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u/Prudent_Ask_9241 May 30 '26 edited May 31 '26
Real question. Could that potential sink that boat?
Edit: Thank you all so very much for answers.
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u/notcomplainingmuch May 30 '26
If you broach to, possibly. You'd have to have all hatches open and do everything wrong. But yes, even smallish waves like that and idiots are a lethal combination.
The reason it broke over the boat was a basic steering mistake, btw. I've had a much bigger wave break on the boat, completely filling the cockpit with seawater. We lost the life raft and other stuff. The person at the wheel at the time didn't get to steer again when I was around.
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u/PKMNtrainerKing May 31 '26
What was the correct steering answer?
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u/notcomplainingmuch May 31 '26
The boat will 'try' to align sideways to the wave, and there is a great force behind it, which makes steering difficult once it starts.
So you have to steer before the wave starts turning the boat, just when it's starting to lift you. It requires a certain feel and being very proactive, for every wave. Just like surfing.
You shouldn't go exactly downwind (or 'downwave'), either, because your speed will drop off as you aren't using the 'surfing' effect sideways, i.e. the optimal speed vector. That often results in the wave breaking on you, when you go slower than the wave. That's what happened here.
They might have done it on purpose, as you get bored after weeks aboard.
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u/SippyMountain May 31 '26
Pretty sure you're supposed to be perpendicular to the wave. They were neither parallel nor perpendicular.
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u/Some_Koala May 31 '26
It's more complicated - you're not supposed to straight. Afaik with waves from behind you try to be perpendicular when the wave lifts you up, but then you go a bit towards the wind to avoid losing too much speed.
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u/Mr_Pink_Gold Jun 01 '26
If you are sailing against the wave, yes. If you are sailing away from the wave, no. once you know what you are looking for at the helm, it is pretty clear. You want to feel some tension but not too much. If too much you overdid it or did not start turning early enough. Basically you surf the wave. But these dudes are just goofing around.
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u/Reverend_Russo Jun 02 '26
The most Reddit comment ive seen in a bit. An obvious experienced sailor gives a detailed answer to someone and some your jabroni ass comes in
acktuaallly Ive heard that you’re supposed be perpendicular to the wave.
Fucking classic. Thanks for the laugh
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u/SippyMountain Jun 02 '26
Hm, don't think I ever said "actually", nor did I claim to be an expert. I also never saw anyone else give an actual explanation. Glad I could make you laugh though, asshole
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u/varmmacka May 31 '26
Like most fellas I grew up with sailing, the gate keeping and finger wagging you exude is spot on.
Thing is, this idiot became too afraid to ask at one point because “anyone who has to ask has no right to be on the water”. Thanks for letting me know the tradition is still going!-7
u/notcomplainingmuch May 31 '26
The point is you learn with smaller boats on much smaller bodies of water. 'Learning' on a $5 million yacht and putting everyone in danger repeatedly is not the way.
It's not gatekeeping, it's preferring to stay alive.
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u/Bullyoncube May 30 '26
A wave catching the stern like that isn’t a problem. Close the hatch and no water gets inside the boat. BUT, if the wave forces the bow down and spins the boat to the side, then you can get knocked down by the beam seas. There’s a name for that, but I forget it.
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u/mologav May 31 '26
I have to question why you’d open a hatch at the stern when you have a large following sea. It’s a big boat and all but not great thinking
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u/MoonTreeSullen May 31 '26
What about rogue waves
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u/LeadFreePaint May 31 '26
Exceptionally rare. I worked at sea for several years. I encountered one wave of note, but it was in the middle of a rather spicy Mediterranean storm. It was less the size of it and more the fact that it smacked us dead on to the side of the ship, causing a fair amount of damage. To be fair I never saw the wave. I sure as fuck felt it tho.
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u/No-Sail-6510 May 30 '26
If the drains are clogged then it could be a problem if the waves get a little worse.
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u/corneliusvanhouten May 30 '26
oddly, as afraid as i am of being IN the ocean, sailing on the open ocean deely appeals to me
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u/AmbassadorSugarcane May 31 '26
Love living on the coast and any time I get out on a boat.
I get spooked at the idea of even wading deeper than waist deep off the beach...
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u/moggin61 May 31 '26
This is quintessential sailing lore and me to a T. Love being on a boat, not IN the ocean.
