e38 in following seas
I sailed a feeder race from Oxnard to Newport, around 100 miles, all downwind, with seas in the 10 to 12 foot range from the north, and 4 to 6 from the west, with winds starting around 18, than sustained 25 to 32, and then back down to 12 to 15 after rounding San Pedro. My start time was 1 pm outside of Oxnard and my finish was approximately midnight! 11 hours and about 100 miles averages 9 kts. We, my crew consisting of one other guy and I, started with full sails for a short time, and started broaching, so we kept shortening sail until we had a double reefed main and tiny rolled out jib. At that point, it was very calm for me, but my crew kept yelling every time he saw these huge rollers behind us, but we never got wet the entire time. So, from my experience, no problem in the Ericson 38. We hand steered the entire way due to the cross seas and wind strength, but it wasn't that bad. We did get passed by Magnitude 80, which I was told had a delivery crew of 22, and which was flying a huge chute and hit over 25 kts, never mind the rooster tail!!!
Neal
Enterprise