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Improve Your Upwind Helming

Brett Bowden
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Improve Your Upwind Helming

Tips To Improve Your Upwind Helming Techniques

In light air –

steer to a higher luff telltale which will find you sailing a little lower, one of the biggest mistakes many helmsmen make in light airs is to pinch.

It is important for the trimmer to use all the telltales both up the luff and on the leech to get the whole sail working efficiently.

In heavier air – Tips To Improve Your Upwind Helming Techniques

say over 15 knots, steer more to heel and not be so reliant on telltales. Being over-heeled means the keel is not working efficiently and the boat slips sideways. Sail a little higher in heavy air which helps with lessening the heel angle.

Scalloping –

is the ability to be sailing upwind efficiently and then to take about a 5-degree luff up for a few seconds. Then steer back to a normal angle without losing boat speed. Each scallop will gain you half a boat length or so to windward.

Marks on Wheel –

you should have 3 marks on your wheel, one at the centralised position and one at 4 degrees either side. These marks will show your mainsheet trimmer if he needs to depower the mainsail.

When you are over-trimmed it creates drag when the wheel is beyond the marks.

A similar system should be set up on a tiller-steered boat although this can be more difficult to do so the main trimmer should watch to see if the tiller is beyond the magic 4-degree angle and react accordingly.

Avoid turning the boat too far through a tack –

Before you tack, look to windward about 80 – 90 degrees from where you are heading (depending on your boat’s tacking angle) and see if you locate a point on the land, or another yacht and set that as where you should be pointing after the tack.

If you steer too far you risk over heeling and going sideways plus getting a heavy helm. This indicates drag and slows you down. Another problem is that if you oversteer, it is harder and slower for the crew to get the genoa in.

Tacking isn’t just a matter of putting the helm over –

In lighter airs, always come out a bit lower than your normal angle in order to build speed after the tack. In stronger air, when going into a tack, let the bow come up 5 or 10 degrees slowly which allows you to gain to windward.

Then steer to go head to wind and beyond fairly quickly, this also gives the crew a better chance of trimming the genoa in quickly on the new tack.

Wheel Steering – Tips To Improve Your Upwind Helming Techniques

Wheels don’t have the same feel as a tiller. In strong wind and heavy seas, it is best to stand as this allows larger movements than you can make when sitting plus you are able to see over the crew to watch for waves and gusts.

The less you move the helm the better –

Moving the helm causes drag and the less you move it, the faster you will be. In Strong winds with big seas though, you will need larger helm movement.

In flatwater try to get the helm at 3-5 degrees of weather helm and you should use small slow movements of the helm.

Try not to overwork the helm upwind which is a common weakness in helmsman. If you get a lift slowly push on the helm until you get to the right angle.

If your weather telltale if lifting you are too high, a slow bear-off is needed, not a big quick pull.

Most boats should have 3-5 degrees of weather helm in medium winds – 

This allows the rudder to provide lift. If in light winds you are not achieving this, try moving the crew weight to leeward to get feeling back. As the wind increases, slowly move the weight to weather to keep the feel right.

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How To Improve Your Racing Skills

Brett Bowden
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How To Improve Your Racing Skills

How To Improve Your Racing Skills

The Best Way To Get Started

The best way to get started and build your initial skills is to get tuition either at the club level or with a course provided by your National sailing body.

If your initial sailing was not in a club environment, joining a club is one of the most important steps to move your skills forward and it’s through a club network that people can improve and develop their sailing.

Many clubs and classes run coaching sessions for both adults and young sailors. These are a very effective way to kick your skills up a level. It also allows you to identify areas on which to focus afterwards. 

As a bonus, a serious approach to improving your skills will also boost the fun, enjoyment and satisfaction you get from races that you compete in.

Use a Methodical Approach

Following that, a methodical approach to learning will see a rapid improvement in your performance. Make notes after each race about things observed and learned. Things such as boat settings, weather, rules and fellow competitors. 

One way to avoid flattening 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 is one who looks at the race they’ve just sailed and asks: “how could I have done that better?”

