Mooie beschrijving is te vinden in:
THE CRUISE OF THE KATE by E.E. Middleton
The extraordinary story of the first Single-Handed circumnavigation of England.(1870, boek is digitaal wel te vinden, even je google pakken)
Hieronder een lang citaat.
The amount of canvas to be carried was a most important question. The practice-boat had a seventeen foot mainsail with reefs three feet apart. I noticed that when double reefed in a breeze she had hardly enough sail, but the single reef was too much. Five from seventeen leaves twelve, which was about what the boat could bear in a strong breeze. 'The Kate' I knew would be a much stiffer boat, and so I determined the hoist of the mainsail should be thirteen feet, which, with a jib of the same hoist, and a large mizen, would be as much sail as could be carried in a fresh breeze ; and I have often had cause to congratulate myself that I had no more. The boat required a very great deal more in light airs, especially aloft; as my flag would sometimes blow out strongly when the sails were nearly becalmed. I can say nothing of the sailing of the boat in light airs—for instance, a two pound breeze—for then a mainsail of twenty feet hoist, cutter-rigged, over the stern a long jib-boom, with a powerful jib, converting the present one into a foresail, is about what the boat could carry. I imagine with that canvas it would be hard to beat, for when the breeze freshens, to suit the present amount of sail, it forges ahead at a great pace, and lies very close to the wind. A seaway is necessary to bring out all the sailing qualities; the motion is then beautiful and easy, without any of the awkward plunging of sharp-built boats—in fact it is my belief that 'The Kate' would drown most racing-boats of the day, especially when running either across a sea or dead before it. The model is so perfect, that seas have no chance of coming on board, for if they have any shoulder, the build feels it instantly, and rises like a cork. Seamen tell me that there are great curling seas, which will swallow up anything; and I can fully understand that no vessel could live in the heavy breakers to be met with on the Cornish coast; but I have run before curling seas, of certainly from eighteen to twenty feet high, off Cromer, and yet nothing of any importance has ever come on board. I have looked behind and seen waves which threatened to curl right over me; but they always ran under the stern, the white water rushing along the decks on each side sufficient to drown an open boat, but of no consequence to a decked one. Again, the length of twenty-one feet is of the greatest advantage when running, for the boat only contends with one sea at a time; whereas the greater length is sometimes hung on two, and frequently overruns the seas. The wave usually carries 'The Kate' along with it—for this reason, that the greatest beam is about three feet aft of the mainmast. The sea therefore holds on to that point and sweeps the boat along on its edge (if a curler) until broken, when the staunch little craft rushes through the white water as smoothly as possible. The lines were drawn by Mr. White, of Cowes, and they reflect the greatest credit on the designer, for a more perfect sea-boat cannot float. If the same model was adopted by gentlemen who wish to possess a safe, handy sea-boat, we should hear of far fewer accidents, for it would take a very great deal to put 'The Kate' over. My mast would not carry away; but then it is exceptionally thick, being nearly six inches in diameter. Four-and-a-half is quite enough, and I fancy would break before the boat could upset; that is, the power required to put the boat over would snap the mast. Such should be the proportion sought for when masting a boat; and for that very reason I should not advise unpractised amateurs to use wire rigging. I do not see how a boat can be upset when skilfully handled. I take it accidents happen something after this fashion; a number of amateurs go for a sail by themselves, none of whom are fit to handle a boat, or have any real experience: no one in particular is told off" to command, and if there should be, the rest would not obey. The breeze begins to freshen and becomes puffy; our amateurs all inwardly wish to have a reef down, but no one starts the idea for fear of being thought nervous; consequently squall No. I half fills the boat, which squall No. 2 capsizes, and some one is drowned. Now, if a little real courage were shown by anyone of the party insisting on a double reef, and a hasty return to port, the sail would have had a satisfactory ending, and such an individual after a little chaff would have risen in the estimation of the rest. Real seamen are rarely caught, for they reef down before the breeze comes on. However, everyone cannot be expected to have their experience; but a little caution may often take its place. I have frequently reefed down in the early part of my cruise, three or four times in the day, and that instantly I saw anything like a squall; and the mere fact of reefing gave me any amount of confidence in myself: I felt I could do anything I liked with the boat. I have saved the trouble of reefing later on, when sailing through a mass of squalls off the land, by lowering the halliards a few inches, slacking off the tack, and making active use of the tricing-line. A good steersman can sail half the wind out of his canvas, and still have all that the boat can bear, in really dangerous squalls; but, as a rule, there is nothing so distressing as to see a man continually shaking a boat, and I am convinced that a great deal of very unnecessary risk is incurred by yawing about, to avoid seas. My own motto is, steer asstraight as possible. I had the sea right abeam, and heavy, when I crossed from Milford to Wexford. I should say the seas were about twelve to fifteen feet high, perhaps as large as any I have ever seen to the east of the Start in the English Channel, but I could not have made a course had I perpetually run the boat to leeward to avoid them. I kept the boat as straight as it would go; though at times not able to steer closer than four points, that is two each way. I let the boat run on occasions when a powerful sea swept it off, calculating the time it stood on that particular course, and kept it about the same time on the more weatherly course when thrown the other way—never attempting to seesaw over the exact line. When a beam sea is to be avoided, wait until it is nearly aboard, and then the slightest movement will clear it. A sea on the quarter is the hardest to deal with, because it has a tendency to counteract the force of the rudder; but if caught just as the stern rises to the first part of the swell, the boat, if travelling fast, will pay off in time, with but a slight deviation from the course. Not only so, but it must be remembered that as the sea runs, the hollow runs, and if the boat is steered straight, the sea may often be beaten. Whereas if the boat is run off when in the hollow of the sea, the course suffers considerably : more care is necessary with an open boat than with a decked one, for the sea will come in to leeward. Long boats, when running, should always carry a large canvas bag in the shape of a sugar-loaf, called a drogue, securely fastened by a rope to either the mizen-mast or athwart; a check-line fastened to the peak of the bag allows it to trail behind unexpanded. The peculiar use of the drogue is to stop the boat from overrunning the sea, when, if the check-line is let go, the bag will fill.