Why the endless need for speed?

[Aaarrgh]

Most members of this forum are world travelers/live-aboards. I'm comfortably land locked on a beautiful lake full of sailboats, fishermen, pleasure motor craft, and busy barge traffic.
My need for speed is not only driven by testosterone, but also for the sheer rush I get out of harnessing the wind, "trimming the sails & dipping the rails" as I struggle to get the most out of a rogue gust while keeping my Corona with lime from fouling.
Short answer is Kentucky Lake, for sailors, is just as speed competitive as the power boat crowd, but with less noise, less fuel expense, and, for me, it's a lot safer than the street machine racing fever that I enjoyed in my earlier life.
Shorter answer... It's just damned EXCITEMENT to leave all of those challengers in my wake!

Aarrrgh!

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by StuM

They may point lower, but they will generally track higher because leeway is a lower component of their overall motion.

To some extent, yes, but in a well-sailed boat the leeway will generally be less than 10 degrees. You can get a lot more apparent wind angle shift than that on a fast boat.

I suppose we could say it's a matter of degree...

A basic mistake that many beginning skippers make when they start racing is pinching up to lay a mark. They see that they are pointing higher but don't appreciate how much their leeway has increased.

Yes, understanding VMG is critical.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

A front.... extending from about 30*S to 45*S.... not sure how a few knots of boat speed is going to get you out of the way of this.... and as you can see its poking along at 25 knots.....

Depends on how far away you are and where you're positioned relative to the low. Far enough away 12 knots boat speed sure as hell beats 6 knots boat speed and is enough to get out of the way. Not necessarily clear, but much further away on a clearing course.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Depends on how far away you are and where you're positioned relative to the low. Far enough away 12 knots boat speed sure as hell beats 6 knots boat speed and is enough to get out of the way. Not necessarily clear, but much further away on a clearing course.

So what cruising boat are you suggesting that can do 288 mile days ? Enquiring minds want to know... and I want one

Yes you can put a bit of northing in your course so that hopefully the Low doesn't pass to the north of you and give you easterlies .

But the difference between 6 and 8 knots is not going to change your life....

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

So what cruising boat are you suggesting that can do 288 mile days ? Enquiring minds want to know... and I want one



Yes you can put a bit of northing in your course so that hopefully the Low doesn't pass to the north of you and give you easterlies .



But the difference between 6 and 8 knots is not going to change your life....

A performance cruising cat or monohull on a broad reach TWA in 25 or 30 knots of breeze can easily average 12 knots to get out of the way of an approaching low - just remember which gybe and what TWA to be on depending on the quadrant you're in.

This isn't about averaging 288 mile days while cruising (possible in perfect weather, but not likely) - it's about driving hard to get out of the way of a shitstorm.

But even 8 knots vs 6 knots will get you across the Tasman or to the Islands a day or two faster. Even more if it allows you a passage in one weather system cycle rather than two.

[Mike OReilly]

Too me, these are the kinds of silly comparisons people like to make: 8 is better than 6, 12 is better than 8... Well 45 is better than 12 and 200 is better than 45... There's no end to this line of argument. It is infinitely regressive. It's much like discussions of comfort or labour-saving tools. If comfort is paramount, a land home will always be better than a smallish cruising boat. So too with avoiding hard labour. This is why I find these discussions odd once you've made the choice to live and cruise on a smallish sailboat.

It's not about moving the boat efficiently or effectively. Of course this is desirable. But if faster, easier, more... is what is most important, then there are easier ways to achieve these goals.

If speed is the most important thing, then a sailboat is the wrong vehicle for you.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Too me, these are the kinds of silly comparisons people like to make: 8 is better than 6, 12 is better than 8... Well 45 is better than 12 and 200 is better than 45... There's no end to this line of argument. It is infinitely regressive. It's much like discussions of comfort or labour-saving tools. If comfort is paramount, a land home will always be better than a smallish cruising boat. So too with avoiding hard labour. This is why I find these discussions odd once you've made the choice to live and cruise on a smallish sailboat.

