Quote:
Originally Posted by KP44
Rig a bridle and ride at a bit of an angle to the weather. The parachute creates a "slick" that takes the waves power away. Even breaking waves will break on either side but will not break at the slick, where your boat is behind the 18' parachute. |
The purposes of the bridle are: 1) To keep the boat from being directly
head up into the
wind so the boat does not back directly down on its
rudder. Backing down is very stressful on the
rudder. You'll know this is happening when the
wheel or tiller begins to violently "snatch" from side to side.
You must stop this action before your rudder is severely damaged. If the bridle is properly set up, the rudder will gently snatch to only one side. 2) Since the boat is more stable in
pitch than in roll - to the extent that its length is greater than its beam (this may not be so much the case with multi-hulls), by setting the parachute to the side, you can
trade off pitching for rolling to minimize and balance the amount of each motion.
Also, when the boat is moving partially athwart instead of only astern, it maximizes the turbulence ("slick") that is generated which causes oncoming
wind waves and breaking swells (your greatest enemy) to collapse before they reach the boat (heaving to has the same effect) giving you a much more comfortable ride. The bridle also limits to some extent parametric rolling that develops when your boat resonates with the swell period - by acting as a harmonic dampener.
To visualize the effect of turbulence on collapsing wave action, just look at the smooth
water that develops in the wake of a motorboat underway.
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