Sustained winds of 45 knots (52 mph) for over 30 minutes.
Peak winds were 49 knots (56 mph). 2 boats sank--many
bent masts, broken bits, and ruined sails.

An account from the 2006 Soling Worlds

(During the 2006 Soling Worlds in Annapolis, MD, a full gale blew
through the fleet on Friday, October 20th. American Peter Galloway, who
finished 5th overall in the event, provides his account of the storm.)

The wind was at 20-25 knots and building fast for the first lap of the
race, and we now were getting ready to round the second windward mark,
just behind Canadian Bill Abbott. It was far too windy to set chutes -
probably 35 knots at that point - and on our first gybe we blew out the
vang. Despite sailing the leeward leg with the boom skied (ever try to
gybe without a vang?), we managed to remain in control. However,
conditions continued to worsen for the third weather leg, and we were
forced now to completely rag our sails to stay upright. Others were not
as lucky at this point, with boats now sunk around us or with dropped
sails and bailing like mad.

When we got within 100 yards of the final windward mark, then it got
really windy! Maybe 45+ knots. We now had so much water onboard, and
with all sails ragging, we essentially stopped forward progress against
the huge sea, which prevented the drainage bailers from keeping up with
the constant waves of incoming water. We realized it was now time to
save ourselves.

We went to drop sails (the jib took care of itself by blowing off the
headstay), got ourselves into a safe condition, and bailed the boat.
That took about 45 minutes, but during this time we were drifting
toward the eastern shore. When we were about a mile from it, we
recognized that we would have to fend for ourselves if we wanted to get
back to Annapolis. The RC boats were far too busy trying save
themselves and others in more serious trouble. One boat lost its
engine, and others could not make headway. It was bedlam everywhere.

Once we were safe, I crawled forward and hanked on the jib. We were
able to sail back upwind to Annapolis, bailing periodically but doing
about 4-5 knots through the water. We arrived 1-1/2 hours later, fully
exhausted, and only about the 10th or 12th boat to get back in. Others
trickled in over the next couple of hours, with everyone having a
harrowing tale to tell. The German team (reigning world champions) had
its skipper knocked overboard when the boom clocked him. They got him
onboard safely and dropped sails, then drifted under the Bay Bridge,
where a crew member swam to a piling with the anchor line and tied them
to it. Once bailed out, they could set the jib and sail back.

In the end, two boats completely sank, there was one broken mast, plus
a half dozen or so bent masts. Every single boat had something broken,
but in the end, thank goodness everyone was accounted for with no
serious injuries. - Peter Galloway, event website:
www.solingworlds.com/worlds/2006

"Bart" wrote in message
ps.com...
Sustained winds of 45 knots (52 mph) for over 30 minutes.
Peak winds were 49 knots (56 mph). 2 boats sank--many
bent masts, broken bits, and ruined sails.

An account from the 2006 Soling Worlds

snipped

Isn't it contingent upon the race committee to cancel a race when such
conditions are present? I've never raced Solings, but Snipes, Thistles,
Lightnings, Ensigns, Lasers, and MC Scows all have bylaws which give race
committees the option of canceling if conditions exist which could endanger
crew or severely damage equipment. I believe sinking qualifies as
severely-damaged equipment.

I realize people travel from all over the world to such events, but I'd tend
to believe life and limb are more important than inconveniencing a group of
sailors who've traveled long distances.

Max

"Bart" wrote
Sustained winds of 45 knots (52 mph) for over 30 minutes.
Peak winds were 49 knots (56 mph). 2 boats sank--many
bent masts, broken bits, and ruined sails.

An account from the 2006 Soling Worlds
snipped

Maxprop wrote:
Isn't it contingent upon the race committee to cancel a race when such
conditions are present?

Not at all. The biggest responsibilty of a skipper (racing
or otherwise) is the safety of his crew & vessel. Most of
the time it is not a foremost concern, but it should NEVER
be forgotten nor can it possibly be delegated.

I guess if you believe there should be a Big Nanny In The
Sky, watching over you at all times, then yes. The
"authorities" should make sure that all the little
lamby-sailors are safe at all times.



... I've never raced Solings, but Snipes, Thistles,
Lightnings, Ensigns, Lasers, and MC Scows all have bylaws which give race
committees the option of canceling if conditions exist which could endanger
crew or severely damage equipment. I believe sinking qualifies as
severely-damaged equipment.


"Gives them the option" yes. That doesn't mean the RC *has*
to exercise it, nor does it make them responsible for broken
gear.


