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Mark Rounding Essentials

Brett Bowden
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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.

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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.

FREE PDF BOOK – 49 TIPS

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.

SAILING TO WIN BOOK & BONUSES

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

Brett Bowden
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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

Brett Bowden
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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.

SAILING TO WIN BOOK & BONUSES

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.
The loose cover can be applied to more than one boat.

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.

FREE PDF BOOK – 49 TIPS

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

Brett Bowden
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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.

FREE PDF BOOK – 49 TIPS

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 TO WIN BOOK & BONUSES

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 

Brett Bowden
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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.

Get Better Racing Skills
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.

FREE CHAMPIONSHIP SAILING GLOVES

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

Brett Bowden
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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

FREE CHAMPIONSHIP SAILING GLOVES

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

Brett Bowden
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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.

FREE CHAMPIONSHIP SAILING GLOVES

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.

FREE CHAMPIONSHIP SAILING GLOVES

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.

 

Improve Your Light Air Performance

Brett Bowden
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0
Improve Your Light Air Performance
 

A well-sailed boat in light air can go twice as fast as its competitors for a large part of the race. The largest race-winning leads are regularly recorded in the lightest of conditions.

Polish the bottom and remove any un-required gear from the boat.

Drop purchases from the various systems especially the main and jib sheets to remove friction. Replace sheets with small diameter ropes for the same reason.

Telltales
Good telltales are essential for light-air competition. Cassette tape, flutters too much. Unravel standard wool yarn and pull out the smallest diameter strands.
 
For telltales on sails, use real wool, synthetic yarn can stick to sailcloth due to static electricity.
 
The wind is moving slowly across the sails in light winds so constant sail trim is important for consistent boat speed and in most cases, a flatter sail will perform better.
 
A full sail requires the wind to bend more, giving the airflow more chance to detach and become turbulent.
 
A flatter shape allows the airflow to remain attached—so leave the main outhaul tight to keep the lower section flatter and the leech more open.
 
Mast Prebend
Prebend the mast to flatten the entry of the main plus ease the Cunningham which moves the draft aft slightly.
 
In most conditions, the main is trimmed so the upper batten is parallel to the boom but In light winds, this is much tougher, partly due to the weight of the boom hanging on the leech of the main.
 

It is not unusual for the main leech to hook and although this looks bad, it can be beneficial to have the mainsail shape a bit rounder in the after sections. This induces a slight weather helm and helps with pointing capability.

In drifting conditions, the upper batten should be set parallel to the centerline. As soon as the wind picks up, switch the trim back to having the upper batten parallel to the boom.

The Traveller

In really light air, the traveller is pulled to weather so that the slightest puff allows the boom to lift easily.

As the breeze picks up, drop the traveller down so the boom stays at or below the centerline while you trim so the upper batten is parallel to the boom.

The Slot in light-air sail trim.

In light air avoid having the main backwind at the luff. When the main is angled off the centerline, the slot is in danger of being closed off. To avoid this, flatten the mainsail to suit.

The exit of the jib must be open. Move the jib lead aft and ease the sheet slightly to open the leech and flatten the lower sections.

In extremely light air have a crew member hold the jib clew up to keep the leech open.

Jib Halyard Tension

The jib should become increasingly full in its forward sections and in light air should be set up with a lot more luff sag.

A full entry helps widen the groove so the boat is less critical to steer. Too much halyard tension creates a knuckle at the front of the jib and interferes with the airflow.

Downwind Sail Trim

Ease the outhaul and straighten the mast. The crew should hold the clew outboard and up so that the leech is open and the jib is not too full.

The main can have a rounded leech and maximize the sag in the luff of the jib to make the entry more powerful. Ease the halyards on the jib and main and let the Cunningham go.

In some classes, often in very light air, it may make sense to not carry the spinnaker across or even downwind.

When reaching, the spinnaker should have flow across it. If it’s drooping it will actually slow the boat down. Instead, a narrow, flatter jib can be a better alternative.

