Anyway, long narrow boats like the IACC class and the old 12s too tend
to sail at higher angles of heel than more normally proportioned
boats. I still think 30 degrees is a bit of an overstatement.



Nav wrote:
Wot only a 'bit' now is it? Just yesterday you rubbished it! Doug, lots
of boats are only fully powered up at 30 (or more) degrees heel.

OK, I am still not sure what you mean by "powered up." It sounds to me
like you are relishing the feeling of heeling too much. It's fun, but
it's really not fast.

.... Of
course as a dingly sailor you wouldn't know that but it's really true.

Spoken like one whose experience in racing class dinghies is limited to
embarassing capsizes within 100 yards of the club dock.


Let me paint a typical picture for you: At that 30 degrees heel the boat
is alive and really punching through waves to windward.

At 30 degrees heel, the boat is heeling too much. It is "punching"
through waves because the hull presenting a set of awkward angles. Other
boats have depowered a little and are going faster.

... Windspeeed is
probably about 18-20 knots with gusts to 25. The rail is getting wet
with occasional waves over the bow and it's the limit where more wind
means you'll probably have to ease the main sheet (or reduce sails) to
maintain good control and boat speed. It's a fun place to sail -powered up!

Ask any of the others -they've sailed there I'm sure!

Sailing rail-down and driving hard is a lot of fun. But it's not the way
boats sail their best.

Personally I like spinnaker reaches with threatening wipe-outs on every
wave. But it's a rare indulgence because it isn't really the right way
to do things. In fact, in one of our 'powered up' Johnson 18 photos it
was said that it looked like we didn't know what we were doing.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King