Useful Sailing tips

In light winds you need to keep the boat going at maximum speed in order to keep up with whatever wind there is , for as long as possible.

Boat trim: Half centreboard or slightly more. You can always turn your boat on its side and measure what is half centreboard and mark it with a waterproof pen, so that when you round the windward mark you know exactly how far to bring the board up. You should be sitting well forward, even in front of the thwart, but don't sit on the fore deck as this digs the bow in too far. All you want to do is lift the transom, which creates a better flow of water off the hull. You should also heel the boat to leeward approx. 5-10 degrees, although when the wind increases, bring the boat flat again. This will create drive in the sail and therefore forward momentum.

Sail trim: As you round the windward mark, ease the outhaul 2-3 inches, a nice wide hand span from the boom is sufficient. Anymore and the sail will be too baggy and it will stall. Ease the cunningham (downhaul), although you should not really have any on upwind anyway. Lastly but probably most important of all is the vang (kicking strap), this should be eased until the tell tail off the top batten is flowing nicely; you can then increase tension on the vang as the wind increases. If you let it off too much and a gust hits you, then all drive will be lost as the sail will just twist off, especially as we have very flexible masts. Too much vang and the sail will be permanently stalled, the tell tails will be limp as the leach of the sail is too tight and the wind cannot flow over the sail thus creating no power and no speed.

In medium winds the main priority is to keep the boat flat and the sail pulling i.e. creating maximum power. As the wind is probably at its most gusty, you will need maximum concentration in order to play the main, keep the boat flat and keep the boat balanced fore and aft correctly.

Boat trim: The centreboard should be approx. half way up or slightly more, depending on how comfortable you are with the wind i.e. is it gusty or are you rolling! Where you sit is also very important in the medium conditions as you must keep the boat at maximum speed. One little trick is to keep an eye on the flow of water off of the transom. If you are sitting too far back, the transom will dig in and bubbles will flow off the back, keep sitting forward until they disappear. Once you have a nice flow of water (it will create a triangle shape off the transom), then you are sitting in the optimum position. You will also be able to start to plane as the wind picks up. If you can do this before the others then you will be sailing faster than them.

Sail trim: To keep the boat going fast you have to have the sail generating the maximum amount of power it can produce, although in these conditions that can be very difficult as the wind will be very inconsistent in strength. One minute you can be sitting with the leach very open due to the winds being on the lighter side and then you may need to close the leech because you have been hit by a gust and planing is a possibility. So in these conditions, as you round the windward mark, ease the outhaul so that the foot of the sail is approx. one open hand span from the boom, also let the cunningham right off as you don't want to pre-bend the mast as you want the vang to control the bend.

Talking of the vang, this should be let off and pulled on as the wind either increases or decreases. If you have too much on and the wind dies then the leach will be too tight and the wind flow over the sail will be stalled; too little and when a gust hits, the leach will open and the wind flow will be split out of the sail and no drive will be created. It is therefore best that you play this as much as you would play the mainsheet.

Reaching in strong winds means speed and stability, get it right and you can be off and away, leaving your competitors in your wake. However, get it wrong and you're swimming, which is not fast. To sail fast in these conditions you must keep the boat flat. If you don't then the boom can dig in and you will capsize or the sail will just drag you sideways as you are overpowered.

Boat trim: Here you will want the centreboard to be half way up or enough to allow the boat to slip sideways, this means that as you are hit by a gust you will slide sideways and not be pushed over. You will also be wanting to sit back in the boat to help create planing, the fastest part of sailing. To begin with, sit just behind the thwart, as a gust hits you sit further back and pull in a little main, as you do this you will produce drive in the sail, the stronger the gust, the further you sit back. However as the wind increases and you become more overpowered, ease the main and bear off with the gust, this will ensure that you keep your speed , but it also means that you won't get blown over.

Sail trim: Some people like to sail with a very baggy sail, little cunningham and lots of vang, this creates lots of power and means you can go really fast. However, when you get hit by a big gust, it hurts ( it also means you have to hike harder). Once you have rounded the windward mark you must decide whether you can survive the wind. If you feel you can, then you want to loosen the foot and release the cunningham. This will create a baggy sail which then creates power. After this you can play with the vang as this controls the amount of twist in the sail. If you are a heavy weight you could have the vang on tight and have a tight leach which means that you will not be spilling any wind out of the top of your sail. If you are a light weight, you will probably keep the cunningham and the foot of the sail tight and release the vang until the top of the sail is twisting off sufficiently to spill the wind. As you get more and more overpowered, pull on more cunningham and release more vang, you can also start to release the mainsheet, this will allow more wind to be spilled from the bulk of the main. As long as your boat is flat and you have some power, you will still be going forwards and fast.

If you are on a broad reach, you will probably start to do the opposite with the vang and pull more on. This stops the top batten from going beyond the boom, if this happens the top of the sail will take over and drive will be created in the top half, spinning the boat and you will capsize to windward, probably with the aid of a death roll shortly before.

Another way of stopping this, is to not let the main out too far, that way you will be reducing the angle at which the wind hits the main and reducing the power in the sail. Check to see how far your boom goes forward before you set sail and tie an extra knot in the mainsheet to stop it from going to far forward. Whatever you do, don't push your centreboard completely down, the boat will try to trip over it and again you will capsize to windward. 

Remember to keep an eye on the wind, if a gust approaches and you are already overpowered or just tired, release the main early and then little power will be generated by the sail and you shouldn't capsize.

As with any leg the fastest people often respond quickest and most appropriately to the variations in the wind speed and direction that occur. Also sailors often do not realise how crucial the balance of the boat is i.e. your position in the boat, lessons can be taken from windsurfers in marginal planing conditions. In anything but light winds the boat must be kept as flat as possible.

If conditions are gusty and /or you are not confident about adjusting your sail controls half way down a leg, then use the best compromise position for your sail settings. It is probably best to keep the vang and outhaul slightly tighter, if it is gusty and you plan to only set them once. However make sure you know where the wing mark is before you round the windward mark. Stickers marking outhaul and cunningham positions become very handy for some people.

Slot gaskets wear out quickly and a torn or bent one will slow you down immensely. No water at all should come up through the centreboard case unless you are really flying i.e. the boat two thirds out of the water.

In gusty conditions anticipate the gust and start to move back; also be forceful but controlled with the boat, you must retain control of the boat rather than the other way round. You must sheet out, sit out, move aft and bear away in one smooth controlled movement. The boat should maintain it's attitude while steadily increasing speed so that submarine adventures can be a thing of the past.