When sailing dead downwind, the flow is not across the spinnaker so the more area that can be projected, the better.

With a symmetrical spinnaker, adjust the pole height so that the two ends are even at all times. Always keep the spinnaker sheet well eased, since an over-trimmed spinnaker will choke the slot.

When sailing broader angles, pull the spinnaker to weather as far as possible keeping the pole perpendicular to the wind.

SAILING TO WIN BOOK & BONUSES

Light-Air Boat Handling

Because the boat moves slowly in light air, crew movement, particularly during maneuvers must be made slowly to retain the attached flow across the sails.

The boat heel becomes critical in steering the boat upwind in light air conditions. When you need to head up, heel the boat to leeward, and when you want to bear off, flatten it out.

When a puff hits you, allow the boat to heel slightly so that the weather helm will increase. This lets the boat slide up closer to the wind without using any rudder. When you get as high as you want to be, hike the boat flat gently to accelerate.

If only one person is needed to make the changes in the heel, get the skipper to do so. He can feel the puffs and the load on the helm much more quickly than the crew.

Make sure the crew stays as low as possible to reduce windage and keep the slot clear. Keep weight forward and concentrated in the middle of the boat, but slightly heeled to get the right weather helm.

Steering

Steering the boat downwind by means of heel is important to eliminate drag caused by rudder movement. If there is enough wind to use the rudder to steer, use it sparingly. Any time the rudder is turned, especially in light air, it acts like a brake.

Many people think that because they are sailing in flat water, they can point closer to the wind.

Until the wind speed is higher, the boat will not move fast enough for the blades to develop lift. Although it may seem that your angle to the wind is higher, if the blades are stalled, the boat will simply slip sideways.

Instead, foot the boat off to keep it moving through the water and take advantage of the increased apparent wind from the added speed.

It may seem that you are giving up distance to weather on the boats that are pointing higher but the speed that you gain through the water will put you ahead.

How far to bear off depends on the individual boat, but a basic rule of thumb is to bear off from your normal close-hauled course more than you think you should, and then add another five degrees.

FREE PDF BOOK – 49 TIPS

Tactical Considerations

Light-air tactics demand more conservatism and greater anticipation.

It is imperative that the boat is moving at top speed at the gun and it is possible to sail through the lee of a slow-moving windward boat.

The approach to the start must be made in such a way that you maintain maximum speed.

The main priority for a light-air start is top speed, sometimes at the expense of starting away from the favoured end of the line. Often it is better to start at the unfavored to avoid traffic and to get clear air.

Upwind, avoid tacking into a safe leeward position unless absolutely necessary, such as on the final layline to the weather mark. There is a danger of being rolled by the windward boat and you forfeit the option of tacking.

Being controlled by another boat severely limits your options.

Often you can gain distance when you dip a starboard tacker because of the extra speed you generate when bearing off. When on starboard tack, don’t be afraid to wave an approaching port tacker across if it looks like they might tack on your leebow to avoid you.

In light winds, avoid the middle of the course and the dirty air that boats to weather and ahead may provide. Look up the course, search for new wind, and predict which side of the course it will be on.

If a new wind comes with more velocity, always sail to it as soon as possible, even if this requires sailing a headed tack to get to it. Obviously, a massive shift would be an exception to this rule, if the shift were to last a substantial length of time.

Tacking Angles

Changes in tacking angles are not related to wind shifts unless the velocity changes are accompanied by a wind shift.

The team member reading the compass should be aware of the effect of the velocity on the tacking angles as well as the change in the compass readings.

If you sail into a lull, the boat will want to bear off in what will appear to be a header. Since the change in angle will make the leeward boat look better, it may be tempting to tack.

Sometimes the velocity drops so quickly that the sails may luff due to the apparent wind swinging forward. Wait for the boat to slow down to match the hull speed with the wind velocity.

Don’t let the luffing sails make you think that you have sailed into a massive header. Hang on for a few seconds to make sure that it’s a header and not just a drop in velocity.

