What's a good wind?

So far (two months worth of sailing) I've been in light winds 5 to 15 tops and it's been fun. Today, we had the back side of a low pressure system pull away and had some fairly stiff winds. I went to the largest lake around here, with lots of fetch and encountered at steady 20mph + 30mph gusts. The wind was enough of a handful, but the waves were quite large for a lake. I felt like I had control, until we'd launch off of a wave and wind would get under the tramp making the while rig very squirily at times.

What's the upper end of reasonable sailing on a hobie 16? And tips for wind like this. We had a trouble tacking big time. We'd stall out, and the waves would knock us all over the place, usually not through the eye of the wind.

We were getting knocked around so much, my crew kept loosing footing while out on the trapeze and falling in, swinging around ect.

On the cover of P. Berman's book the boat is way up on a hull, looks to have good speed, yet the water is very smooth?? Where are the lakes with good wind and smooth water??

High winds like you described are challenging for experienced sailors. The waves cause the boat to picth and rock, tossing the crew around more than is comfortable, while the high winds require you to often uncleat the main and hold it with your hand, which takes a lot of the fun out of sailing. High winds make tacks difficult if not impossible, meaning you'll need to resort to a gybe, wihich is also dicey but at least lets you turn the boat around.

The best winds for a 16 seem to be between 12-20 mph. Above 20 means you'll be getting more experience then you might like. If you want to fly a hull you'll need to minimize your weight on the boat, but too little weight turns the hull flying into a challenge just to keep from capsizing. Hiking out steadies the boat tremendously Capsizing in high winds is no fun either, with the wind and waves making righting difficult.

Where are those lakes? Inland and we get more no wind days than wind days. If your only two months into it, sailing a 16 in stiff conditions is a learned art and I wouldn't worry about the boat not being able to handle it, but the pilots. Smooth, quick movements, skill and proper weight distribution are keys to handling a 16 in tough conditions as well as a "never say die" stamina.

I'd swear that they had huge fans on the water for some of those old photos

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

When we get our north wind days here the gulf is flat, we have some of our best says sailing in the gulf on the flat days with north winds. we sail on the 2nd sandbar, about 1500 feet off the beach, and can trap for hours on end w/o having to tack!

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Brad Stephens
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(866) 786-5266 <--- Advice HOTline
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Brad,

What time of year is that? We've always wanted to bring down a boat and sail there. Especially after the H20 Continentals we planned to attend got hurricaned out in '93 or was it '94?

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

Me too!!

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2005 Hobie 16 - Ventura Nationals Boat #21
http://www.JackieandAlan.com