Tuning Trailer Yachts Part 1. by Tony Bouzaid

Tuning Trailer Yachts Part 1 by Tony Bouzaid It s a fine Saturday morning at the launching ramp and the number of trailer yachts gliding into the water is visible proof that more and more New Zealanders are enjoying the access to the sea and camaraderie provided by trailer yachts. But as the number of trailer yachts continues to increase, so does the proportion of people unfamiliar with the finer points of sailing and setting up their rigs. This tuning guide is intended for those who just want to get the best out of their boat and their sailing pleasure, and for those keen to compete, both the newcomer and the old salt. For want of a better place let s start at the top of the mast. The first item needed is a wind pennant and I recommend the arrow or Windex type. The advantage over a flag-on- a-stick type is in its stability and accuracy of direction; it doesn t oscillate wildly but changes direction in a steady manner unless there is practically no air, when it will sometimes rotate slowly through 360. It is important that it is evenly balanced (not heavy at one end) for maximum efficiency, while for easy visibility it should be mounted as near as possible to the aft face of the mast or, on larger boats, set out aft of the top of the mast on a short strut (Figure 1). It is also important that it stands well clear of the top of the mast so that it is not affected by updraft, or tip vortex, from the top of the main. I suggest a range from 220mm to 260mm as most suitable. For this reason, smaller dinghy windicators are not really suitable. Rigs As the majority of trailer yachts are of the fractional rig variety (i.e. the forestay is attached to the mast below the masthead to varying degrees) this article deals only with this type of rig. Trailer yachts rigs are generally of single-spreader configuration with spreaders raked aft to avoid the use

of a backstay or runners. And, of course, the mast is invariably of tapered alloy. With most boats it is best to have the lowers fairly slack and the cap shrouds tight. This gives sideways support and keeps the forestay reasonably tight while allowing limited fore-and-aft bend. The degree of slackness in the lowers depends on the fullness of the mainsail and flexibility of the mast, and a certain amount of experimentation is needed. If, for example, the mast is a little light for the boat, uppers and lowers will have to be tight to control mast- bend generated largely by mainsheet tension. With an oversized mast, lowers can be eliminated. Remember raked spreaders support the mast in the thwartship plane and control it in the fore and aft plane (Figure 2). The rake and length of the spreaders also influence mast bend and therefore shape. Basically, longer spreaders, or more rake in them, will increase mast bend. Where the boat is tender this is often an advantage, whereas a stiffer boat is better with less bend. Bear in mind that excessive mast bend induces forestay sag and this will have its own detrimental effect on boat speed and stability unless the jib is cut to suit. The longer the forestay the more acute the problem. Forestay sag

deepens the draft in the upper portion of the jib and moves it aft, hooking the leech, back-winding the main and choking the slot (Figure 3). A method of inducing or reducing mastbend is to use the heel of the mast (Figure 4). If the base is cut at a slight angle, applying pressure to the for ard or aft edge of it will induce mast bend in the respective direction. The effect is quite small but may be all that is required to make the difference. Pressure on the aft edge (1) would be used with a mast larger than required and pressure on the for ard edge (2) with a mast too light. This effect is similar to, although not as dramatic as, chocking a mast at deck level when keel-stepped. This method should be used with caution as the edge of the mast can be easily crushed. Because the upper section of mast is unstayed, the leech of the main is controlled by mainsheet tension. For this reason it is best to have a stiff boom which bends only a little. I prefer a mainsheet system in from the

end of the boom referred to as central sheeting although in fact it should not be in the centre of the boom as this requires too much sheet tension to control the leech of the main. It also requires a rather large boom if it is to remain stiff. If the mainsheet is to be taken to the end of the mainboom, it should be no further aft than the clew position of the mainsail as it can create an upward bend in the centre of the boom under load, which serves to increase draft in the sail at the very time you wish to reduce it. One of the principal reasons for keeping the mainsheet further forward, however, is to get greater range from a shorter traveller (Figure 5).