I realize people travel from all over the world to such events, but I'd tend
to believe life and limb are more important than inconveniencing a group of
sailors who've traveled long distances.


Agreed.

Actually, I'm impressed that these guys managed to get
things back together & make it back to the club. Higher
caliber than the average club racer.

It's also a good lesson on why one-design racing sails may
be fast, but not really suitable for other uses. Unless you
want a self-removing jib

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Wow! Thanks, Bart.

Scotty


"Bart" wrote in message
ps.com...
Sustained winds of 45 knots (52 mph) for over 30 minutes.
Peak winds were 49 knots (56 mph). 2 boats sank--many
bent masts, broken bits, and ruined sails.

An account from the 2006 Soling Worlds

(During the 2006 Soling Worlds in Annapolis, MD, a full
gale blew
through the fleet on Friday, October 20th. American Peter
Galloway, who
finished 5th overall in the event, provides his account of
the storm.)

The wind was at 20-25 knots and building fast for the
first lap of the
race, and we now were getting ready to round the second
windward mark,
just behind Canadian Bill Abbott. It was far too windy to
set chutes -
probably 35 knots at that point - and on our first gybe we
blew out the
vang. Despite sailing the leeward leg with the boom skied
(ever try to
gybe without a vang?), we managed to remain in control.
However,
conditions continued to worsen for the third weather leg,
and we were
forced now to completely rag our sails to stay upright.
Others were not
as lucky at this point, with boats now sunk around us or
with dropped
sails and bailing like mad.

When we got within 100 yards of the final windward mark,
then it got
really windy! Maybe 45+ knots. We now had so much water
onboard, and
with all sails ragging, we essentially stopped forward
progress against
the huge sea, which prevented the drainage bailers from
keeping up with
the constant waves of incoming water. We realized it was
now time to
save ourselves.

We went to drop sails (the jib took care of itself by
blowing off the
headstay), got ourselves into a safe condition, and bailed
the boat.
That took about 45 minutes, but during this time we were
drifting
toward the eastern shore. When we were about a mile from
it, we
recognized that we would have to fend for ourselves if we
wanted to get
back to Annapolis. The RC boats were far too busy trying
save
themselves and others in more serious trouble. One boat
lost its
engine, and others could not make headway. It was bedlam
everywhere.

Once we were safe, I crawled forward and hanked on the
jib. We were
able to sail back upwind to Annapolis, bailing
periodically but doing
about 4-5 knots through the water. We arrived 1-1/2 hours
later, fully
exhausted, and only about the 10th or 12th boat to get
back in. Others
trickled in over the next couple of hours, with everyone
having a
harrowing tale to tell. The German team (reigning world
champions) had
its skipper knocked overboard when the boom clocked him.
They got him
onboard safely and dropped sails, then drifted under the
Bay Bridge,
where a crew member swam to a piling with the anchor line
and tied them
to it. Once bailed out, they could set the jib and sail
back.

In the end, two boats completely sank, there was one
broken mast, plus
a half dozen or so bent masts. Every single boat had
something broken,
but in the end, thank goodness everyone was accounted for
with no
serious injuries. - Peter Galloway, event website:
www.solingworlds.com/worlds/2006

"DSK" wrote in message
. ..
"Bart" wrote
Sustained winds of 45 knots (52 mph) for over 30 minutes.
Peak winds were 49 knots (56 mph). 2 boats sank--many
bent masts, broken bits, and ruined sails.

An account from the 2006 Soling Worlds
snipped

Maxprop wrote:
Isn't it contingent upon the race committee to cancel a race when such
conditions are present?

Not at all. The biggest responsibilty of a skipper (racing or otherwise)
is the safety of his crew & vessel. Most of the time it is not a foremost
concern, but it should NEVER be forgotten nor can it possibly be
delegated.

I guess if you believe there should be a Big Nanny In The Sky, watching
over you at all times, then yes. The "authorities" should make sure that
all the little lamby-sailors are safe at all times.

You should know by now that I'm not in favor of the nanny principle, either
in race committes or government. But you should also know that nationally
and internationally ranked sailors won't pass up the opportunity to sail in
their respective Worlds, even when conditions are poor. There is too much
at stake for top racers to forego such events, regardless of the hazards.
The prudent thing to do would be to delay or reschedule in order to prevent
the sort of losses the Soling Worlds experienced.

... I've never raced Solings, but Snipes, Thistles, Lightnings, Ensigns,
Lasers, and MC Scows all have bylaws which give race committees the
option of canceling if conditions exist which could endanger crew or
severely damage equipment. I believe sinking qualifies as
severely-damaged equipment.

