Videos of trying to find the right speed and trim for best speed upwind in the Oz Goose in big waves and wind – also a graphic example of depowering a lug by reducing the downhaul tension and what that looks like.

The first question: How Does the Oz Goose handle big waves?

On looking at the wide flat bow and the flat bottom I can understand why this is a common question. We have a specific article on this – but this article is more about the technique of sailing fast in those conditions.

As we sail the Oz Geese in any weather for our regular racing. We have found out some boat specific tricks.

how to keep the bow out of the waves

how to depower the sail using the downhaul

These tricks will largely apply to the whole duck family including the OzRacer.

First establish the normal wind sitting position for the Oz Goose

When sailing in moderate conditions we sit near the buttstrap on the floor that joins the two pieces of bottom ply together – red rectangle in the drawing below. It does make us sit a long way further back than most boats, but it is where the maximum volume is. Call it the “standard position”.

Generally we sail with only small amounts of heel, but it does mean that any wave impact makes light spray visible above the bow at the leeward side.

If we see spray a couple of times a minute – then we are in the right place.

But if the spray appears every few seconds then we are too far forward. Move back 75mm (3″) and observe again. Repeat as necessary. If you follow the instructions below it may be possible to move forward again. As you should do if the water becomes a bit flatter.

How to keep the Oz Goose Nose out Of the Waves.

To Keep the bow of the Oz Goose out of the waves is easy… … sail the boat fast upwind!

Ok … here is the explanation – it comes down to the shape of the bottom of the Oz Goose.

The bottom of the OzGoose hull has a lot of curvature at the back of the boat. This is a drawing of the earliest version.

The means as the boat goes faster the back of the boat gets sucked down – making the bow move up higher.

GPS measurements a year ago we were sailing upwind at around 4+ knots.

Now in the same conditions when the wind is strong enough for the crew to hike out we are going upwind at around 5 knots. This is possible because we are no longer pointing the boats up in the gusts.

We just use the upwind ease the sheet technique – this gives you much higher average speeds. We no longer luff in gusts. The ease sheet method means sailing in strong winds with less effort. It is always easy to ease the sheet with the gusts then pull it in to balance the boat. Pointing up is much much slower so reaction is not fast enough.

Sailing faster keeps the bow up higher. Boat is moving right along, bow is up and in the time of the video it only hits one wave. And there are big waves out there- racing was cancelled. Thanks to Thom Kleiss for pulling his phone out of his pocket at the right time.

This next video shows much the same thing with more moderate waves. The bow comes up once there is speed.

Also the acceleration and speed available through keeping the boat flat purely by using the sheet. That way the boat accelerates with every gust rather than slowing down, hitting waves and making more leeway.

Boatmik and Paulo in Oz Goose Sailboats coaching day TLYC

Watch this video on YouTube

Now about depowering a lugsail in extreme conditions. Drastic method.

We have written about how a particular crease a lug sail is created by not having enough downhaul tension … … in more extreme conditions maybe less power is not a bad thing

In light, moderate and strong winds when good progress is possible a crease like this will rob your boat of performance.

That crease (in this case a modest one) acts as a hinge. The triangle of the sail below and in front of the crease in normal trim. And the rest of the sail falling off/twisting.

The problem is overdoing it as the boat will have a looser luff which makes it hard to get upwind.

In this fuzzy video you can see the hinge effect fairly clearly. Note how the lower triangle remains fixed but the upper sail twists.

Sail Twist on lug with reduced downhaul

Watch this video on YouTube

Problems with the loose downhaul method

Having the downhaul too loose is a disaster if you need to go upwind.

For maximum power we tighten the downhaul to extreme tension. Really grunt it down.

This is a very slight loosening of the downhaul from the extreme high tension. The crease will not immediately appear. This is because it depends on the mainsheet tension to be applied.

It can be checked by pulling on the mainsheet and seeing if the crease appears at moderate mainsheet tension.

Storer Boat Plans including the Oz Goose

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