Mainsail Adjustments generally available for mainsail tuning are mansheet, boom vang, luff cunningham, outhaul and traveller (Figure 6). Because of the unsupported top- mast section, mainsheet tension is critical. It is important to put a mark on the mainsheet at what you consider to be about the right tension for moderate airs, then work around that mark. A little more tension will be needed in fresh airs, a lot less (sometimes up to 600mm less) in very light airs. As the mainsail of a trailer yacht is usually of fairly low aspect ratio it is easy to overtrim the mainsheet, tightening the leech and reducing boatspeed. A good way of assessing this is to sight up the sail from underneath the mainboom to the top batten and make sure this is not above a line parallel with the boom (Figure 7) this, of course, being not too easy to do in fresh airs! In the very light and fresh, the top batten should be falling off this line between 10 and 20 degrees.

Leech tell-tales are generally placed on the main at each end of the batten pockets. These consist of strips of light nylon spinnaker cloth approximately 25mm wide x 230mm long (Figure 8). They are a good indicator of mainsheet tension as if one or more are not flowing (except in very light airs), too much tension is indicated.

Here also boom vang tension is applicable in light airs as it is not much use having the mainsheet well eased if the vang is too tight. In the very light, 25mm on the boom vang can be critical. The most important (and difficult) tell-tale to set is at the second batten down. This and the top one are the first affected by too much leech tension, whether from mainsheet or boom vang. However, the second is also usually the intersection of the jib with the mast and the amount of twist in the upper part of the jib can also affect it. If the others are flowing and this is not, try easing the jib sheet or shifting the lead aft to twist the upper part of the jib a little more. A wool tell-tale is attached halfway across the main just above or below the top batten and by a combination of this and the respective leech ribbon it is easy to tell if the airflow is stalled either on the wind or reaching under main and jib. Adjustment is dictated by mainsheet and vang tension, luff tension and traveller position (Figure 9) Battens It is important to have a stiff bottom batten in the main. If it wasn t for the weight, I would pour concrete into this pocket well, perhaps not quite, but that is the degree of stiffness needed. Once when about to sail on a friend s boat and discovering a flexible bottom batten, I managed to find a reasonably straight tree branch which I taped to the batten, preferring the bulk to a soft batten. This helps give a clean exit to the bottom part of the leech. To help the top of the main twist off, the top batten wants to be soft at the for ard end and stiff at the aft end.

On most trailer yachts these are through-battens, but the same applies in fact to an even greater degree. If the batten is shaped as an even curve, when the mast bends the draft becomes too far aft, which is why the batten must be shaped with the major bend in the first third. The second batten can be quite soft at the for ard end but should be reasonably stiff at the aft end. This batten doesn t take much loading. The third batten should be stiff throughout its length, with the for ard end tapered to give a smooth transition from sail to batten (Figure 10) It is important to have a stiff bottom batten in the main. If it wasn t for the weight, I would pour concrete into this pocket well, perhaps not quite, but that is the degree of stiffness needed. Once when about to sail on a friend s boat and discovering a flexible bottom batten, I managed to find a reasonably straight tree branch which I taped to the batten, preferring the bulk to a soft batten. This helps give a clean exit to the bottom part of the leech. To help the top of the main twist off, the top batten wants to be soft at the for ard end and stiff at the aft end. Boom vang A wire strop and block and tackle is generally used but it is worthwhile to have the tackle part as short as possible to keep stretch to a minimum. (Figure 11) If there is room available and it does not clutter the top

unnecessarily, the tackle can be double-ended so that adjustment can be made from either side of the boat. This can be particularly useful spinnaker reaching in the fresh when a quick ease of the vang can prevent a broach. The boom vang should be tight enough to keep the leech in a fairly straight line off the wind. However, it pays not to be too tight in the light so as to give lift to the sail and allow slow moving air to exhaust off the leech. In a fresher breeze the flexing of the mast and weight of wind will allow this in any case and so it can be tight. If the vang is left on when rounding the leeward mark, particularly in a dying breeze, be careful that it does not end up too tight, thus tightening the leech of the main more than required. Sail shape A popular misconception is that the lighter the air the fuller the sail should be. This is not the case, as in light winds the air is travelling too slow to encompass a deep curve and so breaks off before reaching the leech (Figure 12).

