sailing a small sloop keel boat, 19 foot Com-Pac 19, in light winds.
i'm having difficulty making a nice smooth tack in light winds.

for example, if close hauled on a starboard tack with a heading of 180
degrees, after i tack i must fall off to a heading of much more than 280
degrees to regain steerage, and only after regaining forward speed can i
return and point up to a 280 degree heading or less.

i don't think the problem is so pronounced in brisk winds, but haven't
actually taken the observations of the compass.

is this typical to have to fall off the wind much more than the eventual
heading to obtain steerage?

thanks.

I don't know much about this boat. I have a Cal 20, but
I've never had any problems tacking, even in very light
conditions. Tacking through 90 degrees is normal. You're
talking about tacking through 100? In light conditions, that
doesn't seem that far off.

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
.. .
sailing a small sloop keel boat, 19 foot Com-Pac 19, in light winds.
i'm having difficulty making a nice smooth tack in light winds.

for example, if close hauled on a starboard tack with a heading of 180
degrees, after i tack i must fall off to a heading of much more than 280
degrees to regain steerage, and only after regaining forward speed can i
return and point up to a 280 degree heading or less.

i don't think the problem is so pronounced in brisk winds, but haven't
actually taken the observations of the compass.

is this typical to have to fall off the wind much more than the eventual
heading to obtain steerage?

thanks.

Horvendile wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 06:33:14 GMT, "Doug Miller"
wrote this crap:

snip

is this typical to have to fall off the wind much more than the eventual
heading to obtain steerage?

That's perfectly normal for a keel boat.



Also normal for non-keeled, lightly ballasted sharpies.

FT

There's something wrong with your boat.

I can tack through only 60 degrees in light winds.


"Doug Miller" wrote in message .. .
sailing a small sloop keel boat, 19 foot Com-Pac 19, in light winds.
i'm having difficulty making a nice smooth tack in light winds.

for example, if close hauled on a starboard tack with a heading of 180
degrees, after i tack i must fall off to a heading of much more than 280
degrees to regain steerage, and only after regaining forward speed can i
return and point up to a 280 degree heading or less.

i don't think the problem is so pronounced in brisk winds, but haven't
actually taken the observations of the compass.

is this typical to have to fall off the wind much more than the eventual
heading to obtain steerage?

thanks.

I can tack through only 60 degrees in light winds.

On the mooring?


RB

You should have looked at the picture on my website
where the gauge shows my yacht close-hauled at 30
degrees. That's what a good modern boat with an
experienced sailor at the helm can do as a matter of
routine.


"Oz1" wrote in message ...
On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 08:13:01 -0400, "Simple Simon"
wrote:

There's something wrong with your boat.

I can tack through only 60 degrees in light winds.


Yeah right,
Do you actually move forward after the tack?


Oz1...of the 3 twins.
I welcome you to crackerbox palace,We've been expecting you.

"Simple Simon" wrote in message
...
You should have looked at the picture on my website
where the gauge shows my yacht close-hauled at 30
degrees. That's what a good modern boat with an
experienced sailor at the helm can do as a matter of
routine.


Trolling again??



Regards


Domal
--

He clearly identified himself as a newbie to sailing.

"Simple Simon" wrote in message
...
You should have looked at the picture on my website
where the gauge shows my yacht close-hauled at 30
degrees. That's what a good modern boat with an
experienced sailor at the helm can do as a matter of
routine.


"Oz1" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 08:13:01 -0400, "Simple Simon"
wrote:

There's something wrong with your boat.

I can tack through only 60 degrees in light winds.


Yeah right,
Do you actually move forward after the tack?


Oz1...of the 3 twins.
I welcome you to crackerbox palace,We've been expecting you.

Sorry Neal, you've just proved you know nothing about sailing.

Perhaps you should open your "Idiot's Guide to Sailing" and refer to the section on
"Apparent Wind." Since you've claimed your instrumentation does not include a speed log,
your wind gauge must be reading the apparent wind angle - and 30 degrees is a reasonable
number. However, the question was about "tacking through" a certain number of degrees,
and specifically referenced compass courses, this can only refer to true wind angles,
where 90-100 degrees is not unreasonable.

As to the original question, with practice it should be possible to tack without
"overshooting," but in light air some boat will recover the lost speed better by
overshooting somewhat and then bringing it back to the desired course. This is especially
true in smaller boats and choppy water.

-jeff


"Simple Simon" wrote in message
...
You should have looked at the picture on my website
where the gauge shows my yacht close-hauled at 30
degrees. That's what a good modern boat with an
experienced sailor at the helm can do as a matter of
routine.


"Oz1" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 08:13:01 -0400, "Simple Simon"
wrote:

There's something wrong with your boat.

I can tack through only 60 degrees in light winds.


Yeah right,
Do you actually move forward after the tack?


Oz1...of the 3 twins.
I welcome you to crackerbox palace,We've been expecting you.

My wind guage can ONLY read the apparent wind because
without a speed log connected to its NMEA it knows nothing
else.

There should be no problem tacking through 60 degrees of
apparent wind provided the boat is weatherly. This may well
be 90 degrees of true wind.

However, the subscriber also is referring to apparent wind
as this is ALL he is aware of while he is aboard.

Therefore, my answer is valid and seamanlike and yours
is not.


"Jeff Morris" jeffmo@NoSpam-sv-lokiDOTcom wrote in message ...
Sorry Neal, you've just proved you know nothing about sailing.

Perhaps you should open your "Idiot's Guide to Sailing" and refer to the section on
"Apparent Wind." Since you've claimed your instrumentation does not include a speed log,
your wind gauge must be reading the apparent wind angle - and 30 degrees is a reasonable
number. However, the question was about "tacking through" a certain number of degrees,
and specifically referenced compass courses, this can only refer to true wind angles,
where 90-100 degrees is not unreasonable.

As to the original question, with practice it should be possible to tack without
"overshooting," but in light air some boat will recover the lost speed better by
overshooting somewhat and then bringing it back to the desired course. This is especially
true in smaller boats and choppy water.

-jeff


"Simple Simon" wrote in message
...
You should have looked at the picture on my website
where the gauge shows my yacht close-hauled at 30
degrees. That's what a good modern boat with an
experienced sailor at the helm can do as a matter of
routine.


"Oz1" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 08:13:01 -0400, "Simple Simon"
wrote:

There's something wrong with your boat.

I can tack through only 60 degrees in light winds.


Yeah right,
Do you actually move forward after the tack?


Oz1...of the 3 twins.
I welcome you to crackerbox palace,We've been expecting you.