Waves always look small on video...

[zboss]

I think I heard him say 50 knots winds on the video.

[Jim Woodall]

That wind is definitely well over 30 knots, probably very close to 60 knots. The wave heights are significant, well over 15 feet. The Leopard is handling the conditions easily, looks like the skipper knows what he/she is doing. A Leopard 44 took the Southern Ocean route to Australia and encountered winds in excess of 65 knots and 40+ sustained with no problems. Not many production boats take that route, shows confidence in those boats.


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[4music3]

I think he said 60 but its bed time so I won't double check?

Never sailed a cat but it looked like the right strategy as long as you have the room to run down wind.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Barra

Yes I agree waves are never done justice on video and these are decent ones.

Went to the utube link as i really want to learn about what others do in conditions I might face one day where there are a few comments from the poster - 65 knot winds and 34 knot surfs were the tops. No motor just a "drogue line" (warps?)

So reading between the lines the bare poles were probably from earlier when the wind was really up and its good to know on a cat at least it seemed very stable without any sails up in lower winds later.

Like i said not what I would have planned to do from sailing a mono in the southern ocean in similar waves but its gone in the memory banks for an option when the wind and the sea gets up on my cat one day. I know we can do 6 knots barepoles downwind in 38knots flattish water so at around 45 knots its an option i guess.

I am not sure and what Robert said has some logic. As you can see sometimes they start to surf big waves down and the velocity increases. Probably they did not surf it down due to the lines they are carrying aft. If they had any sail they would go faster and would be surfing those waves a thing they are trying to avoid.

I Don't now about the wind strength but I saw some water flying so I would say over 30k and with that wind, downwind the big vertical back surface of a cat like that is probably all the "sail" he needs or wants on those conditions. If the wind was really strong and with those waves they would have difficulty in diminishing the velocity to the one that they are sailing, the one they have considered the safest option.

[Palarran]

Excellent video and sailing from the crew. That wind has to be all of 50 knots constant. It's probably the best storm condition sailing on a cat video I've seen.

[smj]

I didn't care for the 500 to 600 pounds of fuel lashed to the stern. Seems to me that's not where you would want that weight while running downwind in big seas.

[yeloya]

No offence to anybody, just a curiosity..

I've sailed quite a bit of mono's and the max I've seen was steady 45, gusting 50 kts but onlly 3-4 meters of short waves of the Med.
With a catamaran I did surf for 2000 nm under autopilote in northern Atlantic, sometimes hitting 25 kts SOG, with my wine on table..
Would that be possible with a mono ? I tend to believe that with this kind of waves and speed, it would be very difficult to avoid a broach unless you helm very carefully at all time..

Ny opinion or should I rather post this question in mono's thread..

Cheers

Yeloya

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by yeloya

No offence to anybody, just a curiosity..

I've sailed quite a bit of mono's and the max I've seen was steady 45, gusting 50 kts but onlly 3-4 meters of short waves of the Med.
With a catamaran I did surf for 2000 nm under autopilote in northern Atlantic, sometimes hitting 25 kts SOG, with my wine on table..
Would that be possible with a mono ? I tend to believe that with this kind of waves and speed, it would be very difficult to avoid a broach unless you helm very carefully at all time..

Ny opinion or should I rather post this question in mono's thread..

Cheers

Yeloya

Sure its not only possible but it is done quite regularly with even faster speeds always under autopilot and sailed singled handed on top of it. Not sure about the wine though as single handers have to keep their wits about them.

[DefinitelyMe]

Originally Posted by smj

I didn't care for the 500 to 600 pounds of fuel lashed to the stern. Seems to me that's not where you would want that weight while running downwind in big seas.

Why not? It's better than having it up forward and increasing the chances of burying the bow and pitch-poling!

I believe they said in the video that wind speed was 60kts.

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by DefinitelyMe

Why not? It's better than having it up forward and increasing the chances of burying the bow and pitch-poling!

Concur, and increseas directional stability down wind. I'm building a balllast tank under the dinghy bay just for the these reasons

[smj]

Originally Posted by DefinitelyMe

Why not? It's better than having it up forward and increasing the chances of burying the bow and pitch-poling!



I believe they said in the video that wind speed was 60kts.

I agree but better to have the weight centrally located. Important to keep the stern light to keep it on top of the waves rather than the waves being on top of the boat!

[2Hulls]

I thought I hard the female say "60". Doesn't look that high at the moment, but maybe she was referring to earlier. Certainly more than 40ish I'd estimate. Not enough to blow the laundry off, apparently. I want some of those clothes pins.

You can tell it was windy when they furled the genny because they ran out of furling line wrapping it so tightly. So they might have started with some sail and finally got down to bare poles. Obviously the right configuration for what was shown, IMHO.

Regardless, a good testament for a small, low slung cruiser. Those Leopards have really low sterns and wide open cockpits just asking to be pooped and these folks seemed like they were even enjoying it. Maybe the worst was behind them and they were relieved. I note they did not have a dinghy in the usual place - or is that what their towing?

2 Hulls Dave

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Barra

Im confused - says sailing the southern ocean but they have no sails up. Decent seas but wind wise doesnt look like much more than 30 knots if that????

ie are they motoring with a drogue?

It looks like they are hauling ass under bare poles!

I wouldn't have any sail up either!

They are smiling. That tells me they are doing it right.

[ctl411]

Originally Posted by 2Hulls

I thought I hard the female say "60". Doesn't look that high at the moment, but maybe she was referring to earlier. Certainly more than 40ish I'd estimate. Not enough to blow the laundry off, apparently. I want some of those clothes pins.

You can tell it was windy when they furled the genny because they ran out of furling line wrapping it so tightly. So they might have started with some sail and finally got down to bare poles. Obviously the right configuration for what was shown, IMHO.

Regardless, a good testament for a small, low slung cruiser. Those Leopards have really low sterns and wide open cockpits just asking to be pooped and these folks seemed like they were even enjoying it. Maybe the worst was behind them and they were relieved. I note they did not have a dinghy in the usual place - or is that what their towing?

2 Hulls Dave

May it also be possible they left that scrap of jib out to help keep the boat pointed down wind?

[Suijin]

Looked like it could have been 60 knots, certainly gusting to that. Sustained I would expect to see the tops of the waves being ripped off some more. You can't tell from the sea state as there's no way to know how long it's been building.

As for going bare poles, they're doing 8+ knots, bare poles, with the drogue out, likely in their intended direction. There are all manner of reasons why they might not want to push their boat harder that we're not privy to.

Personally, my mantra offshore is not to stress the rig any more than I'm comfortable with or absolutely need to. That's when important stuff breaks. You just shouldn't do it unless you have a really good reason.

Her comment was funny. "This is the ****!" Reminds me of:

"Attitude is the difference between ordeal and adventure."

- Bob Bitchin