[MHml] [Harrys, heavy weather and jordan drogues

[Tom Speer]

rob dalton wrote:

>
> ...Not sure about having the wing masts in a blow ....

It may be useful to have some sort of tail you can attach to the mast to 
make it weathervane when under bare poles.  I realize just going to the 
lee hull and messing with something like that is going to be very 
difficult.  A wingmast that flutters in a high wind can produce a huge 
amount of drag and have the windage of a round section much bigger than 
the thickness of the mast - maybe even an effective diameter greater 
than the chord of the wing mast.  But if you can keep it feathered, the 
wingmast should have far less windage than a typical mast.  However, it 
must respond rapidly to gusts - if it lags, the lift will be 
considerable.  Just having the pivot ahead of the aerodynamic center of 
the mast is probably not going to be stable enough or damped enough.

It's also important that the mast be ballasted so its center of gravity 
is on or ahead of the pivot axis.

Cheers,

Tom Speer