Max Windspeed You Would Put to Sea in ?

[Joli]

Up hill 15, down hill 40~45. And I would rather go down hill.

[MarcW]

For me its getting at least some reasonable weather/wind for the first few days of a passage to get your act together. (watches, sleeping and eating)
We crossed the Australian Bight west to east a month ago and had 10-15kts on the nose to a reach of the first 2 days this of cause went to 20-35kts for the rest of the trip.
Only getting hit with 45kts on the second last day which we where heave-to for 12 hrs because of 90 degree cross sea and swell of 5-6 metres in total 8 days to cross.
Gallivant has 2 crew a cat and dog.
Getting settled is number one what ever wind speed will allow this.

[rebel heart]

We're heading out this weekend with F5-7 forecasted, hopefully on a broad reach the whole time. More than the wind I (like most people) don't like the waves that make a mixed sea, and honestly I just don't like getting rained on.

[Feral Cat]

Last Thursday set out for a short sail 30nm with winds directly on the nose... Santa Ana conditions (Foehn winds local to my region)... Winds 25-30kn with gusts to 40... Had to be somewhere (I know it is a bad reason) Fun ride but had to furl the genoa... went to motor sail. I am fairly new to all of this but knew better!

Never been on a sail of the magnitude asked but I am thinking 20kn would be tops on the nose for your question. Down wind would be the same as my boat doesn't like the down wind as much... Older IO design.

Mark... Great thread, wondering if you would/could like to post the same question and have a separate qualifier as to the type of boat associated with the Captains decision ie: Cat or mono? I for one am curious as to the differences associated... Love to read your posts by the way.

[ozskipper]

The maximum wind is the a couple of knots less than the speed the boat can sail into. Any boat can go downwind. But should I need to sail upwind for what ever reason (say MOB), I dont want to be restricted.

So its going to depend on the boat. On a Volvo 60 we could go to sea in just about anything short of a cyclone.

My little adams 8, say 25-30knots max.

Cheers
Oz

[MarkJ]

My answer I put 20 downwind and 15 knots upwind.
I really do have no time constraints (I hope you desk jockeys gag at that I hav no time constraints ) except seasonal.


Upwind 15knots true is about 20 over the deck, little less maybe and about where I am chucking in the first reef in the main and probably already got a roll in the genoa.
After doing the Red Sea with 1,000 miles upwind up to 30 knots you can well and truly shove that where the sun don't shine! The first few hundred miles at 15 knots was a treat and a pleasure. After a week of 25 to 30 at change of watch we were just passing each other in the companionway - still have asleep or just zonked. Its the only time we were tired on passage as our watch system usually leaves us springing about, however I have to come up too often to try to reduce our countercurrent slippages and leeway.

15 knots the sea is still flat as a tack and wind waves don't slow the boat at all. In my particular boat its fine sailing, even though we don't go upwind as well as others.

So if I had the option to wait a week or more for better wind to where I thought we could get 1,000nms at 15 knots I would do so.
If I was in a group and it was blowing 25 I would tell them to piss off and I would watch them from the bar.

Downwind at 20 gives apparent at 15 and has my boat going well.
The sea state does build a little but it doesnt matter as its downhill
Pilot charts over the Pacific say Force 4. Well I dont think we ever saw Force 4 unless it was on the way through to a few hours of Force 0! Mainly Force 5 -17 to 21 knots and a bit of Force 6 22-27 knots.
18 to 22 knots is a dream on this boat.

Above 22 or so knots the waves are getting up there and the white caps increasing. The boat is surfing slightly under the autopilot. I don't really like surfing the boat on the autopilot. Manually its great fun, feel the pickup of the wave and turn deeper downhill and let 'er rip till the recovery back on course. But the boat only needs a bad wave or bad wit of white cap (not a breaking wave) and the autopilot not be having a good day and suddenly theres forces on the boat, autopilot, rigging and sails that I don't need to have as a cruiser with nearly 1,000 miles to port.

Also I need to consider my boat is a bit 'tired' and needs some time next to a good chandlery, a new genoa, new sheets, a couple of new bits of deck hardware etc. Things that are on the shopping list now, but I want to be able to chose the time that I buy them to fit in with the budget, not be forced to buy now cos I bruk somit.