An increase in velocity will show as a lift because the boat’s blades will gain efficiency as the speed picks up. On a multi-crewed boat, one crew concentrates on the compass to pick out major shifts, and another crew reminds him of the puffs and lulls.

BOOK FOR YOUR SAILING BUDDY (and one for yourself)

Keep Your Eyes Out Of The Boat

In light air and since boat speed is so low and tactics are accomplished slowly, every move must be anticipated. The crew’s eyes should be all over the course, looking for changes in wind velocity and direction.

Watch other boats for changes in angle which could also predict possible wind shifts.

Take advantage of other competitors’ dislike of racing in light air. Having an excellent attitude will lead you toward regatta-winning finishes.

 

Techniques for Waves and Chop

Brett Bowden
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0
Techniques for Waves and Chop

Techniques for Waves and Chop

Sailing techniques for waves and chop. Few sailing challenges are as demanding as racing through waves and choppy water. Maintaining speed and momentum in these conditions can make the difference between victory and defeat.

Below I explore the best techniques for sailing in rough water and how to keep your boat moving fast when every second counts.

Understanding the Waves

Before going into specific techniques, it’s important to understand the nature of waves and how they interact with your boat. Waves in open water are typically caused by wind, and their size and frequency depend on factors such as wind speed, duration, and fetch (the distance over which the wind blows).

In choppy conditions, there are two main types of waves:

  1. Wind waves: These are the result of wind action on the water surface.
  2. Swells: These are longer-period waves that have travelled from their area of generation.

Understanding the differences and how to read these is the first step in mastering rough water sailing.

BOOK FOR YOUR SAILING BUDDY (and one for yourself)

Upwind Sailing Techniques

Going upwind in choppy conditions presents unique challenges. Below are some key techniques to maintain speed and control:

  1. Find the Groove

In waves, finding and maintaining the right angle to the wind is crucial. This “groove” is typically a few degrees lower than you might sail in flat water. The goal is to keep the boat moving through the waves rather than slamming into them.

  1. Power Up in the Lulls, Depower in the Gusts

As you encounter waves, you’ll also experience variations in wind strength. Be prepared to adjust your sail trim constantly:

  • In lulls, ease the mainsheet slightly to power up the sail.
  1. Steer Through the Waves

Instead of trying to maintain a constant course, work with the waves:

  • Head up slightly as you approach a wave to reduce impact.
  • Bear off on the back of the wave to accelerate.

This technique, known as “wave steering,” helps maintain boat speed and reduces the jarring and speed-sapping effect of hitting waves head-on.

  1. Adjust Your Weight Distribution

Proper weight distribution is critical in choppy conditions:

  • Move weight forward when going upwind to prevent the bow from rising too much on waves.
  • In larger waves, be prepared to move weight aft quickly to prevent burying the bow.
  1. Use the “Bow Down” Technique

When faced with particularly large waves, use the “bow down” technique:

  • As you approach the wave, bear off slightly and ease the mainsheet.
  • This allows the boat to slice through the wave rather than climb it.
  • Once through, head up and trim in to regain your course.

Downwind Sailing Techniques

Sailing downwind in waves requires careful technique to maintain control and speed.

  1. Surf the Waves

The key to fast downwind sailing in waves is to catch and ride the waves:

  • As a wave approaches from behind, head up slightly to match its speed.
  • Once on the wave, bear off to accelerate down its face.
  • Be ready to head up again as you reach the bottom to catch the next wave.
  1. Use the Apparent Wind

Remember that your apparent wind will shift forward significantly as you accelerate down waves. Be prepared to adjust your sail trim accordingly:

  • As you accelerate, steer down and ease sails as necessary to maintain optimal shape.
  • Trim in as you slow down and steer up between waves.
  1. Master the Asymmetric Spinnaker

If you sail with an asymmetric spinnaker, learn to use it effectively:

  • Experiment with different angles to find the fastest and most stable course.
  • Be prepared to adjust the spinnaker trim constantly as you surf waves. The luff should be curling continuously which ensures that the sail is exhausting effectively.
  1. Practice  Gybing

Gybing in waves requires precise timing and execution:

  • Try to gybe on the face of a wave when the boat is most stable and moving fast.
  • Be prepared for sudden changes in apparent wind direction during the gybe.