Conversely in fresh winds the air is travelling too fast to encompass a deep curve and so breaks away. How ever, by this stage if the main is set up too full it will be backwinded severely by the jib because of the constricted airflow through the slot. When the air accelerates in light to moderate conditions you can have maximum draft as the air is travelling fast enough to encompass the curve without prematurely breaking away. Basically this means that quite a lot of outhaul tension is used on the foot of the main going to windward so that a crease (fold) starts to form, at rest, in very 1ight airs. This would be eased a little for light to moderate airs, then pulled out hard as the wind freshens. To achieve the flatter shape higher up the main without a permanent backstay it is necessary to ease main halyard tension until small wrinkles start to form from the luff. This, combined with pulling the traveller up the mainsheet track and easing the sheet, will flatten the section (chord depth) of the sail (Figure 13). As with all rules there are, of course, exceptions, and in this case one is when there is more sea than wind, as in a dying breeze. This is when a little more draft is warranted, but accompanied by an easing of the mainsheet to induce more twist and by pulling the boat off to foot through the water for boatspeed.

Foot tension should always be eased to make the sail as full as possible when reaching, unless in a fresh breeze. Looking next at the cunningham. First, always hoist the main to the maximum height possible on the mast (unless this over-tensions the luff) as the lower down the headboard is the stiffer the mast will become and what is the use of more mast above the sail than necessary? The luff of the main should be stretched just tight enough to remove lateral wrinkles (otherwise as explained in very light airs). As the breeze freshens it will be necessary to apply cunningham tension (or gooseneck down) to maintain this state. As the breeze freshens further, more tension still needs to be applied to help induce mast bend yet keep the draft in the for ard part of the sail. Pulling the luff tight enough to induce a crease up the luff of the main before going out on a fresh day puts slack material up against the mast, leaving the mast free to move for ard in the centre without restriction. The mast will bend only as far as the sail will allow before severely distorting the sail if the pressure is great enough and the mast soft enough. When the boat starts to become overpowered, ease the mainsheet traveller down the track. This should be done before easing the mainsheet. At this point the mainsheet should be quite hard, bending the mast and flattening the main. If you ease mainsheet it will simply create more drive in the sail and mean easing the sheet still further till the main flogs. Once having reached the limit of the mainsheet traveller and providing the boom is strong enough, put the vang on hard and ease the mainsheet further. This will have the effect of a longer traveller. By keeping the mast bent and sail flat, the boat will stand up longer before you have to start reefing. Tight mainsheet or vang also helps keep the forestay tighter, thus reducing heeling force. Headsail It is advisable to have tell-tales on the luff of the jib about 150-200mm away from the luff and at quarter, half and threequarter heights. In moderate conditions these tell-tales (or wools) should all luff together when the boat heads up into the wind. To achieve this, keep adjusting the jib and heading up into the wind until all the tell-tales lift together. If the top one is lifting first;the sheet lead needs to go for ard; conversely if the bottom one is lifting first (Figure 14).

The most important luff wools on a headsail are the leeward ones as these indicate the worst stalling situation. If the boat is a bit overpowered the windward wools can be lifting with the boat still performing well. However, to have the leeward wools stalling is unacceptable. Don t let wools be your only guide to sail trim as the most important single factor is the angle of heel of the boat. All boats perform best at particular angles of heel for varying conditions and finding and maintaining this optimum angle is of prime importance. It is no use to have all the wools setting but the boat over at 45. In very light and fresh airs the jib sheet lead should be moved further aft. In the very light this allows more twist in the head of the sail, opening the slot between main and jib. At the same time ease the sheet, giving more life to the sail. In fresh airs the sheet is kept hard but the effect of sheeting aft twists the upper leech, opening the slot and reducing heeling moment by spilling air from the top of the sail. This, of course, is in conjunction with the mainsheet traveller being let down the track. In very fresh airs, ease the sheet as well which, coupled with pulling the boat off a few degrees, produces boat- speed and makes her able to drive through the sea better and stand more upright.

In addition to luff tell-tales I like to put another ribbon (like on the main) about a quarter way down the leech from the head. By keeping this flowing in light airs, a clear airflow is maintained over the lee side of the main which, as mentioned earlier, keeps the upper mainsail leech telltales working. Basically this tell-tale indicates (in light airs) the amount of twist required in the head of the jib (Figure 15). In some trailer yachts where the jib barely overlaps the mast (such as the Farr 6000), pulling on the weather sheet allows the clew of the jib to be barber-hauled to weather, decreasing the sheeting angle and putting more drive in the lower part of the jib while at the same time twisting the head off. In very light airs I prefer no barber-hauling, but in light to moderate breezes a reasonable degree of barber-hauling is a definite advantage. This needs to be coupled with some easing of the leeward jib. As the wind freshens, the barber- hauler is released and sheet tension increased, reducing chord depth in the sail and controlling excessive twist in the upper leech of the jib. Jib halyard tension is also critical and if you haven t a winch, a trucker s hitch (Figure 16) will do the job. Always tension the halyard enough to prevent scalloping between the jib hanks, thus giving a fair flow off the

luff of the jib. If you overtension, a crease will appear up the sail on the luff edge. Because of the nature of the rig i.e. forestay kept reasonably straight by mainsheet tension it is usually necessary to induce this crease when running downwind so that when coming hard on the wind with the forestay taking some sag, there is enough luff tension to prevent scalloping between the hanks. Better to overtension than undertension as it is easier to ease off than increase tension. With an overlapping genoa, some backwinding of the main will be inevitable in moderate and fresh breezes. So long as the main is kept flat low down this must be accepted, though the rules of mainsheet trim still apply. The mainsheet traveller will still be dropped down the track to keep the boat upright even though this will increase the backwind rather than reef. With a fractional rig, once the main is reefed the de-powering effect of the bending of the unsupported topmast is lost, the mast becomes stiffer and the mainsail fuller. However, once the boat becomes overpowered, even with the use of all trim adjustments mentioned previously, reefing becomes necessary to keep the boat on a reasonable angle of heel. If the genoa is full hoist on the forestay, a cunningham eye is necessary in the jib to further tension the luff.

Mast rake It is essential to the boat s performance to have the correct mast rake, This may be obtained from the designer or manufacturer, or set up in the following way: Correct mast rake is best achieved under moderate conditions. Set the boat up with slight weather helm so that when the tiller is released the boat will veer into the wind. Weather helm can be increased by raking the mast aft. If the boat has weather helm, this can be rectified by raking the mast forward, but not beyond vertical. If the boat has too much lee or weather helm, the actions of the rudder will be greatly amplified when heeled and the yacht will be difficult to handle. A rule-of-thumb guide is 10cm for every 3m of mastlength. Spinnaker gear Without compromising the family image of trailer yachts, many are being geared up to race with extras as more owners become involved in mixed fleet racing. And for many owners, spinnaker gear is the big step into competitive sailing. Given the size of boats involved, it is a relatively inexpensive way of boosting performance, and while adding spinnaker gear might unnerve those used to poling out a headsail, it need not mean replacing the family crew with hired heavies. Basically setting a spinnaker on a trailer yacht should not require more than three people, including the helmsman who can hold the brace or sheet. For really comfortable sets, a crew of four, with the lightest member on the foredeck, can handle anything. However, there will be days, in strong winds, where control down- wind will be difficult and it will still be fast, as well as prudent, to pole out the headsail instead of setting a spinnaker. As nearly all trailer yachts are light-displacement types they don t need to be pressed hard to get their best performance. Your spinnaker package need not be more than one spinnaker, one alloy or home-made timber pole, two sheets (twice the length of the deck) two halyards, blocks on the mast and bits of line and shock cord to make up a control system for the spinnaker pole. Cloth weight is usually 3/4oz, though some special reaching spinnakers may be cut in a heavier weight such as 1.2oz. With most trailer yacht spinnakers under 300sq ft in area, a lot can be learned from the big dinghies, though one has to remember that a trailer yacht does not have the benefit of the stability leverage of a crew on trapeze and so one cannot carry spinnakers as easily on a tight reach as high performance dinghies.

In setting up the spinnaker gear, some trailer yacht owners suffer from delusions of big-boat grandeur. They load up their boats with dip-pole systems and other blue-water paraphernalia. Considering the size of boat involved, it is all unnecessaiy. All trailer yachts, including the big ones, are sensitive to the movement of crew weight and will be badly stopped by 90kg of crew bouncing around the foredeck. With this in mind, the spinnaker system should be set up to reduce crew movement to a minimum. One can easily adapt a dinghy style spinnaker pole-launcher to the boom of a trailer yacht to save one crew movement in a spinnaker set. The pole should be gybed by the for- ard hand at the mast and, to further save crew movement on the foredeck, you can learn to set the spinnaker out of the for ard hatch instead of out of a bag on the bow. The for ard hand should ideally be the lightest member of the crew and the only person to get as far for ard as the mast while racing. If you are all heavy, just substitute sure-footed for light. Preferably the halyard will be led internally down the mast with a light braid existing at deck level and running back to a jam cleat. The topping lift for the pole is usually a simple affair with a small, heavy-duty swivel block hanging off a tang midway between the spreaders and the jib head. A single set of sheets (twice the length of the deck) of around 8mm diameter act as sheet and brace and are led aft through single blocks (not swivel) mounted a foot or two in from the transom. If no sheet winches, fit ratchet blocks. If you have a pop-top to contend with, run your halyards, vang control, cunningham and pole downhaul out from the mast to plastic deadeyes and then around the pop-top, aft to the cockpit. The most popular and best-known spinnaker pole system (Figure 18) is the basic end-for-end gybe system that has the topping lift and downhaul attached to the middle of the pole. The pole has its spring-loaded piston end fittings released from the brace, or ring on the mast, by simply pulling a light cord which runs to the middle of the pole. The cord is tied off at the mid-point on the pole so you don t trip both ends of the pole at once.

When the pole is gybed, the end that was on the mast goes onto the new brace. The for ard hand has to be careful not to collapse the spinnaker as he grabs for the new brace. In the left-hand drawing of (Figure 18) the kicker (or foreguy) is led to the foot of the mast, rather than to the middle of the foredeck as in the traditional end-for-end pole system, so you don t have to continually let off the kicker to brace for ard or aft. One good dinghy idea that can be employed with the above system is to replace the rope kicker with one of shock-cord and use the brace as a kicker and brace combined. This is achieved by holding the brace down at deck level by a hook on the gunwale mounted just aft of mast level. The steep angle of the brace off the deck stops the pole from skying. The controls are simplified to just brace, sheet and topping lift with the shockcord acting as kicker when the wind is light and the pole squared right back (centre, (Figure 18). Tweakers rope downhauls that act like barber haulers on the spinnaker brace and sheet can be used instead of hooks out on the gunwale, though they tend to add to the confusion on deck (Figure 19). I think many sailors prefer the simplest system.

Holding the brace down at deck level for reaches will do the job of a bigyacht jockey pole, keeping the brace literally out of the crew s hair. If you use a shock-cord kicker it needs to be long enough to run through a deadeye or block at the foot of the mast and out along the cabin- top or foredeck to a fixed point. The shock-cord is attached to the topping lift so that when the for ard hand goes to attach the pole, the topping lift will be sitting snug against the mast. How do you get rid of the pole? Most trailer yachts foredecks are a bit cramped for stowing a pole and it is often easier to take the pole aft than fiddle around trying to secure it to plastic holders on the foredeck. The ultimate answer is to stow the pole on the mainboom. With this system you can either use the end-for- end pole gybe or have the topping lift and kicker (if any) led to the outboard end of the pole and gybe with a variation of the dip-pole method. The right-hand illustration in (Figure 18) shows a system worked out for the Farr 6000. Basically it is the end-forend pole system with a rope kicker and topping lift. The pole is stowed in loops on the boom. When setting, you half-launch the pole by merely hauling on the topping lift. All the for ard hand has to do is pull the pole out the rest of the way and hook it onto the mast. You can t use shock-cord for the kicker with this system since the shockcord will tend to pull the pole against the mast where it will be in danger of being bent or jammed between the mast and loops on the boom.

