Sail trim when cruising....

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StellaGirl

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I was out just after Christmas in the Solent on a friends HR for a 2 day cruise. Having spent the previous 8 weeks racing in the Winter Series it was so nice to just go out and relax.
Yet I couldnt sit back like I thought I would. The reason? Sail Trim. We were working really hard in 30kts to get the boat going as quickly and efficiently as possible. No chance for a relaxing cuppa because we put a kite up...and down.....and up....and changed sails etc...etc...
So my question is when cruising how many people are aware of their sail trim to such an extent and how many can just sit back and relax and not be bothered by telltales?
 
Hoisting and droppping the kite is hardly sail trim. Why mess about with a spinnaker in 30 knots? Surely most reasonably designed boats will reach max. speed downwind in 30 knots under all plain sail or considerably less.

Chill out a bit . . . a little bit of mild sail tweaking should be fitted in between cups of tea and long periods of staring at the water.

- Nick
 
Can't be bothered myself. I go sailing to get away from all that fussing.

Unless someone else is sailing the same way and might beat me of course...
 
Like yourself i used to race a lot, and use to "string tweak" a lot, it took a couple of years to break the habit of tweaking every couple of minutes, now i am a confirmed cruiser, i check the sail trim about every fifteen minutes or so, and ninety per cent of the time we only coarse trim because we are under autopilot, and as they have a tendency to meander down the "line" its really a pointless exercise, i now notice a lot more fish/birdlife than before and have finally after aboutseven years learnt to relax when cruising and if i don't make my objective by a notional time?? well does it really matter?..............keith
 
Spent all my youth racing dinghies but have never found it an attraction spending my time constantly worrying about sail trim on a cruising yacht. We like to sail efficiently (sail trim, planning, etc) but don't spend all our time fussing over it.

In the end, if one wants to sail to ones destination as fast as possible the best way to do that, in my opinion, is to get a faster boat.

John
 
Would agree with Ships Cat here.
Got a Barracuada not for racing but to get to places under sail quicker. In practice means we just go further as places like Carentan,Fecamp are an easy weekends jolly and i can get through any tidal gates/locks with her speed. Find I only really trim hard if we are trying to overtake racers in the solent or I tag along with the JOG racers cross channel.

Some of my crew tend to trim every 5 mins others do not bother unless I threaten to put the engine on but the aim is for everybody to enjoy the trip whatever their tendancy is.
 
For me cruising is just that, a relaxed sit in the cockpit, enjoying the sensation of wind gently ruffling my hair, the spaniel sleeping on our bed downstairs. Unless somebody tries to overtake us. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
I am a fidget so tend to mess around with sheets etc a bit .. think this tendancy is a result of my dinghy racing days... but am actively trying to take a leaf outa Webcrafts book on chillin... think there is a happy medium of a reasonable amount of sail triming and enjoying the scenary and beer etc
 
[ QUOTE ]

So my question is when cruising how many people are aware of their sail trim to such an extent and how many can just sit back and relax and not be bothered by telltales?

[/ QUOTE ]

Major tweaks only (windshift +15 degrees). Long stretches on Otto, hardly touch the laundry.

People in a hurry shouldn't take up sailing
 
From a gaffers point of view,,,,,,,,
I like the sail shape to be about right and I don't like a badly set sail or one with wrinkles, headsails are trimmed to about right, staysail first, and the main gets the Tillman trim, all the way in, all the way out or half way.
"anything else is the effete fiddling of dinghy racers."
Then I open a beer, roll a smoke and settle down enjoying it.
Spinniker changes in 30kts? And that counts as cruising?
You need to get away from the Solent,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
IanW /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Sounds to me like your friend needs to buy a proper boat. If I had one that needed a spinnaker and constant sail changes to get a satisfactory performance in 30kt winds I'd sell it fast! No wonder we leave those Swedy things for dead when we see them, and I thought it was all down to our superior skill /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Abject horror. Believe me. And even worse if there is a dog on board. Competitive peeps us /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I have been using Seapro for a while now and I must admit that I really liek it. I have found the company, especially MD Brian, very helpful. It uses just about all chart formats, has tide, planning, weather overlays etc. Cant praise it enough and I am nothing to do with the company.

Regards Steve Birch
 
What's cruising? After a full year of racing our boat, it does become a habit to continually tweak.

...and up this way, its so damn cold, you have to do something to keep warm!

Dr Bob
 
I have found that to much jumping about trimming everything insight gives me indigestion and gas. So I set them, put the autohelm on, then the kettle and sit back and enjoy life not indigestion<s>.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have found that to much jumping about trimming everything insight gives me indigestion and gas. So I set them, put the autohelm on, then the kettle and sit back and enjoy life not indigestion<s>.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hooray! Another drifter!

I get the boat going about or thereabout and settle down to a coffee and a fag. I figure that the boat is 34 years old so it deserves not to be rushed /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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