Hobie Cat Forums

I had the misfortune to capsize my H18 whilst sailing solo yesterday when I was hit by a strong gust. Misfortune because I in addition to turning turtle, I also tore my sail along the complete batton stitching when I landed on the sail.

C'est la vie.

So the question is that when you know things are going bad and it happens real fast .... do you bear up or do you bear off in these extreme conditions.

I have sailed dinghies competitevely for 30 - 40 years and in these cases we always bear up.

The other day whilst watching the 40 foot Americas Cup racing on TV I recall one of the skippers saying something to the effect ..... they bear down in the extreme condition ???

Suggestions from others as to the correct solution for Cats.

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Richard Stephens

Up unless your flying a kite. Down with kite.

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2001 Nacra 20
84 H16 108123

You bear down when on a broad reach in anything.

It really depends - upwind you bear up (feather) in the gusts. Dump the mainsheet if you have to.

Reaching is tricky - both bearing up and off will tend to put the leeward bow down. Best to not to have the main cleated in those situations.

As others have alluded, there is no definite answer to your question. It depends on your point of sail.

Upwind or on a close reach, you always head up and/or sheet out to depower. Doing this "feathers" the sails and reduces power.

On a broad reach (apparant wind at about 90 degrees or greater) you bear off (turn downwind) to depower. On the 18 sheeting out will typically depower you even when sailing downwind. Heading up while sailing on a broad reach will power the boat up unless it is done extremely quickly and accompanied by completely dumping the sheets (basically you slam the boat up into the wind, dump the sheets, get your ass over the side, and pray for the best). By bearing off in a gust, you allow the substantial bouyancy of the 18's bows to counteract the heeling force of the sails. If you bear off real deep (apparent wind at close to 180 degrees) and keep the sails sheeted, you will substantially reduce sail power because the sails will stall. However you risk doing a "flying gybe" when sailing this deep.

By the way, these depowering techniques are things that you can practice even in light winds to get a feel for how the boat responds to trim changes.

sm

I was out yesterday in some fine winds, single-handed on the 18 w/the squaretop and an SX jib (on stock mast)...

And I was thinking.. man, I don't want to dump this thing..'cause I can't right it alone.. even w/murray's big water bag.

Going upwind is a breeze to pinch and sheet out...

But on the reaches... it was almost scary... so I rolled up the jib..... The main, when I was honking right along I'd just experiment.. hum.. head up, WHOA the boat wants to flip... bear off, ahh, that settles her down.. So I just did that a few times to see how things felt "just in case". Practice and feel it.

But going downwind, yeah, PULL the tiller to get both hulls back under you. Downwind I pulled the jib back out, timmed and cleated the main and just worked the big jib... man, was cool... that sucker PULLS you right along. Did the wild thing a bit.. .gust put me up on my ear... almost over.

Terms: Head up / round up... fall off / bear away

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Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA