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TACTICAL MISTAKES TO AVOID
How To Point Higher
Tips on how to Point Higher
“The best teams in each fleet I sail in all seem to be able to point higher than me”. This is a statement that can be heard at every regatta.
Flow over the foils is key and you can’t start pointing higher until you have enough flow.
Many factors affect pointing ability, but I’ll talk about the main ones. For the sake of this exercise let’s say that the breeze is about 9-12 knots and the boat is not overpowered.
VMG and pointing
Let’s focus on pointing higher than VMG (Velocity Made Good). VMG = optimum height/ speed angle for making progress upwind. The range between VMG and pointing artificially high is maybe 4 degrees any higher than that and the speed drops off drastically.
Ease into pointing by gaining speed first. If someone is right below you (like at a start), you still can’t stick it high too quickly because until flow gets going over your foils you will slide sideways.
The Jib and Pointing
Many sailors try to point by trimming in their jib hard and although tempting, over-trimming the jib is not the way to point.
When pointing considerably higher, especially in lighter winds, the pressure on the jib will decrease and the jib may get tighter in the leech so you may actually need to ease it.
If trying to point higher by heading up, and your jib leech telltale stalls, you need to ease.
The Main and Pointing
You get height by over-trimming the main and thus hooking leech. Look at the top leech telltale and see what % it is flowing. If in VMG mode, have it stall 50% of the time.
In point mode, trim it in so it is stalling 70-80% of the time.
Over-trimming the main will give you more hook. If the hook is hard to achieve, ease the backstay and vang. Each will straighten the mast and that makes the leech tighter.
Easing Cunningham and outhaul also add some hook and thus leech tension.
Jib and Mainsail Leech Telltales
Spend most of your time looking at the jib tales and just glance up and read the % stall on the main. That leech telltale will alternate between flowing and stalling over a few seconds.
Adjust the main trim whenever there is a windspeed change.
If your target is 70% stall, but then get a lull, ease main and then look up and fine-tune to get it back to 70%. To relate this to pointing high, do this regardless of pointing, VMG, or footing, but the target stall time is what changes.
Other Controls to aid pointing
Traveller – pull the traveller up so the boom is just above the centreline.
Heel – Over-flatten the boat. You need the foils more vertical than usual to get the most lift off them. It’s just a few degrees more than normal for those conditions. A flat boat moves sails to windward.
Ease the jib halyard and mainsail Cunningham
FREE CHAMPIONSHIP SAILING GLOVES
Pointing when Overpowered
When you are overpowered, it’s more about sailing flat. In overpowered conditions, the main is already eased so the top telltale is always flowing.
You still need to trim in your main, but instead of trimming to the main leech telltale, trim to keep the boat at the correct heel. Focus on the heel, puffs, lulls and waves.
Steering a little high say 1-4 deg is OK, but pointing any higher than that is unsustainable.
In all conditions, over-trim and pinch until you feel the boat start to slow then put the bow down and get speed again.
Get A Feel for Steering
By David Dellenbaugh – https://www.speedandsmarts.com/
Strategy and Tactics – WEBinars Presented by Speed & Smarts
Dave will be leading three new webinars during the US winter and spring of 2024/2025. Each of these will include four live sessions geared toward a wide range of racing boats and sailors. For more info or to register click here.
Getting a Feel For Steering
The beauty of a hand on the helm is the control and the unmistakable power of feel. When it feels right, it feels fast.
Telltales are an excellent guide for steering in the groove upwind. You can shift gears within the groove by subtly varying the position of the windward telltales.
I had a chance to go iceboating for the first time a couple of months ago but I didn’t understand how anyone could sail without seeing wind on the water.
After two days of scooting around in Nites and Skeeters on Wisconsin’s Lake Geneva, I learned that “feel” is everything. The only way to tell how high or low you can steer is by feeling the wind pressure on the rig and the speed of the boat going over the ice.
It’s amazing how sensitive you become to these when you can’t rely on normal visual clues.
In many ways, steering a “water” boat is like steering an iceboat. It requires a sensitive touch. Steering is, by definition, the technique of guiding a boat from one point to another. It’s a fine art that requires practice, concentration, and the ability to experience a boat almost as an extension of yourself.
In order to go fast, you have to use a combination of rudder, weight and sail trim whenever you deviate from a straight line.
Steering Upwind
Steering a boat upwind has always been one of my favourite parts of sailing. One important thing is to sit (or stand) in a good place. Position yourself as high off the water, as far forward, and as far outboard as possible. This will give you the best view of your sails, the waves in front of your boat, and the rest of the racecourse.
