Beating Upwind

Loading 200 liters of seawater to beat Upwind might seem like an exaggeration

well, let's see

Loading seawater to windward makes a lot of sense because we move the center of gravity to windward and at the same time increase the Displacement, and on a small, light sailboat the effect is tremendous.

Secondly, in some cases, as precisely in this case, it is very simple to build and not a tangle of valves like in a submarine because each ballast tank has its own electric pump and drains into the cockpit with a simple plug.

Finally, I could introduce a 20 degree heel into the model; But I would have to recalculate because this type of light, flat boat with a lot of beam has a problem when heeling: the root of the daggerboard protrudes toward the surface. This type of sailboat likes to beat Upwind with little heel

 

L: Low pressure

The critical point of this beautiful project is the precise fit between the centerboard head and the centerboard box with 0.5 mm tolerance easy to seal with grease

 

Anyway

My Aero-Hydrodynamic model is somewhat harder than ORC_VPP to name one of the best known, perhaps it is a little pessimistic or rather cautious

so I believe that reality will not be very far from these Estimates.

The boat will have two options open: sail at 6 knots 35 degrees to the wind or sail at 5 knots 30 degrees on the Windex vane.

 

At the time of my first wreck I went from sailing a 44-foot Dinosaur to a MiniTransat

If I were a millionaire again I would not return to the Dinosaurs or those sports sailboats that for 200-300 K Euros do not give you a single fuxxx place to sit comfortably in the cockpit

 

Webb Chiles

Webb has a striking calmness and serenity. Here it is crossed in the direction of the waves. In a similar case, he put the mast in the water and lost the wind vane on top of the mast.

We mere mortals are not capable of having this serenity. And we must also take into account that his sailboat, designed by a Malibu Surfer, has a beam that is not very big; my MiniTransat style boat is better not to leave it crossed in the waves

 

Roger Taylor

Roger Taylor in his interesting book "Ming Ming and the Art of Minimal Ocean Sailing", says that he was completely exhausted enduring a gale with his way/method

It therefore seems very reasonable to me to have even two gears:



(MainSail Twist 20 degrees, boom centered)

(plan A) with sail ... hove-to like a Yawl

(plan B) without sail ... bow to the waves with a sea anchor like a Ocean Rowing Boat

 

"Despite a lifetime's advocacy of minimal ocean cruising, I could still be caught off-guard by the reality of a tiny boat sailing effortlessly in massive seas. It still seemed too good to be true" (pag 145)

Yes, yes, it is very very striking, Roger, small sailboats, even those designed by true troglodytes, tend towards good behavior and, on the other hand, Dinosaurs tend towards bad behavior.

 

I disagree on small boat sailing effortessly in massive seas. When small boat are in the trough of a wave, they get no wind of the sails and stall. It is a well known fact. I think you should actually get on a boat and try it out. I bet you a good bottle of wine that the content of your post will radically change.

 

Yes, this is the third time I have posted this video, you will excuse me, on the one hand it is a requirement of the script and the drift of the thread and, on the other hand, seen from the Minimalist tribe it is simply glorious

Best regards, I wish you all a good weekend

 

The video you posted is of a boat running, not beating upwind, so it is not related to your claim of the behavior of small boats. You should actually try it first. I recommend sailing in rough weather. It is lots of fun.

 

No reasonable person would think that the idea of loading 200L of seawater is a "exaggeration" because it's an idea that has been used for over 50 years, since Tabarly used it in his Transpac boat. Plenty of us have sailed water ballasted boats - have you? It appears that you think water ballast is news to us - it was news in the '80s but that was a long time ago.

 

In the 1800s they used sandbags on racing scows.