Sailing different boats in different places and with people whose experience is in excess of your own means, you’ll learn at a greater pace than by sailing your own boat at the same club and with the same crew.

If you should spend up to half your time afloat practising. This will make a huge difference to your results. If you can’t manage this, 10 minutes at the beginning or end of every day’s sailing makes a difference.

Concentrating on the core elements of boatspeed and basic manoeuvring will show the biggest rewards.  They will provide a firm foundation on which to build further skills.

Start by fully understanding the way in which all sail controls including outhaul, vang, and cunningham. How they change sail shape, particularly in terms of the full/flatness in different parts of the sail. Each of these controls also has an effect on the twist.

A fundamental to understand is the steering effects of the sails and the way in which this contributes to the balance of the rig. At its simplest, power in the jib tends to turn the bow away from the wind. Powering up the mainsail tends to turn the bow towards the wind.

Changing Gears: 

Boatspeed requires a combination of sail trim, accurate helming, good balance and settings for a particular wind speed. What works in flat water won’t work in big waves, nor in light airs. 

Learn and practice acceleration gear, which is sailing a little off the wind with sheets eased slightly. It is used when sailing upwind in waves it is also used in extreme conditions with either a lot of wind or very little. These are times when it’s difficult to get the boat moving.

Understand the Racing Rules:

you need to keep referring to and building your knowledge of the rules. Too many sailors, even those who are seasoned racers, are too complacent in this respect and don’t fully understand many of the basic rules.

It’s important to build a core of theoretical knowledge. Racing is an important way of doing this, particularly where rules, tactics and sail trim are concerned.

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Be Better Than The Competition

Brett Bowden
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Be Better Than The Competition

 

Often too much significance is attributed to sailing tactics and tactics only become the most important factor if you are sailing at a very high level. Sailing Tactics Be Better Than The Competition

For most of us, it’s better to invest in training time, concentrating on sailing technique and boat tuning. As a word of caution though, you can’t manage without tactics altogether.

I have jotted down below, a couple of rules, that if you follow, you’ll be better than 80% of the competition unless of course, you are sailing at World Cup level. 

Read the Sailing Instructions –

How often have you seen it that someone who doesn’t know the course, sails to the wrong mark, or doesn’t know what a penalty would be when a rule is infringed?

Know the Rules –

You don’t need to know the rules by heart but you should have an understanding of the main ones such as when boats meet.

If fellow competitors know you aren’t sure of the rules they will make the most of it, often screaming rules that don’t exist or have not been in effect for years.

Get out to the course early – 

set your boat up for the conditions, get used to the wind and waves, observe whether it is increasing or softening, are the shifts oscillating or persistent and what current is there across the course.

Check the Start line –

Look for line-end bias and establish transits so you will be right on the line when the gun goes.

Starting Strategy – 

Of course, having your own starting strategy is best. If you are not yet confident, observe where the best sailors in your fleet are setting up and head in that direction.

Of course, don’t start too close to them otherwise you may become their “marshmallow”.

Start on the line in Clear Air –

For a beginner, it is very difficult to calculate the distance to the line. That’s why you should orientate yourself to the boats immediately near you. Do this in the last minute before the start.

Keep a constant lookout for boats coming in from above and below. Above all try to have space to leeward so you can foot off to maintain clear air.

Sail the long tack first – 

From your homework, prior to the start, you will have noticed whether the first mark is square to the start line. If not, where physically possible, sail the longer tack first.

This means that you will have more options to play the shifts before arriving at the layline.

Avoid arriving getting to the Layline until as late in the leg as possible –

for the reasons mentioned above, once you are at the layline you have lost the ability to play any shifts. 

Have a plan – 

From your time on the water prior to the start you will have established a plan for the race. While racing, have your head out of the boat watching your fleet and for changing conditions.

Be prepared to change your plan should your observations tell you there is a permanent change occurring.

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Find, Manage and Keep a Race Crew

Brett Bowden
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Find, Manage and Keep a Race Crew

Find, Manage and Keep a Race Crew, this is probably the crux of a successful offshore team.