"Gives them the option" yes. That doesn't mean the RC *has* to exercise
it, nor does it make them responsible for broken gear.

I never said they were responsible for broken gear or, in a worst-case
scenario, dead sailors. Each skipper is. But such occurrences could be
prevented by the RC. As I stated above, top sailors typically won't make
the tough decision to take a pass, regardless of the likelihood of disaster.
There's too much at stake, such as their jobs with sailmakers, etc. So the
RC is in the perfect position to prevent the sort of things that happened at
the Soling Worlds. They failed to exercise their option, IMO.

I realize people travel from all over the world to such events, but I'd
tend to believe life and limb are more important than inconveniencing a
group of sailors who've traveled long distances.


Agreed.

Actually, I'm impressed that these guys managed to get things back
together & make it back to the club. Higher caliber than the average club
racer.

Indeed. But then survival is typically the #1 motivator.


It's also a good lesson on why one-design racing sails may be fast, but
not really suitable for other uses. Unless you want a self-removing jib


Sails present interesting dilemmas. I put some heavy-weather sails on our
Snipe for the North Americans at San Diego for the second race back in the
early 70s. We had placed 2nd in the first, but the wind was expected to
freshen to well over 18kts. by the middle of the second race. To make a
long story short, the skies cleared and the wind ebbed, and we were unable
to keep any shape in the main at all, thanks to the rolling sea conditions.
We'd planned to make that our throwout. Of course for the third race we
went back to our lightest Dacron and the wind topped out at 20kts. just
before our jib ripped from the luff wire. The rest of the series went about
like that, always choosing the wrong sails for the conditions. I left SD
hating Mission Bay and its arcane winds. We finished 39th overall--our
worst in five years.

Max

Maxprop wrote:
Isn't it contingent upon the race committee to cancel a race when such
conditions are present?


Not at all.

Maxprop wrote:
You should know by now that I'm not in favor of the nanny principle, either
in race committes or government.

Well, then why do you speak up in favor of the Race
Committee acting like a nanny?



.... But you should also know that nationally
and internationally ranked sailors won't pass up the opportunity to sail in
their respective Worlds, even when conditions are poor.

Baloney. Nobody, no matter how intensely competitive they
are, wants to die... or lose crew, either from death,
serious injury, or just saying "I'm not sailing with you
crazy MF-ers ever again." Nobody wants to break expensive
gear, and by the time most sailors reach this level of
competition, they are aware that breaking stuff is slow.





The prudent thing to do would be to delay or reschedule in order to prevent
the sort of losses the Soling Worlds experienced.


If you need a nanny, sure.

Let's check the report from that regatta ans see how many of
the racers spoke up in favor of the Race Committee
cancelling races so that they don't have to be responsible
for themselves.





I never said they were responsible for broken gear or, in a worst-case
scenario, dead sailors. Each skipper is. But such occurrences could be
prevented by the RC. As I stated above, top sailors typically won't make
the tough decision to take a pass

The heck they won't.

Part of the situation here is that conditions went from bad,
but raceable, to barely survivable. By the time each
individual skipper came to the decision to shift from "race"
to "survival" to "let's get the heck out of this, if
possible," it was too late to do anything except try to
avoid casualty... unsuccessfully, in some unfortunate cases.

Any racer with some years experience will have gotten into
weather situations that forced priority over racing tactics.
Any *sailor* will recognize that threshold as it approaches,
in many cases while still standing on the dock.



There's too much at stake, such as their jobs with sailmakers, etc. So the
RC is in the perfect position to prevent the sort of things that happened at
the Soling Worlds. They failed to exercise their option, IMO.


Again... you claim that you're against nanny-ism but here
you are insisting it should be done. One of the most glaring
reasons why you are neither conservative nor libertarian is
that you cannot stick to your principles.



Actually, I'm impressed that these guys managed to get things back
together & make it back to the club. Higher caliber than the average club
racer.



Indeed. But then survival is typically the #1 motivator.


Not only that, but getting back to the dock uninjured & with
minimum breakage puts one into a more advantageous situation
the next day of racing.



