INVESTIGATOR 563

today i hit my limit, that's right.
i was out in moreton bay with wife and one of the kids,
we did well going out the boat leaning over nicely, storm jib on and full main speed about 5 knots.
The wind was Southerly 15 to 20 knots, seas 1 to 1.5 metres.
As we came around the point at Scarborugh the wind hit 25 knots, reaching 30 knots at times,
the sea started to become short 1.8 meter waves, and there is a small reef you have to get around to come back in to the main shipping lane.

well as i started to go around the reef, the wind was facing right at the boat
so i could only tact to port, where as starboard i would have said hello to the reef.
this made the waves hit near the cockpit on a beam reach.

that was my limit, so i turned the boat around which was a bit of fun:) ,
and started back on the 2 hour sail back to the dock . all in all, a good sail.
on the way back i could see the rain coming in behind us, the wave picking our boat up and giving it a push along all the way back.

have you found your limit? please share.

Once the wind gets past 20 knots it pays to reef the main, as the boat becomes more balanced. Less heel also helps to go to windward.

I wrote about a hairy time doing a Queenscliff to Geelong race in 2010. Suggest a search.

Yara50 wrote:Once the wind gets past 20 knots it pays to reef the main, as the boat becomes more balanced. Less heel also helps to go to windward.

going out again in the same weather on Sunday 29th
20-30 knot winds i will reef the main and let you know how it go,s
if it hits 35 knots i am going home i have to see how she handles

Well I took her out and I had a blown tire on the way there,
I hated that bit.
The wind was 26 knots going out of the river so we had the storm jib and two reefs in the main,
we had an incoming tide, so waves were going in the opposite direction to the wind
made it very choppy.
As I got out in to Moreton bay, winds jump up to 30 knots,
the spray was hitting the bow and getting me wet in the cockpit. You know you are always on the tiller
in high winds like that. No time to rest.
The sea jumped up to about 1.8m with white caps and was it fun? Hell no!!
I didn't know how to control a boat in this weather before, but I've got a good handle on it now.
The boat lets you know very quickly what to do.
Soon the wind jumped to 32 knots and I headed back in.
Some of the waves from behind us got close to coming in the boat, but none did. The boat didn't broach and was very stable.
Once I was back in the river and the sea calmed down, but not the wind. I anchored off a boy in the river and wrapped all the sails up, and then me and the family turned on some music and had a rest as the wind howled 30 to 44 knots.
This morning the coast guard put out a high wind warning, and I probably should have listened lol. We slept for about 50 mins before going back to the dock.
So I guess it's a trade off, you get to experience what it's like in the investigator even if it's bad on your nerves
I feel that 32 knots of wind and 1.8m short waves is safe in the investigator but not exactly pleasant.