Hi,
I use footstraps upwind,..the combination of speed and 'wave-hopping' makes for very active ride.
A note here, the I 17 [ N, F, ?] hull design is made to slice thru waves, so, I have a less[ overall] platform movement[ at full speed] when entering the face of a wave, when compared to a full-volumne 'planing' hull.
The front part of the boat disappears into the wave face about up to the 3-4 feet before the front crossbar. At this area,there is volume built into these hulls, however, there is not much 'rise' in the ride because the 'hole' in the wave has been already made and the wave face [in the respective bow area] has been destroyed [ in the process of falling apart]...
..it is what you DO NOT see that gives you some platform motion,...from the drivers point of view,...you cannot see the hulls on the other side of the wave,..the trough side..
..yes, that part of the hull is airborne.. so, yes, when the face of the wave [ which is now in the process of falling on you]hits the front cross beam, you are a heartbeat away from exiting the wave..
..remember, the rig is going full throttle,..the speed never slows down,..it is the most amazing thing,..once you get dialed in,..the design does the rest,..you just hold on..I never touch the mainsheet..
..ok, here comes the motion..
..as you exit at full throttle, the dimensions come into play....for if you have a true 3 foot wave,..that is 3 feet up to the crest,..and 3 feet down, to the trough,..a total dimension of 6 feet. ....so yes,..upon exit,..and it is a rapid exit,..you will have to drop vertically 6 feet down to get the boat in the water..
...however, the forward motion of the boat 'smooths' out this drop..
..then, guess what,..the bows are ready to enter another wave face..
..so, it is quite amazing what these boats do offshore.
The I-17 is a big 17. ..about 17-6,...so, it is 6 inches shorter than a F-18[ I believe this is correct],...still, at those times, I wished for 2-3 more feet of boat,...no more sail area,...just more bow.
I have broken dog bones,...dog bone welds,...spreader bar welds, of course trap lines.
I use mainsheet size Kevlar [from the trap wire end] and the non-hook trapeze system[ pre set to length], where we are, the chase boat will get to you in about 5 minutes, so, you gotta be sure to not get pinned or trapped or caught-up on your own.
As for down wind, at that wind speed [15-20mph], the boat comes alive,..I have not convinced myself how to do a spin in that wind range,...it is the take down and the set that is the concern..one has only so many appendages you know..
..Off the wind, the I17 sail almost dead down wind [ about 170 degrees] and is controlable at 15 , however, as you approach 20mph, she is in the extreme range[somehow,she does windspeed at that rate,..yes, she does 20 mph boat speed]
..the trick here is not falling off the boat....as many of you know, driving up the 'back' of a wave [ at hi speed] is quite different than driving 'into the face',....for me, it is my like being a 'surfer' than a 'sailor'.....weight to the back, carve off the wave face,..bows up [as long as you can],..get ready for the next wave..keep at 170 degrees to the mark..
..I need the foil rudder system from the Spitfire 16,..more so than a spin,..I am convinced of this..this will settle the boat out in these conditions...
..I call it quits if the gusts sustain at 25mph and waves over 4 feet,...it is just me, it is just too wild of a ride..;-)
regards and enjoy your day,
Bruce
St. Croix
USVI
ps...you should see the Hobie 16 go downwind in these conditions, they pass me up! That big, low profile main, turns into a spinnaker!
pps.it took me about 3 years to figure out the I17,.with big help from this site [ John P- England, Wouter,the Aussie T 4.9 gang , Scooby, Sparky, Rick W...aand more]