Be sure you are comfortable, so you minimize distractions and maximize your attention span.
Once you’ve settled into a “batting stance,” you’re ready to start looking around and driving. To steer fast, you must assimilate information from several sources. Let’s discuss some of the guides you can use:
Jib telltales:
This is where I look most often when steering upwind. Like a lot of helmsmen, I probably depend too much on this single source of information. But telltales are a very good indication of how close I am sailing to the wind.
By watching the exact position of the windward telltales, I have a clear idea of whether I am slightly pinching, slightly footing, or sailing a normal upwind angle (see diagram).
Remember that easing or trimming the jib will affect the telltales; also, if you’re watching only the lower telltales, you may be misled if they are breaking differently from those at the top part of the sail.
The angle of heel:
A lot of good sailors steer by watching and feeling how much the boat heels. They find a heel angle that feels fast, then steer to maintain that angle (and the corresponding amount of weather helm).
The easiest way to keep track of the heel is by watching the angle that your forestay makes with the horizon. Using heel angle is actually another way to gauge how close you are sailing to the wind; the higher you head, the less you heel, and vice versa.
Instruments: Get a feel for steering
If your boat has instruments, one of your priorities should be to post target speeds for each wind velocity within easy sight of the helmsperson or tactician. These are helpful for knowing whether you should steer the boat faster or slower or lower or higher) at any given time.
Be sure to mount your boat speed readout (and other important instruments) on the mast or in a location where it is easy to read while looking forward. That way you can simultaneously watch the instruments, telltales, waves and angle of heel without looking away.
Look outside the boat:
It’s a good idea to make sure someone is always assigned to watch for puffs, lulls, waves and flat spots. Anticipating a change in conditions is key for steering. It lets you know whether you will have to head up for a puff or head off to punch through waves.
On small boats, the lookout is usually the skipper; on larger boats, it might be the tactician. Communication should include comments like, “There’s a puff coming in 20 seconds” or “Two steep waves in a boat length.”
Make sure these are loud enough for both the helmsperson and sail trimmers to hear.
Steering technique depends a good deal on how you’re moving relative to other boats. I like to have one crewmember (it could be the lookout) give me continuous readouts on our speed and height compared to our “neighbors.”
This helps me know whether I should steer higher or lower. If we’re having a problem, I’ll ask for feedback on what the other boat is doing. Often a slight change in my steering technique will make a difference.
Practice and experience:
Time in the boat is often the best way to learn how to steer fast.
The first time we sailed Heart of America in Fremantle, for example, Buddy Melges tried to steer the waves as if we were in a Soling.
Unfortunately, this didn’t work for a 12-metre. It took us at least a month of sailing every day to figure out how to get through those seas quickly.
Steering Downwind
Steering downwind seems easy at first. After all, you just head for the mark and trim your sails. But it’s not so simple if you want to go fast.
Finding a groove downwind is usually much harder than upwind. You don’t have the positive feel of weather helm, and it’s tough to settle in on a heading where the boat feels like it is effortlessly making its best VMG downwind. Fortunately, there are a few guides you can use.
Course to the mark:
The shortest distance between any two points is a straight line, so you can often steer straight for the next mark, and trim your sails to match. This is especially true on a reach.
I’ve used a point on shore, a compass heading, a light on shore, the stern light of a boat ahead, and even a star to help me steer a steady course.
Just be careful not to get so fixed on one heading that you ignore changes in the wind and other variables.
Polars and Target speeds:
These are just as important for steering on a run as they are on a beat.
What you need is a chart that gives your optimal wind angle and boatspeed for each true wind speed. When you find the angle your boat likes, set your pole position and steer up and down to maintain good pressure in the sail.
Spinnaker trimmer:
If you don’t have polars (and even if you do), one of the tricks to steering fast downwind is communication between the spinnaker trimmer and helmsperson.
When I’m steering on a run, I key almost entirely off the spinnaker. I look for changes in the shape of the chute, which indicate there has been a change in either wind direction or velocity.
I also listen carefully to my trimmer who continuously tells me what kind of pressure is on the sheet and whether we should head lower to burn speed or head up to build speed.
Feel: Get a feel for steering
Sensitivity is especially important downwind for several reasons.
First, the downwind groove is usually “mushy,” so it takes extra awareness to know when you are there.
Second, you can’t read the wind on the water as easily because you are facing away from the wind.
Third, the wind you feel (apparent wind) is less when you’re sailing down the wind, so it’s harder to feel on your body.
I usually try to sense changes in the breeze on my ears and the back of my neck. I’ve heard stories that Dennis Conner actually gets his hair cut before major regattas so he can feel the wind better.
