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Storm Sails

Well, the 2004 race was the heaviest conditions I've ever sailed in, out past the Gate. I tried the storm jib and took it off in favor of a jib I had at the time which was a "permanently reefed" 100%. This means that the sail had a reef point built into it, and I just had Synthia cut off the bottom section of the sail. That took about 6 feet off the bottom. It was relatively high-clewed. I guess I could draw it out on a sheet of paper and figure out what percentage of the foretriangle it was, but I'll guess about 65%. I couldn't lie ahull with that sail and the double-reefed main, either, the main kept overpowering the boat. However, when actually sailing, we were fine. Boat was a. Santana 3030 with an oversize (Santana 34) rudder.

Stuff went terribly wrong in that race, but it wasn't the sail selection.
 
Alan, what was the decision process between lying ahull and trying to sail in those conditions? And I always thought that lying ahull meant no sails up at all, which doesn't sound like a great idea in a modern boat.

I tried to do an SHTP qualifier in (I think) 2008. Conditions were pretty nasty, and I did use my storm jib (which I bought from Alan). Maybe I didn't need to, but it was getting dark and I wanted to be conservative. I just had (and still have) a Tuff Luff, so I led my three unused headsail halyards and the topping lift to the lee rail to make a sort of net to guide the old and new jibs as they went up and down. It went quite smoothly, but again these weren't extreme conditions.
 
Critter said:
Alan, what was the decision process between lying ahull and trying to sail in those conditions? And I always thought that lying ahull meant no sails up at all, which doesn't sound like a great idea in a modern boat.

I tried to do an SHTP qualifier in (I think) 2008. Conditions were pretty nasty, and I did use my storm jib (which I bought from Alan). Maybe I didn't need to, but it was getting dark and I wanted to be conservative. I just had (and still have) a Tuff Luff, so I led my three unused headsail halyards and the topping lift to the lee rail to make a sort of net to guide the old and new jibs as they went up and down. It went quite smoothly, but again these weren't extreme conditions.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I used the wrong word . I didn't "lie ahull"...I backed the sails. You know, tacked around but didn't release the jib, then let the main out so that the force of the main driving the boat up into the wind is counteracted by the force of the jib trying to push the bow down. I did this twice...once, trying to sort out why the light was on telling me that my charging system was running when it shouldn't have been. That lasted about 60 seconds. The second time was actually after I'd turned around and was coming back towards Morro Bay. I was seeing lights...red and green navigation lights and they were obviously getting close and we seemed to be on a collision course. So I stopped. Again, the sails aback thing lasted about 60 seconds.

It worked great with the 65-something % jib, though.
 
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