I'm sure that you will get many more erudite replies. For my thruppence, it depends. The factors are swell height, direction & period , wind speed & direction and your boat.

In tide/current areas that may have to be considered as it can really change the wave profile.

For example, a 1m swell with a 10sec period would be hardly noticeable with our little 28 footer. Long, lazy swells are like riding a bike in gently rolling countryside, short period swells of the same height are like dropping of a bench.

Breaking waves are always bad news.

I'd try in your boat starting small and building up slowly and carefully to find your comfort zone.

We have often performed this maneuver going up and down the East Coast when you turn in to the coast. Generally uncomfortable and better at a following angle than side on or ahead - in our boat anyway.

You'll then need to figure out what action to take when things get less comfortable. Do watch out when there's a "large and powerful" surf warning!

Cheers

Bristol

OK guys, got that thank you. I suppose it was a bit of an obvious question to those who have sailed
but I haven't poked my bow out of Pittwater yet and I don't want to get into trouble when I do, especially
with Missus on board. I'm not game enough to head out into breaking waves so it will be done on a
nice tranquil day. Some sailor eh !!!.

samsturdy said..
Some sailor eh !!!.

A sailor that is aware of their personal abilities. That make an exceptional sailor Sam.

Also, the southerly swell wraps around Barrenjoey until you're outside and even then Whale beach head will still shelter/ turn the waves.

You have to be a good mile out before you get the true swell and by then you can sail the angle you're comfortable with.

Hey Sam, beam reaching is generally the best point of sailing for most yachts.

Many people make the mistake of sheeting on too much on a beam reach. Ease the sheets, the boat settles down and you go faster.

Used to love practicing beam reaching up the front and down the back of swells whilst all the time trimming to maintain max. speed
HOWEVER when it comes to maintaining the bosses confidence in your sailing ability pick your day and start with little ones.
Couple of months ago was talking to chap who has a 40+ motor cruiser parked out front of his house and mentioned that although he loves it they are selling and buying a caravan. Turns out his big wish ,As is yours , was to take it out into the Pacific and go whale watching or whatever.
On the day they decided they just got out when he noticed a couple of small boats in trouble with the swell trying to negotiate entry back into the Broardwater so he decided to try and protect them from the swell a bit. No speed ,side on to swell they started rolling pretty violently to extent misses thought they were going to go over.
Result was "sell the bloody boat now"

Sam, if you want to go outside on a day of your choosing with another boat in company, let me know. You go past us on your way and we are on the water most weekends. As winter approaches and the Westerlies start to kick in, the conditions will get better. Just pick a day when conditions are good and low tide is mid morning so you get help coming back in.

However, we are not available for a few weeks as the boat is going up on the hard for some maintenance. PM me for my number and we can work out some details.

Thanks you two. As I said earlier, there's no rush, but it's really nice to know you're there for me.