Tacking in heavy weather

I have had good luck with moving to the windward aft corner as I VERY rapidly turn - almost jam the rudder as I sprint to the other side.

The key for me was literally almost jaming the rudders - it is a smooth but very rapid push on the tiller. Everything needs to happen FAST.

While close haule with good speed - Uncleat main, while out on trap, move to rear of wing, push quickly on tiller and at same time uncleat main... SPRINT across, sheet in and go.

My 2 cents...

Brian

Haven't yet sailed a H-17, but looking forward to it. On several other cats though, I've found tacking is greatly accelerated by forcing the mast to rotate when head-to-wind. At that point the mainsheet should be loose enough to allow this.

It really gets the bows moving quickly past the potential stall point, because your "airfoils" (mast + battens) are now creating lift in the direction you need to go. Granted this is easier when you have a crew vs. singlehanding... usually a nudge on the wishbone or gooseneck with your forward foot will do the trick.

ReefedOne.

I just follow Rick White's roll tack philosophy. You also MUST let out about 2-3 feet of sheet as you go head to wind. There is a whole chapter in "Catamaran Racing for the 90's" by Carlton Tucker on the 17 and he explains in detail how to tack a 17 in high wind. I would suggest you get the book. You will learn more reading the book than in three years of sailing on your own.

Doug Snell
Hobie 17
www.tcdyc.com

I'm tellin' ya, even the gurus don't know EVERYTHING... and if they do, they keep a few secrets so they have an advantage on the race course, LOL! I'm sure I've seen Randy Smyth and his wife yanking the wishbone in races off FL.

Think about what I'm saying here: The wind, especially "heavy air", is blowing over your boat and rig, and UNTIL that mast "flops", and the mast+sail+battens "pop" onto the new tack, they will CONTINUE to generate (some) lift in the WRONG (old) direction, FIGHTING the tack you're trying to make! Why WAIT? Give your "wing" some jet-assist, MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Just TRY what I'm saying--won't hurt nuthin'--and the results are IMMEDIATE and very noticeable! (I'm not talking about some long-term studies done while you're sleeping--lol.) Before the crew passes under the boom, just yank it over to the new tack. If singlehanding, cross over, then give it the "boot" with your (new) forward foot.

If you've got any downhaul tension/mast bend at all, the sail will IMMEDIATELY begin aiding your tack. Like opening a big bottle of compressed air. It makes so much aerodynamic sense it's like "cheating"... lol. PLUS, the more mast bend you've dialed in (e.g. in heavy air), the more delayed the "flop-over" is going to be from wind alone.

Added bonus: it shifts a lot of weight (boom, battens, mainsail) and LIFT over where they need to be anyway, countering crew shifting.

Of course you don't want to do this TOO SOON, but there's a large arc of swing during which this REALLY helps out, starting say, 5-8 degrees BEFORE head-to-wind, up to any point where the sail fills/pops-over "on its own". Waiting for that is just WASTED TIME and MOMENTUM.

When uni-rig, i.e. NO jib, it's even more effective. If you're tired of doing the reverse-rudders-while-backing in order to tack, then BOOST your rotating rig into its new position!