The Weather Report from Lee's Summit MO 6-19-2010

06/19/2010 1237 PM

3 miles ENE of Lees Summit, Jackson County.

Thunderstorm wind gust e65.00 mph, reported by NWS employee.




It was one heck of a ride...


One minute.. bored... in fact.. bored all morning.. So we began to head back into the "beach" because the sky looked dark... Then I look over at my Dad on his 16 and see him and my Uncle pull a spectacular wheelie... The wind was just starting to pick up where I was, (maybe 5mph) so I let out the main sheet... and had my aunt.. who had never been sailing before break the jib... It didn't matter.. That gust hit and the boat took off like mad for the split second it took to blow over, even practically headed straight into the gust... After righting... and almost doing an up and over.. (I was pulled out of the water way past my knees by grabbing the slightly windward side of the dolphin striker... ) I managed to beat upwind letting the main luff and working the jib.. Dad ended up on the other side of the lake after a couple up and overs.


All in all a Great day though.. He lost one jib batten due to the leach cap getting smashed off.. and lost his hat.. I managed somehow to not break or lose anything.. And after the storm blew over it was sunny with winds 10-20... Perfect.. I probably was a bit to worn out to be single handing the 16.. but for some strange reason nobody wanted to join me in the afternoon.. SO I had to finish the day sailing by myself..

Now I finally know what ya'll on the coasts are carrying on about..

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That stuff rolled through Columbia (where I am now) yesterday around 2:30 or 3:00. I couldn't imagine being on a boat. It was in and out in about 30 minutes. I could see the walls flexing on the building I was in.

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1984 H16 - #80541

Ok.. So I have been going over this one in my head... And I am convinced that with the nature of the first big gust there was probably very little I could have done to save a capsize and then almost instant turtle with the wind hitting us how it did.. but once upright I am sure there are plenty of things I could have done better...


I managed with my little experience and a no experience crew to pinch into the wind making it to the upwind shore almost to the location of the vehicles.. I would have made it back to the truck but once I tacked and started back the wind shifted a bit and would have forced me to head back out into the open lake and make another tack to make the truck.. My crew didn't seem like she thought this was near as good of a plan as I did.. Well.. With the Lightening, pouring rain, and 30 mph gusts I can't say I blame her...


But what could I have done to give her a smoother ride. I was expecting Light 5-10 mph winds at the most for the day... So being the thiller seeker I am I did all I knew to power up the boat.. Battens fairy tight all around... Just enough mast rake, but not too much.. and the jib halyard nice and tight....


Would it have been prudent to either give the jib Halyard a little slack, or just try and drop it completely? Is that the best/only way to really de-power the boat in that situation? Or do you just fight it out.. I mean I made it back.. and at a decent pace.. But the boat was a handful on its own... and with a willing but less than experienced crew.. A little less steam sure wouldn't have hurt any...

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