Sailing Downwind Offshore - how to stop rolling ?

[Mariano]

Buy a catamarán......[emoji48][emoji48][emoji48][emoji48]

[wesevans]

Try tacking off the wind first to port then to starboard. Adds some distance but the better ride will be worth it.

[Don C L]

My skinny ol' boat will roll. I am not planning any tradewind sailing but I did buy another old genoa and jib to play with flying twin headsails for running home here. And I'd sure love to try the twizzle rig! But for me dropping the main helps and in the conditions where I am aggravated by the rolling there is usually enough wind to keep me going well on genoa or jib alone. I like the idea of the main reefed and sheeted in, but in my case to downside is she really loves to broach (with the main up) once I am broad reaching so I am always fighting that with my keel-hung rudder. Reefed and flattened and in tight is something I may experiment more with, but she balances really well with just the headsail and I don't lose much speed at all and rolling is reduced. BTW what boat are we talking about?

[Buzzman]

There is an option of fitting a gyroscopic stabiliser.....



https://www.seakeeper.com/videos/

[Don C L]

My wife would love it. She might almost spring for the $16,000 herself for it... but I sure wouldn't...

[skenn_ie]

Don't run directly downwind. Sail at 15 - 20 degrees off, then gybe and do the same on the other "tack"

[alaskasail]

If you have a club-footed staysail. Crank it down as flat as possible and leave it up.

[skenn_ie]

Originally Posted by wesevans

Try tacking off the wind first to port then to starboard. Adds some distance but the better ride will be worth it.

Even tracking 45degrees of your desired course will only X 1.4 (root 2) times the distance. Beating as opposed to motoring would be the same, both a lot more comfortable in any decent sea boat.
In severe conditions, turning into wind instead of gybing would be safer. The last yacht (32ft) that my dad designed had a forward rudder. That made it easy to control the yawing, esp when flying a spinnaker, but she still rolled on a dead run.

[NormanMartin]

Race boats reduce rolling by having crew as far outboard as possible. Then, they hire a driver who knows how to steer off the wind so rolling is further reduced.

That's good for a race boat with a lot of crew. What about a cruiser? Sail a favorable angle on either gybe is about the best you can do with small crew and maybe autopilot.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Don C L

BTW what boat are we talking about?

Ours is a double-ender with long keel and the rudder behind the boat. She is directionally very stable (never broached once), but being small and light tends to roll in big following seas. This rolling is just a bit too much for my body which is ageing and no longer as resilient to discomfort as I used to be.


I know that the roll is induced by the seas so I am looking for sail ideas that could dampen that definitely unwanted phenomenon as much as we can.


b.

[kiwin]

Twin headsails alone is more rolly than main & poled out headsail. The key to dampening rolling is tight leaches. I just can't emphasise this enough. Full foot, tight leach. I always run a nylon preventer line from the boom end to the bow and back to the cockpit. When the main is all the way out, I tighten the preventer and cleat it off, then tension the mainsheet HARD. This will tighten the leach limiting the vortex shedding which enhances rolling. Also it will keep the mainsail off the rigging. Same with the headsail: tighten the pole downhaul, then the sheet to tension the leach. If the wind angle is 160 or less you may be able to fly a headsail in the conventional leeward position in addition to the poled out sail to windward and main and this may or may not help your speed and rolling. I have found twin headsails alone to be more roll inducing than a main and jib, though there may be other advantages re chafe etc.
I have done 11 Atlantic crossings and 4 Pacific crossings all on different boats so I have had plenty of time to figure out what I think.

[mrcarson]

No crews.
Bear off to leeward Sail faster. More comfy. Jybe through main. Bear off again.
Longer travel dist, similar time point to point. MUCH more comfy ride.
Different hull/keel/rudder forms, rigs like different styles. '60's RORC hull forms onwards the better for comfort. Fins like to spin around themselves and stall rudders.
Great fun to watch.
Find yours. and enjoy the ride.

[mrcarson]

Pick sailing directions to suit you, the boat and your body.
I never went to windward when I could help. Just chose different destinations.
The sailing was what mattered usually.
Just be thankful. I'm 80. Lost my depth of field in vision a decade aago. NO more sailing for me I'm a single hander.
Enjoy what you got while you got it lad. A lot of us ain't anymore. Just memories.

[justsammer]

Originally Posted by kiwin

Twin headsails alone is more rolly than main & poled out headsail. The key to dampening rolling is tight leaches. I just can't emphasise this enough. Full foot, tight leach. I always run a nylon preventer line from the boom end to the bow and back to the cockpit. When the main is all the way out, I tighten the preventer and cleat it off, then tension the mainsheet HARD. This will tighten the leach limiting the vortex shedding which enhances rolling. Also it will keep the mainsail off the rigging. Same with the headsail: tighten the pole downhaul, then the sheet to tension the leach. If the wind angle is 160 or less you may be able to fly a headsail in the conventional leeward position in addition to the poled out sail to windward and main and this may or may not help your speed and rolling. I have found twin headsails alone to be more roll inducing than a main and jib, though there may be other advantages re chafe etc.
I have done 11 Atlantic crossings and 4 Pacific crossings all on different boats so I have had plenty of time to figure out what I think.

Hi kiwin,
I recently read your post about how you set up to minimize downwind rolling. I thought your approach makes the most sense for me. I had a question about how you set up your jib pole when you talk about tensioning the leach on the headsail. Are you connecting the pole directly to the clew, and then just have a downhaul? Or are you connecting it to the sheet, aft of the clew, with the full triangulation of downhaul/foreguy, aft guy, and pole topping lift? Thanks very much

[kiwin]

The best way is undoubtedly full triangulation, but you can get away with just a topping lift as the sheet pulls down quite well, especially if the lead is forward.