As far as the boat holding up, the Sunfish is a sturdy little thing. I have read about people breaking the mast in heavy winds though.
For a Sunfish, that means you'll see whitecaps on the water—which is great sailing. When the wind blows the whitecaps off the waves, you've got your hands full!Our general rule for sailing has been 1 foot of boat per knot of wind
Place the boom on your shoulder when you pull on the halyard, then sail to the lee of shore or an island to secure it exactly where you need it.My wife says she has done it and wouldn't (again), esp in high winds. Takes some upper body strength and coordination to duck the flapping sail/spar.
I also installed a mast cleat, and I really like it for the most part.I installed a mast cleat last year. It makes it much easier to secure the halyard while on the water.
Still learning the terms..... I knew I had a 50% chance of getting it right. Batting .500 in some sports is pretty good, but probably not so good in sailing.I think you mean push the boom to leeward. If you push it to windward you will have big time trouble!
I took my sailing in Auckland last month with my friends, It was an very difficult experience where we got stuck by heavy winds which made us difficult to saild the way. I cannot forget that incident and experience.
Agreed—but steering capability is not lost. There could be more points-of-sail available than straight downwind.You can certainly go downwind under a bare pole, or no pole at all, but you can't go upwind. You need a sail for that. BB
check the weather reports religiously before you head out to sail. both read the forecast and check the radar map. I imagine kansas is a little like inland texas where i am. there aren't really "surprise" storms that come out of nowhere like when you're near the coast or great lakes. It should be very predictable.This brings up a related issue I have wondered about. Last summer I left my Sunfish at home to travel to a bigger lake for an outing with a friend on his boat. We arrived just as a major storm, unexpected, moved through. Major wind blew up on the lake. As we drove into the dock parking lot, a handful of sailers were arriving to dock soaking wet from rain. Luckily, there were no capsizes, but stories ensued of how each survived what appeared 50+ mph wind. The storm promptly moved out and we had a beautiful afternoon on his sailboat. My question is, what is the approach in a Sunfish if I suddenly find myself in that situation? Drop the sail and hold on?