Foolish Muse
Well-Known Member
I think I have a different view from some of the sentiments mentioned here:
"Sail trim is incredibly technical" Sure it's technical if you try to learn it from a book in a single day. But its not technical at all if you do it while you are out sailing with a happy attitude on a nice sunny day. Ease the main sheet a bit. Does the boat speed up or slow down? Do it again on a different day when the wind is blowing stronger or lighter. What is the result? Move the jib cars back a bit, or forward a bit. Does the boat speed up or slow down, depending on the wind speed? Now let's make some adjustments to the back stay. What happens in stronger or lighter winds? You don't need to be a technician. All you need is the idea that you want to become a little bit better. You'll find that the most improvement happens in the first month or two. If you stop then, that's fine. You are already a better sailor.
"Old, bagged out sails." This is just an excuse. I can tell you now that my sails are well past dead. I've repaired each of them myself dozens (yes, I said dozens) of times. They look like Frankenstein with all the stitching and patches of repair tape. But I still do very well at club racing. I even race against an identical boat with brand new high tech sails, and a full crew. (I race singlehanded). And I often beat him because he hasn't caught on to the tricky currents in our area yet. The reason why I do so well, and why I win many race series (note that I say series rather than individual races) is because I show up for every race. So I get lots of 3s and 4s and 5s, but I never score the 12 that other boats get for missing a race. So at the end of the series I get a 1st or 2nd or 3rd. A few years ago I won the distance racing trophy for the entire year, but I didn't win a single race. In fact I came dead last in many. But I showed up!
So stop thinking about getting better at sailing as something only racers do. Just start to experiment with your sail trim and keep an eye on the knot meter when you make changes. You can even do this while you are out sailing with your wife with a G&T in one hand.
And stop thinking that your old bagged out sails are holding you back. The only thing that is holding you back from winning armloads of trophies is not getting out on the course in the first place. This is a truth for all yacht clubs.
"Sail trim is incredibly technical" Sure it's technical if you try to learn it from a book in a single day. But its not technical at all if you do it while you are out sailing with a happy attitude on a nice sunny day. Ease the main sheet a bit. Does the boat speed up or slow down? Do it again on a different day when the wind is blowing stronger or lighter. What is the result? Move the jib cars back a bit, or forward a bit. Does the boat speed up or slow down, depending on the wind speed? Now let's make some adjustments to the back stay. What happens in stronger or lighter winds? You don't need to be a technician. All you need is the idea that you want to become a little bit better. You'll find that the most improvement happens in the first month or two. If you stop then, that's fine. You are already a better sailor.
"Old, bagged out sails." This is just an excuse. I can tell you now that my sails are well past dead. I've repaired each of them myself dozens (yes, I said dozens) of times. They look like Frankenstein with all the stitching and patches of repair tape. But I still do very well at club racing. I even race against an identical boat with brand new high tech sails, and a full crew. (I race singlehanded). And I often beat him because he hasn't caught on to the tricky currents in our area yet. The reason why I do so well, and why I win many race series (note that I say series rather than individual races) is because I show up for every race. So I get lots of 3s and 4s and 5s, but I never score the 12 that other boats get for missing a race. So at the end of the series I get a 1st or 2nd or 3rd. A few years ago I won the distance racing trophy for the entire year, but I didn't win a single race. In fact I came dead last in many. But I showed up!
So stop thinking about getting better at sailing as something only racers do. Just start to experiment with your sail trim and keep an eye on the knot meter when you make changes. You can even do this while you are out sailing with your wife with a G&T in one hand.
And stop thinking that your old bagged out sails are holding you back. The only thing that is holding you back from winning armloads of trophies is not getting out on the course in the first place. This is a truth for all yacht clubs.
