Sahara Dust Plume Sail - MacGregor 26S - Lake Hartwell, SC - 10kt to 20kt Winds 

You got that right! Thanks for watching!!

It is absolutely exhilarating! What we didn't catch on camera was the near capsize when we hove to but failed to cut the main during a 20kt gust.. we hit about 50 degrees on that one before we got it free. haha All part of the learning process! Hope you've been well!

Glad it helped! We hope you get sailing soon!!

Thank you! Cheers!

Thanks for the kind words!

Hi Tim, and great questions! We've had our boat under sail in up to ~25 knot gusts, but that's very uncomfortable for us. 5 mph (4.3 knots) is enough to move our boats, but isn't much in the way of sailing. 7 to 10 kt winds are ideal and 10-14 kt winds are exciting for us. In this video we were mostly between 15 and 25 degrees. We may have gotten to 30 or 35 a few brief moments. We've been to 45 degrees, but that causes a real mess below if everything isn't stowed properly, and usually isn't fun (unless you're trying to do it on purpose!). The boats can safely lay on their side and pop back up, of course the crew may not like that! As to your rigging, I can't say - ask a rigger to check it if you're not sure about it. In the 20 kt winds of the this video, we had two reef points in and a small amount of headsail out. That's the primary way to depower your boat as the winds pick up. Second, during the gusts, I let out the mainsheet to minimize heeling while keeping a steady course. Third, if really needed, I use the rudder to turn us up into the wind to slow things down. It's loud and you can lose control if you go into the irons and stay there, but "pinching" (by going in and out of the edge of the no-go zone) is a good way to keep things feeling under control in conditions above what you're comfortable in. If you ever feel like you're getting out of control, you can heave to (we have a video on it) and that will effectively "park" your boat even during gusts. We do it if we feel things are getting a little crazyl. It's also how we put/remove reef points while under sail. We hope this helps, and enjoy your 26S, they're great boats!!

On some of the other videos, yes! The Sahara Dust Plume video is the first time using the YT Audio Library, though, so no original music on this particular video. Check out Force 4 Winds at Watauga (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-63xfrHUHAAA.html) - all of the music there is original. Hope you've been well, bro!

The factory says upper 6, but my experience in manageable conditions is low to mid 5s. It's very pleasant 4.5-5.