Umm....Is my knotmetter working correctly?

[ignacio]

I just got my first sail in after being hauled out for 2 weeks. The bottom was prepped and painted. Yesterday I sailed in the slot at slack tide and a few miles east of Racoon Strait. I was generally in the 7+ knot range, and frequently at over 8 knots without surfing waves. Max speed while on a broad reach in the slot was 9.3 knots surfing on a wave. Of course, this is what my knotmeter was telling me, which is a little old. I hand't reached these speeds before.

Hull speed on the E35-II is supposed to be just under 7 knots. So was I really going 8+ knots regularly without surfing down waves? I had a single reef with a 95% jib. Winds were 15 knots, gusting to 19.

 

[Seth]

Could be close

It sounds a little high, but not much. The boat is certainly capable of these speeds, and remember-"hull speeds" do not mean much under sail. Most modern designs exceed this number easily and often.

Do you have a GPS? That would certainly help figure it out as long as you are not in any current. The best thing is to run a measured mile (of which there should be one on your local chart somewhere), and see what the error is.

Will the boat sail at over 7 knots in 15-19 knots of breeze? For sure.

Good sailing!