jim anderson
New Member
So yesterday, Thanksgiving 2005, the Calhoun Yacht Club in Minneapolis attempted to host it's very informal Thanksgiving Day Regatta. Typical Thanksgiving Day weather in Minnesota is usually below freezing, often with ice beginning to form around the edges of the lakes. Yesterday was brutal, with temperature around fifteen degrees and winds at 15 to 20, gusting to 30+. The wind chill was about eight degrees below zero (Farenheit), and there were whitecaps just covering the leeward end of our lake, caking the beach with layers of ice. Five sailors showed up, and we all graciously declined on the opportunity to race. In conditions that cold your sheets freeze solid in about ten or fifteen minutes, and you can easily lose control of the boat. Plus I was worried about water spraying into my hull/deck joint and freezing, thus making it leaky.
But it brings me to two questions - First, what are some of the coldest conditions people have sailed Lasers in? I'm interested in the gory details (i.e. temps, windspeed, windchill factors, dates). Is there a coldest Laser Frostbite on record? Would attempting to set a record be stupid, akin to setting a record in sword-swallowing? (The Guiness book no longer accepts recod-attempts for sword swallowing because it's too dangerous)
The second question is, what will sailing in extremely cold conditions do to your boat? Is the hull/deck joint concern noted above a valid one? Does your mast step become brittle when the temperature drops? What else can happen?
I'm going to make a hot chocolate now and wait for your comments,
Jim
But it brings me to two questions - First, what are some of the coldest conditions people have sailed Lasers in? I'm interested in the gory details (i.e. temps, windspeed, windchill factors, dates). Is there a coldest Laser Frostbite on record? Would attempting to set a record be stupid, akin to setting a record in sword-swallowing? (The Guiness book no longer accepts recod-attempts for sword swallowing because it's too dangerous)
The second question is, what will sailing in extremely cold conditions do to your boat? Is the hull/deck joint concern noted above a valid one? Does your mast step become brittle when the temperature drops? What else can happen?
I'm going to make a hot chocolate now and wait for your comments,
Jim