This may not be necessary for most people, but it’s a good argument for not hiding your head under bulky clothing.
One final suggestion
Keep your rudder as still as possible when steering downwind. This is a change from going upwind, where the rudder actually provides lift and can help you wiggle around waves.
When you’re going downwind, however, the main result of rudder movement is increased turbulence and drag (except when steering to catch waves in surfing conditions), so use your weight and sails to neutralize the helm.
Mark Rounding Essentials
Sailboat racing consists of long periods of upwind or downwind sailing where you are concentrating on boat speed and tactics. These periods are punctuated by moments of intense action in the form of mark roundings.
Mark roundings are opportunities to make massive gains or consolidate gains you’ve already made.
Whether you are rounding a weather mark, leeward mark, or gybe mark, the main objective is to maintain your speed and momentum.
FREE CHAMPIONSHIP SAILING GLOVES
Rounding technique
Start by steering a smooth, gradual turn around the mark rather than an abrupt, tight turn.
Remember, the more you move the rudder off the centreline and the faster you do it, the more the boat will slow down. Too fast and the rudder actually acts as a brake.
With a weather mark rounding where you plan a bear away set, position your boat slightly above the layline so you can pass close to the far side of the mark as you turn downwind.
The advantage is that even if the crew has a problem getting the spinnaker up, you’ve maintained your boat speed and are still making progress down the track.
Maintaining your boat speed should apply around the gybe mark and leeward mark as well.
BOOK FOR YOUR SAILING BUDDY (and one for yourself)
Dealing with other boats
Sometimes boats around you will affect your rounding. If there’s any doubt about who has the right of way, or there is the possibility of a collision, be conservative.
Fouling another boat is always slow. it’s better to lose a boat than to have to do turns to exonerate yourself if you are in the wrong.
Nothing can improve your mark rounding more than concentrated practice. Practice sessions should see you going around upwind and downwind marks repeatedly.
Minimise Risk at Marks
Marks involve a high degree of risk because boats converge there, the fleet gets very compressed and the stakes are high.
Therefore, before you get to a mark think about how much risk are you willing to take. For example, would you be willing to try cutting inside the boats ahead if that meant a 50% chance of fouling?
What if it was 20%? The level of risk you should take at a mark (or anywhere else) depends on several factors including:
a) how far you are from the finish;
b) how you are doing in the race; and
c) how you are doing overall in the series.
For example, if you’re at the first mark of the first race in a series, you shouldn’t take a very big chance.
If it’s the last mark of the last race, and you need to pass three boats to finish on the podium, then the risk of cutting inside the boats ahead might well be worth taking.
A couple of pointers to bear in mind when you are about to round.
- Plan the upcoming mark rounding and think about what will be happening on that leg.
- Work out what angle you will be sailing after the rounding
- A smooth turn helps you maintain boat speed more than a rapid, abrupt turn.
- Observe the boats approaching the mark with you and work out who will be where and how you will deal with them.
- When you are in proximity with other boats you have to react quickly so make sure that the crew gives you good visibility and feedback.
- Ensure trim matches the situation so that you have the best speed out of the turn.
Tips From Sailing Legends
ph. Andrea Francolini
Tips From Sailing Legends – below are just a few that I found to be really useful.
When you’re racing and you feel slow, what’s the first thing you do to change? Augie Diaz
What I try to do is ease.
Generally, I’m a pincher, so when I’m going slow, the first thing I do is ease the sails a little bit. I try to put the bow down which gives you a good feel for what you know you have to do next.
I think to be disciplined about feeling slow, then you ease the sails out a little bit and put the bow down a little bit and get flow.
The biggest problem for pinchers is that you lose flow on the blades. Not just the blades in the water, but also on your foils above, the sails. It’s all about flow. It’s like flying.
Stand up as high as possible and look around – Glenn Ashby
Stand up high on the boat. You don’t see a huge amount of people doing this very often.
Standing up gives a really different perspective of actually being able to look far at the course. We all know that the Earth’s round and the higher you get up the further you can see.
Getting an elevated position, even if it’s just standing up in your dinghy, makes a really big difference in what information you can process.
5 to 15 minutes before the start, get up and have a good look around, observe other boats’ angles. If they’re doing a split, or they’re doing a line-up, don’t keep sailing around randomly, just stop and watch.
Observing other guys doing their line-ups from both sides of the course, gives you a good indication of how shifty it is.
Stopping and observing is a really important thing that not a lot of people do well.”
Internalize the fact that everyone racing has as much a right to a good finish as you do – Chris Snow
Most fleets develop a pecking order of sorts.