BOOK FOR YOUR SAILING BUDDY (and one for yourself)

General Tips for Maintaining Speed in Choppy Water

Regardless of your point of sail, these general tips will help you maintain speed in rough conditions:

  1. Keep the Boat Flat

A flatboat is a fast boat. Use crew weight and sail trim to keep the boat as level as possible, even in waves.

  1. Minimize Rudder Movement

Excessive rudder movement creates drag. Use subtle steering and try to steer with weight movement and sail trim as much as possible.

  1. Stay Focused and Anticipate

Choppy conditions require constant attention. Always be looking ahead, anticipating the next set of waves and adjusting your course and trim accordingly.

  1. Practice Excellent Sail Trim

In rough water, good sail trim becomes even more critical:

  • Adjust your outhaul, cunningham, and vang to power up or depower as needed.
  • Be prepared to make constant small adjustments as conditions change.
  1. Maintain Momentum

Once you’ve built up speed, do everything you can to maintain it. It’s much harder to accelerate from a slow speed in choppy conditions.

Mental Preparation and Strategy

Sailing in waves isn’t just about physical technique; it’s also a mental game:

  1. Stay Calm and Focused

Rough conditions are stressful, especially during a race. Practice staying calm and focused, even when things get challenging.

  1. Develop a “Feel” for the Boat

The best sailors develop an intuitive feel for their boat in different conditions. This comes with practice, time in the boat and experience.

  1. Learn to Read the Water

Develop your ability to read the water ahead of you. Look for patterns in the waves and areas where the water might be slightly calmer.

  1. Stay Flexible in Your Strategy

Be prepared to adjust your race strategy based on the conditions. A rigid plan that doesn’t account for choppy water can quickly fall apart.

BOOK FOR YOUR SAILING BUDDY (and one for yourself)

Conclusion

Mastering the art of sailing in waves and choppy water is challenging but rewarding. It requires a combination of technical skill, physical stamina, and mental acuity.

Every boat and every set of conditions is unique. Use these techniques as a starting point, but don’t be afraid to experiment and develop your own style.

With time and practice, you’ll find yourself not just surviving in choppy water, but thriving.

PREPARE YOUR BOAT FOR SPEED

Brett Bowden
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0
PREPARE YOUR BOAT FOR SPEED

The following tips come from an article “Prepare Your Boat For Speed” written by a good friend of Sailing to Win and sailing legend, David Dellenbaugh www.speedandsmarts.com

The top sailors have all but won any regatta before it starts because they’ve prepared themselves and their boats so well.
– Paul Elvstrom

In sailboat racing, success often depends more on what you’ve done before a race rather than on what you do during the race. Even if you have the best tactics and strategy in the fleet, you won’t finish first if your bottom is slow or if your tiller extension breaks on the last beat.

No matter what type of racing you do, it’s important to get every ounce of speed out of your boat. In one-designs all the boats are nearly identical, so you have to look for any little advantage you can get.

One of the best ways to improve speed is by fine-tuning your hull and equipment. Certain ideas, like keeping your boat dry while racing to save weight, will have a direct impact on speed.

Other ideas, such as adjusting your hiking straps properly, make it easier to sail your boat and will thus help speed. Still other ideas, like taping the places where a chute might rip, will prevent breakdowns.

Make Improvements To Your Boat

I do not claim to be an expert boat mechanic, but I do get excited about making improvements to my boat. And being prepared definitely helps me feel more confident. A pre-regatta wet sanding of my hull may not improve my speed very much, but it does give me a psychological boost.

With this in mind, here is a brainstorm of tips, tricks and techniques that can give you a physical and mental “preparation edge” over your competition. These won’t all work on every boat, but at least some of them will work on any boat.

By themselves, many of these ideas will probably not have a noticeable effect on your speed. But if you systematically make as many small changes as possible, the cumulative effect can be significant.

