Sailing the Quba

[khiemtran]

A rare video of me sailing taken from outside the boat. It's so much easier to sail a singlehander when you're not the one holding the camera...

Some things to watch for... At the start of the video, I'm in the middle of a tack and you can see I'm moving to get my weight onto the port side of the boat. Once I've completed the tack, I've pulled in the sails and hiked out (leant backwards) and now I'm trying to sail as close to the wind as possible. Looking at the video, I keep wincing as I see how much the boat is heeling (leaning) - I thought I was keeping it flatter than that.

Also, you can see that even though the boat is heeling, I could still be hiked out much further than I am. As I noted earlier, most novices will capsize before they'll hike out all the way. The elite sailors will have their backs horizontal.

The wind was only about ten knots, but it felt like I was flying. This is a great little boat to sail.

Comments

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

It looks like you are flying, too, especially when you are coming toward the camera at the beginning.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's one of the fun things about little boats - even five or six knots feels very fast because you're so close to the water.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow, you're going so fast! And you're so agile! Very impressed. (And wow, the sound of the wind!)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I was probably going no faster than a car in a parking lot, but it felt quite fast because I was so close to the water. I took a friend out for a sail today in Shearwater, and he remarked that the Mirror seemed much faster than the boats he was used to, even though we were probably going much slower - it was just that the little boat was smashing through the waves and making lots of spray.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

That's true; on the road, too, it feels faster in a small car with bad suspension :-P