Does your boat have a handedness?? (preferred tack)

[DaveC426913]

The strangest thing happened sailing today.

I headed out in maybe a 5 knot breeze coming from ESE (120 degrees) with 1/2 meter waves, also coming from ESE (diagram at bottom of post).

I was on a port tack, heading at about WSW (210d), but I was making barely more than 1 knot. I should have been able to pull 2-3 knots easy, so I checked everything twice - rudders, motor, centreboard, genoa ticklers, mainsheet ticklers, shroud telltales, windvane. Everything seemed right, yet it felt like I was just dragging an anchor. There was plenty of wind - for a Mac.

I played with point-of-sail and sail trim for over two hours, back and forth between beam reach and close haul trying to find the wind. Never got over 1.2 knots. I was adjusting the wheel constantly to keep from luffing or falling off.

So I decided to tack. I came about to NNE (30d) and immediately picked up to 4 then 4.5 knots and stayed steady on course.
Sails set to same trim as on port tack. Covered the same ground back to my start point in about a half hour.

Tacked back again and dropped back to 1.5 knots (to be fair, it was late afternoon by then, and the wind had dropped noticeably).

I cannot explain it. My theories in descending order of likeliness:

- I sucked at trimming today? On the port tack I just have been way over on a beam reach but set for a close haul. (Don't know how this is possible, I played with PoS and trim for two hours).

- I sucked at trimming today - take 2? Why is my no-sail zone 180 degrees wide? I couldn't seem to point up. Even though I was trying to get to a close reach, my PoS was actually more of a beam reach.

- wave action? (at first, I thought I was going into the waves on the outward leg, but with it on the way in, but I was pretty much broadside on both legs).

- dragging something in the water? Nope, before you ask, my bumpers were hanging - but they were actually on the PORT rail, so it should have had the opposite effect.

- a strong eastward current? A 3 knot current would actually accomplish the very thing I observed (But it's not like Lake Ontario suddenly decides to have a current ...except ... we did just have a record-smashing rainfall, and water levels were up by a foot hmmm... )

- my SeaSaw just likes being on a Starboard tack...



There were a couple of things that were odd about today's sail that might be clues.
1] My wind signals were acting weird. Shroud telltales said close reach, but wind vane said beam reach. (Remember, if either one was lying, it shouldn't have caused the problem, since I ignored them when I hunted between beam reach and close haul). I wondered if there were some thing to do with water temp versus air temp.
2] Not sure why, in a light wind, my no-sail zone was 180 degrees wide.
3] On the port tack, (doing 1 knot), she would absolutely NOT stay on a course. How can a boat round up in a 5 knot wind!!! I'm not talking about finding the wind; I'm talking about the boat would just drift off course, rounding up or falling off constantly.

(sorry this is upside down. I set out southward from port)

[Hamin' X]

Was this apparent wind, or true wind?

[DaveC426913]

Was this apparent wind, or true wind?

Well, at 1 knot, they're the pretty much the same.
But at 4 knots, apparent wind started heading forward so I was able to make a true close haul.

[dlandersson]

My starboard side at approx. 60 degrees apparent wind is my best point of sail. Port side in exactly the same circumstances is less. Dunno why - it just is.

[topcat0399]

I dunno!

On das bOOt I can easily get the tiller to balance on the port tack to where i can throw a line over the tiller cleat
and she will stay on course for a looong way.

Can never seem to get her to do it on the opposite tack.

[island808]

I'm not a sailor yet, but this has me intrigued. The boat is semetrical on deck... But could rigging get in the way and dirty the wind from one direction and not the other? Also, couldn't it also be man made? You might have a better feel or sense of it from one side or the other. Most people seem to make better turns in one direction on motorcycles. Feel safer on their strong side or have more experience making hard lefts to get into traffic. I do, left a lot more comfortably making my turns much better to the left because I worked on them since I started off right biased.

Just a thought

Also obviously, load balance would change aoa to the sails.

[Phil M]

Put your boat on its trailer, find a gulley that you can use for overhang somewhere on a street or parking lot, and put the rudders full down while on the trailer. Check the angles as you move the steering full port to full starboard. The rudders should match each other.

[Nautek]

More than likely the current has had some more influence going one way or the other
Especially in an area close to shore with different underwater profiles can have an influence
I have worked in areas where you have 2 knot current on one side of the harbour and 6 knots on the other side
Just a thought

Allan

[Ixneigh]

Im going with Phil M. Something is amiss. My boat does have a tack preference, but its so small I forget which is her favorite until we get out. Difference of half a knot maybe. I have had times when I seem unable to get the boat going correctly after tacking, but its usually due to not resetting the sail trim to exactly what I need on the new tack, being lazy. Not the boats fault. If it was current, your boats speed though the water would be the same, but your speed over ground would be less, of course. If the boat gave the appearence of moving through the water well, it was not a current issue. Check the rig tuning, the rudders rudders esp since you mentioned she would not steer correctly.
Ix

[DaveC426913]

On das bOOt I can easily get the tiller to balance on the port tack to where i can throw a line over the tiller cleat
and she will stay on course for a looong way.

Well I could balance a tiller on my nose if I wanted, but on my boat it's the wheel I gotta worry about...

More than likely the current has had some more influence going one way or the other
Especially in an area close to shore with different underwater profiles can have an influence
I have worked in areas where you have 2 knot current on one side of the harbour and 6 knots on the other side
Just a thought

Well, this is in 50-75 feet of water.

While my speed was by GPS, I can verify that SoW was in concurrence. i.e. on my port tack, I could have jumped overboard and swum faster. On my SB tack, the birds were having trouble keeping up. So that rules out current.

Put your boat on its trailer, find a gulley that you can use for overhang somewhere on a street or parking lot, and put the rudders full down while on the trailer. Check the angles as you move the steering full port to full starboard. The rudders should match each other.

That is an intriguing theory. I'll check the rudders. (Though, analyzing this critically, it shouldn't make a difference. Even if one were out of alignment, it would simply slow the boat at any PoS, and my wheel would be off-centre when sailing true, but it wouldnlt change anyting between Port and Starboard.)

Im going with Phil M. Something is amiss. My boat does have a tack preference, but its so small I forget which is her favorite until we get out. Difference of half a knot maybe. I have had times when I seem unable to get the boat going correctly after tacking, but its usually due to not resetting the sail trim to exactly what I need on the new tack, being lazy. Not the boats fault. If it was current, your boats speed though the water would be the same, but your speed over ground would be less, of course. If the boat gave the appearence of moving through the water well, it was not a current issue. Check the rig tuning, the rudders rudders esp since you mentioned she would not steer correctly.
Ix

Rig tuning. Now that is intriguing, or at least plausible. If one side were loose, the mast could warp, and that could cause a difference.

[Lvoight]

I would start with rig tuning. This was my problem and tuning it made all the difference. Doesn't even feel like the same boat.

[Russ]

Getting 4.5 from a 5 mph wind is fantastic! I've never gotten more than a knot of speed from 5mph. Something doesn't add up here.

[DaveC426913]

Getting 4.5 from a 5 mph wind is fantastic! I've never gotten more than a knot of speed from 5mph. Something doesn't add up here.

Yeah. That would be my ability to judge windspeed.
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... =8&t=22162

[DaveC426913]

I would start with rig tuning. This was my problem and tuning it made all the difference. Doesn't even feel like the same boat.

Could be. I have not tested, let alone adjusted, the standing rigging since I bought it 3 seasons ago.

[yukonbob]

Same as Ixn. there is a preference but can never remember until I'm out and its small but noticeable.