http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf#!/pages/Western-Carolina-Sailing-Club/131579743576388
Hopefully this link will show my "Heidi Liz" sailing past the RC boat at 8mph. The winds were 25 with gusts to 40.
Great day for a sail. Only one other boat (a flying scott)went out that day with a 750# crew of 3. Our boats can take a lot of wind. I did put some water in the cockpit in a strong gust later that day.
BobK
Hi Bob,
Nice video, and yes you are not hallucinating, My wife and I did the same speed (7 knts) sustained for a few hour one fine day on a trip from Solomons Island MD to Oxford MD. We made the 30nm trip in time for a late lunch that day. It seems the 23 needs at least an 18 knot wind to make her go.
Ernie (Molly, 23/II 1984)
On our last cruise a 32 footer took a very long time to pass us and a longer time to sail away. We were on an 8 mile reach in about 15kn winds pulling our dink. On the 32 footer was Bruce Bingham the designer of the Flicker. Afterwards he commented how surprised he was at out speed especially towing the dink and that the 20 foot full keeled Flicker has similar tendencies. He believes the apple cheeked bows of both boats act the same way as those bulbs in front of freighters. They fool the water into thinking, if water can think, that the boat has a larger waterline and thus more speed. The 20 foot Flicker makes the Compac 23 look small.
Look at the video of the boat sailing away from the camera. See how the main cuts sharply back to the boom - it is losing lots of power this way. A loose footed main will have the same sail shape as the jib and has a lot more energy. Even with our patched and blown out main sail 5kn is easy in all but the lightest of winds.
Great video - Sailing fast in flat water is a beautiful - Matt
Matt,
I do sail a loose footed main but I flattened the foot of the sail asmuch as I could when I reefed it. The wind was blowing 20-25 mph with gusts reaching 40. The sail was depowered on purpose. Luffing in that wind would have harmed the sail.
BobK
Yep - thats right. I thought the video gave a good representation of how the loose foot would give better shape. i ve noticed the loose foot can never be as tight to the boom as the in boom. Even reefed it has an effect. Did your weather helm come back in these conditions? Ours did. Matt
In that kind of wind the boat has a tendency to round up. There are a couple pictures in the test section that Skip fixed that better show the sail shapes.
BobK
Anyway to see that without facebook?