5-6 mph wind

[cbig]

- just curious - do you guys find this wind useful to sail in? We've been out several times in our Mac26d but rarely at that low speed. We have a genoa that came with the boat and have not tried it. Getting itchy to go out again but have not had favorable winds nor are they likely for a while.
Do you find the genoa drives the boat at an acceptable speed in these light winds?


Thanks,

Chuck

[Lloyd Franks]

http://www.cruise-charter.net/sailing-g ... genoa.aspx
You may have to cut and paste this link. It will take you to a good discussion of the genoa sail.

[Matt19020]

5-6 is a little light ....You will probably make some headway if you have no current..... I have used both genny and jib and I found the bottom line is no wind no headway ... regardless of what sail.... but we also sail on a river with a pretty good current........with current....motor is on! Sailing backwards is not fun.

[Catigale]

Ok to reach or run but you will not be able to come up on the wind with the genny in 5 kts imhe

[Sumner]

Since we are never in any hurry we enjoy even 5-6 mph winds and with the jib can move into the wind with our S. On our last day on Kootenay we wanted to sail onto anchor for the last night. There was no wind for the last couple hours, but we still managed to drift down to and onto anchor the last mile or so. It took probably 15 minutes to go the last 100 yds.

We were the last sailboat on the water that still had the sails up. This X.....



...passed us on the outboard.

We enjoyed that afternoon......

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... -koot.html

.... as much as any other.

On Lake Powell...



...we also ended up sailing at times....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ll-09.html

...... with very little or no wind ( 1 1/2 miles in a day). Gives you a better chance to see the scenery...



c ya,

Sum

Our Trips to...

Our Mac Pages

Mac-Venture Links

[jschrade]

Just sailed in 5-8 kts last night and it was a wonderful sail. With the stock 150 Genoa, Main and my new bottom paint , I was able cruise along quite nicely averaging about 4 knots.

Sailed to windward with no problems and tacked with no issues. If this boat is moving at all it will tack.


Jim

[Freedom77]

Genoa is made for light air. Jib is for stronger breezes. Time and experience will tell you when to use what sail. I have a 180% drifter for light air on Lake Mead and a stock jib for white knuckle winds. Fair winds and Full sails... Old Salt.

[cbig]

Freedom-
We have a original 150 genoa we have not yet used, we just get impatient in light wind. Don't know how well we can get it to tack with that sail. As of now the boat has orig. sails, and will only hold about 50 deg or so up wind.

Lake Mead ... that's a place we're interested in trying out! That and Long Beach. We sail mostly out of Dana Point, a couple of times out of MDR, but seems to take too long there to get out in the open water... which is why we favor Dana Point.

How is the lake level?

[Scott]

Keep in mind that in light wind you need to loosen the foot and round out your sails.

On the main give the outhaul some slack and de-tension the leech lines. Give em both some extra sheet.

[Freedom77]

Hey Cbig: I've lived in Nevada for four decades. Home in Boulder City, best town by a dam site. Lake Mead is a great place to sail and camp. Plenty of sandy beaches. NO TREES. It can be a real challenge with total calm and gale force winds all on the same day. Best time to come up is May and October. In October the water temp is still 75+. Due to the long drought the lake is down to it's lowest point since the Hoover Dam was built. That being said it is still a pretty big pond. The upper and lower basins have almost as much shoreline as California has coast line. Have you considered Catalina. My wife and I used to drop anchor and spend a week there every year. we used to launch out of San Pedro. It's a long haul from Dana Point. In the early 70's we sailed from Newport to Dana Point when it was still new. There were no slips in the upper basin and we put out a bow hook and tied up stern first to the railing and spent two nights then sailed back to Newport. If you need info for Lake Mead let me know and I can send Natl Park Service stuff to you snail mail. Fair Winds and Full Sails... Old Salt.

[cbig]

Freedom-
Just spoke to my attorney buddy from Vegas. He thought the lake a good sail as well. We'll have to give that a shot when the weather and time permits. Thanksgiving weekend we have some time but I think the drive to and from Mead will eat a lot up. We'll stay close to home this time. Might have to give the genoa a try if the winds r sucking..

[gedaggett]

If you really want to learn sail trim sail in 5knt winds. You have to learn how to trim your rig and sails almost to perfection to get speed. It is easy to do 4knts in 15knt winds, but to do so in 5-8knt winds is a great challenge. that with the joy of needing to worry about standing the old girl on her ear or dipping the old spreader in the water. Any wind is good wind for me. Often times up here in Chicago it is feast or famine no in between. You sail in whatever you get (within reason of course)

Just my 2 cents

[Doug W]

At least half of our sailing through the summer was with in the 4-6 mph wind range. With a 150 Genoa, it's a fun yet lazy sail. According to my GPS, we can easily hit 4 mph while beating as long as I watch the trim and sail to the wind. In lighter winds and no particular destination, I tend to enjoy beating close hulled as it's more of a challenge to me.

We were in a race with a bunch of larger big-boy sailboats and in the first half of the race, we upheld MacGregor's honor and dignity while we had light 5-6 mph winds. Right as we were overtaking the lead boat, a fast 34' Hunter, the winds kicked up to 12-14 mph and all the larger boats walked away from us.



The 150 is great for light winds.

Doug
http://starsloop.blogspot.com/

[cbig]

Neat.
We have a 150 genoa - no furler, with the standard eyelets on deck, no tracks, anything like that. We'll have to give it a try. Sail came with the boat and the previous owner did not use it but once I think he said. Looks like a sloppy sail without the tracks to adjust for running close.

Have to give it a try before I badmouth it, yes?

In general we're pretty happy with the performance of the boat for what it is. Seems tough enough to take the 6-7 ft seas we ride in, trailers nice now and cost me 0 $ for the slip. (Driveway) 4 kts is OK in 6 mph wind if we can swing it. Here's a photo of these calm conditions... Wed. it was 6.5 ft seas..