Catamaran Heavy
Weather Strategy
By Mike French, Yacht Ypsilanti,
South Africa.
I wrote this article for our South African Sailing magazine.
Introduction
I frequently ask skippers what their strategy is when encountering heavy
weather. I either receive a definitive and well defined answer or a lot of ‘mumbo jumbo garble’. The latter surprises me as one would think that this subject is uppermost in any boat owner’s mind and that a
skipper will have a clear, defined and concise strategy to deploy when encountering conditions that serve to threaten both crew and vessel.
What is disconcerting is that it is often the very experienced skippers that often don’t have a clear defined strategy for heavy weather tactics.
During a recent storm that prevailed in early June, I decided to set sail on my 50' Mayotte Voyage cat Ypsilanti with our somewhat inexperienced crew and with my good friends Mike Bunting and David Taylor of the vessel Alacrity fame who is a very experienced mono hull sailor in heavy weather. We decided to
head to sea at the height of the gale. We put three
reefs in our main and hoisted the
storm jib on the inner forestay. The headsail was left fully furled. A somewhat surprised Port Control hesitated and reluctantly acknowledged our intentions to
head to sea for two hours. All
shipping had ceased and the ships had been relocated to
anchorages further out to sea. We took all the necessary precautions of a full briefing, issued life jackets and donned our harnesses.
We encountered a swell of 5 meters and the wind peaked at 46 knots. The sea was ferocious and extremely unsettled. We beat for about an hour, but could not make much headway due to Ypsilanti not pointing very well. The bows were often submerged and waves washed over the entire vessel. However, the vessel behaved impeccably and the ride was not unsettling nor uncomfortable. Some moderate surfing upon returning was exhilarating although not excessive. A breaking set on our starboard side as we entered port provided much excitement to the adrenalin junkies amongst us.
People were somewhat surprised that we chose to actually head to sea under such adverse storm conditions. However, my view differs considerably. While it is clearly best to try an avoid bad weather, I do believe that being prepared for all eventualities is important and that it is far better to encounter storm sea conditions in a controlled and relatively safe
environment - and learn how your cat handles - rather than to attempt to
work this out the very first time you encounter a storm!
We reefed in the harbour at the port entrance and not out at sea. We were able to immediately return at any stage if threatened and vulnerable. We were sailing in daylight hours. It gave us an excellent opportunity to encounter extreme conditions.
Our sail was meticulously planned and executed. It provided us with ongoing experience and our intentions were meticulously executed according to plan. We debated heavy weather tactics both before and after the event. Much value and many lessons were learnt from the experience and such sailing will always place us in good stead when encountering similar such conditions under less controlled situations.
So, the next time a gale hits our shores, head to sea. However, be safe, be cautious, plan meticulously and execute your
passage trip accordingly.
The following is a strategy that I have compiled for heavy weather sailing in my catamaran. I hope that it will be useful to catamaran owners and skippers and that it will stimulate some thought from all sailors’.
**Ypsilanti Heavy Weather Sailing Strategy
1.
Sails
• Reef 1 at 25 knots.
• Reef 2 at 30 knots
• Reef 3 at 40 knots
• Progressively furl the
genoa at discretion. However, it is preferable to hoist a
storm jib on an inner/second forestay
• In excess of 40 knots, drop the main, fully furl the
genoa and use only the storm
jib.
• Thereafter, reduce to bare poles depending on the sea state.
2. Sailing to Windward
• Reduce sail progressively as per 1 above.
• Heave-to in less threatening conditions up to 40 knots. Lash the
helm fully.
• Try to tack away from the shore. Get away from land,
reefs and other navigational hazards.
• If hove-to, move the mainsheet to the leeward end of traveler after releasing the leeward
running backstays. Lower the boom and lash the
outboard end to the
deck to reduce windage and stop it flaying about dangerously. Place the
outboard end on a
fender to prevent
deck damage, and damage to any
equipment attached to the boom in that area.
• If still dangerous, reduce to bare poles and run the motors.
Helm into wind and swells and avoid the
danger of breaking crests.
• If the motors fail or conditions deteriorate and waves break over the deck, change strategy to point 3 below and run with the storm. (ED. Sadly too many people take this option too late and as a final ‘get out of jail’ move).
3. Sailing Downwind
• Reduce sail progressively as per point 1 above. (Remember that there will be significant pressure on the
mainsail against the
rigging and it might be necessary to turn upwind to lower it. Always remember it’s easier and more sensible to reef early).
Eventually proceed to bare poles if the storm intensifies. (Bare poles are effective in high winds, but a storm
jib flown off an inner forestay can also help as the center of effort is low, steerage is easier and it can be removed if the winds really get up to storm force).
• Sail at 85 degrees to the swell. Steer away slightly to avoid digging the bow into the swell ahead. (Don’t sail too deep as it is very easy for the buoyant stern of a
multihull to be pushed further downwind, and at slow speed small
multihull rudders take time to respond).
