Furling wind speed?

Hi guys just wondering at what kind of wind speed would you say its necessary to furl the sail in to avoid damage? I went sailing on saturday and in winds about 20knots i noticed the mast bending quite a bit so furled it in a little bit. Also had a major drama with my mirage drive popping out and bending the click n go assembly.

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In 15-20 knots, I would have the sail furled back to the start of the Hobie logo on the sail. In strong winds it definitely sails a lot better with less sail plus the rudder doesn't get overpowered as easily.
There has been a fair bit of discussion regarding ways to lock the click and go tabs down. Try using the search function.

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Either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way!

Many factors. Easiest way to tell if you need to reef the sail is, you are fighting your rudder?

If the boat is "balanced" it almost steers itself. You should be able to let go of the "tiller" at least for a few seconds before it slowly starts changing.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

definitely was fighting the rudder, cheers .

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Look I'm sure this topic has been done to death in the past but it's good to refresh these sometimes. Glad you bought it up again Chaos and seing we have an Old Salt and an Admiral's experience in the discussion ( don't go bark'n orders you 2 ) we should get some concensis. On this trip bacK from Pulbah Island ( viewtopic.php?f=70&t=18539 ) I know it was somewhere above 20 knots. As I said in the thread, I had no daggerboard so it's probably not a good example, but the rudder was requiring thumb pressure to keep it straight and even after furling the sail in a fair way, it still required thumb pressure. Being a lake, the water suface had little swell but the distance between waves were at there usual 3-4 meters so the faster I went, the rougher and more submerged I became. Great fun but the novelty of holding my breath wore off after a while ( being Australian I exagerate alot ).

My question is, has anyone ever heard of breakages due to too much wind ? The AI almost feels indestructable but which bit is the first bit to break in a big wind ? I'd guess that the bullet block fitting would pull out of the hull before the mast broke ?

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Hadn't noticed that I had been promoted to Admiral! Rank is no indicator of abilities in this instance..

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Either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way!

My experience has been the rudder pin, rudder or transom are the first to go.

Not what you'd expect.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Sorry for my ignorance but what's a transom ? I looked it up and ............

Transom (nautical), in naval architecture, is the surface that forms the stern of a vessel,

How does that give way ?

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Your definition is correct. The rudder assembly is mounted on the "transom". If you are in weather that tears the transom off your AI - well, lets just say that your worries and everything else are over.

My assessment of the first area to go would be the sail near the grommet where the mainsheet connects to it.

Whenever you are not getting adequate response from the rudder because of wind conditions, even minor resistance, try reefing the sail. It will usually result in better speed and less effort.

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baysailor

Funny this should come up I was sailing in 15-20 knots yesterday.
I had Three "Wraps" wound in on the mast on a close, into wind Tack and the AI still sailed close upwind at 5 Knots and sometimes more.
With pressure off the rudder the AI sailed itself long enough for me to scramble forward and deal with a tangled line, even upwind.
No pedalling, I rarely use the Mirage Drive when sailing now as the faster you go the more dramatically the Fin Drag curve climbs.

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Fair Skies, Max.