Favorite rough weather technique

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by gonzo, Nov 10, 2009.

  1. magwas
    Joined: Oct 2009
    Posts: 287
    Likes: 10, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 47
    Location: Hungary

    magwas Senior Member

    (Huge breaking waves. The boat surfs down the wave, gathers huge momentum, and at the bottom hits the next wave. Now THAT causes huge forces.)

    A boat surfing down from a 10m wave basically obtain the same amount of kinetic energy as it would be dropped from 10m. Would your boat survive if you would drop her to the water from 10m, bow down? (Actually the kinetic energy is a bit more due to the speed the vessel have already had on the top of the wave, and the force is less because the angle of the impact.)

    And how the helmsman supposed to avoid collision with the wave she is surfing down to? Every one of them?
     
  2. sabahcat
    Joined: Dec 2008
    Posts: 792
    Likes: 28, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 273
    Location: australia

    sabahcat Senior Member

    Sea anchor or parachute anchor?
     
  3. capt vimes
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 388
    Likes: 14, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 247
    Location: Austria

    capt vimes Senior Member

    what are you talking about?
    wavehight <> wavelength!
    10 m seas in the blue ocean usually have wavelengths of ~100 m and more - in really rough weather ~50 m probably... it is not like you skip down a sheer cliff and hitting a wall in front of you...
    and noone with more than 2 functional braincell would 'jump' over braking seas!
     
  4. capt vimes
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 388
    Likes: 14, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 247
    Location: Austria

    capt vimes Senior Member

    from: http://www.sea-anchors.com/sail2.htm

    so what? you are drifting to the shore... in a leeshore situation (and that was the starting point) no option for me at all!
     
  5. mark775

    mark775 Guest

    "you could even move sideways like a crap keeping the distance to the shore and it will be a comfortable ride... " - How would you get it to move sideways and why would you want to?
     
  6. Brent Swain
    Joined: Mar 2002
    Posts: 951
    Likes: 38, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: -12
    Location: British Columbia

    Brent Swain Member

    Stay safe, stay dry, stay on deck and wear a musto suit are contradictions. I know of no musto suit for any price which will keep me as warm, dry and safe as my wheelhouse. Outside only steering stations are just bad seamanship, any way you cut it, as is dependence on engines , and lack of knowledge of how to get along without one.
    Drogues are by far the best solution for bad weather . Best avoid getting too close to dangerouse lee shores in the first place. I stay about 300 miles off the US west coast when heading south, which gives me lots of sea room . A boat long enough to escape the weather excludes even going cruising for many of us, which is just plain dense. Feeling you have to have crew aboard means putting up with someone you don't want aboard, in the case of single handers which takes away the reason for going cruising in the first place. That too is just plain dense. .
     
  7. apex1

    apex1 Guest

    I was missing your nonsense already Brent!

    But the question was: what is your favourite technique...........

    so each of us can add their opinion, me as well as you!

    The "Musto" suit can be manufactured by any competitor too BTW.

    Regards
    Richard
     
  8. claverton
    Joined: Dec 2009
    Posts: 4
    Likes: 0, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 10
    Location: Sydney

    claverton New Member

    How Jordon Serious Drouges work is illustrated in the discussion on the loss of the Winston Churchill in the disastrous 1998 Sydney to Hobart. This can be viewed at www.jordanseriesdrogue.com/D_15.htm

    The Winston Churchill was a heavy displacement timber boat and got smashed to pieces in the storm with loss of life. As the discussion on the jordon site points out, the wave that destroyed it was estimated to be 45 ft and moving at about 30mph. So the boat after being picked up and carried by the wave would be moving at atleast 30mph. The damage happens when the boat hits stationary water at the bottom of the trough. This is what Magwas is referring to and he is quite correct. It would be like driving a boat into a brick wall. No amount of good helming/seamanship will save a yacht in extreme conditions when it is picked up by a wave. Hence to jordon drogue. It is simply the best method of protection. The beauty of it is that it acts like a spring and increases the load gradually rather than it "snapping on". The other nice thing about the jordon drogue is its not a commercial product, so no commercial barrow is being pushed. So it up yourself or get someone else to do it.
     
  9. claverton
    Joined: Dec 2009
    Posts: 4
    Likes: 0, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 10
    Location: Sydney

    claverton New Member

    I mean "sew" not "so"
     
  10. mark775

    mark775 Guest

    So? ...
     
  11. sabahcat
    Joined: Dec 2008
    Posts: 792
    Likes: 28, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 273
    Location: australia

    sabahcat Senior Member

    Some work better than others
    Some people have sea room when using them
    Some people use larger than required.

    I used one once for a half day and night with winds around 50 knots
    Crew was well refreshed and the boat was not broken the next day
    We drifted no more than 1/2 nm (0.5 nm) during the night according to gps track, some of it back on itself.

    I wont do a passage without one now
     
  12. capt vimes
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 388
    Likes: 14, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 247
    Location: Austria

    capt vimes Senior Member

    you are a multihull man sabahcat - aren't you?

    i do not like multis and have absolutely no experience whatsover with those types of ships...
    but i do think that due to the different characteristics of multis and monos the weathering technique might be considerably different as well...
     
  13. Fanie
    Joined: Oct 2007
    Posts: 4,604
    Likes: 177, Points: 63, Legacy Rep: 2484
    Location: Colonial "Sick Africa"

    Fanie Fanie

    Dear Capt Vimes,

    Takes a big man to admit he's scared :D

    Try it, you'll love it. Now you can't say afterwards 'If only I knew...' ;)
     
  14. capt vimes
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 388
    Likes: 14, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 247
    Location: Austria

    capt vimes Senior Member

    yep - they scare me... :p

    this year end of march/beginning of april i had the opportunity to deliver a cat (45' LOA) from northern france via the biscaya into the mediteranean and happily refused it... :D
     

  15. apex1

    apex1 Guest

    They do´nt scare me and I do´nt like them either.
     
Loading...
Similar Threads
  1. SuperPiper
    Replies:
    17
    Views:
    5,574
  2. cat nap2
    Replies:
    1
    Views:
    1,438
Forum posts represent the experience, opinion, and view of individual users. Boat Design Net does not necessarily endorse nor share the view of each individual post.
When making potentially dangerous or financial decisions, always employ and consult appropriate professionals. Your circumstances or experience may be different.