[Rhodes22-list] Sailing with waves

[Andrew Collins]

Question for blue water and Great Lakes (maybe) sailors:

The day before Hanna, the one before Ike, was due to roll in, I took a sail
to try the boat out in unusual conditions. The wind was steady out of the
east at about 15-20 mph with rolling 5-6' swells 20' apart once out of port.
On LI Sound waves are uncommon, as it is usually only choppy. So going out
the tack was port on a reach and crossing the swells at less than 90 deg.
This was sailing into, up and over the swells, which was controllable, the
sails reefed to 50% area. Boom down, life jacket on, pulse up. The boat
behaved well. Upon approaching Payee Reach which gets more air and having to
cross a more shallow area the swells got larger as the bottom pushed them
up. So this got a little too exciting sooo, it was time to tack and turn
back. The wind was too stiff and the the swells enough so she wouldn't come
around, and I fell off to the former port tack.

Keeping a weather eye on the swells a quick jibe got me on a starboard tack
headed back towards port. So now we are sailing across and with 'down' the
swells, where before we were sailing 'up'. The boat is heeling to port and
when sailing down, the heeling is being accentuated by going downhill on an
angle across the swell, a new experience. This I did not like, so whenever
the boat started to head down a wave I fell off to brad reach and headed
straighter down the wave (closer to the fall line) and headed up again,
describing a zig-zag course. This I liked as there was a bit of surfing
involved. Having had my fun I headed home, where the first mate observed
that I looked a mite piqued.

What have other R22 sailors done in these circumstances, besides avoiding
them? In how much wind are you able to tack? My boat will tack up to about
20 mph, depending on the seas.

Andrew
s/v Carmen