Joe usually is near the top, Jim is in the middle and Jess who is less experienced towards the back.
As you get better you might find yourself thinking that some of your competitors are easy marks. You might even look at the entry list and think to yourself “I’m for sure better than Jess”. I’ll probably be in front of her today”.
From a mental control point of view, this type of thinking is dangerous. At some point or another Jess will be in front of you. In the course of a normal race, she might tack on you or take away your lane of clear air.
Should You Ever Reach The Layline Far From The Mark? – Dave Dellenbaugh
As a rule of thumb, no. It seldom pays to be on the layline when you can barely see the mark (or even when you’re closer than that). But like all such rules, this one can be broken occasionally.
Most sailors have at least one good story when they got to the layline very early and very far from the mark and made out like bandits.
Here are some situations when this may work again in the future:
• One side of the course is very favoured and you have to be there.
Sometimes you are sure that one side of the course is a lot better.
Maybe it has been paying off on every beat so far, and the farther you go to that side the better you will do.
In this case, you can’t worry about what will happen if you get to the layline too early. Just head for that corner and do your best. Even if you overstand and sail in bad air all the way to the mark, you will still probably round ahead of boats that went the wrong way.
• You are in first place and covering most of the fleet toward the favoured side.
When you are leading the race, you don’t have to worry about sailing in bad air on the layline. You just have to realise that once you get to the layline you won’t be able to play the shifts any more.
As long as you are confident that you are going the right way, and as long as most of the other boats are going there with (behind) you, it’s usually OK to reach the layline early.
• You’re near the back of the fleet and willing to take a large risk to catch up.
Sometimes the only way to make a big enough gain is to get lots of leverage on the rest of the fleet. This usually means getting to one of the laylines pretty early.
Even if you get tacked on or this turns out to be the wrong side, you don’t have much to lose.
First weather leg – Matt Fisher
We have gotten away from trying to guess which side is favoured. We spent 3 or 5 years trying to determine which side will be favoured and we weren’t very good at that.
Sure, in light air, especially in very light air, we will look upwind with 2 minutes to go and try to see if we can tell if there is any more pressure on one side or another.
But our “strategy” in 90% of the races is to start near the favoured end and sail the shifts.
Sure we end up on a side and have sailed lifts out to a side when we are trying to get back to the middle but we do not try to guess which side is favoured.
Yes, often one side will come in and often the people that win from that side race will either say they sailed up the middle or they saw something on that side, but we sail shifts as much as we possibly can.
Stay in phase on the beat – Mike Considine – UK Sails
Part of sailing the shortest distance is always being on the favoured tack. Identify shifts upwind. Sometimes following everyone is okay if you are on the favoured tack and in clear air.
Use the fleet ahead of you to read the shifts, watching the angles the lead boats are sailing. Anticipating the shifts can increase your leverage.
Being set up to be on the inside of the next shit will pay big dividends. The lead boats are usually tacking on the shifts, watch them and their angles to the mark.
Know when to bang a corner & not (Increased leverage): With persistent shifting conditions or large immediate shifts, it may be okay to hit a side hard to make a big gain. Significant wind increases on one side or the other can be the reason to bang a side.
Stream the jib leech telltale – Steve Hunt
Most jibs perform well when they’re tight enough that the top leech telltale stalls every once in a while.
A few more ratchet clicks of trim, and the telltale will stall much more—50 per cent or more. A little ease, and it’s streaming 100 per cent of the time.
The sweet spot for a jib is just a touch in from full flow—95 per cent. At this trim, your jib will be as tight as possible without stalling airflow through the slot. This will help your speed and pointing.
If you’re not going well upwind, jib trim is one of the first places to make an adjustment.
Stay focused
This may sound obvious, but no one can give 100 per cent concentration all the time – and even just a short lapse at a critical time can cost several places.
As well as good nutrition, make sure your conversation doesn’t wander away from the race and that everyone is tuned in on the run-up to important manoeuvres.
This is particularly important in the latter parts of a race – many crews will be flagging, so those who stay focused on the job can make good gains relative to other boats.
Upwind Tactics In A Fleet
More great tips from friend David Dellenbaugh of Speed and Smarts Newsletter regarding Upwind Tactics In A Fleet.
When sailing on your own it’s easy to execute a strategy. When you are sailing in a fleet of one-design boats, however, this is where you need a repertoire of tactical moves.
General Tactics Principles
The tactics you employ in a race are influenced by many factors including your boatspeed, your position in the race, the abilities of your crew and how far you are from the finish.
Play the Fleet –
the fleet’s position determines where the right and left sides of the course are. You may be sailing right up the rhumbline, but if the rest of the fleet is near the starboard layline, you are tactically in the left corner.
