So I just took Fosters directional control in wind class …and what I got was to go perpendicular to the wind …moon downwind (lock your stern in). I tried that in a chatham 18 and it worked well.
… so today I was at a 45% angle into the wind and tried the same thing with my own boat …being the island qaarsut … and it did not work at all … I had to keep on doing sweeps and it was really turning into the wind at an alarming rate if I stopped with the sweeps and just did the forward stroke. Then to test something out …I turned the boat to 90 degrees from the wind and tried to keep a heading using the locked stern mechanism and that did not work either.
So what am I doing wrong here? What should I be watching for etc.
Thanks.
-Assad
locked stern mechanism??
lock stern
When you are going perpendicular to the wind, your boat has a tendency to turn into the wind. What this means is that your stern (which is in the low pressure area) want to slide out … downwind. You edge into the wind … this causes your stern to lift up on to the downwind side making it harder for the sliding to happen since the water will just bunch up and prevent the stern from sliding any further.
OK…
Why not deploy a little skeg and forget the gymnastics?
Could be your boat
Different boats respond differently to wind and waves. I have not paddled your boat but I have paddled boats that weather cocked horribly in wind and could not be corrected by edging. They are what I would call “rudder dependent” or “skeg dependent”.
skeg
Boat has no skeg. And others why I have casually met who own the boat say the boat does not weathercock all that much.
curmudgeon call …
Call me an old curmudgeon, but it seems to me that if the wind is blowing so hard that you are having difficulty maintaining your course and need to resort to “tricks” to steer your boat, you probably
should consider getting off the water before conditions deteriorate further.
Most of those old codgers sipping their drinks on the yacht club porch are only able to sit there because they learned at an earlier age that although winds and waves can be fun to play with, they also have a dark side which should be respected, preferably from a safe – and dry – distance.
how you going to develop good judgment
… and skills from the dock? Careful and considered experimenting around your own edges is a good thing. Just my two cents.
I have had that same class at previous
symposiums.
You only edge the boat when it starts to weathercock. If you are not weathercocking, and you lean into the wind, you boat will turn downwind or leecock.
The amount of edging you do is strictly dependent on how much your boat is weathercocking. If the wind isn’t strong enough to blow your stern downwind in your particular boat, than don’t worry about it.
weathercocking
"You only edge the boat when it starts to weathercock. If you are not weathercocking, and you lean into the wind, you boat will turn downwind or leecock."
…ahem …well thats why I was edging. And I was turning INTO the wind …even whilst edging.
-a
One review
"With the lack of a flippy down skeg in beam seas and beam wind the Qaarsut weathercocks quite a bit but you can resolve this by using good edging technique which in the Qaarsut is easy to learn as it has amazing secondary stability, so when edging to counter act against weather cocking the boat just sits on its flats as it is a chine boat. I noticed when the Qaarsut is fully loaded you need to edge it a lot more than you do when its empty sometimes you need to edge it until water is 3 inches on your spraydeck!!! But when you do need to edge it that much it stays stable and doesn’t have a tendency to tip you in, but if you lean to much you will eventually need to support or at worst get WET!!!"
Sounds like it is part boat and part technique. The boat tends to weathercock a lot and you need to edge a lot to control it.
and here’s my dollar’s worth …
This question comes up all the time in the sailing community.
“But we need to practice in heavy weather” say the young and eager.
It’s a compelling argument, but sadly, it is essentially a rationalization for doing what one wants to do, but knows they probably shouldn’t do.
The problem with “practicing” in heavy weather is three-fold:
#1 - By choosing to go out when your instincts tell you that you should not go out puts you and your boat at a greater risk;
#2 - No amount of practice can replace the near-instantaneous learning curve that adrenaline-laced fear provides – so you’re just wasting your time; and,
#3 - By practicing in heavier weather you raise your comfort level. While this may sound good, it does have a huge downside as an increased comfort level makes you less risk averse. By that I mean that if you hadn’t “practiced” in 20 mph winds there’s no way you’d choose to go out or stay out when it’s blowing 25 mph and by going out when it’s blowing at 25 mph increases the chances you may have to deal with 35+ mph winds. Now, if you had never practiced – or had learned by the fear method outlined above in #2 – you wouldn’t be anywhere near the water when the wind speed hits 35 mph.
The best thing one can do to prepare themselves for heavy weather is to master their boat handling skills under normal conditions (and this includes learning how to read and forecast your local weather).
Then, when the time comes – and it will – that one gets caught out on the water in severe conditions, an experienced skipper will rise to the challenge of heavy weather and get off the water safely and in a timely manner.