• Avoid running 90 degrees and hence risk a gybe. Use a gybe preventer whilst running.
• At lower speeds only, running the motors may assist in directional control and avoiding the yawing of the stern. A warp off one quarter may also help.
• Tow warps or preferably a Series Sea Drogue* if the vessels speed increases beyond a safe speed for the sea and swell conditions. Sea state often dictates when to deploy warps or preferably a sea anchor/drogue. In bad weather, sailors have been known to tow anchors, mattresses and all manner of
gear in an attempt to keep the vessels speed down and manageable. But, there are specialist drogues available, and one should rather use these having researched which is best for your boat.
4. General
• Only proceed under bare poles if running engines heading into the wind - or towing warps/drogues if heading downwind. A series
drogue is preferred. Test which is the best drogue for your boat. You need to have tested the one you choose to be sure of the right length to deploy, and how much weight to put on the line to ensure it stays immersed. Running engines with warps deployed is tricky as the warps may foul the
engine, but fine if choosing to go slowly upwind.
• Avoid lying a-hull and simply drifting in a cat. Always have some forward motion and control, and minimize your speed at all times. Maintain forward motion in the general direction of the sea state so that if hit by a breaking wave the boat is already moving.
• Reduce speed from the stern and preferably not the bow by means of sea anchors. If lying to a sea anchor then deploy from the bow and not the stern as the boat is more streamlined and use window covers for
saloon windows.
• Helm the vessel at all times. Do not use an
autopilot in severe conditions. However, the
autopilot can be used to reduce crew fatigue if necessary.
•
Pitch polling and
capsize are the most dangerous incidents for which cats are vulnerable.
• Reef before it is necessary. Sooner is better than later. This is the most important aspect of voyaging and
passage planning.
• Continuously
monitor the weather and be both prepared and aware of impending weather and the direction in which to sail to
safety.
•
Monitor the barometer and note if it is dropping, and how quickly. Keep an hourly log.
• Be safe to crew and vessel. Lots of rest, lots of helm changes, stay hydrated and eat often – rest in bunks to avoid being thrown around the interior)
NOTE. Valuable comments and input have been received from Mark Orr, the Author of ‘Multihull Seamanship’ and Peter Bruce, and the author of “Heavy Weather Sailing.” These
books are a must read and are an invaluable source of information on this subject.
“Heavy Weather Sailing” by Peter Bruce is an excellent book. On the subject.
6. The Jordan series Drogue:
Why the U.S. Coast Guard thinks the series drogue is better than a para-anchor in storms.
The two conventional drogue configurations are the cone drogue and the parachute drogue/sea anchor. Both types have been used successfully in a variety of applications. A third type of drogue called a series drogue has been developed as part of this investigation. The series drogue is intended to provide near optimum performance under storm conditions and to avoid some of the problems encountered with cone and parachute drogue/sea anchor.
The series drogue offers the following desirable features:
If pre-rigged and coiled down into the lazarette, the drogue is simple and safe to deploy under difficult storm conditions. The boat, under bare poles, will be either running off lying a-hull. The anchor can be slipped over the stern and the line payed out. The drogue will build up load gradually as it feeds out.
It is almost impossible to foul it or entangle it enough to make the drogue ineffective.
The drogue rides beneath the waves and is not affected by the following sea even if a wave should break in the vicinity. There are cases on
record where a cone drogue has been pulled out of the face of a following wave, and even instances where the drogue has been catapulted ahead of the boat. It is difficult to weight a cone or parachute drogue so that it will ride at a sufficient
depth to avoid the wave motion. As discussed previously in this report, a weight causes the drogue to collapse when the towline goes slack.
When the boat is in the trough of a large wave, the towline tends to go slack thus permitting the boat to yaw. With the series drogue, the anchor sinks pulling the drogue backwards and taking some of the unwanted slack out of the towline.
When a breaking wave strikes, the drogue must catch the boat quickly to prevent a broach. The series drogue, since some of the cones are near the boat where towline stretch is low, will build up load faster than a conventional cone or chute at the end of the towline/bowline. A computer study shows that two seconds after wave strike, the series drogue will develop 40% more load than an equivalent cone or chute. Similarly, if the breaking wave strikes at an angle to the towline rather than directly astern, the series drogue will build up load much faster than the conventional types.
The series drogue is durable as demonstrated by the testing described in this report. The load on each individual element is low. No
single failure can make the drogue ineffective.
The series drogue can double in function as a spare anchor line and can use the boat's regular anchor as a weight. All 90 cones weigh only four pounds.
This information is from the U.S. Coast Guard Report CG-D-20-87 sec 6-5. Further information from:
Series Drogue, ocean survival
Obviously there are many different opinions and thoughts on this subject. All owners and skippers should get some experience of heavy weather before a long passage, or have at least researched the subject and have a ‘game plan’ for their boat. If nothing else, this article may stimulate debate. If it does we will all be more knowledgeable for it.