MacGregorSailors.com

I was sailing at Pueblo today. It was mostly mild wind in the 5-10 mile an hour range all day, then what I would call a micro burst happened, quessing 30 mile+. It heeled the boat over maybe 40 to 45 degrees, It caught us off guard, threw the dog in to the cockpit floor, the water was close to rubrail. Scared the wife to death. I thought it interesting, but want to know what one does in that situation. The 150 genny was all the way out, main up all the way. It was heeled over max for maybe 10 seconds or less, seemed like forever. I released the main sheet quickly, and it seemed to recover ok, then furled the genny soon after. Has this happened to anyone here, and what are the limits of this boat before a takedown. I saw water coming way to close for comfort, and it spooked me, but we handled it. This is the first time I have seen that much heel in 4 yrs of sailing my 26x. Any help appreciated. Thanks, Terry

The short answer is to "spill the main" quickly. That's how sailboarders stay on their boards.
The first time as a passenger on a Mac26X I had the same experience with gusty wind and a full main and genoa flying. Scared the crap out of me, but I bought that boat later in the summer anyway.
Where I sail is well known for strong and gusty winds blowing out of the Rockies. The water is ice-cold, adding to the desire to stay out of it.

When I was taking cruiser sailing lessons on that lake I recall the instructor's web-site description saying " You will learn to reef and reef often on Ghost Lake". I added a second set of reefing points (between the origional ones and the boom) and usually start sailing that way. I also replaced the genoa with the 100% jib. I not interested in racing, I'd rather be under control. When I see blast coming down the lake I free the main sheet and hold it in my hand so I can react quickly.
You didn't mention another typical 26X quirk which magnifies the sudden healing and that is the strong weather helm- a violent turn into the wind when hit by a strong gust. That turning adds to the healing as well as being dangerous since the boat is temporarily out of control. The solution to that is to partly lift the swing-keel to shift the pivot point aft.

This is the price paid for not having a deep, lead filled-keel. The pay-back comes when you tow the Mac up the launching ramp and leave the "liquid lead" behind.

The has a flatter bottom than the v-hulled . I'm guess the would have an easier time with a sudden gust as you've described as it would 'ease' into the heel slowly and potentially recover a bit faster. I dont know what else you can do besides to spill the main and steer windward to recover from a broach.

However, just by merely spilling the main will tend to drive the boat in a leeward direction as the jib is still powering the vessel. If possible, i think easing out the jib sheets would help rounding the boat towards the wind.

Sheet out! Let em fly, steer into the wind, and get the boat under control for the sake of your crew.

Its scary and dangerous when you consider the safety aspect of everyone and everything flying about. The boat will be ok and will pop back up when the pressure is removed. The prevention is all about not getting into that situation. Ive been spreaders in the water on large keelboats while racing (where you purposely have up as much sail as possible comfort isnt as important) when those Florida squall lines rip through.

Sailing with too much canvas often will over power the boat as youve described. Yesterday the wind started at 5 to 10 knots then quickly picked up to 25 - 30 gusts with the genny and main. We had waaaaay to much sail for this little M. My experience with keelboats came in very handy, except had I not had that time in the wind, I probably wouldnt have bought the M considering how she sailed; my first time on a large trailer sailboat. There are many differences to traditional sloops. Im going to have to get acclimated to her idiosyncrasies.

What you described is simply too much sail. The boat shouldnt capsize if your ballast is properly filled and your crew are all in the right place when you have these knockdowns. The boat is designed to be squirrelly by nature due to the lack of keel. But as Crocus said, you have a trailer boat, not a keelboat.

The best thing to do is read the wind on the water. When you see a gust coming, ready the sheets. Keep then clear and at the ready. One racers trick is to use different colored sheets. Im going with blue main, green and red for the foresail sheets respectively, yellow for the furler. Also make sure your blocks cams are all working smoothly. These items are often overlooked maintenance wise. My Ms mainsheets clam cleats on the block are set at too high an angle, probably for the safety aspect, but that makes cleating them hard because you need to raise the sheet almost 45 degrees to lock. You may want to check yours, not sure if you have an adjustable block. Move it to where you are in comfortable, quick control of the sheet.

Spill the sails, reef early, and always keep the sails balanced. If you were plowing to leeward (horrible condition when all your gear is flying about especially the puppy and you didnt get to the sheets in time) you may want to experiment with a 110 jib and keep it hanked and at the ready. When the winds up, reef and use the 110.

Your question is much like what does one do to get out of a spin in a curve we all were told to slow down before needing to.

Prevention is the key always.

Always.

Michael

The same thing happened to me two years ago except I had only a jib and reefed main. The wind was actually only about 10 MPH at the time and we were heeling maybe 5 degrees. It had been about 15 to 20. I was trying to be extra careful as I had 4 other people on board that had never been on a sailboat. I was thinking that I should take the reef out and really sail when a wind hit that was probably close to 50 or 60 MPH. It knocked us over so far that the spreaders were in the water. I released both the main and jib but the force of the wind and waves on the bottom of the boat (we were on a beam reach) she didn't pop right back up. We were probably on the side like that for the time it took me to get the engine down and started (30 seconds or so, felt like an eternity). When I headed into the wind she came right up. We were over far enough that one person that was sitting on the leeward seat in the cockpit had water running into her lap. The good thing is that they didn't panic as they thought it was normal except for the teenagers in the cabin were worried about the portlights being underwater.

we had the same thing happen. Should have had a reef in but I was having a ball sailing at 30 degrees with a strong steady wind. Jim was just coming up from below ( picking up the stuff that slid off the table) when a big gust hit. He was eyeball to the guage(45 degrees) . Luckly I had the mainsheet in my hand when the wind picked up and dumped it immediately and we popped right back up. Then we did what we should have done earlier...reefed...but I was havin such a good time.

Phewwww.........Hope your portapotty was not full.


I have released the main and not been able to uncleat the
jib. I sail on a Lake and usually sail up the river which has
high canyon walls. My son always asks me Dad
you know what happens when the jib is up. The roaring
sound of the wind when it hits make your heart pump.

Rob

I've had this happen to me on a lake too - and I should have known better.

Sailing ina nice calm breeze in one leg of the lake, getting complacent, sail clear of the headland and I'm suddenly exposed to the full fetch of the lake - wham, 30 knots of wind and a near-knockdown.

I just free the mainsheet and round up fairly hard to get the wind out of the genoa, then sail back into the calm breeze. Look back, and sure enough you can clearly see the wind change on the surface of the water - doh!

Unfortunately, my sailing partner that day was Whiskey the cat, and while she likes a bit of sun and breeze, she takes a lot longer to forgive sudden surprises than a dog would! (At the time of the near-mishap she was in the cabin and some pots and pans chased her around very aggressively, not to mention the extreme tragedy of an entire bowl of Friskies going to waste).

- AndyS

At 40-45 degrees, the water isn't nearly as close to the rub rail as you maythink. Sure feels like it though!

Crocus26X, what worries me most on Ghost is what would happen if you actually fell or were thrown into that liquid ICE! A fellow Ghost Lake sailor, usually solo.
Regards

I sail on 90 mile long east to west lake, I am on the east end and our winds are out of the west about 90% of the time, After my first season I tend to sail on the rub rails on a regular basis when solo, The admiral will only take it for about a minute,but we are working on it.
I now dump the sheets when I can count the fish throught the cabin windows. I realize that this is an inneficiant way to sail, but i like the rush, and so far the Rae-Lee-Joy just turns into the wind and pops back up.