Into the Wind...

[Skipper5001]

Hello all,

So first let me introduce myself. I am the Skipper of a Sea Scout Ship in Northeast Ohio. We focus on small boat sailing. I am a decent sailor, but I am always trying to get better and hone my skills. Which leads me to my question.

Our primary training vessel is a Precision 18. It is big enough we can get a number of people on it. And small enough that it works on our smaller lakes. I have been sailing it for a couple of years and it seems like upwind, we are not doing very well.

On a "daysailer" like that, what do you think is the best angle to the wind you can pull? I was out for two hours in a 10 to 15 mph wind and was really trying to cheat up on it and seemed like I couldn't do much better than maybe 75 degrees to the wind.

Thanks for the info.

[StuM]

True or apparent?

[Skipper5001]

Well, that is a good question. I would say apparent since that's the one you have to sail.

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[Tayana42]

In light winds you may not be able to point as high as in stronger winds but 75 degrees off the wind (true or apparent) is not good. Was the centerboard fully down? Were the jib and/or main over trimmed? Was the out haul on the main too loose? If everything was trimmed correctly you should be able to sail within 45 degrees or better of the apparent wind.


S/V B'Shert

[Skipper5001]

Hello Tayana,

So in those two hours I trimmed the sails about every way I could. For what I was trying to do, I kept the center board down. Now without directly answering the question, you kind of answered my question. I figured at best I could pull 45 degrees.

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[dlymn]

You might need the whole crew hanging off the windward gunwale to get to 45. The closer you sail to the wind the greater the heel.