by curifin » Sat May 30, 2015 12:24 am
With 2 reefs in and no jib I am fine single handed up to about 25 or so - much beyond that and I head in. With some rail meat with me I would go higher - you should be fine in 17 no problem if you watch the gusts and anticipate them well.
I don't know where you sail, but here in north central texas, it's not the sustained winds, its the large variation between sustained and gusts I find challenging in the DS. I had no reef points when I first got the boat - having them has made it a much more practical boat. Practice makes perfect - I would not have dreamed of taking her out in what I consider pretty fun conditions now.
I have dug the rail in and flipped once, there is a WEALTH of info on here on how to prevent it but bottom line - I would not have the jib up in extreme (stay upright) conditions or even marginal conditions sailing with kids. For me single handed with kids - I measure by highest gust likely - so I throw a reef in if gusts are anywhere near 15knts. Single handed without kids I won't reef at all until gusts are around 20, after than I skip reef 1 and go to two reefs with the jib - then lose the jib if its too much. I generally would rather have two reefs and the jib than no reefs and no jib. I find myself using 1 reef at about 15 if the kids are in the boat and not at all if they are not.
If you are running under double reefed main and no jib and get blasted you can dump it pretty easily. Same conditions with the jib up, the jib will put in you in a fix. Depending on where your jib sheet cleats are mounted and whether you have crew, this could be a bigger or lesser issue.
With just the main, a lot of folks hold that the boat points worse, handles worse, won't point, etc. etc., however it does not point at all upside down. I have found the tradeoff in stress to be worth it and honestly, the DS is so easy to tack, lack of pointing ability in higher winds does not really bother me that much where I sail.
I got a bob for the mast, but after I got used to reefing and dropping the jib, I don't use it.
1970 DS1 "Denial"
1993 Beneteau First 210 "Dory"