What's your favorite point of sail?

[waters'l]

I had a realization today. Whenever I just sit around and dream about sailing, I am almost always going upwind. The ideal is relatively flat water and about 15knts of apparent wind. I know the saying is that gentlemen don't go to windward but that is where Pearl feels the most alive and where I feel the most connected. It is fun to go screaming on a broad reach but milking every inch of windward distance is where I get my kicks. How about you? Where do you feel the most in tune with your boat? What point of sail keeps you going through a stomy month that keeps you landlocked?

[rbgarr]

They are all great, but shooting the mooring under sail and coasting to a stop just at the buoy is the capper for me.

[sv Lorelei]

Lorelei being a fin keeler is more work going up or downwind. I like that no think broad reach :-) That said, it seems we end up going upwind more often than not.

[peb]

My favorite would be close-hauled or at least a close reach, in a chop, about 20-25 knots of wind, reef in the main, baby jib on the headsail. My boat is narrow, but if I don't have too much sail up, it feels pretty good in these conditions. But it is a little wet.

I guess I am a little bit ungentlemanly.

Also, the guests normally stay put and out of trouble. In heavier wind and on a run, they feel a little too safe sometimes.

[uncas]

close hauled.

[Popeye]

hove to

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Close hauled or deep (three sail) reaching have their own obvious rewards but the single most memorable trick at the helm was off Lowestoft.

Almost dead down wind (a North Easter) into an ebbing tide with the desired course about North-West across the face of a sandbank..... a delicate ferry-glide with the continuous threat of a chinese gibe due to the roll.

[bamamick]

Always upwind. I really like sailing weather legs. I am a much better helmsman on the beats than I am the runs. Hopefully the Finn will eventually help me with that.

Mickey Lake

[Noah]

Most racers are much better upwind than down. I agree I enjoy working the shifts upwind much more than with the wind, but we have won lots of races with downwind strategy. I always wonder why a sailor that just tacked 15 times to go upwind just points the boat at the mark downwind and doesn't do much more. There are still the same headers and lifters...

[Russ Manheimer]

Hove to on the Port tack so the stove draws well. Preferably with a NNE breeze of 8 to 12 kts. The way my sailing ground is laid out it gives me an hour or so below to tend to the tea and such.

Russ

[Bruce Hooke]

A nice comfortable reach, with the boat just riding nicely up and over the waves is pretty sweet.

[lagspiller]

Well, I know which leg I like the least - running downwind with the wind dead astern. Even the wind avoids it... disappearing completely as the boat settles on course, leaving me wallowing in breathless calm no matter how fast the boat is moving.

When you race, it is always the guys who have lost the fights that have the advantage on the final downwind leg. They catch the wind changes first - and come romping down on the better boats. Hours of tactics and work can be lost at the wim of the weather gods.

A blurry beam reach gives the best boat fun. Close hauled runs a good second. Especially when alone or showing up the competition. But then, hardly anything is worse than being left behind in a tacking duel.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Well, I know what the boat likes.

Close reach, F6-7. Seven rolls in mainsail, full jib and staysail, six knots.

We once did it for 12 hours and got from Ostende to Harwich in that time, without a single tack.

The crew, on the other hand, will settle for a beam reach in F4-5 with the big staysail and full mainsail; the water is not up the side decks and its less bumpy.

We don't like running, as we may dip the end of the boom in the sea if there is a big sea running, and we tack very nicely through 110 degrees!

[John B]

Bites tongue about "gentlemen/windward" quote lest rant starts. Its something I become helpless to control.

Yeah, There's always a great feeling when you ease round a mark or an obstacle and just crack sheets for a close reach. You accelerate and sounds all change( we get a bursting bubble sound that says" speedy") .... beautiful.
Flat running in a gaff rig is the pits and I hate it. In fact after some of last seasons sailing when we experimented with tacking downhill on a couple of passages, thats what we'll try to do more of this season.like Andrew says.. poking the boom under, yawing near a gybe and pitching all at the same time .. not fun.

[Mike Keers]

Heading for the bar after you cross the finish line. And I don't mean 'sand'.

