More wind, more sluggish ????

Had a frustrating evening last night. Windguru said SW 17 knots gusting to 24. It felt like it was in that ballpark and you have to put up with freakish gusts in my bay anyways.... So off I went in my drysuit, hoping to have some excitement. Except, the Wave seemed to refuse to build forward momentum.

The wind was certainly strong enough to topple me over (if I had let it) but even with trimmed sails, it never built up speeds upwind. I tried everything from close hauled to a beam reach and it as all the same. I tried the sail trimmed, loose and tight. I tried the traveler out a bit to lessen the broadside push, thinking maybe the wind speed was stronger than I thought, no help. I simply could not find the magic place to trim the sheet for any angle.

It wasn't a fear factor, Although, I nearly flipped it a few times experimenting with sheeting in, it just wouldn't build up to speed, like it was being pushed sideways more than forwards no matter where I put the sail. I could not get the airfoil like effect from the sail.

I'm hardly new to sailing small boats but relatively new to Cats. Is there a point where the wind is actually too strong for a boat with no centerboard or dagger boards and the sideways push overwhelms the forward effect of the sail? Logic tells me that trimming the sail to the wind should compensate for that. Maybe it's a combination of a strong wind, no centerboard and no boom to help maintain the sailshape?

or maybe I just suck?

Any advice and experience shared would be appreciated.

Did you try moving yourself forward and aft? Not sure on the wave but my 16 takes off much nicer if I'm sitting as far forward as I can going upwind. If the stern of the boat is dragging underwater it's a slug lol.

_________________
Tim Grover

Memphis, TN fleet 134
Hobie 20! G-Cat5.0 and 2 Hobie 14's
Photobucket now wants $100 to post pics on forums......... pass.

Sitting forward will reduce steering ability and the boat will round up in higher winds. If you are not moving forward, you "crab" sideways. You need some water flow over the rudders and hulls to track up wind.

Sit at the rear pad to start, You need to get the boat to bear away... sheet lightly and steer away from the wind. Build some forward speed and start sheeting harder as you round back up... move aft and hike out hard as you sheet tightly. Both the Wave and the 16 love weight aft as the wind increases. You get the best lateral resistance from the rudders. I sit under the tiller crossbar when in higher winds and sailing upwind or reaching.

Sitting forward works best in light winds.

If you stall... start the process over.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

This is in a nice breeze and flying! You can see by the camera angle I am as far aft as I can get.



Fastest upwind is aft and hiking out! Sheet hard.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks all!
I normally do this but thinking back... with the extra gusts to deal with and trying so hard to figure out a workable trim and sailing angles, I very well may have been neglecting my weight forward/aft. More differences I have to build muscle memory for. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I pulled the boat up from the shore last night as Hurricane Gonzalo tracks northward. Looks like it will safely miss us but it's easier to pull it up than worry about possible storm tides. Once it goes back down, I'll experiment/practice.