Wayne.B wrote in message . ..
On Thu, 05 Aug 2004 19:50:00 GMT, Rich Hampel
wrote:
Dashew is one who never is found in a hove-to position but advocates
running off whenever possible. (Is that running off ..... while
dragging a sea anchor - dont think so!)

======================================

Running off while towing lines (warps) or a drogue has been reported
as very effective.

(Heavy Weather Sailing/ K. Adlard Coles)


Rich, you may find this of interest,
"There are two ways around this. One is some form of riding sail or
backstaysail as we’ve discussed. The other is to bridle the
parachute off the bow, as advocated by the Pardeys. The bridle is used
with a reefed trysail or deeply reefed main to increase resistance to
rolling. A key feature of this approach for the Pardeys is the
creation of a slick off their keel, which – theoretically, at
least – calms the seas. This is a major safety issue, because
without the slick, the boat is now lying at an angle of 50 deg or 60
deg to breaking crests, quite vulnerable to a knockdown or worse. I
have no doubt that the Pardey’s Seraffyn did in fact create a
slick to windward in its day, but I have never seen this myself, and I
have interviewed only one other sailor who claims to have been able to
crate this type of beneficial slick and have it work as advertised."
Stev Dashew

Heaving to, Lying ahull, or Running off
“It is important to note that most storms, even severe storms,
do not create dangerous breaking waves. Sailors who survive such
storms may conclude that the tactics they employ, such as heaving to,
lying ahull or running off, are adequate to prevent capsize. This is a
serious mistake. There is very compelling evidence to show that while
a well found boat will survive a storm in non-breaking waves, none of
the above tactics will prevent capsize in a breaking wave
strike.”
U.S. Coast Guard Report CG-D-20-87 sec1-1

Bryan

On 6 Aug 2004 07:27:56 -0700, (Bryan Glover)
wrote:
There is very compelling evidence to show that while
a well found boat will survive a storm in non-breaking waves, none of
the above tactics will prevent capsize in a breaking wave
strike.”
U.S. Coast Guard Report CG-D-20-87 sec1-1

=============================================

Sounds reasonable to me. Watch some of the extreme surfing movies on
the cable channels, some of which were filmed on offshore sea mounts
off San Diego. The waves are in the 50 to 60 foot range with huge
overhanging crests. It doesn't take much imagination to realize that
a wave that size and shape could tumble a 70 foot boat like a toy.

The next question is if a wave like that could form in the open ocean?
Probably not very often it seems but who knows... Given the right
combination of multiple wave trains in different directions, wind,
current, etc., almost anything is possible. So called "freak waves"
in the 100 foot wave are apparently showing up on the weather
satellites much more often than previously suspected. If a 100 foot
wave breaks just a little bit, that's still an awesome force to be
reckoned with.

The next question is if a wave like that could form in the open ocean?

it is unusual, and takes unusual conditions. by far, most waves break because
the water is too shallow for the wave height, as bottom friction slows the
bottom of the wave (water in a waves turns in large circles at the top of the
wave, and ever smaller circles as water depth increases) and the top of the
wave simply gets ahead of the bottom and falls over.