1,000nms
7kts 5 days 23 hours
6.5 kts 6 days 10 hours = 11 hours difference

For a racer 11 hours is the difference between first and last but for a cruiser it doesn't really matter, except one might come in at night.

Dropping a full knot of average boatspeed to 6 knots the passage is only a spare 24 hours longer than 7 knots.

So for the sake of my rig, my sanity and keeping the champagne froth from blowing away, I'll stick with the "Hey, I'm a cruiser, lets go slow and enjoy the extra sunset!"

Originally Posted by Feral Cat

same question and have a separate qualifier as to the type of boat associated with the Captains decision ie: Cat or mono? .

Yeah, I agree, and with difference to displacement and size etc.
I know some boats relish downwind at 25 to 30 and at 15 downwind they dont more, so yes type of boat is so important.


Mark

[beetle]

I plunked in the 40+ knots upwind and downwind.

I tend to pay equal attention to the swell size and period; if the swell is 8-10 feet and the period is in the 5-6 second interval I think twice about going out. If the swell is up (I'm thinking of days with 20-25 foot swell) and the period is 15-18 seconds then those are wonderful days for sailing.

As regards an explanation, I sail in San Francisco bay and local ocean and have routinely sailed in high wind conditions over the last two decades. It's a 45 foot boat that sails well to weather, a little more of a handful downwind, and while sailing in high breeze is not necessarily fun it's easy to do. When the wind tops 40 knots then you're a bit more careful about rigging up the boat early with the headsail and reefs.

Most wind I've sailed in upwind was 50 knots, and when coming in from Hawaii had an evening of 55 knot winds on a close reach - very wet and squirrely ride. Seas were large in each case and had started to break, so not much fun but boat was happy doing it.

I prefer to sail in 25-30 knots or less upwind, and am more than happy to wait out a weather window to avoid a pounding.

[Bash]

I once put to sea in a gale because breakers started rolling through our anchorage, and we figured that we'd be more safe out of the cove than in it. We knew we'd be blasted outside, but figured that it was just a matter of time before the anchor started to drag inside. If you're standing anchor watch anyway, might as well be making progress down the coast, right?

Ditto on the SF bay thing. If we didn't go out in 25 knots true, we'd have to give up summer sailing.

[MarkJ]

Hang on! read the poll conditions

You are sailing on a 1,000 mile passage and will have that same weather for all the 1,000 miles!

You do not NEED to go!

Its is not an emergency!

You can wait for a week till 'your' weather comes in. Thats what we are after, what you consider a good safe passage making weather that you actually use on a passage by passage basis.

If someone wants to go uphill in 40 knots for 1,000 miles it wants to be because thats the way you like it, not because the Tax Department has an inspector on the beach

[Astrid]

I've made the choice, when crossing the Georgi Straight, to do it at the beginning of a storm rather then wait until after because it isn't usually as rough when the storm is threatening then immediately after.

Indeed. With Vancouver Island to the West and the mainland to the East, the strait gets pretty churned up well into and after a storm.

[SV Liberty]

By "upwind", we mean around 70 degrees apparent or higher. We try hard not to beat - I just won't leave if I have to beat at the beginning). But our best passages have been light air, summertime crossings (preferably with limited squalls ), lots of spinnaker, some motoring, and one decent mahi-mahi every other day!

The longer we've cruised, the more we've waited for decent starting weather.

[beetle]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Hang on! read the poll conditions

You are sailing on a 1,000 mile passage and will have that same weather for all the 1,000 miles!

You do not NEED to go!

Its is not an emergency!

You can wait for a week till 'your' weather comes in. Thats what we are after, what you consider a good safe passage making weather that you actually use on a passage by passage basis.

If someone wants to go uphill in 40 knots for 1,000 miles it wants to be because thats the way you like it, not because the Tax Department has an inspector on the beach

OK, in that case, you can change my poll response to:

upwind 25 knots
downwind 35 knots

And we don't like tax inspectors on beaches!

[bruce smith]

Leaving New England in the fall, bound for Bermuda/ Caribbean, one is almost obligated to leave on the back of a low, 'specially with a "slow" boat like mine. If you leave in nice weather, if a low comes in a coupl' days out, you will have a gale on your nose. (wind always heads into the low) just as yer reaching the stream.
In this scenario, You're leaving, downwind in a stinker, but banking that it will get nice in 4-5 days.