Cover when ahead –
The basic tactical rule of thumb is to cover the other boats when you’re ahead. Lateral separation increases the damage done by an unfavourable wind shift, so the best way to reduce risk is to stay close to the fleet.
Split when you’re behind –
The closer you get to the finish, the more important this becomes, because it is very difficult to pass other boats by following them.
Cross and Consolidate –
When you make a gain on other boats, consolidate by crossing ahead of them. A gain or loss is not actually realized until the boat that gains crosses ahead of the boat that loses.
Preventing a Loss –
If boats have gained on you and are trying to consolidate their gain, don’t let them cross you. Tack to leeward and ahead of them so that you will lead them into the next wind shift. This works perfectly in an oscillating breeze.
Bite the Bullet –
When boats are gaining on you because of a persistent shift, it usually pays to “bite the bullet” and sail behind them toward the shift.
The above principles are dependent on you having good boatspeed.
Many sailors think that if you are slow you should take more chances. However, the opposite is probably true.
If you are slow, you can’t afford to make mistakes, so your strategic and tactical moves should be quite conservative.
BOOK FOR YOUR SAILING BUDDY (and one for yourself)
Boat on Boat Tools
Lanes –
Look ahead for “lanes” of clear air. When you find a good lane, take it, or you may have to wait a long time before you can get onto the favoured tack with clear air.
Use a Blocker –
Find a boat that you cross just behind and tack to windward so you are just free of his bad air. Now this boat is your blocker.
Boats that might have tacked on your lee bow will now go for this boat’s lee bow instead, leaving you free to continue in clear air.
Loose Cover –
To cover another boat loosely, you are staying between them and the windward mark, in a position where your bad air is not hurting them.
A loose cover is useful when you don’t want to initiate a tacking duel, the other boat is going the wrong way, or you are worried about more than one boat. Additionally, using a strategy similar to how a Ghostwriter Hausarbeit can help manage complex tasks, the loose cover can be applied to more than one boat. This approach allows you to manage the situation without direct confrontation, much like how a skilled ghostwriter can handle multiple aspects of an assignment simultaneously.
Tight Cover –
This is a more aggressive type of cover where you use your wind shadow to slow the boat behind.
This is a good tactic when you are worried about only one other boat or the boat behind is headed toward the favoured side of the course.
Don’t become obsessed with one boat behind in case you lose the rest of the fleet.
Lee Bow –
If you do this right, you will give the other boat dirty air and water, and they will have to tack away or else fall in behind you.
Clamping on an effective lee bow requires good timing, judgment and boat handling. Smooth water and moderate air are the best conditions for this tactic.
If you are the port tacker and are almost crossing, then it is possible to make a good lee-bow tack.
Pinning –
This will work on either tack. It’s more effective on starboard tack because the boat that’s pinned will not have the right of way after she tacks.
The typical approach is to cross just behind a starboard tacker and then tack right on their windward hip.
Another way to pin is to reach down from a position to windward. This shuts off their option to tack and duck you.
EFFECTIVE PRACTICES THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Plenty of effective practices make a difference, and I have outlined a few below.
Jib Leech Telltale
Most jibs perform well when they’re tight enough that the top leech telltale stalls occasionally.
The sweet spot for a jib is slightly in from telltale full flow, say 90-95 per cent and the jib will be in far as possible without stalling airflow through the slot.
This will help your speed and pointing. If you’re not going well upwind, jib trim is one of the first places to make an adjustment.
Exit Angles
One of the most important steering techniques for boat speed is efficient exiting jibes and tacks.
The exit angle affects your heel and acceleration. You should come out of tacks just below closehauled with eased sheets to accelerate before trimming in and heading up.
During jibes, you should come out just a little higher than your normal course and accelerate before steering to your downwind angle.
Spinnaker Trim
A good spinnaker trimmer is always easing the kite until they see a slight curl in the luff, as soon as it curls, trim in slightly to eliminate the curl.
Repeat this process over and over slavishly watching the luff.
The trimmer can sense lifts and headers by constantly easing for a curl and watching the bow to see if the boat has turned. If you ease more than normal before getting the curl, and the skipper has sailed straight, you have been lifted.
In a multi-crewed boat, the trimmer can pass this information to the tactician who can then decide whether to gybe or not. If the trimmer has sensed a knock, likewise he passes this info on so that the decision may be to continue on this board.
BOOK FOR YOUR SAILING BUDDY (and one for yourself)
Weight
All boats are sensitive to weight but dinghies and sports boats are particularly sensitive.
