reference to the true
wind, ie the wind as seen by an unmoving observer. The apparent wind,
which is what the sails & sailors on the boat feel, is "bent" toward the
bow by the boats speed. For example, ice boats are always going upwind
by apparent wind even when they're going downwind by anybody else's
point of view.

... On a tight spinnaker reach the apparent wind angle is
forward of the beam because of the boat speed vector, but the true
wind is usually at just about 90 degrees.


Depends on how fast the boat is

In one small boat race a few years ago, we were on the same race course
as the then-new Intra 20 cat, which flies a small flat spinnaker-like
sail from a bowsprit on the downwind legs. They rounded the windward
mark somewhat behind us, set this sail, and roared past us at a lower
angle (relative to the wind) but with their sails pulled in almost as
tight as for a beat. By the time we got to the gybe mark, they were at
the leeward mark.

BTW not sure it was clear from the context my earlier post should have
said 'reaching STRUT' which is a piece of gear I've always found such a
PITA that my fingers will barely type the word.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King