Having the right crew on your boat is as important as the sails and equipment and contributes completely to the fun you have both on the boat racing and afterwards off the boat socialising.

Putting The Team Together

As a skipper and leader on your boat, an enormous amount of time should be spent putting your race crew together.

With the right mix of skills and personalities, you are guaranteed to race well. You will keep the team together because they have fun and look forward to sailing.

When there is conflict on the boat or lack of respect for each other you will find yourself continually replacing people who are not committed to the same goals and aspirations as yourself and your team.

Crews have family, work and social commitments so if they think that turning up is a chore they will soon find other places to be.

This means perhaps perpetuating the problem by your constant search for “arms and legs” to fill positions rather than finding the right person for the role and one that fits in with the rest of the team.

Things to pay particular attention to are things like the program for the season.

Start by looking at all the races and regattas you’re interested in sailing and then step back and think about what is realistic. It’s easy to get excited about all of the great sailing events of the season, it’s easy to over-commit.

Put yourself in your crew’s shoes and remember that even though they’re a lot of fun, races and regattas are also a lot of work. 

Schedule some practice sails, a crew get-together which includes family and above all ask the team what they would like to do, you will find that if the crew have input into the program that their commitment will be far greater.

If you are managing a big crew, designate one of the other members to be team communicator. This guarantees great feedback because crewmembers can be timid in speaking directly with the “boss”. 

Post Race Debrief – Find, Manage and Keep a Race Crew

Post-race or regatta de-briefs are essential to get feedback from the team. This allows for adjustments to the sailing positions, race strategies and the future program. It also ensures improving race results for the future.

The de-briefs need to be a little structured with someone responsible for jotting down some bullet points.  Importantly the de-brief should not be too long, everyone these days have a busy life. 

At a regatta, the debrief can take the form of a crew dinner. Include spouses so that they feel part of the group and feel part of the team.

With a club or single race event, a debrief on the boat before heading to the club. This enables you to sort out any issues on the boat from the day’s event. Either crew-wise or mechanical. It gives you a chance to confirm the program and who is available for the next event.

Above all, remember that sailing on your boat has to be fun for all participants. That is what keeps the team together and makes them keen to come back.

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Controlling Upwind Sail Power

Brett Bowden
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Controlling Upwind Sail Power

Understanding and Controlling Upwind Sail Power – Upwind sail power comes from 3 sources:

When trimming our sails we want to get our boat to full power and we must adjust for the sailing conditions by altering the three power sources listed above.

Sails are built so that they can perform in a variety of conditions but must be fine-tuned by the sail trimmer to achieve the designed shape of the sail.

The first source of power is the angle of attack.

At zero angle of attack, the sail is luffing. If the sail is luffing you need to trim in to increase power or the helmsman needs to bear off to increase power if the sail is already trimmed in as far as it can go. 

Power increases as the angle of attack increases up to the point of a stall. When the angle of attack is too great, flow stalls and power drops quickly.

The second source of power is sail depth. Understanding and Controlling Upwind Sail Power

Sail depth controls the power, acceleration, and drag of the sail. More depth creates more power and better acceleration while a flatter sail has less power and less drag.

As with the angle of attack, power increases with depth up to the point where flow stalls and maximum power is achieved just short of a stall.

A flat sail is best when overpowered in heavy air and a flat shape is also fast in smooth water.  That is because it creates less drag.

A deep sail is best to punch through waves and chop or to accelerate after tacking.

The twist is the third source of sail power.

Twist describes the relative trim of the sail high and low and a sail has lots of twist when the upper part of the sail is open.

Increasing twist reduces power and decreasing twist adds power.

Another reason that twist needs to be considered is that due to less surface friction, the wind is stronger at the top of the sail than at the surface and this is known as wind gradient.

The true wind and boat speed together create the apparent wind and a stronger true wind up high creates a wider apparent wind angle and stronger apparent wind the higher up the sail you go.

The sail twist is fine-tuned to match the sail shape to the prevailing wind gradient. We further fine-tune twist to wind and sea conditions.

The fine-tuning of twist is one of the most important and powerful trim adjustments.