Eliminate unnecessary spares, clothing and tools to ensure you are sailing at an optimal weight for your class.
In many small boats, crew weight is also critical so refer to class tuning guides or notes to ensure that you are not sailing heavy or light.
By being light, you can plane more quickly downwind, and the gains are huge, especially in marginal conditions. But bear in mind that if you are too light you will struggle upwind in heavy conditions and the gains made downwind will not compensate for the loss upwind.
Crewing Roles
Defining who does what is critically important. It ensures that you’re prepared for everything and gives everyone a purpose.
Boathandling issues arise from the crew not knowing what each is expected to do in a tack, gybe and mark rounding.
Don’t just leave things to chance and hope someone will get to it.
Get to the Race Track Early
Arriving on the course early allows you to figure out the wind and racecourse, and tune your boat for the conditions.
Do start line research and a few practice starts to get the team dialled in. You’re far more likely to start well, sail fast, and go the right way after this warm-up.
Use Other Boats or Fleets as Telltales
Observe how far boats in your fleet are heeling, how many bodies are on the rail, and the angles they’re sailing.
By watching others, you can see what the wind angles are on different parts of the racecourse.
If you are on a course with multiple fleets, you get even more data ahead of and behind you to let you know what is headed your way.
Sailing Instructions
Many teams lose critical points by not carefully reading the sailing instructions or checking the notice board every morning.
Missing the downwind finish because it’s opposite the starting or line mistaking the colour of the change marks. Not knowing that penalties are changed from two turns to one are “unforced errors.”
After reading the sailing instructions, share salient points with the team on the way to the course.
Douse Early
It’s faster to go downwind with a jib than upwind with a spinnaker.
Going upwind with the kite flapping is a common mistake but one of the easiest to eliminate.
Start your douse a few seconds earlier than you think you should. This will free you up to focus on a smooth turn with proper sail trim and heel angle.
A good rounding gives you tactical options to go straight in a good lane or to tack if you wish.
Get Better Racing Skills
Get Better Racing Skills – I have copied below excerpts from an excellent article that was featured in Yachts and Yachting UK – Improve your Racing Skills – written by Toby Heppell
Starting out – Get Better Racing Skills
It’s possible to start racing at club level after a relatively small amount of tuition and this is the best route to start building on your initial skills.
Don’t worry if initially you’re at the back of the fleet at your club. With a methodical approach to learning, a rapid improvement in your performance is possible.
Many clubs and classes also run coaching sessions for adults and young sailors. These are usually a very effective way to notch your skills up a level and identify areas on which to focus afterwards.
One of the most fascinating aspects of racing sailboats is that there is always something more to learn.
Many sailors stagnate at a particular level, beyond which they don’t improve, or only make a frustratingly slow climb up their fleet. Often sailors in this position start to look at improving their boat and gear, perhaps buying new sails, to step their performance up a level.
While it’s true that this will make your boat faster, it won’t make you a fundamentally better sailor, which is the overriding goal you should be looking for in the first instance.
The Learning Curve
One way to avoid a flattening of your learning curve is to develop a mindset that makes analysing, and learning from, your performance in each race an automatic routine.
The old adage that a good sailor looks at the race they’ve just sailed and asks: “How could I have done that better?”. This is just as appropriate for someone in their first season as for aspiring Olympians.
Having a post-race debrief is a good way of doing this with a key aim to identify and eliminating mistakes.
Sailing different boats in different places and with people whose experience doesn’t exactly reflect your own, you’ll learn at a far greater pace. Avoid only sailing your own boat at the same club and with the same crew.
Spending up to half your time afloat practising will make a huge difference to your results. But if you can’t manage this, even 10 minutes at the end of every day’s sailing will make a big difference over time.
Core Elements
Concentrating on the core elements of boatspeed, and basic manoeuvring will usually show the biggest initial rewards.
Start by fully understanding how all the sail controls, outhaul, vang, cunningham etc change sail shape, particularly in terms of the full/flatness in different parts of the sail and twist.
Another fundamental is to understand the steering effects of the sails and the way this contributes to the balance of the rig.
At its simplest, power in the jib tends to turn the bow away from the wind, and powering up the mainsail tends to turn the bow towards the wind.
If you want to luff up towards the wind, hauling in the mainsheet will help speed the turn. Equally, the mainsheet must be eased before bearing away from the wind.
In strong winds, many boats won’t bear away unless the sheet is eased. Even in lighter conditions, you’ll need to apply more helm, which creates drag and slows the boat.
Using sail trim to help steer means you use maybe only half the amount of helm, which is much faster.
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Changing gears
Boatspeed requires a combination of sail trim, accurate helming, and good balance and trim. Settings for a particular wind speed in flat water won’t work in big waves, or in light air.
