Tybee 500 pictures and what can we learn?

Technical discussion of ARC products
Post Reply
Bill Roberts
Expert
Posts: 515
Joined: November 17th, 2003, 9:13 pm
Location: Stuart, Florida

Tybee 500 pictures and what can we learn?

Post by Bill Roberts »

The only pictures available from the race, Tybee 500, were of boats sailing out through the surf and returning in through the surf. A few boats had problems. WHY???
Here's what I saw of boats sailing "out" through the surf: (1) When sailing out through surf in shallow water, rudders up, the boat must be steered with the sails. This is acheived by sailing on 100% of the jib and 30% to 50% of the main. If you pull the main in tighter than this, the boat rounds up, goes into irons and the next wave pushes the boat backwards toward the beach totally out of control. If one or more rudders has been put down, it is likely to be broken off as the waves push the boat back into shallow water.
(2) Get your weight forward! I mean extreme forward, skipper up by the main beam and crew in front of the main beam. This minimizes the wave force to stand the boat on its transom and push the boat back to the beach. Weight as far forward as possible holds the bows down and minimizes the hull drag as the hulls punch through a surf/waves. This need to move weight forward punching out through the surf brings forward a problem for the skipper. If the rudder system is actuated by pumping the tiller up and down, then the skipper has to stay in the back/aft in the boat which is a comprimise to moving the skippers weight forward. These rudder systems also do not support the rudder in a partially down position and often lead to breakage in severe conditions. The rope actuated rudder systems which support the rudder in all positions were designed for sailing through the surf. The abbreviated rudder head systems with the up and down tiller actuation systems are designed for flat water and deep water starts.
What I saw of boats sailing "in" through the surf: When sailing in to a beach through the surf, always position your boat on the backside of the wave immediately in front of you and ride the backside of that wave to the beach. Slow down a little if you have to. Keep your weight aft, both sailors near the rear beam. Never position your boat just in front of a wave. That wave is going to get taller as it comes to shallow water and it is going to come up behind you and stand your boat on its nose just as you hit the beach, sand. Hull designs with vertical stems will dig/bury into the sand and with the boat still moving forward and digging deeper, lookout pitchpole/turnover/turn sideways/ etc. Hull designs with more rounded stems/bows tend to slide up the beach when they hit sand but those hull designs with a vertical stem and a sharp corner where the stem and hull meet tend to dig in to the sand and stop abruptly.
In Summary: FORM IS STILL FUNCTION even where the hull hits the sand.
Bill
Post Reply