My O’Day 22 Sailboat Blog

Mark Hammett of Ham-It-Up posted a video of the action on his boat during one of the downwind legs of the race. If you have never been in a broached keel boat, this video will give you an idea of what it can be like.

I have no experience in sailboat racing but it seems to me that they have more crew than is needed for a 25 ft boat. I had 5 people a few weeks ago on the O’Day 22 and with that much weight on board, distribution of bodies became really important. Of course it can obviously help you if weight is distributed properly but in this video it definitely seems to hold them down after the broach due to all the bodies on the leeward side of the boat.

Sailing accidents are like train wrecks where you just can’t take your eyes off and you hope it never happens to you. Luckily no one seemed to be hurt in this video.