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What Happens if The Wind shifts in The Pre-Start?

Brett Bowden
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What Happens if The Wind shifts in The Pre-Start?

What Happens if The Wind shifts in The Pre-Start? What should you be on the lookout for?

In the last few minutes before the gun goes there is plenty happening. You must be observant of what is going on up the course as well as finding a spot on the line to accommodate you and your plan.

Keep an eye on boats that may have already started on your course, but if you are the only fleet out there, take note of changes in angle as you parallel the line or the different trim of sails that you need to make to maintain your course. 

As you are idling forward prior to cranking on to get up to speed watch how your sails are behaving, if nothing changes but the jib suddenly luffs heavily or fills, as long as it is not the effect of another boat nearby, you will detect a shift in the wind.

If you have been keenly observing what has been happening you should be ready to modify your starting plan and it might be time to reconsider where you want to start on the line.

If you see someone sailing upwind, and their angle is different than the angles you’ve been seeing, there’s a last-minute shift, and you may need to change your plan.

A word of caution though, make sure you consider the type of boat that you are watching and how its pointing characteristics compare to yours.

Starts at Shifty Venues

At the start, the shiftier the venue the more likely you’ll see a last-minute shift. This happens often on small lakes, or with venues with offshore winds when the course is located close to land.

In these situations, it can be safe to start near the middle of the line and with the mid-line start, you’re not fully out of the race if a shift happens in either direction. 

A fleet that starts before you are “tell tales” and their spread across the course gives you wind directions. If you see a boat that’s bow up on starboard, they’re likely in a right shift, if they are bow up on port, they’re probably in a left shift.

When looking at the boats in the fleet ahead and you see the leaders gybe set around the weather mark, you can be sure they’re in a right shift at the top of the course.

Watch what happens with that fleet as they continue downwind as this will give you some clues as to what has been occurring on that part of the course, just be aware that by the time you get there the wind may have switched back.

#sailingtowin, #competitivesailing, #sailing, #sailfaster, #sailtowin.

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Laylines & Getting Them Right.

Brett Bowden
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Laylines & Getting Them Right.

Laylines & Getting Them Right.

Windward mark layline mistakes, unfortunately, are very common and can be extremely costly. Laylines & Getting Them Right.

One of the most common things that sailors get wrong is getting to the layline too early. If you get to the layline too early, you can no longer play the shifts and you also lose tactical options.

More often than not it is really hard to judge laylines without a good visual reference and wind changes, dirty air, waves, or current are all outside factors that you need to take into account. 

Problems that can be created by getting to a layline too early:

  • A lift or increase in wind velocity causes you to overstand and sail extra distance.
  • Other boats that were below the layline may now be fetching the mark.
  • A header favours the boats inside the laylines, since they are closer to the shift.
  • In an approaching lull, you have fewer options to sail towards more pressure.
  • Boats not on the layline can tack on your air, leaving you with few options.

As you get about two-thirds of the way up each beat, work out your relative distance to the port and starboard laylines and consider your plan accordingly.

Are you a lot closer to one layline than the other? If so, make sure your strategy is sound. You must have a really good reason to keep going toward the closer layline so continue to evaluate all possibilities.

When considering tacking for the mark a simple test is that if you have to look back over your shoulder to see the mark, you’re probably on or past the layline.  

It is extremely important to know your boat’s tacking angle which is the difference in headings on each tack. 

Different conditions such as wind strength, sail trim, waves and dirty air will affect the tacking angle. In light air and the difference in light to heavy air could be as much as 30 degrees.

Learn Your Boat’s Tacking Angles

Learning your boat’s tacking angles comes from practising in various conditions and it does no harm to record these numbers on the boat for quick reference and to aid your memory in pressure situations.

Drawing tacking lines on the boat are one way of helping to call a tack.

Other boats are a great clue when judging laylines but just make sure that the boats you are referencing are trimmed on and sailing hard, they may have overlaid and are reaching down to the mark or they may have underlaid and are pinching to try to get up to it.

