Boat is overpowered in a gust:
http://i1.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/8f/19/843e_1.JPG

Spinnaker flogging, boom dragging in the water and cannot be eased
further.

In the pic, the boat is still moving forward but very soon the foils
will stall and she will be uncontrollable. The skipper has a few
seconds to take action or they will capsize. What should he do?


"Capt. JG" wrote:
Given the boom can no longer be eased, seems to me the only two things you
could do would be to attempt to head up

Nope
Trying to head up will lay the boat on it's side, especially once the
foils begin to stall. In the pic, the rudder is mostly out of the
water too.

.... or ease the main halyard.


IMHO the sail's not going to come down fast enough to get out of the
situation. They're a few seconds from capsizing and the crew has to
stay hiked out. I'd like to try it if the water was warm.

Boom vang!

Releasing the vang, which should be on a split control to either gun'l
and easily accessible when hiked out, will let the boom rise and
accomplish two things. The boom won't be digging in as hard and the
upper sections of the mainsail will open up & luff freely.

The problem with easing the vang is that if the boat is acting
squirrely and the skipper yanks the boat downwind as soon as she'll
respond, the upper part of the main is now uncontrolled and will try
to death-roll the boat. The skipper has to stay calm, put the boat
onto an easy reach, and tighten the vang again as well as encourage
the crew to get the spinnaker under control.

One problem I've had with this type of situation is that after one of
these incidents, the crew will sometimes be spooked and regard the
spinnaker sheets as though they were poisonous snakes. An interesting
psychological problem as well as a boat-handling issue.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King