SAILING TO WIN BOOK & BONUSES

Cut some slack

Shorten all your sheets, halyards and control lines as much as possible. This will reduce weight and minimize the amount of clutter in your boat. Use a magic marker or electrical tape to put reference marks on each line. Make a mark on your spinnaker halyard at full hoist and marks on your jib sheets as guidelines for rough trim.

Tweak your mainsheet

On light-air days, use a smaller diameter mainsheet, so it will run through the blocks more easily. Turn off your ratchet and consider making the mainsheet 2:1 or 3:1 instead of 3:1 or 4:1. If your mainsheet runs aft underneath the boom, attach a loop or two of duct tape, webbing or sailcloth around the boom to hold the sheet up so the skipper won’t get strangled on tacks or jibes.

Tweak your chute

On boats smaller than a J-24, tie the sheets to the spinnaker instead of using shackles. This saves weight and prevents accidental releases. In light air, keep your sheets and spinnaker dry until the race starts.

Help your halyards

Use a low-stretch line or wire for your halyards to minimize stretch. On smaller boats, tie the hoisting end of the spinnaker halyard to a fixed point so it won’t twist or knot while the chute is set.

Customize your straps

Adjust your hiking straps for crew height and wind conditions, and test them before each race. Use shock cord to hold them close to their normal hiking position so it’s easy to find them after tacks. Check your hiking strap attachment points for chafe, and be sure knots are tied tightly.

Tape your rig

Use electrical tape to cover sharp parts of the rig where sails may tear and to hold ring pins in place. To prevent tape ends from unravelling and flapping in the breeze, dab on a little silicon sealant to hold them in place.

Support your centreboard

Shim the head of your centreboard (or the inside of your centreboard trunk) to get a tight fit. You can use specially made Teflon strips or get stick-on Velcro strips and use the fuzzy side in your trunk. Mark your centreboard (1/4, 1/2, 3/4) so you’ll know how far up or down it is while sailing.

STW FOR YOU & ANOTHER FOR A SAILING BUDDY

Rudder

Be sure the rudder catch will keep your rudder in the boat if you capsize. Work hard at getting a smooth, positive feel between your wheel or tiller and rudder. Put marks on the wheel so you know how many degrees of helm you have. For a tiller, use a solid rubber universal, and make sure the tiller fits very tightly onto or into the rudder head. Make sure the hiking stick universal is not cracked as this is a common failure. To extend its life, coat it with lubricating oil or sun protection cream.

Make cleats friendly

Mount your control cleats so lines are easy to adjust from a hiked position on either side. When putting your boat away, don’t leave lines in cam cleats because this wears out the springs. If you have “clam” cleats, use metal cleats (instead of plastic) because these hold much better and last longer.

On smaller boats, adjust your main cam so the jaws are just below the mainsheet when you are trimming it from a hiked-out position. You want to cam low enough so the sheet won’t automatically go into the cleat, but high enough so you can get enough leverage to put the sheet into it occasionally.

Draft some stripes

Draft stripes (horizontal lines across your sails) are a good way to visualize sail shape. These should be positioned at roughly 33% and 67% (or 25%, 50% and 75%) up the luff of the main and jib/genoa.

Add a short vertical cross-hatch at 50% aft on each stripe to help you gauge the position of the maximum draft. It can also help to put short draft stripes on the spinnaker (perpendicular to each leech about 1/3 of the way down) to help you visualize the luff shape and curl.

Use an old chute

Find or buy an old spinnaker that you can use for practice. Bring this out on race days and use it before the start so you won’t rip, soak or have to re-pack your good chute. Then leave it on a support boat.

Think battens

Make sure the most flexible end of each batten is inserted into the pocket first. I carry a couple spare battens in case one pops out or breaks during the race day. These spares should vary in stiffness so they can double as light or heavy-air battens. If you have battens in your jib, check to be sure these aren’t broken.