Because of the fractional nature of the rig, the spinnaker halyard can always be eased 230 to 300mm from the mast and the halyard needs to be marked at the cleat or ratchet block at a point where the spinnaker pole is about 300mm off the forestay so the skipper can pull this to a mark with- out having to look up to see where the pole is positioned (Figure 20). Gybing the spinnaker I find it easiest to have the skipper adjust the sheet and brace, the mainsheet hand gybing the main and making sure not to bring it across until the new brace is connected and the old one released. The for ard hand gybes the spinnaker boom. If the skipper runs a bit by the lee during the exercise, the spinnaker can usually be kept setting. Centreboard When the boat has a skeg through which the board protrudes, this gives some tracking without the board, so generally the board can be right up downwind at all times, except: Running almost square in light airs and sloppy sea, or Shy reaching to make a mark, luffing and responding to a luff. In these two situations the board should be about 12% down. If the boat is underpowered it is usually because of the ratio of sail area to hull and crew weight and it pays to tack downward in light airs as the increase in boatspeed more than offsets the distance covered. Trailer yachts without the skeg- type arrangement need some board down all the time. Be careful to ensure that the board is not down more than vertical as this will accentuate weather helm; conversely, if weather helm is a problem

try lifting the board (if pivoted) a little as this will shift the centre of lateral resistance further aft and so help balance the sailplan. However, first check that the leading edge of the rudder blade is vertical as rake in this will quickly accentuate weather helm. Most trailer yachts respond well to having the centreboard lifted, in varying degrees in fresh going where it is important to keep the boat on its feet. In fresh conditions, keeping the boat moving is more important than pointing ability and while the board up a little decreases the latter, it improves the former. By keeping upright and travelling fast the boat makes less leeway and so speed made good to the weather mark is often better. Trim Most trailer yachts, being light- displacement designs, are affected by excess weight. If planning to race, give the boat a break and leave behind all unnecessary gear and equipment which tends to mount up, particularly when the boat is used as a caravan. Concentrate all gear around the vicinity of the mast. Take the anchor out of the foredeck locker and all spare sheets, blocks and tools from the cockpit seat locker. The fuel tank can be well topped up if kept below as the outboard motor is enough to have to carry right on the stern. In light airs keep crew weight forward so that the stern is only just in the water (with some very wide, flat- sterned boats, just out of the water). This usually means two crew (one.may be the skipper) in a three-man boat down to leeward. This applies both on and off the wind as the object of the exercise is to reduce wetted surface area. Once the boat picks up speed (reaching) in light airs adjust crew weight, angle of heel and foreand-aft trim to pick up waterline length for optimum hull speed. As the wind increases, move the crew weight progressively further aft shy reaching and running in fresh breezes in particular as this utilises the wider, flatter sections of the boat to gain stability. With eased sheets, especially on a reach, always trim the main and genoa together. The sails should be working parallel all the time. The ideal setup is to have two people who can work together, one trimming each sail. In hard reaching when excess weather helm is developed, ease the genoa as well as the main. Ease the genoa even past the point of luffing if necessary. More reaching legs are lost when under main and genoa only, because the main is eased but not the genoa. You seldom see a boat suffering from broaching problems when reaching under mainsail alone. Often described as sailing by numbers the use of adhesive decals for marking such adjustables as halyards, outhaul, cunningham, backstay,

genoa leads, mainsheet traveller etc, is well worth while. It is simpler to record that No 1 genoa sheets on #4 with halyard mark on #6 for moderate airs than to have to tune the setting on each occasion. I suggest keeping a diary to record these variables and so make your sailing life a lot easier (Figure 21). Crew Because of the tight restrictions in many trailer yachts classes, performance is often relative to crew work. It is important to collect a set crew, to get used to sailing. together, and to go through all the manoeuvres of setting, gybing and dropping the spinnaker to establish the most efficient use of the team, irrespective of whether they are children or grandparents.

