on thebeachcats someone posted pics on the new Nacra C20na.

Someone responded with this "If its nuking and you're in survival mode to get home, you'd be fine two sailing it without the kite, as long as you kept it deep, and STILL didn't travel out the main to keep the power manageable. Closer to DDW, if not exactly."

what are your thoughts on keeping the travler IN in heavy air (downwind/no spin)

I only drop the traveler if I'm over stood.

It depowers the boat some - but you're really vulnerable to a wind shift and auto-gybe. When the wind is up, it's usually pretty unstable. If that main gybes with it closer to center, it will overpower the rudders and you'll be practicing your synchronized swimming manuevers in short order.

I believe that there is video on youtube of a large planing mono hull pulling the Chinese Gybe while DDW in gale force survival mode. Great to reduce exposed sail area, but Gybe and you're Goose is Cooked.

that's what i thought

thanks

I recall it

I've got the t-shirt.

Key is NOT to sail ddw. It's much easier and safer to reach a little with the traveler dropped, in conditions where hoisting the kite on a planning boat is dangerous.

The real question is what do you do when you are reaching at exactly 90 degrees to the wind and are fully depowered, traveled down and start running out of main sheet? This is with the crew on the wire, helm not because the waves are questionable.

We came to a consensus at the club this week but I'm curious what others think. Doesn't matter if is a spin boat or not for the most part but the main is a square top and fully powered up.

You HTFU and drive it like you stole it.

Try 32+ knots. You have no choice but DDW.

I've rarely been in such conditions. In survival mode I go head to wind as close as possible and still maintain steerage. Haven't drowned..yet.

What if you want to go the other direction?

The correct answer is to drop the main and let the jib drag you along...if you're not still racing or convinced that it would still be faster than flipping a dozen times.

In survival mode I'm interested in survival.

Where I sail intense down bursts of high wind are fairly common, are of sudden onset, though not without warning and rarely last more than a few minutes. I wouldn't care to try handling the main in those circumstances.

I can't see myself EVER trying this method(center the traveler in heavy air) on a $30,000 cat (let alone my 19 year old cat)

we camp a lot in the bay spoil islands during the fall/spring. Often we wake up on sunday to much higher than predicted wind and must sail back to our cars at the causeway with literally up to 100lbs (or more) of gear/pets, etc...

There is no choice in which way you point the boat, only if you sail main or jib or mast only (done that a few times).. or if we are not going home and missing work on monday .

I'd opt for missing work...always.

much easier to say/type that than actually do it ... often the food and supplies are done by then, people have jobs they can't just call in and miss, etc. Come to think of it... no one i have seen in my 6 years camping with this crew has ever stayed over sun night and missed work

Try 40+ gusting to 50+ knots. Balls of steel+DDW seem to be the consensus. And people were giving me **** for wanting reef points in a new TheMightyHobie18 main.

I agree with both Pete and Jake.

Hove-to if you think it's going to be a short-term thing and you're not dying to win a race. Wait it out and carry on when it's safer

If you absolutely, positively have to go in that direction now rather than later, fly the jib only (or bare poles and go slow). Even if you have to flip to initially get the main started down...

I don't consider it "racing" when it's over 25 kts. It's more like "(s)he who makes the fewest mistakes in handling". As Jake pointed out, flipping 10 times is most likely slower than flying a jib only downwind.

At the 35+ kts he mentioned, I'd be good with bare pole since the minute wind gets under that tramp, it's going to fly away from you and leave you bobbing.. sans boat - which is hardly advisable.

I don't know if reef points would help at all in that situation. If you're caught in that is one thing. Choosing to go out in that is entirely different. I would suspect in a white squall like that keeping the boat in one piece WITH the crew on it is first priority. Making forward progress against a lee shore or toward safe harbor is second. If it's DDW, then bare-pole makes the most sense, as you'll probably be going close to 8-10 knots anyway.