Max wind the CP16 will handle

[Railroad Greg]

I'm talking about the max wind that the CP16 will handle without breaking shrouds loose from mast or major damage.  I like winter sailing on a freshwater lake and sometimes find myself in 15 mph winds with gust to 20 mph.  The boat feels good but I'm always worried about something breaking. I would like to read any stories of CP16 high wind sailing.  I do realize that high winds for the CP16 are light winds for an off shore cruiser.

[Bob23]

I bet you'd end up with the mast in the water before something broke. But, keep us posted as you experiment!!! Last year I got hit with a 40 mph gust while sailing my 23. Really laid the boat over...water over the coaming but I never worried about anything breaking.
Bob23

[mikew]

Greg, I too sail my 1983 cp-16 on a lake and sometimes get caught in high winds. I have been in gusts to about 26 kts and the boat seems comfortable up to about 23 kts. I reduce sail area around
18-20 kts with the roller reefing main. The boat is very happy sailing in 15-18 kts wind and 1-3 ft seas with full sail.
The Compac's are built like a tank compared to an Oday or Catalina with extra heavy shroud wires and are somewhat under canvassed. They were designed to feel safe. Like Bob said the boat will heel over in gusts and spill wind, but it is prudent to dump wind with the sheets or head up if needed.
Each spring I check my standing rigging shackles, pins and swaged fittings over for cracks and damage just in case.

Mike

[Tom L.]

Frost bite sailing is a whole nother issue. It is very dangerous if  the boat and skipper are not fully prepaired and experienced in this type of sailing. Your boat will handle nearly anything you can so long that it is in proper/well maintained condition.  But please be careful in cold water. You have only minutes to get out of the water and in blankets or a warming method if you go overboard. So experience should be your primary goal. You should build up to this experience. It should be when other boats and skippers are nearby and you have capable crew onboard in case you need help. Frost bite regattas always have well equipped chase boats and crew to help save the life of a skipper who may find himself in the water.

So if you are asking this question please work up to conditions that you find marginal. By all means get off the water  before conditions deteriorate. That means monitor weather forecasts and make sure you keep up with the conditions in your immediate area. Local forecasts are helpful but you must be the one to evaluate the local conditions. And only experience with your boat will give you that knowledge.

We use to sail Lake Erie and were always the early bird in the water. But it was on bigger boats and we still had to be really careful not to go overboard. I remember one time we were in Sandusky were we kept the boat. It was a cool but sunny day, very inviting. As we were leaving the dock the marina manager ran down and warned us not to leave the bay for the main lake. I asked what's the big deal? He said there are ice flows on the Lake and if the wind changes the entrance to the Sandusky Bay could get blocked. OMG a lack of experience could have been very dangerous. This was after more than 20 years of sailing but I didn't think of the ice flows.

Tom L.

[NateD]

The largest gust I can remember taking with sails up was 35 mph. (checked weather station data later) As others have said, the boat will basically lay over on it's side with the sails spilling the wind. At that point I'm usually more worried about water coming over the combing or gear/passengers/myself falling out of the boat. The hardware and standing rigging on the 16 is oversized for the boat. Assuming all of the hardware/rigging is in good condition, is rigged correctly (no missing rings), and it is free from manufacturing defects, then the mast is going to stay in place. Every once-in-a-while when I'm sailing in strong winds I look up and wonder a little if the mast is going to stay upright, but no matter how hard I've pushed her, it has always stayed up.

The bigger issue I have in strong wind situations is making progress to windward when significant chop starts to build up. You have to reef to keep the boat upright, but then you lose some power. Then you crash/pound into the waves, which steals all the momentum. Beam reach or lower and I'll sail in a near gale (heart is going to be pounding like crazy though), but those kinds of conditions can make it near impossible to go to windward with a relatively light boat like the 16 (at least in my experience).

[Potcake boy]

I once read that a boat's rig should be strong enough to be lifted by, so it's highly unlikely that you will experience any rig failure from high wind. The 16 has a three point standing rigging configuration which is inherently robust. Taller sticks commonly use upper and lower shrouds to maintain column. Most mast breaks you will see are likely at the spreader because of upper shroud failure. Your rig does not require exacting tuning so the danger of an improperly tensioned shroud is eliminated. If your boat is 20 years or older you should do a careful inspection of the shrouds and attachments, maybe enlist a rigger for this purpose. If it's been used in salt water I'd think seriously about replacing the shrouds as corrosion can occur under the swage fittings and not be obvious. I would think that another vulnerability would be more likely found on a trailer sailor and that would be sharp bending of the shrouds at the swages because of inattention when raising the mast. Stainless steel 1x19 is quite susceptible to cracking and failure under these circumstances.

If you are putting enough pressure on the rig that you feel failure is a possibility, then I would assume that you are grossly overpowered, and the boat would be sailing like crap anyway until you reduce sail. The other factor to consider is the age of your sail. If it is old and stretched then it will be very difficult to control the shape and to de-power when necessary. That would not only cause excessive heeling but would also affect the boat's ability to point properly.