Speed under sail

[Jubilee]

So I’m wondering, what is the average speed you all are reaching under sail? I’m curious as the anenometer is not working, so I’d have to guess at 15-18 knts. we’re moving along at between 6.7 to 7.5 knts at about 10 degrees off the wind with just the genoa and main, no stays’l. Is this average?

[RichCarter]

I assume that you mean 10 deg abaft the beam. It depends on your rig,
sails, sea conditions, and how clean your bottom is. 6.7..7.5 seems
reasonable. You need the right conditions to get the boat above about 7.5.
She will do about 8.3 (max) through the water broad reaching or running in
about 25kts, maybe a hair more for short periods while surfing. The 424
doesn’t surf well but she will run the speedometer up a bit for short
bursts.

She will do about 6.5..7.0 close-hauled under the right conditions. That’s
about when the rub rail is in the water. Reaching 7kts close-hauled is not
easy. If I foot-off a bit I might do a little better, but VMG to windward
drops down.

Your mileage may vary.

Regards
Rich

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[Anonymous]

Jubilee,

If you can sail any sailboat 10-degrees off the wind, true or apparent, you
have surpassed all known laws of aerodynamics. A beamy ketch (or cutter)
like the 424 with decent sails well trimmed is lucky to pinch 43 degrees
either side of the true wind but figure on 45, i.e., tacking in 90-degrees,
in ideal conditions. She’ll move along better at 50-degrees off true in a
moderate sea. Add another 5-degrees for a rough chop, plus 5-degrees more
for leeway in any case to estimate your COG (course over ground). Beating
into 15-18 knots, I’d expect the boat to average 5-6.5 knots through the
water depending on sea conditions. Reaching in the same breeze with a clean
bottom, figure 6-7+ knots. Reaching in 20-25 knots of wind these boats can
average 7-8 knots with peaks of 8.5 and even a hair more. At least, that’s
been my experience. Granted my sails are old and my boat’s loaded down for
cruising.

Reef early,

Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[Jubilee]

Tor, you’re right. Sorry about that. Sshhh, don’t tell my husband I screwed that one up so bad 😳 I was just sitting here last night thinking about looking up the mast at the windex and that’s the number that came to mind. I think I was tired.

I’m still trying to get a handle on trimming the sails, etc. to get the most out of the boat. I figured if I’m getting average speed out of our old sails then maybe I’m getting it. She seems to like that point of sail best. I think downwind is the worst. But that could also be a matter of sail trim. Still learning…..

[Anonymous]

I’ll never tell. Any skipper whose wife is willing to learn to sail is a
lucky guy.

The most basic sail trim technique I know on any tack other than downwind is
this: Get the boat sailing steadily on the course you want. Then beginning
with the headsail (the genoa), ease out the sheet until the sail just begins
to luff, to flutter or wave along its leading edge. Then tighten the sheet
back in just enough so that the luff is smooth again. Do this with each sail
in turn, always working from the forward sails aft, and you’ll have the
sails trimmed better than most weekenders achieve. Beyond that, there is the
finer touch of adjusting the sheeting angle for the headsail and “shaping”
the mainsail by moving the main sheet traveler car one way or the other, or
employing a boom vang to bow the boom down slightly in the middle and so
flatten the shape of the mainsail.

Get the first part down, the easing and re-tightening the sheets trick, and
then work on the other stuff. If you really want to become an expert, offer
to crew aboard any small racing sailboat at the local yacht club. Those guys
are positively anal about sail trim and you’ll learn more than I know in no
time.

Have fun!

Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[RichCarter]

You can significantly improve your downwind performance with a cruising
spinnaker. My wife and I can set and douse the sail. I light air (approx
10kts true or less, the 424 is a dog downwind, maybe 3kts through the water.
A chute makes all the difference, 5+ kts through the water.

Tired sails won’t make much difference once you foot-off, but close-hauled
it can make 10 degrees or more difference in your COG.

Rich

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