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Joe's Story by Joe Warren No sucking for us There were more than 2 Lightnings out on Sunday--14037 also was. We left after lunch giving the wind more time to come up. Jeff's comments were surprisingly appropriate. Let me explain, but I promise this missive will be only half the length of Jeff's dissertation. Jeff — just what were you consuming out there? Jeff analyzed the tradeoff (an economist's term) between where you sit (including the weight you have) and the stern wave. And he thinks three folks causes a big stern wave. We may not have broken new ground sailing in 8-11 kt. winds, but came close. You see, there were 5 people in 14037 for an end-of season sail, for a total of just less than 800 lbs. My regular crew of Tarey Lea, Mike Scott, Kevin Webb and Mike's lady friend Olivia and I set sail just after 1:30 for the Anacostia and Nationals Stadium. I could talk about how we retrieved that main halyard that disconnected when the main was most of the way up. In fact, I will because I'm almost as good at literary Stream of Consciousness as Jeff. (Olivia did you get picture of Tarey standing on Kevin's shoulders?) Folks on a nearby Flying Scot were so amazed they took a picture. But, back to the main story. You would think that we would have REALLY sucked. But we didn't, not in the usual way. On the way up river the only difference was that a 1,500 lb. boat and crew behaved more like a J-22. The boat responded a little slower to the wind changes, but kept moving well through the lulls. It became more stable than with three on board since the boat was lower in the water. Unfortunately, we didn't succeed in getting to the South Capitol St. Bridge--our wind was blocked by two buildings. The real physics entered the picture on the way back. Winds had increased to about 11 kt and we had a nearly perfect beam reach all the way back using the inside channel. In fact it took only 20 minutes to get from Haines point to the end of the airport approach lights. Just about as fast as I have ever done this in only 11 kts. --we hit at least 6 kts. How is this possible with so much weight? Yes, we did create a big stern wave, as most of the weight was aft of the mainsheet cleat. The bow was up and the stern low--we even took water through the bailer doors. But, there was no stern wave trap. The spinnaker--it was sucking as well as pushing. The wind was flowing fast around the front of the spinnaker, just like an airplane wing--especially those very rounded wings on a Piper Cub that I have flown in--literally pulling the boat forward. And we got the same effect with the main. The boat seemed like it wanted to surf, but too much weight. It was a beautiful day, and one to remember. No debris at the launch docks or in the river. The high pressure moving in didn't pay attention to the marine forecast of 5 kt and the Weather Channel's "light and variable." A wonderful day--all of us appreciated this. On the Potomac there are many frustrating days. Sunday was not one of them. Best regards to skippers and crew, Joe P.S. A man was so impressed with seeing five adults on a Lightning he asked me for information. I told him about our website and to check the boats for sale.
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