It's also a good lesson on why one-design racing sails may be fast, but
not really suitable for other uses. Unless you want a self-removing jib



Sails present interesting dilemmas. I put some heavy-weather sails on our
Snipe for the North Americans at San Diego for the second race back in the
early 70s. We had placed 2nd in the first, but the wind was expected to
freshen to well over 18kts. by the middle of the second race. To make a
long story short, the skies cleared and the wind ebbed, and we were unable
to keep any shape in the main at all, thanks to the rolling sea conditions.
We'd planned to make that our throwout. Of course for the third race we
went back to our lightest Dacron and the wind topped out at 20kts. just
before our jib ripped from the luff wire. The rest of the series went about
like that, always choosing the wrong sails for the conditions. I left SD
hating Mission Bay and its arcane winds. We finished 39th overall--our
worst in five years.


Ah yes, memories of the bad old days when you had to pick
your sails as carefully as any other move on the race
course. And it was worse with cotton! But the last couple of
decades have seen huge improvement, generally most small
one-designs have a single pattern sail set, or maybe a
special jib (in the Lightnings for example, they use a "wave
jib" for light air & chop but otherwise just one main & one
jib). Of course, that sail set still isn't going to be
infinitely tune-able as the wind climbs over 20 or 30... by
the time it hits 40, very few boats are even sailing much
less racing.

It's happened to me that we've done quite well in some races
by playing chicken as conditions worsened, capsizing less
often than the leaders and passing them while they were
swimming... or just jogging along in survival mode and
arriving at the final beat with some strength left and gear
unbroken, and getting a place score instead of a DNF.

I love it when the wind blows like double-stink, and IMHO if
the RC cancels a race in conditions where I am more likely
to do well, then my score is being prejudiced. I don't need
a nanny, and don't want one on the race course.

DSK

Maxprop wrote:

Isn't it contingent upon the race committee to cancel a race when such
conditions are present? I've never raced Solings, but Snipes, Thistles,
Lightnings, Ensigns, Lasers, and MC Scows all have bylaws which give race
committees the option of canceling if conditions exist which could endanger
crew or severely damage equipment. I believe sinking qualifies as
severely-damaged equipment.

I realize people travel from all over the world to such events, but I'd tend
to believe life and limb are more important than inconveniencing a group of
sailors who've traveled long distances.

Max

I think it might be a wise move to install reefing gear on a racing
boat, in classes that don't normally have them, such that they can
maitnain control. I wonder if such equipment is prohibited by class
rules.

DSK wrote:

I love it when the wind blows like double-stink, and IMHO if
the RC cancels a race in conditions where I am more likely
to do well, then my score is being prejudiced. I don't need
a nanny, and don't want one on the race course.

I agree completely with you Doug. I like it when it is nasty
out there. It is an opportunity for good judgment (i.e. not
setting a spinnaker) might mean passing a string of broached
yachts. Judgment is part of the game.

Bart wrote:
I agree completely with you Doug. I like it when it is nasty
out there. It is an opportunity for good judgment (i.e. not
setting a spinnaker) might mean passing a string of broached
yachts. Judgment is part of the game.


It definitely should be, it's part of the good seamanship
that many non-racing sailors claim us racers lack.

Sailing in heavy air is also a different skill set, like
racing in light air. You have to tune in to different
actions, have different reflexes & priorities. That's one of
the great things about sailing, it's many sports rolled into
one.

I've been in races that were abandoned when the RC had to
leave station to go rescue boats. That's forgiveable, but to
have them simply call it off because "it's too windy" is
just lame.

In the races I've been in that were abandoned because of the
RC going to the rescue, I made it a point later on to give
some friendly coaching to the guys who needed rescuing...
never did mention that they cost me places (probably some
silverware).

DSK

Bart wrote:
....

About racing sails... not sure if I've told this story before.

Some years ago, I had a no-longer-competitive Lightning jib
that I gave to my cousin for his keelboat. It was a good
size for a storm jib and that's what he wanted to use it
for. It stayed in a bag under his V-berth for some years,
then we met up for an autumn cruise.

The weather was windy, we had several days of 20+ knot winds
and one very memorable day of 45 knot winds & 15 foot
breakers. This was around Martha's Vineyard. Anyway, we
decided to rig the Lightning jib as a storm staysail. On a
broad reach, it did just fine, we flattened it as much as
possible by sheetng it to the rail instead of further
inboard. Then we had to change course to a close reach, and
the boat was a bit overpowered plus yawed more in the waves.

This sail was in quite good shape other than being just
enough blown out that a Lightning could not point as high as
other tuned-up racing Lightnings with it... poor sail
withstood about 20 minutes on this course, including perhaps
7 or 8 brief intervals of flogging.... then it just blew
apart. The panels seperated all at once then blew themselves
to shreds.

Lesson- regardless of the size or condition of the sail, get
something made of heavier cloth for a heavier boat!

DSK