Even if you are very close to the layline there are a few reasons why you may delay your tack or you may even decide to tack early and they are:

  • There is a favourable shift coming.
  • There is more breeze coming as more breeze lifts you and decreases your tacking angle.
  • There are tactical reasons relating to other boats in your immediate vicinity.
  • There is an unfavourable shift coming.
  • You are heading into a lull.
  • There is no clear air on the layline.
  • If there is a big wave coming, perhaps delay until it passes. A tack right on it may stop the boat and cause you to underlay on the other tack.  

There are things you can do to practice judging laylines, but make sure you practice in varying conditions.

One drill I have found to be particularly useful is to use a fixed mark and tack at it from various distances. The aim is getting to it fully powered up, close-hauled and to pass within half a boat length.

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Headstay Sag and Why it Matters

Brett Bowden
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Headstay Sag and Why it Matters

 

Effects of Headstay Sag

Headstay sag affects everything from boat speed to pointing ability and that’s why headstay sag matters.

Sailboats with headstay sag often point higher and maintain boatspeed better in light-air conditions. One of the key methods to power up a sail is to induce sag in the forestay.

Dinghies obviously only have one jib and many sailboat classes limit the number of jibs that a boat may carry. This means the ability to be able to power up and down is very important in changing conditions.

Effects of Headstay Sag and Why it Matters

When the headstay sags, it not only sags to leeward but also sags aft, which puts the luff closer to the leech, thereby adding depth to the jib. The key controls for manipulating headstay sag are shroud tension, mainsheet tension, and in some cases, headstay length.

In light air, the number one adjustment for headstay sag on boats with either deck-stepped or keel-stepped masts is varying the shroud tension. More tension effectively pulls the mast aft (assuming the chainplates are aft of the mast)

The other way to induce headstay sag is to minimize mainsheet tension. If the mast is stiff, trimming the mainsheet will quickly increase headstay tension and reduce sag. Ideally, in light and puffy conditions, you ease the mainsheet in a lull, the headstay sags to leeward, powering up the sail.

Other ways to induce headstay sag

Easing off the rig isn’t the only way to increase headstay sag. Chocking the mast at the partners, a mast ram or moving the butt aft are other methods of achieving the desired sag.

When you sag the headstay, the maximum draft in your jib moves forward. To compensate and keep the draft aft, ease halyard tension, which also creates additional power. If you increase headstay sag but the halyard remains too tight, you’ll get a knuckle in the front of the sail and an entry that’s too deep, so you won’t gain the overall power you’re looking for.

A major effect of increased headstay sag is that it rotates the middle of the sail, changing the angle of attack causing the mid-luff of the sail to move to leeward as well as aft. At the same time, the mid-leech rotates slightly inboard, similar to the effect of weather-sheeting, which increases pointing ability.

With too much headstay sag the leech will rotate inboard too far. The jib then becomes extra sensitive to sheet tension and stalls too easily. Equally problematic, the entry angle becomes too extreme. When you bear off to rebuild speed, you have to sheet out too much to power up the sail.

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EFFECTIVE STEERING OFF THE WIND

Brett Bowden
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EFFECTIVE STEERING OFF THE WIND

Effective Steering Off The Wind

Effective steering off the wind – On reaches and runs it is essential that the helmsman and trimmer communicate and co-ordinate their actions.

As the helmsman, you must also respond to input from the tactician and changing sailing conditions plus the trimmer’s input based on sheet load and boat speed. The problem here is that there may be conflicting voices advising the steerer thus unsettling his concentration.

Since your tactics won’t succeed without good trim, it makes sense that the tactician talks to the trimmer who then gives feedback to the helmsman so the trimmer is the only one who communicates with the helmsman.

Steering on Reaches – Effective Steering Off The Wind

  1. Light to Moderate Air

On a reach, the fastest way between two points is a straight line and you should plan the reaches with that in mind only varying this based on changes in the sailing conditions or tactics.

In fluctuating wind conditions, work up in the lulls and down in the puffs as necessary to maintain speed, while holding a good average course. The trimmer will indicate when the sheet load is light head up, and when the spinnaker sheet is fully loaded bear off. The amount of course change required depends on wind speed.

