Too much heeling

Bob G. · Post by **Bob G.** » Aug 15th, '05, 15:49

A question for you Typhooners.
I sail in protected waters , and lately I`m not happy until I have the rub rail in the water. So I picked up an antique meter to measure the degree of heel at a flea market.How far can I go until I start to get into trouble?

Oswego John · Post by **Oswego John** » Aug 15th, '05, 16:16

Hi Bob,

As our sailing brother in Maine likes to say, "There are old sailors and there are bold sailors. There aren't any old, bold sailors."

I'm an old sailor. I get white knuckles and chicken out when the inclinometer reads 20° or more.

O J

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Aug 15th, '05, 16:29

20 to 30 degrees is fine in calm waters. If you go too far over the boat will tell ya. You could always drag a pram along just incase your boat ever ends up on the bottom. Just keep a knife handy to cut away so you don't get draged down with it.

Neil Gordon · Post by **Neil Gordon** » Aug 15th, '05, 19:34

Bob G. wrote:A question for you Typhooners.
I sail in protected waters , and lately I`m not happy until I have the rub rail in the water. So I picked up an antique meter to measure the degree of heel at a flea market.How far can I go until I start to get into trouble?

The boat is just fine unless the water stops staying on the outside where it belongs. And the good news is that you can stop the heeling just by letting go of the tiller and/or throwing off the sheets.

That said, all that excitment is hard on the boat, the sails and the rig, without adding extra speed. I'd just as soon reef.

neil · Post by **neil** » Aug 15th, '05, 20:01

Sailboats start to lose speed and efficency after a certin amount of heel, this being said if you like the feeling of putting the toe rail under then do so and enjoy yourself!
These are PLEASURE BOATS right?
As lots of people are going to point out this stresses your boat, and causes you to risk a sanity related spot check from the Coasties. The fun part then is the escape attempt; a Typhoon is a very fast boat!

John, Dave and Mr. Gordon are all correct.
Be nice to your boat, have fun, dont die, and stuff the toe rail if you want to.

Cheers!
Neil

PS: My girlfriend wont go out on the boat unless theres a "small craft advisory" most of the people on this board will tell you that that is VERY unusual.

Lang · Post by **Lang** » Aug 15th, '05, 23:14

Hi,

I dont have a meter for measuring heel, but I had gotten water into the bilges because of heeling .. is that a measurement of over-heeling? I believe I pumped 7-8 gallons from that 1 event, where the sea was rushing in over the coaming. Most of it went to the seacorks, but some seep into the cabin to the cockpit seat hatches.

Ya, I know about letting go the tiller and sheets, but it happened so fast and main sheet was jammed at the jam cleat. I just replaced the old metal scheafer with plastic Harkens, hope this help. And also planning to put weatherstrip around the seat hatches....

Any advise on that? Meanwhile I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Lang..

Bill Goldsmith · Post by **Bill Goldsmith** » Aug 16th, '05, 08:35

Lang wrote:Boat: CD Typhoon Weekender #949 Eleanor, Singapore

Hi Lang,

It's great to see the wordwide reach of the CD Board! How did your Ty get to Singapore? Do you see other CDs in Singapore?

Regards,

Bill

Lang · Post by **Lang** » Aug 17th, '05, 17:27

Hi Bill,

I was walking around with Ron Walton ( he sails a Falmouth Cutter) in Alameda marina when someone told us about a TY sitting out in the parking lot for years. So I enquired about it and made contact with the owner and bought it.

Then I arrange for shipping in a 40ft container to SG. It had to be 40ft because the trailer and mast are longer than 20ft. The width was tight Svendsons' managed to put it in anyway.

Finally it arrived SG on 21 Nov 04. Been working on it since. It was formally launched on Easter weekend this year.

Nope, I dont know of any CDs in this region. Everyone around here jokes about Eleanor being the only typhoon to hit SG.

Have a good one,
Lang

Neil Gordon · Post by **Neil Gordon** » Aug 17th, '05, 17:37

Lang wrote: .. is that a measurement of over-heeling?

Spray can be fun. But when green water refuses to stay on the outside where it belongs, you're tipped over too far.

neil · Post by **neil** » Aug 17th, '05, 18:05

That is a great story!

Lang wrote:Hi Bill,

I was walking around with Ron Walton ( he sails a Falmouth Cutter) in Alameda marina when someone told us about a TY sitting out in the parking lot for years. So I enquired about it and made contact with the owner and bought it.

Then I arrange for shipping in a 40ft container to SG. It had to be 40ft because the trailer and mast are longer than 20ft. The width was tight Svendsons' managed to put it in anyway.

Finally it arrived SG on 21 Nov 04. Been working on it since. It was formally launched on Easter weekend this year.

Nope, I dont know of any CDs in this region. Everyone around here jokes about Eleanor being the only typhoon to hit SG.

Have a good one,
Lang

Mike Wainfeld · Post by **Mike Wainfeld** » Aug 17th, '05, 20:01

I keep two small carabiners handy. The thought is that if things get really exciting I'll slip them into the hasps on the cockpit lockers, to prevent them from opening if water does get over the coamings. Haven't had to do that yet though.

oyster · Post by **oyster** » Aug 17th, '05, 21:30

There's another way to keep control of your heel angle when your already pushing the limits. Rather than trying to dump the main or jib in a big gust, just let the boat round up slightly then fall back off when the gust passes. You can even stay at a "pinched" attitude for longer if necessary. It's a much easier way to handle the gusts than constantly adjusting the sails and you'll actually get a little step up to windward at the same time. Oh, and in my opinion, heeling angles work like this - water on the rail = good, water in the cockpit = bad.

Just my two cents.

Bill O.
Nor'Sea 27 "Galena"

Jonathan Handelman · Post by **Jonathan Handelman** » Aug 18th, '05, 14:37

I had a similar experience to Lang's.

Yesterday I took the Typhoon out in a good breeze to see how far it would heel before I got into trouble. I had the toe rail in the water and then I kind of leaned way over the high side to check out the bottom of the keel (it looked good, nice and clean). Then I sat back down and decided to see what would happen if I didn't let the boat round up. Sure enough water came gushing up over the coaming board and filled up the cockpit mighty fast. So I rounded up, hove to, pumped it all out of the cabin where it sloshed, and went home to brag to my wife what a brave and skilled sailor I am.

It doesn't seem to make the boat go any faster to have the toe rail in the water. If anything, easing the main flattens the boat and puts much less drag on the rudder.

My previous boat was a 27' Pearson Renegade and it took a braver (more foolish?) sailor than I am to get water over that boat's boards.

-Jonathan

Stan W. · Post by **Stan W.** » Aug 18th, '05, 14:46

On my boat, in addition to water lapping at the coamings, the other sure sign you've heeled too far is the rudder stops working. Fortunately, the boat will round up on its own eventually, but there is a definite pucker period while you wait for that to happen.

The Cape Dory Board

Too much heeling

Too much heeling

Too Much Heeling

angle of heel

Re: Too much heeling

Heeling too much?

Re: Heeling too much?

Yes, a TY in Singapore

Re: Heeling too much?

Re: Yes, a TY in Singapore

Securing the cockpit lockers

wet wet wet

Another clue.