Acceleration gear is used when sailing upwind in waves and each wave will tend to slow the boat.
After coming out of a tack on a keelboat, it can take up to a minute to build up to target close-hauled speed.
Acceleration gear is also often needed in extreme conditions, either in lots of wind or very little.
This gear is achieved by sailing a little off the wind, with sheets eased to suit and with slightly fuller sails. Cunningham and outhaul are also eased if the acceleration gear is to be used for any length of time.
Work on basic manoeuvres in light to moderate wind strengths, up to the strength at which moderate hiking is required.
Roll tacking and gybing are crucial skills for dinghy sailors, especially in light and moderate conditions. The boat should come out of the tack at the same speed as when entering it.
Mark rounding is also important to follow the ‘wide in, narrow out’ principle.
Spinnaker hoists, drops and gybes are crucial to clean mark roundings, yet few keelboat and yacht crews practice them outside of races.
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Sailing Downwind
Downwind helming in planning conditions is an important skill for dinghy sailors. This requires different instincts to helming upwind in gusty conditions, or downwind in a displacement (non-planing) boat.
The key to bearing off in gusts is to dump large amounts of main plus spinnaker sheet if necessary.
In these conditions, both mainsail and spinnaker will tend to turn the boat into the wind. The main will probably already be right out, but the kite sheet will also need to be eased to allow the helmsman to bear away on a gust.
The vang may need to be dumped to further depower the upper part of the mainsail.
In survival conditions, most gusts bring a risk of capsizing or broaching. You’ll need to bear away aggressively the moment the gust hits and before its effects are felt. The aim is to keep the boat flat.
In less extreme conditions, a small luff, before bearing away for the gust increases apparent wind. This will start accelerating the boat even before the gust hits.
Similarly, heading up at the end of the gust will maintain the increased apparent wind strength for longer. In this way, you retain control of the boat, while maximising the distance sailed on each puff.
Background knowledge
It takes time to fully understand the Racing Rules of Sailing. Therefore it’s something you need to keep referring to and building your knowledge of.
Too many people, even those who consider themselves seasoned racers, don’t fully understand many of the basic rules.
On-water practice isn’t enough on its own to progress your skills. It’s also important to build a core of theoretical knowledge and reading is an important way of doing this. In particular read all that you can on rules, tactics and sail trim.
Don’t worry that many such books are impossible to digest fully in one sitting. On the first read, you’ll take some important tips away. In subsequent readings, many more useful lessons will become apparent.
SOLO PRACTICE
With Solo Practice you can work on a wide range of techniques without having to rely on anyone else except your own boat and crew.
Many sailors believe that racing is the best training, but there are plenty of skills that can be perfected alone.
The 3 main areas for solo practice are boat handling, boat speed and starting.
The following list of skills are some of the easiest to work on alone.
- Tacking
- Gybing
- Heavy weather techniques
- Angle of heel
- Wind shift spotting
- Starting
- Mark rounding
- Wave technique
- Spinnaker hoists, drops, and gybes
- Physical fitness
- Skipper/crew coordination
- Self-confidence
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Things that are essential for an Effective Practice session.
Focus
Focus your practice on a few manageable areas to improve breaking down a skill into small parts and work to perfect each of the parts.
An example of this is when tacking, work on your footwork and getting to the other side in coordination with your teammates.
Progress on the small things things adds up to major improvement.
Variety
Mix up the sessions, don’t do the same thing every time you go out to practice. Next session come back to things you didn’t get perfect last time out.
Don’t always select days of perfect conditions and be prepared to train in sub 5 knots through to survival conditions.
Don’t practice too many different methods per session
Before heading out, decide what you are going to work on. Talk about what you want to get out of the session and experiment with different techniques.
Repetition once you get it right ensures that the skill becomes second nature and will be replicated automatically in pressure situations when racing.
Race like you practice.
Work on techniques in short bursts of intensity as you would when racing.
After carrying out the short intense manoeuvres, relax and discuss what went right or wrong and work out how to do them better.
Don’t be shy to compliment each other for a job well done and make sure that any criticism is constructive.
BOOK FOR YOUR SAILING BUDDY (and one for yourself)
Using Electronics to Improve Speed.
When you don’t have other boats to use as gauges for your speed improvement, electronics add value to solo practice.
Even if your class does not allow electronic equipment such as Velocitek, Sailmon or Vakaros instruments, these are extremely useful for solo practice.
Also looking at data and tracks created by these instruments is great for learning how you can improve basics such as tacking and gybing.