I have never found a crew averse to a little pre-race practice. If they are able to perform their job efficiently they derive a lot of satisfaction from a job well done, irrespective of the boat s overall performance in the race. If not provided, but allowable within class rules, it is more efficient to stow the spinnaker boom on the main boom as this saves pulling it up and down from below and allows for the topping lift and downhaul to remain on the spinnaker boom connected at all times. A suggested system for hoisting and dropping the spinnaker is: Hoisting For ard hand: Set pole, attach brace, clear halyard, take spinnaker sheet. Mainsheet: Adjust topping lift, spinnaker, clear halyard, adjust brace. Skipper: Ease mainsheet, pull brace to mark, adjust sheet and pass to for ard hand, wind up centreboard. Dropping For ard hand: Tension outhaul, lower centreboard, retrieve spinnaker into hatch, clear sheet, brace and halyard. Mainsheet: Retrieve spinnaker boom, stow, trim mainsheet. Skipper: Take halyard and sheet release in that order, release topper, release brace, cleat jib, pull in mainsheet. An alternative is to drop the for ard end to the deck and poke it out between pulpit and forestay, leaving the aft end on the mast. If the boat has a for ard hatch, this is usually the ideal position from which to launch and retrieve the spinnaker, enabling all sheets and halyards to remain attached. A number of people prefer to have their crew below when sailing to windward light airs, which is quite sensible in a way. However, I feel it better to have them above so they can keep an eye on what s going on around them, particularly the position of other boats. If one of their jobs is to maintain a watch on particular opposition, it is so much easier to do this way. At the same time they can get the feel for the angle of heel required by the helmsman and adjust their weight distribution accordingly. I feel this advances their knowledge of, and interest in, the boat, its characteristics and performance, far more than being below divorced from what is happening above. Going to windward in fresh winds it is important that the weight is on the weather side all the time and so when tacking, quick movements must be made across so the boat is no sooner on the new board than all the

weight is out to weather. In gusty conditions it is wise to have one of the crew assigned to the mainsheet traveller so that he can adjust this as required. The skipper should always have his hand near the mainsheet so that it can be released quickly in the event of a knockdown. In light airs, constant attention to sail trim is critical. Using lighter genoa sheets and dropping a purchase or two off the mainsheet helps keep the leeches open and prevents stalling. De-powering the rig Many people get caught out in a freshening breeze and frighten the family, putting them off sailing for good because of a lack of knowledge of what they should do in order to alleviate the problem. Because I believe it is important to optimise sailing pleasure I have listed here the measures to be taken in these circumstances. Pull the mainsail outhaul out as hard as possible, thereby flattening the sail. This will help to prevent the bottom batten hooking and gives a clean exit in the lower part of the mainsail leech. Apply mainsail cunningham (about 75-100mm). This keeps the draft forward in the mainsail, keeps the boat sailing fast and reduces heeling. Apply more tension on the jib luff so there is no scalloping between the hanks, and move the jib sheets leads aft on the track. (For better purchase on the halyard, use the trucker s hitch). Ease the mainsheet traveller to leeward but keep the main sheeted in. This reduces heeling and helm. Move the jib leads aft on the track. This eases the leech of the jib and has the effect of spilling wind. If still overpowered: When the mainsheet traveller is fully eased, ease the mainsheet in the gusts and prepare to reef the main. If the boat has excessive windward helm, this can be reduced by partly raising the centreboard. Reefing the mainsail 1. Ease boom vang and mainsheet. 2. Slacken off main halyard and lower the mainsail until the reefing eye on the luff of the sail can be hooked on the stainless steel S hook on the gooseneck. 3. Pull the slab line on the boom halfway in and cleat it. 4. Retension main halyard. 5. Pull the slab line completely tight and cleat off. 6. Retighten boom vang and mainsheet. 7. If you have one, tighten the top mast backstay.

Always remember, when in heavy conditions lock hatches and stormboards in place and lock the keel down. It should be able to be locked in a partly raised position. While on the subject of de-powering it is well to remember when running downwind under spinnaker in fresh conditions, to prevent the boat from rolling and taking charge keep all weight well aft and strap down the sheet and brace. The natural reaction when a gust hits is to ease the sheet, but the reverse is what should be done. Easing only allows the spinnaker to move about and creates a fuller, more powerful sail. Strapping it in and down may not be as fast but discretion is often the better part of valour. Race Tips Have you ever been at the start line and not really known which is the the best end to start, the committee boat or the pin end? If you are new to sailing you usually choose the opposite end to where the other yachts are. So as to avoid a collision or not to get in someone elses way, who you may think knows more about starting than you. Not a bad idea for the first few races, but you do start to feel a bit left out when you are always one of the last yachts to the top mark. The idea is to get a good start and be the yacht in the best position on the start line. You may need to be a bit aggresive to get there so knowing the rules of sailing helps. So get yourself a copy of the YNZ rule book (or similar if you are overseas). Favoured end of the line: On which side of the should you start? This question is simple. Go to the middle of the line a few minutes before the start and go head to wind. Then look to either side, left to the pin, and right to the committee boat. Which ever is further ahead is the preferred end. This will be the closest end to the windward mark, so why not begin with a head start? Best tack off the line: On which tack should you be immediately after the start? This question is almost as simple. To decide the best tack, you need to decide which will take you straightest to the windward mark. When you are head to wind in the middle of the line, checking the favoured end, look also toward the windward mark and see which side of the boat it s on. If it s dead ahead your initial tack doesn t matter. If it s to the right, the best tack is port and to the left, starboard. To remember these, just imagine the wind swinging a little further in the same direction. If it goes far enough, you will be able to go to the