[Bayboat]

April, 1948. Storm main and working jib, full & by on a close reach, eighteen days along the great circle from Kauai to Santa Barbara aboard a big, powerful racing yawl. Only time we didn't have to go north almost to the parallel of the Calif.-Oregon border before making easting. What a ride.

[Stiletto]

I have a trimaran and reaching suits her and me.

[outofthenorm]

Sailing on the North side of Lake Ontario, sometimes we get a day or two of big air with a northerly slant - reaching air with flat water. Full main, tops'l, stays'l, flying jib, and hull speed for 10, 12, 14 hours all the way up the lake. Makes me feel like I'll live forever.

- Norm

[Thorne]

Dead downwind in a medium breeze, jib poled out to one side and the main on the other. A lovely sandy beach ahead to glide up onto.

[PaulC]

When the sails are up and you can shut the motor off!

[capt jake]

To windawrd is much easier for me. More enjoyable also.

[Wild Wassa]

Planing downwind under spinnaker a couple of points off the wind, is my second favourite point of sail but doing a three sail reach under spinnaker with good wind about a point abaft the beem, with spray half way up to the spreaders so that the boat is on borrowed time, and screaming ... is the essence for me. Dropping the spinnaker as late as possible all adds to it ... and pumping it heavily, on each gust or wave. I'm not one for playing set-and-forget.

When I first started sailing with my Skipper (this time last year) he would drop the spinnaker 40-50 metres out and I'd have the house keeping done early ... now I'm pulling in the poll while we are rounding and the jib is already set.

Warren.

[donald branscom]

Dead downwind in a medium breeze, jib poled out to one side and the main on the other. A lovely sandy beach ahead to glide up onto.

Mr. Thorne, where is that place you took those photos?
beautiful area-nice beach.
You don't have to say if its private.

[Tom Hunter]

Margarita is very sensitive to the wind on all points of sail, but she goes best on a reach. The sensitivity keeps things interesting, if you stop paying attention she will wander off in a direction of her own choosing.

So I pick the reach because it requires the same attention going to windward does, but the boat goes better.

[martin schulz]

Downwind will always make me feel uneasy.
- you don't feel the power of the wind
- higher waves tend to push the boat in unpredictable directions
- the boom (typically very long on a gaffer) is in constant danger of hitting the waves or suddenly coming over.
- gybing on a gaffer (long boom, running backstays, large gaffsail) is a pain.

Backstagsbriese (backstay breeze) is most enjoyable.

[dredbob]

Give me a screaming broad reach with smooth water and a good breeze that I can barely hold the boat upright in, in a small sharpie or a laser or the like. Woooohooo!!!

Bob

[WindHawk]

A broad reach in 20 knots true with the rail buried. She's a little faster when keeping the topsides above water, but not as thrilling.

[paladin]

any point with wind....

[George.]

Wing-and-wing on a run with just enough waves to keep you alert, but not enough to stress you, and enough breeze to keep the headsails full on the same side as the main...

[Robert W. Long]

Yes: Definately downwind, always has been always will be. Why ask why? Just feels good.

[Thorne]

Donald -

Nope, not secret at all!

That is the north end of Big Lagoon near Trinidad CA, north of Eureka.



Here is a cool website of photos from the air of the area -- we also sail in Stone Lagoon which has a boat-in camp that is very nice.

http://www.californiacoastline.org/c...gs=0&year=2002

Here is the page with my loverly photos -
http://www.luckhardt.com/pics.html

[waters'l]

Boy it is interesting to see the diference in likes. About as varied as types of boats out there. I did forget to mention how cool it feels in a fair amount of wind to finally crack off the sheets a tad and close reach. Almost the same lively feeling of a beat but less heel and more speed. It does feel good to release the tension a bit. I'm glad we can sail in more than one direction to keep it interesting.

[Ross Faneuf]

Anything that gets Ceol Mor touching 7 kts and above - mostly reaching, but possible both close hauled and running wing & wing, if there's enough breeze.

Was out 2 weeks ago in 18-20 knots steady, with a big quartering swell. Broad reach, full main and genoa, steady 7.4-7.7 kts, occasionally getting to 8.1-8.2. Finest kind.

[S/V Laura Ellen]

I love all points of sail except running dead down wind in light wind conditions.

Close hauled with the rail buried is the most fun.