The Sea is Not Full by Charles J. Doane

Author:Charles J. Doane
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780998556512
Publisher: Seapoint Books
Published: 2018-08-06T00:00:00+00:00

The smoothest route through a field of waves, whether you’re going upwind or down, is a scalloped course that itself looks like a series of waves.

Sailing off the wind, to achieve the same result, you need to reverse the pattern. As a wave crest approaches the stern of your boat you should bear away a bit, and once the crest is past you should head up a little.

The end result in both cases is the same: at the wave crest the boat is depowered slightly, with the bow or stern closer to the eye of the wind; heading down into the trough the apparent wind angle is increased and the boat is more powered up. Sailing to windward this allows a boat to get over the top of each wave with less resistance and reduces the chance of it flying off crests and slamming down into troughs. Sailing off the wind it keeps the hull flatter as the wave crests approach, reduces torsional twist on the stern that can lead to a broach, and sets the boat up to perhaps surf down the front of the wave. Powering up the boat as it heads into the troughs in both cases increases control and speed, so you can more easily avoid obstacles and negotiate the next wave crest as it approaches.

The illustrations show a simplified view of wave-sculling courses upwind and downwind with the course adjustments exaggerated a bit for clarity. As a general rule, larger waves require larger corrections. In the real world wave patterns are also normally less organized, with two or more wave trains interacting with each other. Steering over or around offline waves, and of course avoiding breaking waves when possible, will require additional course adjustments.

Another factor not accounted for in the drawings is surfing downwind, which is where the fun and exhilaration comes in. This happens to some extent even in a traditional heavy-displacement boat, but is more common when sailing in more modern light-displacement boats with shallow bilges. Once a hull breaks loose and starts surfing down a wave, you are basically riding the wave crest and you’ll feel a very satisfying and thrilling acceleration. This is when a boat most readily exceeds its theoretical hull speed, and the lighter the boat the more excessive its speed will be. On many boats you will simply maintain course while surfing and then head up a bit after the crest passes to set up for the next wave. On faster boats you may want to head up a bit while surfing to make up for the loss of apparent wind speed and to keep the boat surfing longer.

The best helmspeople automatically scull waves as they steer a boat through heavy seas. They feel the boat under them as they steer and instinctively head up and bear away as waves pass beneath them, whether they are conscious of what they are doing or not. Even if you are not a naturally talented helmsperson, however, you can learn to

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