down wind in heavy air

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   recently we rounded the weather mark (a lighthouse) in 30knts with gusts of 35 with the seas running 2 - 3 meters.  Because of the gusts and sick crew we elected not to fly the spinniker.  We rounded up several times and had a hard time getting the boat back down wind.  All we had up was the blade and the main.  In the end we elected to down the main and still averaged 9 knts with surfs to 12- 15 on the gps.  Any sugestions on how to handle these situations.

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Gerry McClintoc Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Rookie Joined: 08 July 2003 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 14	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gerry McClintoc Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: down wind in heavy air Posted: 02 August 2004 at 2:19am
	recently we rounded the weather mark (a lighthouse) in 30knts with gusts of 35 with the seas running 2 - 3 meters. Because of the gusts and sick crew we elected not to fly the spinniker. We rounded up several times and had a hard time getting the boat back down wind. All we had up was the blade and the main. In the end we elected to down the main and still averaged 9 knts with surfs to 12- 15 on the gps. Any sugestions on how to handle these situations.
	mcclintock

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 August 2004 at 6:12pm
	Gerry, Nice to have some breeze... I sail out of Vancouver and in the Winter races we often see 35 plus. I agree it can be a real problem turning the boat down in the heavy stuff. We have found that when it get too scary for a kite then a reef or two in the main is required. We prefer running fairly deep on the lapper winged out with a single reef in the main. Get everyone as far back in the boat as possible. When the gusts hit drive as low as possible. This seems to work pretty well for us but we have broken several battens on the lapper.