It's not about moving the boat efficiently or effectively. Of course this is desirable. But if faster, easier, more... is what is most important, then there are easier ways to achieve these goals.

If speed is the most important thing, then a sailboat is the wrong vehicle for you.

Nailed it.. 👍

[Kenomac]

Not everyone chooses to "live on a smallish sailboat," some choose to live on biggish and comfortablish sailboats which generally move faster than "smallish sailboats." Some folks like to turn it up to 11, nothing wrong with that. Also nothing wrong with cruising around on powerboats which can easily turn the knob up past 11.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Not everyone chooses to "live on a smallish sailboat," some choose to live on biggish and comfortablish sailboats which generally move faster than "smallish sailboats." Some folks like to turn it up to 11, nothing wrong with that. Also nothing wrong with cruising around on powerboats which can easily turn the knob up past 11.

Keno.. your in the Med.. you are 'Smallish' 😀

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Keno.. your in the Med.. you are 'Smallish' ��

I never said or implied our boat was biggish. But you are correct, the boats here would make the average greenie or socialist have a coronary.

We had a 175ft ketch anchored next to us last evening, what a beauty. Looked like a much larger version of this one.

[picklesandjesse]

Been looking for maybe the last boat as I'm 72 and my wife said she doesn't like healing over so we now have a 33ft trimaran. Going to be interesting making the transition. This is not a slow boat apparently as we were doing 10kts in 9kts of breeze on the test sail. The plan is to shorten sail early and we can always go slower if we want but have option to speed up if and when desired. What could possibly go wrong ???.......If there's no more posts from me, it did.

[puffcard]

Man if you over 70, who has time to sit on a slow boat. Lol

Avoiding storms if you just have 24 hour notice and a good track. A boat that is going a 1-1/2kt faster will be 36 miles further away. That's big in my book.

Thing is a faster boats can sail a ton more days, than an old slow heavy girl. A more performance boat can sail upwind vs motoring and slugging your way, dragging the her like a reluctant dog to the dog pound. That equals to more enjoyable days on the water. Nothing like traveling with other boats who are pounding all day motoring upwind and you get there the same time sailing.

[ArmyDaveNY]

There are a lot of good comments here and most of them deal with the merits of absolute speed. One aspect of why the emphasis on speed deals with marketing. In auto racing the mantra is win on Sunday, sell on Monday. The idea being that if Porsche won a race on Sunday, on Monday the win would translate to sales inquiries or actual sales the following week. The manufacturers of boats and boating gear know that similarly, many want to go faster, even if it is just a little faster. Often times it is about the feeling as opposed to the actuality.

Additionally, many items aren't talking about increasing absolute speed, but rather helping a vessel achieve it's theoretical maximum speed. You mentioned a folding prop. This can help a boat gain anywhere from a half knot to a full knot in speed. If a displacement mono-hull has a maximum hull speed of seven knots but has a three bladed non folding prop, it may only be able to achieve six knots. The folding prop, or the better sail, or some other piece of kit, will allow the boat to go a little faster for the same conditions.

This isn't really about getting someone to trade in their 32 foot 7 knot cruiser for a Volvo Ocean racer that can do 500 miles in a day. What a little faster does is provide more options for a person without the pounding of a full on race boat. If a boat can do seven knots instead of six, that's an extra 12 NM over 12 hours of cruising. In many cases that's a big difference when coastal sailing on a long weekend. When cruising 24/7, That's almost an extra 150 miles in a week.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Keno.. your in the Med.. you are 'Smallish' 😀

Beat me to it… Ken, I hate to break it to you, but you also have a “smallish sailboat.”

[El Pinguino]

Anyone who thinks that having a bigger faster boat will keep them out of trouble, weather wise, is - one day - going to get a very rude awakening.

And if their passage planning involves 'OK lets go , that front isn't due to pass through until 1900, we'll be in the pub by then.... ' the awakening is going to be sooner rather than later.