windward mark on one tack. This is a simple rule to follow, even on the other legs of the course. Now, of course, you should keep in mind that starboard tack has right of way over port tack, this will have a bearing on your dicision. If port tack is the best to be on, it may pay to start on starboard and then tack to port as soon as you can. That is unless you have complete confidence in your ability to stay clear of the starboard boats. Favoured side of the course: The favoured side of the course is often a little more nebulous than the above considerations. The favoured side of the course should be the side where the most wind is. This you can tell by standing up in your boat and looking up wind. Do this about every 30 seconds before the stat. Keep in mind that the wind may move to the other side of the course by the time you start. The time to start keeping track of the wind on the course is about 1/2 hour before the start of your race. Get out to the course early to determine what s happening. Now, reaching the favoured side of the course may be difficult, considering where you start and your imitial tack. Try to get there as quickly as possible, which means giving yourself room to tack. If you are pinned to the leeward of a windward boat, on starboard tack, it will be hard to get to the right side of the course. These three ingrediants should be mixed and matched to get the most out of the start. If it seems there is much more wind on the right, then you might give up the favoured pin end of the line, for a quick port tack to the right. If there is no apparent advantage on either side, then go with the favoured end of the line, on the closest tack to the mark. REMEMBER PLAN AHEAD!! Get clean air and have speed at the start: The best way to get wind is to make sure you are not in someone bad air. The biggest thing for which to watch is backwinding at the start. This will slow you down and make your pointing worse and the worse part of it is you won t be able to feel that the air is bad. The initial goal, once the gun goes off, will be to get up to speed quickly and this means getting clear air, so separate from those around you if you must. Also, in the few seconds before the start, you should bear off about 5-10 degrees to build a little speed. Otherwise, you ll get rolled by everyone who does have speed.

More Race Tips Finding the downwind groove: When you want to go fast on a run, it is important to get just the right trim for your sails. But that is not enough. Perhaps the most critical ingredient for down wind speed is finding the correct wind angle to sail. Locating the best angle is not so difficult when sailing upwind. The closehauled groove ( the heading that gives you optimal performance to windward) is fairly well defined and stays pretty much the same.the front of your jib gives great feedback about whether you are sailing too high or too low. There are many other clues to help you find the best closehaul angle, including the tug of windward helm, a steady angle of heel and the constant feel (the angle) of breeze on your face. Almost all of these things are missing when you are sailing downwind, this makes the downwind groove much less defined. On a run, you choose from among a wide range of angles to sail, and this makes it harder to know whether you are steering the best course possilble. In addition, your ideal sailing angles changes more frequently and dramatically when sailing downwind. You can sail low and slow, high and fast or anywhere in between. While sailing faster at a higher angle you will be heading further away from the leeward mark. For any boat and wind condition, there is usually one combination of boat speed and wind angle that will give you the best VGM (velocity made good). Unless you need to go high or low for tacticals reasons, you should always find this optimal combination of speed and angle while running. Almost every top sailor is very good at feeling his or her boat when racing. They are able to use their senses of touch, balance, sight and sound to know how fast the boat is going through the water, how much pressure is in the sails,how far the boat is heeled, how much helm there is and so on. If you want to feel your way to the best angle downwind, you must be able to judge subtle changes in speed and angle. If you can bear off slightly without losing much speed, then that is probably a good thing to do. Likewise, if you can head up a little and increase your speed noticeably, you are probably going in the right direction. Of course you shouldn t rely entirely on your senses. Your ultimate goal is not sailing the boat so it feels right and going slower than the other boats. So be aware of what the other boats are doing.