I clocked 6.2 knots over the bottom in my M15 surfing downwind in a blow. These light boats are not truly displacement or planing hulls but somewhere in between. --Gary Hyde 2005 M17 sailboat #637 'Hydeaway 2' We can't change the wind, but we can trim our sails. Sailing is like "African Queening" thru life. On May 18, 2008, at 6:58 PM, Paint4Real@aol.com wrote:
While I agree with a likely false reading, I don't think the 15's incapable of surfing well above what might be technically regarded as a hull- speed limit on a displacement vessel, especially if roll and vector isn't a deterrent to lifting the centerboard -- that is, if you're just going out in some wind to see what she'll do on open water. That said, the fastest I've ever traveled in my 15 was under reefed main and storm jib on a reach. I was delirious with the pleasure of it. Then I had to head in to drop off a green-gilled non-sailor passenger whose delirium was originating from a place lower than his head or heart -- though he had unwittingly been providing some needed cockpit ballast for my little experiment. But in a 15, the best ballast is mobile, so might as well jettison that which isn't.
I don't know what the maximum speed of a 15 with only skipper aboard, on a close reach and reefed down, in a blow, but it ain't the result of any hull-speed formula. Though I don't believe it's 12, either. I'm not saying it couldn't be, on an occasional surf.
In the end, the race against numbers isn't as singular or sporting as the contest between our own limitations and the conditions in which we find ourselves.
M15, #324 "Shenanigans"
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