As an example, a tack has three parts – entry, turn, exit:
- For the entry, you want to be on a close-hauled angle and the boat was at target speed going into the turn.
- In the turn, you want the momentum to be carried into the wind with a consistent rate of turn. The rate of turn will vary with the conditions depending on the wind and sea state.
- For the exit you want to see that the turn stops at a good acceleration or speed build angle, the boat is able to accelerate straight away and you are close to a close-hauled angle.
Use the speedo feature to improve speed related to sail and boat trim.
Sails and Rig
It’s amazing how much extra consistent speed some adjustments make.
Because a point or two of extra boatspeed is imperceptible to all but a few sailors, the use of an instrument while practising can teach us a lot.
Set your sails how you think is perfect for the prevailing conditions. Then make adjustments to Vang, Cunningham or shroud tensions to see what effect they have on speed.
If the changes are positive make notes, change marks and memorise for the next time you strike those conditions.
Boat Trim
Similarly, experiment with heel and fore and aft trim and note what is consistently faster in the conditions that you are experiencing.
All classes and types of boats respond differently to heel and trim changes so experiment to see which numbers work best for your boat.
How To Minimize Your Racing Risk
Andrea Francolini
How to Minimize Your Racing Risk – Dave Dellenbaugh wrote the following 13 points, and he is one of America’s and Sailing’s most accomplished sailors and coaches.
Dave’s newsletters and details can be found at Dave Dellenbaughs Speed and Smarts
Don’t take unnecessary chances! If you want to finish consistently near the top of the fleet, you must follow a conservative game plan.
Below are 13 ideas on how to minimize risk around the race course. If you implement as many of these as possible, your finishes should be more consistently near the top of the fleet.
Learn the racing rules.
Knowing the rules is the best way to avoid breaking any rule. So spend some time looking at the rulebook on a regular basis.
Besides reducing your risk, it will put you in a much stronger position tactically and help you stay in control of your race. (Don’t forget your class rules, too.)
Study the notice of race and sailing instructions.
If you really want to minimize risk-taking, don’t ever sail a race without reading all the regatta rules first. This is an easy, foolproof way to avoid the kind of embarrassing mistakes that can cost you a regatta.
Work hard on boat speed.
Improving your boat speed is hard work, but it can give you a huge return with no risk at all.
In addition, good boat speed will help you recover from mistakes. It lets you take slightly bigger risks (in search of slightly bigger rewards) while reducing your downside.
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Practice boat handling maneuvers, especially in heavy air.
When you’re racing, there is always at least a small risk whenever you perform a maneuver (e.g. heavy-air jibes).
To minimize this risk, practice as much as possible, especially in stronger winds, and try to avoid high-risk maneuvers while racing.
Check over your boat and gear.
Another easy way to lose a race or regatta is by having something break. Therefore, if you want to reduce your risk, be sure to check your boat carefully before every race.
Pay special attention to areas of high wear like the boom vang, hiking stick, hiking straps, halyards and so on.
Aim to finish in the top three or five, not first.
If you try to win every race, you will probably take too many risks to beat all the other boats. A better idea is to aim for the top 5 or so instead.
Just as you don’t need the best start to win a race, you don’t need first places to win a series.
Keep your head out of the boat.
To avoid bumps in the road, keep your eyes on where you’re going. Anticipate, anticipate, anticipate.
Keep the big picture firmly in mind so you won’t sail into a position where you are left with only high-risk options.
Avoid close encounters with other boats.
If you foul another boat it can be very costly, especially if it’s early in a race. Therefore, in order to reduce risk, keep clear of other boats.
Be willing to take a penalty.
No one likes to admit they broke a rule or do circles in the middle of a race, especially when they’re not sure they were actually wrong.
However, when you go to a protest hearing you typically have a 50% chance of losing. So, if you really want to minimize risk, your best move is to take a penalty (720° or yellow flag) at the time of the incident.
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Don’t take fliers.
The greater your separation from other boats, the more you are at risk. Therefore, stay away from the corners and laylines of the course, and avoid sailing off by yourself.
Make a strategic plan and follow it.
Much risk-taking results from decisions that are made on the spur of the moment.
To avoid this, get out to the course area early, develop a race strategy and use this as your guide for decisions during the race. Of course, you should modify this as necessary during the race.
Sail the longer tack first.
In other words, stay on the tack where your bow is pointed closer to the next mark.
This gives you the best chance of success because it will keep you closer to the middle of the course in a position where you can best play the windshifts and handle other boats.
Cover the boats behind you.
When you want to stay ahead of the boats behind you, cover them by positioning your boat between them and the next mark. This will minimize your risk of losing them.
