Don’t cleat the sheet. The wind and wave conditions are different all the time (even when it seems like they are static), so if you want to keep going fast you have to adjust your mainsail trim continually. Try never to put the mainsheet in its cleat.
The traveler controls the angle of attack of the mainsail in much the same way as hydraulic cylinders control the flaps on an airplane wing. When the plane is going slowly and needs a lot of lift (e.g. to take off or land), the flaps go down to make the wing more curved and more angled to the oncoming wind.
On most boats, the mainsail is easily the biggest upwind sail and therefore has a proportionally large effect on the boat’s speed and pointing performance. Because the mainsail must cover an incredible variety of wind and wave conditions, it has to be stretched and twisted into a wide range of aerodynamic shapes.
The mainsail may be the biggest sail on most boats, but the jib provides a relatively large share of the boat’s driving force, for two reasons. First, the jib is not sitting behind a mast, so it sails in clear air with minimal turbulence.
A layline seems like such a simple thing – a dotted pathway on the water that leads you straight to the next mark. But dealing with laylines while you are racing is not always so straightforward.
There are certain scenarios that always seem to play out when you get near a layline. Somebody tacks on you or you have the chance to tack on somebody. The wind shifts so you are no longer on the layline. You have to make a choice about whether to do two more tacks or sail straight, but slowly, toward the mark.
Before you round any mark you have to get to the layline, so it helps a lot to know where the layline is. To avoid overstanding or understanding (and losing time or distance), find a good method for making consistently accurate layline calls. Here are some tips.
A layline is the path you would sail, when steering your optimal upwind or downwind course, to get around the next mark on one tack. We all know that laylines are invisible, of course, but many sailors don’t realize how much (and how often) laylines move around.
Layline – An imaginary line on a beat or run that shows a boat’s course when she sails her optimum upwind or downwind angle in the existing wind conditions and is heading straight toward the leeward or windward mark.
Last issue we began a series on the little things and the big things that make a difference in your performance. We continue with more of Dave’s series of tips to make you smarter and faster for racing in 2023. Now is the time to get set up for the season ahead.
It’s the little things. And the big things. Dave offers a series of tips to make you smarter and faster for racing in 2023. Now is the time to get set up for the season ahead.
When the starting signal goes off, every boat would like to have a large space to leeward so they can put their bow down without the fear of being pinched off. But this doesn’t mean you want to have such a big hole to leeward throughout the starting sequence.
A good start is all about getting what you want and not letting other boats stand in your way. In the ideal world you want to start in the position you choose on the line, carve out a certain amount of space around you, and then come off the line with clear air and speed.
As a general rule of thumb, if you like the left side of the first beat you should start on the left side of the line. If you like the right side of the course, start on the right of the line. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s amazing how many boats do not follow this basic principle.
The start of any sailboat race is a critical moment that will have a big effect on your potential success in that event. If you get off the line cleanly with clear air and good speed, heading toward the favored side, you’ve made a great first step.
One of the most critical factors for any jib or genoa trimmer is the amount of sag in the headstay. Your forestay almost never forms a straight line between the bow and the mast – due to wind pressure it always sags aft and to leeward at least a little bit.
