One day afternoon sailing with the pod on the Petaluma River the wind
freshened (a lot) and became guite gusty. I came around too quickly from a
broad reach into a close reach, broached and got hit by a gust at the same
time and suddenly had my port rail under water. It was a horrifying sight -
I mean like water was pouring over the rail into the cokpit! I "went for
the high rail", "eased the main sheet" (boy that's an understatement). Lo
and behold, she responded. I sailed to the bank, dropped sail and bailed
out about half a foot well of water.
Frankly, I was amazed the boat recovered - and I don't want to push the
envelope that far ever again - but she did revover. I don't know what was
the angle of heel, but you can look at your boat and figure out at what
angle would the length of the rail be buried.
The capsizing and safety issues aside, the other issue is where does the
Potter sail best, that is where are her best sailing lines, and the
consensus seems to be around 10 or 15 degrees, or "on her feet". Beyond
that I think she begins to drag water and go not faster but less
comfortably. Hope this helps.
Lee Page in Sacramento, CA
WWP #602, "Archaeopteryx"
---------
From: Doug Jones <djones@turbotek.net>
To: wwpotter@tscnet.com
Subject: P14 Heeling
Date: Thursday, August 20, 1998 8:53 PM
Hello:
was hoping someone had some ideas on the maximum heel of a P14 before
capsizing is likely. I have often heard that 10 degrees of heel is best
for performance, but nothing about at what point is too much. I imagine
that there are many variables to take into account with this question that
I'm not aware of. (I'm not even really sure why a sailboat sails...) When
I sail my Potter close hauled, I always get scared at around 15 degrees of
heel and try to fall off. Am I being overly cautious? I have sailed a
number of rounded bottomed boats that never seem to go over (barring a wave
and a gust) but I'm not familar with the more flat bottomed Potter. I love
to hear any "heeling" stories.
Thanks
Doug
P14 588
"Sputnik"