Wind sheer

[ds42]

Had an interesting sail last Friday.

Was in Charlotte harbor making my way east back to Burnt Store Marina.  Had a shelf cloud system to the west about 10 miles away.
Wind was from the east at about 8 knots.  The storm front appeared to be heading west, but we decided to head back in regardless.  Started the engine and headed east into the 8 knot winds.  Furled the Genoa and started to furl the main.  It briefly jammed and I had to go to the mast to clear it.  Took about 30 seconds and I was back at the inhaul line starting to furl the main in.  

A wind sheer from the shelf cloud hit us from the north west at tremendous speed.  It slammed the main sail and turned the boat 90 degrees to the north in seconds.  Everyone on board was knocked to the deck. We recovered from the hit and finished bringing the main in.

This all occurred in a matter seconds.  The wind continued to rotate to the west and almost instantly the storm system was on us.  Waves that were coming from the east were now 3’ from the west in a nasty quartering  following sea.

This was the fastest I’ve ever had a storm system come at me.

Made it back to the marina without further incident. 

However, the next day we discovered that the boom was bent 15 degrees at the midpoint where the main sheeting is attached. The real shame is that the boom was newly installed late August. 

[MalcolmP]

Glad you were all OK, shame about the boom, scary when things happen unexpectedly

[vasko]

Slowly has got used to the wind to hit us like train when the tramontana arrive from the north in Gulf of Lyon

Now feel kind of relaxed in the Ionian compared to Gulf of Lyon

Generaly if you see a black line over the horizon - the wind will hit from the opposite direction like train in the next hour...

[zaphod]

What kind of wind speed was the gust that hit you? What brand is the new boom? It seems to me that it should not have bent from one gust hitting a partially furled main! You might want to talk to the manufacturer about that!

[ds42]

I can only guess at the wind speed.  Probably a 50-60mph instant gust.

The boom is a mid sheeted Selden.  Not too sure any brand would have survived that kind of a hit.