Squalls

  • 02 May 2013 19:03
    Reply # 1283985 on 1268542
    David Tyler wrote:Can you give some page numbers in "N to Eureka" where squalls are mentioned?  

    There was something on page 27, but not the passage I remember.  That I haven't found again.  It described sailing at night on Chempaka, and I think it was after Tony had left.
  • 15 Apr 2013 22:06
    Reply # 1269443 on 1268493
    Deleted user

    I couldn't help but respond here having sailed many ocean miles in multihulls including a single handed trans Tasman crossing in my Sea Runner 37 trimaran. While it is always possible for a multihull to flip upside down the prudent skipper sails with this knowledge and handles his boat accordingly. My policy with the Sea Runner was to always reef early and that was always to the second reef in the main. That boat had a cutter sail plan so I always had plenty of choice for different  reduced area sail plan options. While the modern racing trimarans do capsize from time to time I am always amazed at how our modern endurance sailors are able to race those boats single handed at high speeds across the Atlantic.

    The advantage I am finding with the junk rig is the fact that it is one sail for all conditions and points of sail. Being relatively low aspect sails there is not the sudden extreme heel when a squall hits, and reducing, or dropping sail altogether is simply a matter of releasing the halyard. With all of my previous yachts there have always been a number of sail changes each day to keep the boat sailing at it's optimum in the wide variety of wind conditions over a 24 hour period.

  • 14 Apr 2013 20:47
    Reply # 1268542 on 1268493
    I think you'd have to distinguish between racing multihulls, which do go bottom-up quite frequently, and cruising multihulls, which are usually carefully designed to avoid this. A look at some of the major designer's websites will show how they calculate stability using hull separation, height of rig, sail area, etc, so that a capsize due to wind pressure is only going to happen as a result of some freak event (a williwaw off a steep mountain, for example). A well as that, multihulls tend to act in a raft-like manner, skidding sideways on a wave, rather than tripping over a fixed keel (Tystie, with her lifting boards, acts in this way in a steep sea, which makes her feel safe and comfortable). 

    Can you give some page numbers in "N to Eureka" where squalls are mentioned?  

    Is there perhaps some over-dramatisation on the part of some sailing narrative writers , to sell more copies? I've certainly had to reef in a hurry, on occasion, in mountainous areas, but seldom in the open sea, where it's usually quite easy to see a line squall coming, even at night. Of course, having junk rig helps. When a reef is a simple matter of easing the halyard, you just mutter an imprecation and do it, and another reef in five minutes time is no big deal either. If you get caught unawares, with your nose in a good book, then letting go the halyard will save you from an embarrassing blow-down. 

    We have the example of China Moon - low junk rigs on a cat - which spent time in Patagonia, where williwaws are common, and subsequently sailed non-stop from Brazil to Tasmania through the 40s, to demonstrate that a well designed ocean going cat is safe enough. 
  • 14 Apr 2013 19:23
    Message # 1268493
    I recently read Brian Platt's book "Parallel 40 North to Eureka".  He repeatedly mentioned violent squalls which, at night, were impossible to anticipate.  It sounds to me like any multihull would have capsized if it was either sailing with cleated sheets or if it was hit by a squall from a direction that would push sails against rigging.  It made me wonder how any multihull ever crosses an area with squalls, yet they do.  What am I missing?
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