Use flag decals

Buy stick-on decals that show all the race signal flags with their meanings, and mount it in your cockpit. This way you won’t be scratching your head when the RC makes a signal you don’t recognize.

Scribble on deck

Bring a grease pencil to record race info on the deck where you can easily see it. Things you might write down include the starting sequence, course info, tide times, wind bearings and reminders about how to sail fast and smart.

FREE PDF BOOK – 49 TIPS

Draw tacking lines

On boats that are at least 20 feet long or so with a flat deck area, put tacking lines on each side of your cockpit. You can draw these on with a marker and protractor, or stick on ones that you can buy commercially. Tacking lines are great for help with laylines and ladder rungs, both upwind and down.

Prepare your telltales

On your jib or genoa, place telltales about 150 to 300mm aft of the jib luff. I prefer lightweight yarn attached with a small circle of sail repair tape. I like having three sets of telltales from head to foot, and I make sure they’re away from seams so they won’t get stuck.

Use different coloured yarn on each side (red for port and green for starboard is logical). Put starboard-side telltales slightly higher than those on port so you can tell them apart.

On your mainsail, put a telltale on the end of the top batten and use this to gauge leech tension. I also use a telltale halfway up the main luff and a couple feet aft of the mast to help with reaching trim.

For tangle-free telltales on shrouds, attach yarn to a plastic bushing that rotates around the shroud and is held up by a small wrap of tape. To get rid of static electricity, spray yarn telltales lightly with lubricant. One other good telltale spot is on the topping lift just above the pole attachment (easy reference for chute trimming).

Toss extra stuff

Keep your overall weight to a minimum by removing any unnecessary gear. Store essential gear where a) it won’t get wet and heavy (sometimes I use a plastic garbage bag for this), and b) it’s low and as close to the keel or centreboard as possible (to minimize pitching moment).

Drink and be war

Sailors, like all athletes, need fluids to keep from getting dehydrated. Get a water bottle with a pop-up spout for every crewmember (write their names on them), and mount holders around the boat where they’re easy for the crew to reach. If you sail in salt water, be sure to wash your boat thoroughly after each day of sailing to keep all moving parts salt-free and dirt-free.

Stay dry

I never understood why sailors work so hard to get rid of every unnecessary ounce and then sail around the course with water in their bilge. The lesson is you should always sail your boat as dry as possible.

Get the right equipment (e.g. sponge, bailer, bucket, pump) so you can start every race with your bilge dry. If you have automatic bailers, make sure they move up and down easily, don’t leak and are flush with the bottom.

On rough days, it may be best to leave them open for the entire race. Make sure flotation tanks are bone dry and air-tight. Check port covers and plugs before sailing each day to be sure they are tight.

Make marks

Stick on or draw numbered reference scales along the outhaul, jib tracks, halyards and so on. These are important so you can easily duplicate settings that you know are fast from the past. They will also help you improve communication with your skipper or crew about trim. For example, you might say, “Move the jib lead aft to #4.”

Add a mini-sprit

On some boats, the spinnaker sheet often goes under the bow, creating a real speed and boat handling problem. To prevent this, consider adding a short, blunt “bowsprit” sticking out a few inches to hold it up. A short piece of batten or bent coat hanger will work for this.

Go on breakdown patrol

Breakdowns are the enemy of good race results, so work hard to prevent them. Identify areas on your boat where breakdowns are most likely, and check these a few days before every regatta. Then inspect them again each race morning. If you sail more than one race in a day, go over your list again between races (especially if it’s windy).

Carry a Ditty Bag

Bring out a small bag of supplies and/or tools you might need during a race. This would include things like tape, a knife, marker, grease pencil, sail repair tape etc. Try to keep this lightweight and appropriate to the size of the boat you are racing.

When the race is over, remember that this is the time to start preparing for your next race. On the way in from the finish, begin writing a list of things that need to be fixed, or ideas for improvement.

In between regattas, talk to the competitors in your fleet, and spend some time perusing the docks or dry-sail area. You will undoubtedly come away with a few new tricks to try. And these little things will help you go faster!

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