[Rhodes22-list] Sailing Backwards

[Bill Effros]

Um...Rummy,

I've sailed an R-22 backwards, and if backwards sailing was one of 
Stan's design goals, it is an area in which he has been least 
successful.  It's nothing like sailing a light boat backwards, I have 
never developed any significant speed, and as soon as you stop luffing, 
the boat takes off like a shot, forwards.  The trick is solely to get 
the bow pointed in the direction you want to go, with the sails on the 
side of the boat where you want them to be.

If you set the tension too high on the rudder kick up line, you can do 
the exact same damage to rudder, tiller, gudgeon, and pintel going forward.

If you hit bottom going backward you are more likely to stop (think Brad 
doing 1 kt) than to break things.  Most of us have occasion to motor 
backwards at a higher rate of speed than I have ever reached sailing 
backwards.

Bill Effros



R22RumRunner at aol.com wrote:

>Roger,
>Thanks for the explanation. Obviously I have never had that happen to me,  
>although plenty of other firsts have come my way. I also have a Hobie 16 and in  
>high winds sometimes I have gone backwards, but apparently the Hobie's twin  
>rudders react differently from the R22's.
>I usually end up going backwards if I have been to heavy handed on the  
>tiller and jam it hard over instead of easing it over in order to keep some hull  
>speed.
>Rummy
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