Posted by pinksharkmark (196.27.27.71) on December 02, 2000 at 13:38:18:
In Reply to: almost 6 months posted by Miguel on December 01, 2000 at 23:27:09:
...Bjorn Dunkerbeck himself could not possibly deal with an 8.1 sail in 25 to 30 knots, bro. Not a question of grit or determination... the laws of physics will not allow it.
Where I live, no one would think of rigging anything bigger than a 4.5 camless sail on a day like that.... and where I live we sail in 85 to 90 degree air temp. Since the wind pressure is substantially higher at 45 degrees (air is denser at lower temps), your sail selection must be even smaller than what we would use in the tropics for winds of the same velocity.
Even if you weighed 600 pounds and could somehow hang on to the sail, you would either:
a) snap your mast
b) snap your boom
c) blow out several panels in the sail
d) all of the above
My advice... bring small sails with you and sail your butt off. If it is an honest 25 to 30 knots of wind at those temperatures you will have a whale of a time on a 4.0... trust me.
pinky