Safe Heeling Angle???

beene · Post by **beene** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 2:03 pm

I could slip along at 30-35 all day.

But with the kids and Wife on board, I try to keep her around 15-20 also.

G

Idle Time · Post by **Idle Time** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:13 pm

It's funny.....when I'm behind the wheel....30-35 doesnt seem bad at all....but when Jim has the wheel I'm sitting with the jib sheet in my hand at 25.....sitting behind the wheel sure gives it a different feeling...

baldbaby2000 · Post by **baldbaby2000** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 6:32 am

On our M I don't think I've ever suceeded in getting it to heel more than about 50 degrees. It's hard to say for sure because my gauge pegs out at 45 degrees. I don't try to heel it that much but we're often in pretty gusty conditions. I don't feel unsafe when it heels that much but the keel does show. Performance isn't good with excessive heel and leeway (side slippng) increases. Normally when we heel that much the weather helm becomes uncontrollable and the boat heads into the wind and levels out. It's best to avoid that because then the sails start flapping like crazy which puts excessive wear on them and battens may start flying out. So from my experience on the M, excessive heel isn't so much of a safety issue but things get tough to control and perfomance suffers.

eric3a · Post by **eric3a** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:31 pm

Mikebe · Post by **Mikebe** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:59 pm

I've never broached in my boat yet, but this last weekend I got underway at 6 am and was winging it across the bay...

even though I knew a small craft advisory was in effect starting at 8 AM. At almost exactly 8 AM the wind suddenly went to 30 knots. Of course my policy is not not to sail in conditions above 20 knots, so with my limited experience things got very exciting very fast. I basically lost control of the boat...turning upwind, trying to go downwind, trying to limit heeling, it was all too much, plus the waves grew to frightening proportions. I turned into the wind, furled the jib, and decided to drop the main no matter what. There is just no way to hold the boat into the wind while you go up on deck to drop the main when your solo. So I just dropped it as fast as I could and worried about getting it secured later. It wasn't pretty, but it worked. I ended up up motoring around the south side of an island (wind was from the north) and dropped anchor right on top of an underwater point the GPS indicated was 4 feet deep. I payed out about a hundred feet of rode, cleated it, and it held. I sat there all day, waiting for the wind to die down. Thank God I had the foresight to bring 5 beers and a bottle of rum.

eric3a · Post by **eric3a** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:23 pm

Mikebe · Post by **Mikebe** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:31 pm

Well, that's probably about where I was, but I don't know if my manner was calm and collected. I'll have to get a few more experiences under my belt before I can call it that, but thanks for the insight. BTW, at anchor, three beers and a shot of rum will calm things down quite a bit...

Compromise · Post by **Compromise** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:51 pm

Mikebe wrote:Thank God I had the foresight to bring 5 beers and a bottle of rum.

I'm surprised that dinn't give you some Dutch courage!

baldbaby2000 · Post by **baldbaby2000** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 5:36 pm

Seems like 15-25 degrees is what most of you ranged it.

If you're looking for performance, try to keep it under 15. Greater than that and you'll have more leeway going upwind.

eric3a · Post by **eric3a** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:01 am

mikelinmon · Post by **mikelinmon** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 12:43 pm

Hi,
Not to worry. The righting moment increases to an amazing amount as the Mac is pulled over. I was one of the lucky workers present when we did the righting photos in the brochure for both the M and the X. Either boat has a large reserve when pulled over flat. Just don't worry. A n M or X will be unable to steer (rudders will both be out of the water) long before problems with righting come up. So, to make a long story short, if you can still steer, you are OK! It will still be faster at a moderate amount of heel, the exact angle will depend on direction of travel, direction of wind, amount of waves, amount of and type of sails, also other matters.
Mike Inmon

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:16 pm

mikelinmon wrote:Hi,
I was one of the lucky workers present when we did the righting photos in the brochure for both the M and the X.

So Mike, how many workers did it take to pull that beast over. I tried to do that by myself in my slip so as to be better able to clean the bottom. The slip next to me was temporarily vacant so I grabbed the jib halyard and walked around to my neighbors spot and tried to pull her over using the dock cleat there for bracing. I barely got it over 20 degrees if that, using all my might.

Did as much scrubbing as I could, even got in the water with my shorty wetsuit but alas the boat was not over on it's side enough to make it worth while.

This was without ballast as I emptied it first thinking it would be easier to yank her over, not so, she doesn't like to go over.

Compromise · Post by **Compromise** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:41 pm

Terry wrote:
mikelinmon wrote:Hi,
I was one of the lucky workers present when we did the righting photos in the brochure for both the M and the X.
This was without ballast as I emptied it first thinking it would be easier to yank her over, not so, she doesn't like to go over.

Interesting. I thought it would be easier without ballast also.

MacGregorSailors.com

MacGregorSailors.com

Safe Heeling Angle???