leelanauX wrote:
Hi,
A couple of questions:
The carbon fiber is designed to flex right? I cold swear that it was bent considerably when we were really "hoofing." It won't snap on me will it?
Also, my GPS says our top speed was 9.8 mph. The water had very small swells and white caps, and at speed the leeward AMA was largely buried. Stupid question here, but were any of these indicatins the I could have flipped over? I've watched a lot of videos from those of you who sail in the ocean, and the swells were quite a bit smaller than what I've seen some of you contend with.
Thanks!
Hi, amazing new way to get an intro to your boat...well done.
-1) yes your carbon fiber mast will flex, if it didn't - it would snap. Carbon fiber is many times stronger than steel. However, be careful how you handle it and how you store it, a few nicks can cause damage when it is stressed to the limit.
-2) Your GPS said 9.8. Not bad. Keep in mind that the fastest you can push your boat is what's called a 'Broad Reach'. That is when you are almost at 90 degrees to the wind.
-3) As other people have mentioned in answer, if your ama is almost underwater, you need to 'luff' your sail. This means taking your main line out of the cleat and spill wind to just keep the ama at a point where it skims the water. This also means that if a gust hits you hard, you can just let go of the line (keep in mind that if your mainline is cleated and under extreme pressure it can flip you as the pressure of the line in the cleat can be severe).
-4) Sailing on the ocean can be quite different than sailing on a lake. The ocean tends to have regular swells as a Lake has all sorts of factors like the terrain at the shores. In Colorado, a lot of the mountain lakes are circled by mountains. Where you live, that may not be the case. No matter where you sail, make sure you get a good weather report before launching.
-5) Read the water. In light airs you can watch 'cat's paws' as the wind literally bounces across the water. In heavy airs, you will see a sudden shift by a very dark, disturbed area in the water close to you. Those heavy airs seem more prevalent in Lakes than on the ocean. That's one of the reasons I scared the crap out of myself when I started sailing the lakes of the Canadian Rockies 40 years ago. Lake sailing is a lot more difficult than ocean sailing due to the 'unknown factor'. It takes careful study of the terrain before you can get comfortable with local knowledge. Yet once you get there, you will have a BLAST rocketing down a Lake with a 30 knot 'breeze' behind you...remember that the wind in Lakes usually blows down the long stretch....(in that case, you will also have to tack to get home, hehehe).
-6) Remember also, you are blessed with a roller furling system on your TI. If you see 'caps' on the water, furl your sail at launch and test out the effect of the wind on the shortened sail. If it feels ok (the wind will let you know), unfurl your sail a bit further.
Good sailing
Tri