I agree, but my question was, is it possible under any combination of sail
for the boat to turn aft to wind while secured to a mooring. This is the
crux of my question. We do not want the boat to do so, but my friend feels
that it is possible and could be a hazard to other boats. I feel that it is
a physical impossibility for this to occur.


"truebs" wrote in message
...
This would be fun to watch. Assuming you arent in a heavy current, the
bow
will be facing the wind on a moring. Run up a spinaker in those
conditions
and you'll have a blast. The spinnaker will foul against the mast and
spreader and possibly tear.

"Blorgad" wrote in message
...
My friend and I are having a disagreement regarding the behaviour of
sailboats on a mooring. We both have limited sailing experience,
although
he
has a fair amount more than I. We were discussing running up a
spinnaker
at
mooring in calm air, just to practice putting it up. We eventually
concluded that this wasn't practical, but the argument came in as to our
our
different conclusions as to why it would not be. I felt that there
would
be
no point to put it up, as it would just get blown into the rigging and
not
really tell us anything and possibly get torn. He was of the opinion
that
somehow the spinnaker could push the boat to one side, fill and turn
the
boat around. Initially he said it would go right upwind of the mooring,
then reduced his claim to say that it would turn around at the point
where
it was attached to the line at the bow.

I am of the opinion that this is physically impossible and that under no
combination of sail at a mooring could the boat turn around so that the
aft
was upwind. I am of the opinion that you could get the boat to swing to
one
side or the other a bit by backing the jib, but you could still never
turn
the boat around.

I would gratefully accept as many informed opinions on this from a
sailing
or physics point of view.

Fair winds,
Miles