[bolger] Beyond Rigs: How Does She Sail?
Bolgerados,
How does my boat sail?
This is a tough question because I don't have the terms and the relative
experience to articulate the answer. My particular boat is a Windsprint, 16
ft. long and narrow. She seems fast to me, accelerating very quickly. The
boat tacks easily in any kind of breeze. I'm not really sure how well she
points (it seems to me like I'm always on a reach) because I lack sailing
skills such as figuring out exactly where the wind is and trimming sail just
right. My boat bobs around like a cork when sitting still but seems to get
sure footed once moving. Going straight into waves or chop she pounds and I
start to think back on how tight all the joints are and hope they will hold.
Taking waves at an angle or slightly heeled over (15 degrees is perfect) the
boat cuts through the same waves or chop like a hot knife through butter.
Out on Puget Sound, in a protected area and where there are few power boats
(or sail boats for that matter because of the shoal water) my boat is at its
best. I've only been out there in light air, but the boat just glides along
over the smooth water with almost endless space to sail in.
The more I write about it, the more anxious I am to get back out!
Mike Masten
How does my boat sail?
This is a tough question because I don't have the terms and the relative
experience to articulate the answer. My particular boat is a Windsprint, 16
ft. long and narrow. She seems fast to me, accelerating very quickly. The
boat tacks easily in any kind of breeze. I'm not really sure how well she
points (it seems to me like I'm always on a reach) because I lack sailing
skills such as figuring out exactly where the wind is and trimming sail just
right. My boat bobs around like a cork when sitting still but seems to get
sure footed once moving. Going straight into waves or chop she pounds and I
start to think back on how tight all the joints are and hope they will hold.
Taking waves at an angle or slightly heeled over (15 degrees is perfect) the
boat cuts through the same waves or chop like a hot knife through butter.
Out on Puget Sound, in a protected area and where there are few power boats
(or sail boats for that matter because of the shoal water) my boat is at its
best. I've only been out there in light air, but the boat just glides along
over the smooth water with almost endless space to sail in.
The more I write about it, the more anxious I am to get back out!
Mike Masten