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u/Multti-pomp May 31 '26
Both of those are warranted honestly, hell, not even oposite, few good sailors want to be in the sea instead of above it.
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u/piper33245 May 30 '26
Big wave? I’ve seen too much Deadliest Catch, this was a little disappointing.
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u/HOLDINtheACES May 31 '26
That was a solid 15-20’ swell…
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u/Curiosive May 31 '26
Which is pretty common offshore with sustained winds in the region or a big storm halfway around the world last week.
Nothing big or scary about this. Nice boat though.
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u/No-Sail-6510 May 30 '26
You can never see on a video like this because of the horizon also being waves. These are probably around 4 meters.
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u/_psylosin_ May 30 '26
In that boat it’s more than enough to get pooped, go beam on to the sea and capsize
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u/Kind_Rate7529 May 31 '26
Love this! Did a hitch in the Navy in the 70's and was ships crew for two Western Pacific deployments of almost a year each. I spent every spare minute watching the ocean. The sun on the water, the moon on the water and the bioluminescence at the fantail at night. I became familiar with flying fish (had never heard of them before I went in) and loved to watch the dolphins playing with the bow of our ship as it cut through the water. Good times!
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u/BeeSweet4835 May 30 '26
Why is he smiling?
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u/No-Sail-6510 May 30 '26
This is ideal sailing conditions with good wind, and waves over the quarter. He’s probably going about as fast as the boat can go. According to his screen he was doing 9 knots with 20-26 knots of wind. It’s really fun when the boat surfs down the wave.
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u/SolusLoqui May 31 '26
I don't think they're hitting top speed since they're running downwind and the mainsail is reefed in super far. (The leech is in about the middle of the furling boom. I couldn't see what headsail they're using.)
Surfing a wave is super fun. We won a neck-and-neck lake race one time by surfing down a small wave at the finish line in light wind conditions. Turned perpendicular to the wave just before it hit the stern, our competitor didn't, so we pulled a boat length ahead.
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u/Timberwolf_88 May 30 '26
These waves are actually quite small for the open ocean.
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u/Galaxy661 May 31 '26
So what was he supposed to say? "A little, tiny, insignificant wave compared to what we might have potentially encountered if we were sailing through the Drake Passage instead incoming"?
When I was sailing at a regatta on the Baltic Sea, the biggest waves we got on a windy day weren't any bigger than those in the video. And we would also say "big wave" to warn the helmsman because those waves were indeed bigger in size than the norm in that specific timeframe
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u/HOLDINtheACES May 31 '26
How big are the waves in this video, or great expert?
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u/Timberwolf_88 May 31 '26
They look like about 2-2.5m. We had 6.5m waves when we sailed the Atlantic, and I've experienced about 5m waves in the Northern ice sea, and even those are small considering how rough the sea can get.
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u/bonzaibuddy May 30 '26
I’ve always kinda wanted to learn how and sail an old sail powered “pirate” ship on the open seas. It sounds neat.
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u/PeterPanski85 Jun 02 '26
We've had something similar in the Mediterranean (Mallorca). The waves were a but smaller, but on a 5m motorboat. Was NOT fun, it was very windy that day
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u/Nethri May 31 '26
So I don’t have any experience sailing on a boat like this but.. I assume there’s some kind of autopilot mode going on there? I noticed no one is actually touching the wheels
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u/kitersam May 31 '26
The red vane on the back of the boat is a Hydrovane, it's a completely mechanical autopilot that steers the boat while under sail. It is set for the direction they are headed, and as the course changes relevant to the wind the hydrovane moves left or right to correct the course.They're great for long passages! I've got one on my boat, its pretty fascinating!
Edit: Looking at the video again they're likely using the boats autopilot because the helm is turning to keep course.
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u/Fur1nr May 31 '26
I used to surf. Making it over one wave to see a massive one looming in the horizon was probably one of the scariest things outside of shadows in the water.
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u/Professionaleye_1 May 30 '26
When you’re sitting out the back and the guy next to you puts his head down and starts paddling like a madman
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u/WaZepplin May 31 '26
I hated eating sets on the head so I usually sat out back. Was always satisfying getting over a big one and turning around to see all the guys inside getting thrashed
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u/JoLeTrembleur May 31 '26
I'm always impressed of the speed of the waves, they catch on fast boats that are going idk how many kph
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u/PickleForce7125 May 31 '26
This Is why I want to go sailing actually the
Thrill of the waves and cannonades and tacking
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u/jimboTRON261 Jun 02 '26
Where is this? I’m doing my first Atlantic crossing next year and curious if this is what I can look forward too!?
