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 as possible on this from
a sailing or physics point of view.

Fair winds,
Miles

the argument came in as to our our
different conclusions as to why it would not be.

Well, this is a real duh.....your boat points into the wind on a
mooring....so you run up your chute and let it out....you now have one
useless shredded piece of spinnaker....even if you did get your boat turned
around the other way, then you become a hazard to anyone moored near you.
Our mooring balls are set so that the boats all swing equidistant from each
other...you start one swinging in the wrong way and possibly dragging and
you're really going to have a mess and possibly a very not-nice visit from
your neighbors. To sail off your mooring ball, you raise your main, hold
your rudder over hard making sure you have a good grip on the mainsheet, and
sail off.....when you have room to maneuver, that's when you decide what
else you're going to do....
--
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein



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On Sun, 4 Jul 2004 11:37:52 -0300, "Blorgad"
wrote this crap:

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 as possible on this from
a sailing or physics point of view.

You are correct. A boat on a mooring ball always points into the
wind. No combination of sails will change that. The only way you
could change that is to attach the mooring ball to a stern line.

I have found that it's easier to grab a mooring ball by backing up to
it, with someone standing on the swim platform.





Pathetic Earthlings! No one can save you now!

I have found that it's easier to grab a mooring ball by backing up to
it, with someone standing on the swim platform.

That's so dumb it begs a kick in the rear....it is not difficult to catch a
mooring ball from the bow or from amidhips....if you got some crew that knew
what they were doing you wouldn't have these problems....

--
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein



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You misunderstand. The question is, is it possible, under any combination
of sail, to turn the aft of the boat to windward while at a mooring fixed to
the bow? As I reported we had both concluded that running up the spinnaker
in that case was not a good idea. My reasoning is your first reason, a
spinnaker piling up in the rigging. My friends concern was that it was
possible to turn the boat around and as you mentioned, become a hazard to
other boats. We were not wanting to nor considering turning the boat around,
I contend that that is a physical imposibility.


"katysails" wrote in message
...

the argument came in as to our our
different conclusions as to why it would not be.

Well, this is a real duh.....your boat points into the wind on a
mooring....so you run up your chute and let it out....you now have one
useless shredded piece of spinnaker....even if you did get your boat
turned
around the other way, then you become a hazard to anyone moored near you.
Our mooring balls are set so that the boats all swing equidistant from
each
other...you start one swinging in the wrong way and possibly dragging and
you're really going to have a mess and possibly a very not-nice visit from
your neighbors. To sail off your mooring ball, you raise your main, hold
your rudder over hard making sure you have a good grip on the mainsheet,
and
sail off.....when you have room to maneuver, that's when you decide what
else you're going to do....
--
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.712 / Virus Database: 468 - Release Date: 6/27/2004

"Horvath" wrote in message
| I have found that it's easier to grab a mooring ball by backing up to
| it, with someone standing on the swim platform.

Bwahahahahahahaaaaaa..... that alone says volumes about your lack of skills
Horvat.

CM

What kind of sail boat?
What kind of sail configuration?
Might be possible on a Hobie!

On a mast head sloop...... NO!

........caveat is no auxilliary assistance of course.

BTW - your friend isn't as experienced as he believes!

CM


"Blorgad" wrote in message
| The question is, is it possible, under any combination
| of sail, to turn the aft of the boat to windward while at a mooring fixed
to
| the bow?

On a calm day, you could fly it. It would only work
if you attached the mooring pennant to the stern of
the boat. The bow would have to face downwind.

Blorgad wrote
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 as possible on this
from
a sailing or physics point of view.

Fair winds,
Miles

Hi Bart senior,

Please read the letter again. The question is not how do we fly a spinnaker
while moored, but rather is it at all possible for a bow-moored boat to be
be turned around by a spinnaker, or any other combination of sails for that
matter, so that the aft end travels upwind?


"Bart Senior" wrote in message
t...
On a calm day, you could fly it. It would only work
if you attached the mooring pennant to the stern of
the boat. The bow would have to face downwind.

Blorgad wrote
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 as possible on this
from
a sailing or physics point of view.

Fair winds,
Miles

What not transfer your anchor warp to the stern?

Cheers

Blorgad wrote:

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 as possible on this from
a sailing or physics point of view.

Fair winds,
Miles