Big Gust on a Little Boat

In this episode, I sail through a 36 mph (31 knot) gust on a high-altitude (8,601 ft) Rocky Mountain lake in central Colorado. My small and lightweight (1,100 lbs) Precision 18 sailboat is not really designed for sailing in this kind of wind, but she sailed through it pretty well. I've made several modifications and upgrades to the boat to include adding a second reef to the mainsail, adding a hanked-on #4 (80%) severe weather jib to my sail inventory, adding additional blocks to the factory outhaul setup to flatten the mainsail, and a 4:1 backstay tensioner to add mast bend and flatten the top third of the mainsail. It's also taken a couple of years for me to build the skills for sailing in this much wind. At my mountain lake, 25 to 30 knot gusts are an almost daily occurrence throughout the summer sailing season. To further reduce heeling in the Precision 18, you can also raise the centerboard all the way up and just sail on the shoal draft keel which is a NACA foil (I did not do this for this sail) or you can add additional crew weight on the rail. For more severe weather sailing tips and tricks, check out my video "Storm Tactics for Inland Sailors" available at this link and also linked at the end of the video: https://youtu.be/Hixd4KHzCzs?si=JD8LmcgkB9x9ABwO Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. #sailing #lakesailing #mountainsailing #saillife #sailingchannel #coloradosailing