SailfastTri, I'm with you on this one! You are lifting the windward
hull, starting to bury the leeward bow and approaching the point of no return (if not beyond, depending upon where in a sequence the
photo was taken). I'd turn off to leeward while releasing the
jib sheet and then try to sort things out for the purpose of reefing.
I must say, however, that this cat is decidedly more high-performance than mine (and hence more likely to experience a significant increase in apparent
wind with a turn to windward); further the freeboard (and in particular, the height of the bows) is much lower than on my
boat. While it is
possible that in my most frightening experience (referred to above), my leeward
hull at the peak of the onset of the squall was similarly elevated, I doubt it. What is certain is that my leeward bow was in nowhere near as precarious a state. In those circumstances, by heading up gradually to windward until the sheeted out main luffed I was able to then move the traveller to leeward,
head off slightly (only to the point that the
jib started drawing properly), reef the still luffing main while still sailing to windward on the jib, sheet in the main then let out the jib, adjust the sheet leads forward, reef the jib, sheet it in and carry on. Not exactly 'no muss', but pretty efficient and safe with a crew of two (and yes, my partner
had started the diesels for insurance).
But for that
boat as depicted in that
photo - no way!
Brad
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