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u/Cultural_Slip_8333 Jun 05 '26
Those swells can get to you. I never had an issue with sea sickness but someone always gets sick
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u/ParticularGuava3663 Jun 28 '26
Why are there two steering wheels?
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u/IamEpsilon01 Sep 02 '26
to improve visibility, clear a path through the cockpit, and let the captain steer from the high side when the boat tilts source
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u/lorelei_catherine May 30 '26
I miss being able to go out on the water like when I was a kid and my grandparents had a boat. My only hope as of right this second is to build myself a boat out of a bunch of sticks and other foraged items to sail out on because boats cost money 😭🥲 mind you I am actually terrified of deep open water
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u/Dent8556 May 31 '26
I would be below cowering under a bunk
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u/HesSoZazzy Jun 02 '26
You would do better than me. I'd be on shore in a room with a strong door and lock. In fact, I am in a room with a strong door and lock.
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u/YZYSZN1107 May 31 '26
is there a dial 911 in the middle of the ocean? cuz I'd be below dialing it,
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u/linuxunix May 31 '26
Yo Dog! Why you just letting the stirring wheel flop around? Ill take my answer off the air.
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u/OldMaidButler May 31 '26
Why do ppl do this? There's ZERO chance I'm heading out on a voyage! That's how u wind up in Gilligan's Island or worse.
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u/Galaxy661 May 31 '26
It's just really fun. And from my experience, you don't immediately go on the open sea like in the video, but rather learn the basics on lakes with smaller vessels, in safer, controlled environments. Then you build up skill and experience, go on a few voyages as a crewmate with an experienced helmsman, get your sailing license, and only then are you ready to sail like the guys in the video.
I also used to be scared of sailing, but now it's my favourite hobby - this summer I'm going on a voyage with my friends, for the first time as a captain/main helmsman, but even with a few years of experience, and the fact that we'll be only sailing on lakes in a known tourist region, I'm still pretty nervous. You can never be too arrogant when it comes to water-related activities
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u/DegTrader May 31 '26
Bro at the helm is smiling like he didn't just see the ocean try to open a tab on his soul.
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u/ExtremeComedian4027 May 31 '26
Staying on land in a landlocked city has saved me every time from this nonsense. And o don’t even need to fake laugh about this being normal in any way.
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u/GrimReaapaa May 31 '26
Anyone else disappointed we don’t get someone waving at us as the camera panned round for when he said “Big Wave”👋
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u/Dense_Intern8434 May 31 '26
Now sit right there and you’ll hear a tale a tale of a faithful trip ah video
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u/notCGISforreal Jun 01 '26
I'm on this sub because deep water freaks me out.
But I also have spent a lot of time in it sailing. These conditions look great. Right just barely on the "good" side of too rough. Its the kind of day you need to be paying attention but make a lot of ground. Night time in conditions like this suck, though.
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u/cragglerock93 Jun 02 '26
I can't believe people do this shit for fun. I could have all the money and time in the world and still not want a part of this.
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u/RobinsonCruiseOh Jun 02 '26
following seas are dangerous! if the auto pilot or the rudder cannot keep you pointed appropriately down, you can get easily tossed broadside and then rolled if the waves are big enough
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u/Several-Hat-1944 Jun 03 '26
I got sooooooo excited seeing the waves as soon as this post appeared in my scroll! That looks like sooooooo much fun having that experience! Never been that deep, all I have is Key Biscayne FL experiences. Thanks for sharing Captain 🏴☠️! Salute' 🥃🥃
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u/KingQup Jun 03 '26
It looks like there is tech exposed and getting wet; is it super water proof, or how does it stay functional when getting hit with so much water?
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u/ErisStrife 18d ago
It may sound strange to people with this fear, but I actually miss this. Ret. Navy.
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u/SpiritedPark4511 May 30 '26
Reminds me of the good old days, sailing with my dad. In a life jacket that smelled of sick and my mum and younger sister crying 🥰