Sail Controls And Their Effects - Sail Controls are the things that you can adjust once afloat to take advantage as the conditions change. I have set these out below in no order of importance. Be aware that some controls on different types of boats will have a varying degree of importance.
Use a practice day to experiment with each...
Today, Iim trying something different using screenshots to give a Guide To Changing Gears. I hope you enjoy it.
Dave Dellenbaugh has been giving sailors the benefit of his boundless sailing knowledge for over two decades. He uses an easy-to-follow format through his "Speed and Smarts" newsletters.
Visuals rather than longwinded explanations do a better job explaining the sometimes baffling concepts...
Twist, is the relative trim of your sail from top to bottom. Your sail has a lot of twist when the top of the leech is open. When you have a closed leech, this is described as little twist. Twist's Importance and When to Use It
The effect of an increase in twist is a reduction of power. Reducing...
Most sailors know that modern sails perform much like an aeroplane wing and that's the way sails work to windward.
Because of the way that a sail is curved, and because of the angle of attack when trimmed properly, the air passing over the leeward side speeds up in comparison to the air passing over the windward side.
It is the...
Trimming for Speed. To win a sailboat race you must sail fast and smart. When you have a speed advantage, tactical decisions are easier.
To be fast you have to work at it, your rig needs to be tuned, the hull needs to be fair and smooth and the sails set and trimmed efficiently. By no means less important is...
Excerpts from an interview with highly accomplished Dinghy through to Maxi Yacht sailor and North Sails sailmaker Michael Coxon. Sails -The controls and Their effects.
What's the most important sail control and how does that vary from class to class? Sails - the controls and their effectsÂ
“The most important sail control for any boat is the sheet tension. Where the...
Rig Tune to Get Better Performance.
Firstly, I would like to correct an error in last weeks Blog regarding using the compass to establish Line bias. Phil Crebbin, a UK 470 Olympian kindly pointed this out. He has provided the correct method which is copied below in bold.
Everybody knows that it is the wind direction vs the line direction that...
Gear changing is what separates the mid-fleet sailors from those who always seem to be a tad quicker and higher.
While most of the fleet starts the race with a similar setup created with the help of a tuning guide, the fast boats are constantly making additional adjustments. When conditions suddenly change—a puff hits or you sail into a lull,...
Understanding and Controlling Upwind Sail Power - Upwind sail power comes from 3 sources:
The angle of attack.
Depth in the sail (draft)
Twist.
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...
A Checklist For Successful Trimming
Trimming sails is a challenging crew position that requires knowledge and experience. The trimmer also needs the ability to work with the rest of the crew.
The goal of The Trimmer
The goal of the trimmer is to get the boat to perform at peak efficiency and to use that speed to outsail the competition. A good...
