Hello folks-
I would like advice about sailing in waves, shorthanded. This seems like the place to ask.
Background:
I was out yesterday for the YRA Lightship race. It was my first solo race, and my performance laughable (had to resign because I was so far behind that conditions worsened to the point I didn't feel comfortable continuing.) But because I was so far behind, I spent a good bit of time out to about G1/G3 in the main ship channel when the wind was ~ 27 kts sustained and the waves probably in the 6 ft plus zone, mainly from the NW, so occasionally ones that seemed maybe 9 ft (predicted was 6-8, so I think my visual estimates are not crazy.) The wind I am comfortable with, but the waves, if expected, were not familiar since almost all my sailing is in the bay. I was definitely glad when I got into the smoother water behind Pt Bonita (had stayed North on my approach to be closer in there.) It was on the 'ok but not if this gets much worse' side for me, which brings me to my question:
Advice appreciated:
1) Handling bigger waves from off the stern:
On the way back (along the N side main ship channel, probably somewhat closer to the S edge potato patch), the waves were coming from a bit behind broadside (NW, and I was headed in.) Managing the wheel took my attention, and I was singlehanding, so it was hard to keep a lookout behind. It was fine/adventurous, but if the waves were a bit bigger I would not have felt comfortable keeping that heading. Maybe I would have headed down for a long run to put the waves more astern, and then had to head up for a while so they were more on the bow, zig-zag-ing in to keep the waves at better angles. But that would have left me out there longer as conditions built -- and I realized I was not sure what was the best tactic. So:
--> What to folks do in these circumstances? Zig-zag? Or does one just get better managing the wheel with practice?
--> A few times it seemed like I was very close to getting wave into the cockpit. I had my hatchboards tied down in place (appreciating those YRA safety rules...) so that was not scary, but is there a trick to reducing the chance of that happening?
2) Handling bigger waves off the bow:
Headed out, the waves were about 30-40 degrees off the bow. I could see them coming, and one was especially big, or breaking a bit at the top (not in any dramatic way), I would head up into it. This seems reasonable, but it is hard to do over and over and over when the period (wind waves) is short -- seemed like ~6 sec, not the 14 predicted for the longer swell.
--> Are there tricks to handling these efficiently, or does one just bash through most, heading up for worrisome ones, and then bail when that is too much?
3) Singlehanding / Wheel pilot: In these waves, the Raymarine EV100 wheel pilot seemed barely sufficient for handling the boat when I had to go adjust anything.
--> Does anyone also use one of these, and it's ok, or do I need something else (like the CPT one)? Or do people have advice for handling those times by just locking off the wheel or something (which seems a big scary to me in larger waves)? I'm a little unclear how well a windvane would work well in these circumstances; I have one but wasn't using it because it was a race.
Many thanks for any advice (and please feel free to generalize on the subject of how to sail well in larger waves than one sees inside the bay)!
I would like advice about sailing in waves, shorthanded. This seems like the place to ask.
Background:
I was out yesterday for the YRA Lightship race. It was my first solo race, and my performance laughable (had to resign because I was so far behind that conditions worsened to the point I didn't feel comfortable continuing.) But because I was so far behind, I spent a good bit of time out to about G1/G3 in the main ship channel when the wind was ~ 27 kts sustained and the waves probably in the 6 ft plus zone, mainly from the NW, so occasionally ones that seemed maybe 9 ft (predicted was 6-8, so I think my visual estimates are not crazy.) The wind I am comfortable with, but the waves, if expected, were not familiar since almost all my sailing is in the bay. I was definitely glad when I got into the smoother water behind Pt Bonita (had stayed North on my approach to be closer in there.) It was on the 'ok but not if this gets much worse' side for me, which brings me to my question:
Advice appreciated:
1) Handling bigger waves from off the stern:
On the way back (along the N side main ship channel, probably somewhat closer to the S edge potato patch), the waves were coming from a bit behind broadside (NW, and I was headed in.) Managing the wheel took my attention, and I was singlehanding, so it was hard to keep a lookout behind. It was fine/adventurous, but if the waves were a bit bigger I would not have felt comfortable keeping that heading. Maybe I would have headed down for a long run to put the waves more astern, and then had to head up for a while so they were more on the bow, zig-zag-ing in to keep the waves at better angles. But that would have left me out there longer as conditions built -- and I realized I was not sure what was the best tactic. So:
--> What to folks do in these circumstances? Zig-zag? Or does one just get better managing the wheel with practice?
--> A few times it seemed like I was very close to getting wave into the cockpit. I had my hatchboards tied down in place (appreciating those YRA safety rules...) so that was not scary, but is there a trick to reducing the chance of that happening?
2) Handling bigger waves off the bow:
Headed out, the waves were about 30-40 degrees off the bow. I could see them coming, and one was especially big, or breaking a bit at the top (not in any dramatic way), I would head up into it. This seems reasonable, but it is hard to do over and over and over when the period (wind waves) is short -- seemed like ~6 sec, not the 14 predicted for the longer swell.
--> Are there tricks to handling these efficiently, or does one just bash through most, heading up for worrisome ones, and then bail when that is too much?
3) Singlehanding / Wheel pilot: In these waves, the Raymarine EV100 wheel pilot seemed barely sufficient for handling the boat when I had to go adjust anything.
--> Does anyone also use one of these, and it's ok, or do I need something else (like the CPT one)? Or do people have advice for handling those times by just locking off the wheel or something (which seems a big scary to me in larger waves)? I'm a little unclear how well a windvane would work well in these circumstances; I have one but wasn't using it because it was a race.
Many thanks for any advice (and please feel free to generalize on the subject of how to sail well in larger waves than one sees inside the bay)!
