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You have not sailed anything that will make 20 knots almost directly into a 10 knot wind. You may well have sailed a multihull that makes 20 knots on a reach o

You have not sailed anything that will make 20 knots almost directly into a 10 knot wind. You may well have sailed a multihull that makes 20 knots on a reach or broad reach with a 10 knot wind. And when it did that the apparent wind would be at best 20 degrees off the bow.

Maursault 4y ago
I have indeed sailed 20kt close-hauled into a 10kt wind, and I don't believe the feat is all that incredible. But incredibly, I was on the crew that built the 35' racing cat (iirc John Marples' open salon design) that doubles wind speed (depending on conditions) in nearly any tack. Took 2 years (all wood hulls plus glass and snot), and I consider it a sabbatical from sysadmining. I was in the best shape of my life due to manually longboarding the hulls 5 days a week, fulltime, for 3 months straight, because I really had no shop skills, still don't. But I learned to screw, glass and snot, and bump and grind, and I especially learned how to longboard a hull. I already knew how to sail. Used to swim like a fish, but discovered during those 2 years that I had forgotten how to swim, and I nearly drown in the marina trying to swim across it. Maybe it was because when I learned to swim I was a little chubby, not much, but when I attempted that, idk, 150 yard swim across the marina... and back after a rest (getting back in after nearly drowning was about impossible, but there was no other way back), I did not have an ounce of fat on me, so I had to work a lot harder to keep my head above water. Scariest thing ever, the rational concern that I might drown for being an idiot. Thinking more about it, water also moves a boat. Imagine a fast river flowing right into the wind, and you can sail a boat without sails at 20kt into a 10kt wind, that is, if the water is moving at 20kt. But that is a cheat, so all I can do is reassure you that a racing multihull can gracefully move into the wind on calmish water twice as fast as the wind itself.

Maursault 4y ago

I have indeed sailed 20kt close-hauled into a 10kt wind, and I don't believe the feat is all that incredible. But incredibly, I was on the crew that built the 35' racing cat (iirc John Marples' open salon design) that doubles wind speed (depending on conditions) in nearly any tack. Took 2 years (all wood hulls plus glass and snot), and I consider it a sabbatical from sysadmining. I was in the best shape of my life due to manually longboarding the hulls 5 days a week, fulltime, for 3 months straight, because I really had no shop skills, still don't. But I learned to screw, glass and snot, and bump and grind, and I especially learned how to longboard a hull. I already knew how to sail. Used to swim like a fish, but discovered during those 2 years that I had forgotten how to swim, and I nearly drown in the marina trying to swim across it. Maybe it was because when I learned to swim I was a little chubby, not much, but when I attempted that, idk, 150 yard swim across the marina... and back after a rest (getting back in after nearly drowning was about impossible, but there was no other way back), I did not have an ounce of fat on me, so I had to work a lot harder to keep my head above water. Scariest thing ever, the rational concern that I might drown for being an idiot. Thinking more about it, water also moves a boat. Imagine a fast river flowing right into the wind, and you can sail a boat without sails at 20kt into a 10kt wind, that is, if the water is moving at 20kt. But that is a cheat, so all I can do is reassure you that a racing multihull can gracefully move into the wind on calmish water twice as fast as the wind itself.