But then again, I’m in the minority on this board when it comes to risk-taking. I don’t know if my risk aversion comes from rescuing way too many risk-averse boaters in my younger Coast Guard days; or maybe it’s because I routinely got the proverbial shit kicked out of me going out in crappy weather to save those same risk-averse boaters; or whether it is the fact that I like to enjoy myself when I’m on the water and I really can’t say that I find stress a positive contributor to enjoyment.
good points,
especially,
“#2 - No amount of practice can replace the near-instantaneous learning curve that adrenaline-laced fear provides – so you’re just wasting your time;”
Next time I teach a rolling class I will definetely use it 
And, frankly, I always suspected that practice of any sort is just a scam…
Try some ballast
I’ve found that most kayaks will respond favorably to a little weight in the stern if weathercocking is an issue.
It can be as simple as putting all your day gear in the rear hatch, or as much as a 2-liter bottle of water, depending on your boat.
My Caribou was skegless until about a year ago, and I used the ballast method all the time, and it worked very well. I carried an empty 2 liter soda bottle, and would fill it with seawater when needed, and always had all my day gear in the rear hatch.
Give it a try, and see how it works.
Wayne
yea #2 is full of wisdom
– Last Updated: Apr-06-07 12:37 PM EST –
... the kind that makes an inexperienced rescuee try to drown his would-be rescuer.
# 1 is gold too. It's just a shame no one suggested going out against one's own instincts.
Apparently I need help deciphering the last paragraph though: "But then again, I'm in the minority on this board when it comes to risk-taking. I don't know if my risk aversion comes from rescuing way too many risk-averse boaters in my younger Coast Guard days; or maybe it's because I routinely got the proverbial shit kicked out of me going out in crappy weather to save those same risk-averse boaters."
It would make more sense if he had not just elevated the "risk averse."
I’m not familiar with your boat,
but you stated that others who own the same boat say that it does not weathercock very much. That would indicate that there is either a flaw in the boat or your technique needs to be corrected.
Usually I find that it is my technique that needs the work and not my boat’s (gr). Are you possibly putting a sweep component into your stroke on one side? Do you have too much weight forward in the boat?
Hard to tell what’s happening without actually seeing you paddle. You might want to have a knowledgeable friend critique you when you start weather cocking.
Caribou Skeg
Wayne,
Did you install the skeg yourself or have it done somewhere? We have a Sparrow Hawk that could use a skeg. Do you have any recommendations?
-Nancy
jarraa,
Did you have a post of yours in this thread deleted? I’d had posted on this thread beneath a different poster that you, the OP, and now my post is gone and I believe you had replied to me and it looks like your post is gone.
Apparently, when someone deletes their post, replies to that post are deleted as well–this from an email from Brent. Not cool that a poster can end up deleting content other than their own. Is their a way to change this, Brent?
Reconstruction of yesterday’s post:
I’d mentioned that edging down on the side beam on to the wind is what the OP was doing/trying to do to lock the boat in place, which I thought usually worked, to a degree at least, to correct weathercocking.
I’d also mentioned a new technique I’d recently learned but hadn’t had time to practice much with which dealt with turning in wind. Essentially, you adjust weight fore or aft in boat by leaning combined with stroking more fore or aft to affect turning in wind. The idea being that the wind will blow downwind the lightest end of the boat (notwithstanding gear on deck, boat ‘balance’ in wind).
Instructor had said it best by saying that if you want to turn into the wind, you lean forward and stroke more towards the bow and that if you want to turn downwind that you should lean backward and stroke more towards the stern. I’d wondered if jarraa had inadvertently been doing one or the other resulting in his turning as he wasn’t expecting.
I also had mentioned that my understanding was that this priciple became more important as wind speed increased.
And, I’d asked how jarraa’s boat was trimmed due to loading, etc. that might affect how it would behave in wind and if any of our more ‘senior’ posters could comment on this technique and if it might have affected jarraa’s situation.
Waiting to get deleted…
the joys of youth
The mere fact that the two of you [suiram and clarion] have chosen to personally belittle me instead of engaging in and furthering any discussion speaks volumes.
Apparently you heard the message and didn’t like it so you’re making fun of the messenger to make yourselves feel better.
It’s a common behavior trait amongst young and immature teenaged boys and I want you to know that I understand your frustrations.
And it’s okay with me if having a little fun at my expense makes you feel better.
The good news is that I just checked my watch and there is still time for you two to grow up!
deleted
my post about edging when the fella seemed to discount edging and wanted advice from “the board elders” or some such nonsense. figured if he wasn’t listening then he could sort it out for himself.
your post was below mine. sorry for the confusion.