Sailing in strong winds

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Coast Rider's picture
Coast Rider
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Sailing in strong winds

I've been asked..How to sail in a strong wind that comes up infrequently such as a Santa Ana sailing NW to Catalina Island from the southwest coast of Calif i.e. Oceanside. If you get caught after 3 pm the west winds and sea are pretty bad. Many say drop all the sails (or furl the jib partially) and motor to Catalina and just take the beating from the swells. I would like to consider a storm tri-sail. How do you install this sail for deployment at that time ? Is there a way to partially deploy the main sail ?

Joe Lucido
1986 Catalina 36
Hull # 0625
M-25 Universal diesel
Oceanside, CA

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newguy
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The way that you partially deploy a mainsail is to reef it.  Most of the time when you are forced to motorsail it's just using the main with the jib rolled up.  Sometimes you can gain a bit of speed when you are off the wind a bit, but dead into the wind it will provide little if any propulsion.  In this case, what you're after is just roll stability.  How much sail you leave out is dictated by flogging, which should minimized as much as possible.  If the apparent wind is dead on and about 15 knots and you've made the decision to motorsail, this might be the time to put the 1st reef in.  Not that you necessarily need it at 15 knots, but it becomes exponentially difficult to reef if you wait too long and the wind and seas build.

I've almost never said, damn, "I should have reefed later......."

Nick Caballero
Retired C36/375IA Mk II Technical Editor

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Channel Islander
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Joe,

I sail the Santa Barbara Channel to our islands and the same conditions are the norm. The winds pick up in the afternoon up to 30+, and the seas build. There's one solution: leave earlier. And if the distance is so great that even by leaving at dawn you won't be there before the weather, shape your course so that when the weather gets snotty you are not headed right into it. In your case that would mean making more northing early in the passage and then sailing a more westerly course to Catalina than your rhumb line. 

Coming from O-side, you might plan to spend the night in Long Beach or Redondo, anchoring for free in the harbor, and make the crossing from there. It may sound counterintuitive but your angle to Catalina would be much better.

And of course, if you are going to go through the snot, reef early, as Other Nick said. 

( One thing I've observed is that I always reef earlier than every other boat I see. Maybe it's because I don't have a spare $3000 for when something breaks, but I don't want to stress my boat, and I've demonstrated to myself over and over that the boat goes just as fast if I depower when the winds build. I see lots of sailors who have all their canvas up all the time, which is weird to me: it'd be like driving with your foot on the floor no matter what the road was doing. In the conditions off SB, as soon as there is any wind at all, you can pretty much start with the first reef in the mainsail and your full genoa, and you will have all the power you need. Then as the winds increase, you can roll in the genny gradually as needed, and by the time you have a scrap of genoa and a reefed mainsail you can handle Windy Lane at the approach to the islands. I have sailed the South Bay - Catalina route and the same preparations are called for, in my view. )

Nick Tonkin
*Former* Website Administrator, C36/375IA
*Former* owner, C36 tr/fk #255, Santa Barbara, CA

knotdoneyet
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Sometimes there is a second slot on the mast that will accommodate a storm sail.  I have one on my roller furling main.  It's of no consequence as the roller furling main is essentially a storm sail when rolled way up.  I have sailed 7-8 knots on scraps of head sail and main!

For slab reefing, I would suggest putting in a second reef and if needed have a third reef point added.  My suspicion is that a second reef is enough.

2000 C36 MKII 1825

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clennox
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Posts: 212

Joe
There is no one good answer to your question.
Many factors are involved.
How big a head sail do you have? How many reef points do you have?
Do you have reefing lead back to the cockpit? That was the first thing I did on our boat.
On our boat we have a 140 head sail and one deep reef. I've sailed 20-25 knots to the islands many times. I reef at between 16-20 and roll the the head sail in to about 100% at 25. I never allow my sails to flog! I can't stand to ruin things. If the wind in on the nose i motor sail short tacking to keep pressure on the sails. Anything above 25  isn't much fun and things start go bad quick. I wouldn't head out for a island trip if the the Weather Forecast  is was above 25. Don't go if Santa Ana's are predicted
I have have been caught in 40 knots. I reefed and roll in the head sail down to about 50%. Your need to keep the boat balanced. Try to avoid weather helm or Lee helm.
I have never sailed with bare poles with just the motor. I think I would not like the rolling?
Like others have said. Reef and roll early!!!

Plan your trip so that the wind is not on the nose. From Dana Point I motored early in the AM up toward Long Beach then laid over for Catalina. When we sail to the islands I always put "some in the bank" early using the motor. When the wind fills in off goes the motor.
 

Chuck Lennox
97 MKii Ventura Ca
Island Girl Hull #1611

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EUREKA
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Posts: 115

Joe,

I sail  the Mediterranean where winds can build up rather quick too. I installed an inner stay where I set a high aspect jib or a storm jib if needed. Inner  stay sails are settled  with hanks. With two reefs in the main and high aspect jib on the inner stay, I can assure our 36's can sail quite comfortable up to ...
 my experience. Of course sea state has a very important influence on your decisions.

Best regards!

 

Eladio Vallina

C-36 TR EUREKA II
Hull 1122 (1991)
Home port Barcelona (Spain).

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Alain Croteau
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Eladio,
i'm curious to learn where and how you secured the inner fore stay to the deck and if the stays'l is self tending.  i've often thought a self tending 100% jib along with double reefed main would be ideal in high wind single handed situations.
alain
 

Alain Croteau
"Veritas"
C36 #1226 SR/wk
Yanmar 3JH2
Kingston, Ontario

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EUREKA
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Posts: 115

Alain,

Tomorrow I will be onboard and take some pictures. The inner stay is tensioned with a mechanical tensioner. 
At deck there are two hooks, one for the inner stay one for the sail, both close to the main stay. Internally there is a solid steel plate with a turnbuckle attached to the stem fitting. It has been working fine for the last 15 years.

At mast there is a special fitting for attaching inner stays. It also helps if you have a double Genoa car, so you do not have to remove the Genoa sheets. I put a second pair of sheets for the inner sails. Also double foot block for the Genoa sheets.
You can see in the pictures how I keep the inner stay when not in use. I use the second genoa  halyard to secure the stay.
Regards,

Eladio

​pictures attached.

Eladio Vallina

C-36 TR EUREKA II
Hull 1122 (1991)
Home port Barcelona (Spain).

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Phil L's picture
Phil L
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Posts: 104

I echo the sentiment to leave earlier.  I also sail the Channel Islands, but also do an annual week trip to Catalina, and the trip back to Channel Islands Harbor can get snotty.  I have made it several times in one shot, but give myself 2 days to get back just in case.  Last year, for example, I got halfway across the Santa Monica Bay, and the wind/seas were having none of my intentions to get there by nightfall, so I fell off a tad for Paradise Cove and got up at 0-dark-thirty for the run up to CIH.  

Phil L 
Southern Cross
Channel Islands, CA
C36MKI #400

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