Eric has some excellent posts, especially number 208480 on Page 9
Awww,
Melges 24s “screaming” downwind (or on any other point of sail)… now THAT’S funny! And yes, I’ve been there, the only scary thing is the mass they carry if they collide at those “high” speeds…
Just because they're keelboats doesn't mean they can't move. At CRW last weekend, I saw a TP-52 doing 20kts downwind in 15kts breeze (of course, their spinnaker was bigger than a whole fleet of F-18s combined). Melges 24's carry a big asymmetric spin and they'll plane faster than the wind downwind. After watching them skip across the waves with 5 guys all standing at the transom, I have great respect for the boats and their sailors. When 15 of them meet at the leeward gate at the same time (5 rounding, 5 broaching, and the others trying madly to keep clear) it's quite a spectacle. At one point, I saw a boat lose it on the douse, broach, and round up (still broaching) right in front of another M-24. I was sure that the second boat was going down too, but somehow they managed to steer up hard, sail around the sideways boat, bear back down, douse, and make it through the gate without losing control in 25kts of wind. It was the most amazing display of seamanship I've ever witnessed.
Regards,
Eric