When you must head up to pass another boat or defend your position let the trimmer know before making an abrupt change of course, to ensure that the manoeuvre is successful.

2. Heavy air

In heavy air, the helmsman is at the mercy of the trimmers.

The vang, main sheet, and spinnaker sheet must be eased when the boat is overpowered or it will round up and broach but it is fast to carry as much power as you can as long as you can control it.

Carrying some weather helm is OK as long as the rudder doesn’t stall, leading to a round up, this is once again a time when communication between the helmsman and trimmer is essential.

Steering on Runs – Effective Steering Off The Wind

  1. Light air (3 to 9 knots)

In light winds, the best sailing angle is about 140° true wind angle (40° above dead downwind). The angle changes very little as the wind speed fluctuates, so don’t head up in the lulls and off in the puffs except for tactical reasons. The fastest way to the next mark is to tack downwind and keeping the apparent wind forward is fast. A word of caution here though, this is boat dependant so it pays to practice to find out what is true for your particular class or boat.

2. Moderate air (10 to 15 knots)

The optimum speed and sailing angle change dramatically with every change in wind speed. For every knot of wind the optimum course shifts five degrees. In ten knots of wind, the optimum angle is 140° true wind angle and fifteen knots a 165° true wind angle is fastest. Do your best to respond to every change in wind speed, driving off with the puffs and heading up in the lulls.

3. Heavy Air (over 15 knots)

Aim for the mark, sail fast and keep control using the waves to surf wherever possible. Use crew weight to balance the helm, avoid sailing dead downwind and trim the spinnaker directly in front of the boat. Crew weight should also be moved aft to promote planing and to avoid the bow burying.

The helmsman should be forceful to keep control but also be mindful that smooth is fast, jerking the helm creates drag and slows you down.

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Sailing Wind Velocity

Brett Bowden
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Sailing Wind Velocity

 

In all sailboat races, you must sail toward better pressure as more wind velocity almost always means more speed. More Sailing Wind Velocity makes a marked difference to boats’ relative speed around the course.

Darker Water Usually Means More Wind

On the course look for darker water as changes in wind velocity are a lot easier to see than changes in direction.

More wind creates more ripples on the water, and these appear darker because of how they reflect light.

Be careful though to consider variations in sunlight and clouds when assessing heading over to darker-looking patches on the course.

Other boats around you are also a great source of information about velocity across the course and be sure to not only take into account their angle of heel but also their heading.

Changes in heading may be a puff, lift or knock so continual observation should give you the answers you are looking for.

Generally, increases in wind velocity make more difference when the wind is light. An increase of a few knots in the wind when it is light may increase your boat speed by a knot or more whereas an increase of a couple of knots of windspeed in the higher wind ranges may see no increase in boat speed at all.

Once you have found yourself in better wind velocity, do your best to stay there and it may serve you better to stay in a puff longer by pinching up a little, footing off into it or tacking/gybing to stay in the puff longer.

Beware of velocity headers and when velocity changes it affects the wind you see and as an example, when you sail into a lull your apparent wind goes forward which feels as though you have been headed even though the wind direction stays the same.

The mistake a lot of sailors make is to tack on a velocity header and tack is not only slow in light air but you could well be sailing on a knock on the other tack.

Velocity Headers

When you experience a velocity header, change gears to keep your boat speed up and continually be on the lookout for the next puff or shift.

The amount of wind pressure also affects your ability to survive in another boat’s bad air. In light air, wind shadows are bigger and much more hurtful.

In heavy air, you can sail fairly close to leeward of another boat and go pretty much the same speed.

Wind pressure impacts what you do in different positions on the first beat.
Having more velocity means you will sail faster with narrower tacking angles, so you’ll get to a lay line sooner. In light air both tacks take more time, so you can afford to spend more time on the shorter tack.

A factor that can have a big effect on wind pressure is current. When you’re racing upwind, the choice is easy – head for the part of the course where there is stronger current flowing toward the wind or less current going with the wind.

This will not only help you make better progress over the bottom, but it will give you better wind pressure as well.  

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