What are your limits?

I am curious as to what you guys consider your limit for wind speed. Single handed v. crewed.

I have only one season experience with my H16 and am fairly intimidated by anything over 15 MPH. I am trying to decide what my ultimate goal should be.

I have yet to trap as skipper (not to mention, trapping single handed.)

So, what are your limits? Single, double, hiking, trapping.

Also, what about limits for temperature? Air and water.

Single handed to 0-12

Casual crew 5-15

Good crew 10-20

Would rather windsurf when over 20.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Never gave windsurfing enough of a chance I suppose…so here’s my opinion.

Per the Beaufort scale (in mph)

3 8-12 Gentle Breeze Scattered white caps (ho-hum)
4 13-18 Moderate Breeze Frequent white caps (competent crew needed)
5 19-24 Fresh Breeze Some spray (Yeah baby! “Freshâ€

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

I sail to have fun, so when the wind is sustained over 20 kts I end up working much harder than I like to. We had a distance race at one of our regattas last year the wind was 29 with gusts to 40. That was a handfull. My girlfriend was not real happy by the time we got back to the beach. I think we covered like 31 miles, and I hit a top speed of 22.9mph on the way back (I had my gps with). That was sailing conservatively, just on the edge of survival for me. You end up just trying to keep the boat upright and not being able to get real speed out of it for sustained periods.
It was so gusty I couldn't trap either. T-bagging myself meant getting washed away by a wave, and if I couldn't do it, no chance my girlfriend would have handled it. I think I got 2nd to last in the 16's, and 9th overall with portsmouth, out of high 20's number of boats. The H20 just gets crucified in those conditions. Unless you're John, of course.

Karl,

We came so close to stacking our 16 on the 20 specifically for that distance race, we knew the forecast was nuclear. If you recall Christina went with us, just for fun, got knocked off the 20 by a wave and gashed her foot good enough for a trip to the emergency room and eight stitches.

As far as I'm concerned leave a 20 on the beach in anything over 18...unless there's a race.

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

Sohn was all sorts of upset you bent up his crew. But he did all right in the end. Remeber before you try and boot me up to A at daggerless Yankton is the only regatta I've won. I don't always sail that well. (Replace always with usually)

Karl check here
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=6303
We were given you a hard time...new boat and all

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

Hey! good to see there is 8 boats in B fleet. Hopefully a few more will trickle in over the next couple of weeks.

I planned to race in it until it moved. I am still considering the drive, but I doubt I will make it.

You're earning points towards homebrew.

Brian C

I solo'd a 16 for many years. If the wind is steady, up to 20 mph solo (helm control is paramount), less if gusty. With crew then up to 30, anything over is survival sailing. Same numbers go for trapping. I don't even try if it is gusty. Soloing requires an secondary righting system (e.g. bag, power pole, etc.) and a bit of nerve.

Brian, best at 25-30 knots... and a home brew after sounds good!

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Dang Karl, That's a lot of wind!
Don't you guys think it was irresponsible for the race committee to run a race with that kind of forcast? Gusts to 40 is pretty extreme. How is everyone measuring wind on site?

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Sail Revolution
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It was a wild race. One of the H20's hit a stump up by the mark with a daggerboard at full speed. Broke off the blade and rammed it up into the hull. Dave made it back the 14 miles. The windward hull was the damaged one and he managed to keep it flying the whole way back some 14 miles. As soon as he stopped he sank like a rock though. We had an A-cat with us too. He hit a stump as well, went flying across the boat and managed to rupture his spleen in the process.

If it was irresponsible I don't know. The responsibility is still held up to each individual sailor to decide if it is too much for them to handle. The mark should have been placed in deeper water, but the power boat they were using to set the mark was having trouble keeping up with the cats! They quickly ran out of time. Unfortunate but thats part of the game. You know how everyone is: It's warm, its sunny and its blowing the squirrels outta the trees! Lets go sailing!

I think the conditions were just what was reported from the weather service.

You're talking my language...

Come sail the flats at Bird Island with us sometime. I've got 39.2mph measured, going for 40.

Brian C