settings for light wind racing?

[jason -and the arguenauts]

Help please. The winds at the weekend are again forecast to be very light and it's the decider race in this series. To make matters worse, it will be neaps.

So what do I tweek to make the best of the boat in light winds round the cans?

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

It'll be all about getting the sails set right, keep the boat calm (no regular crew movements), and little rudder to keep momentum up....

So... setting the sails right.... there is no correct answer here, and its where a great trimmer makes all the difference...

One fundamental to be aware of is draft.... as a bit of generalisation, a deep draft sail is great for acceleration, but poor on top end speed.. so if the wind is coming through in gusts, then often a slighly fuller sail will let you put speed on more quickly... and also useful when the sea is sloppy to get back up to speed quickly when a wave slows you down... a flatter sail will allow you to maintain good speed, but will take longer to get you up to that speed... so a better setting for a flat sea, with a light but consistent wind...

let some halyard tension off, not too much kicker....

One common mistake is to flatten the sail too much.... often on a very light day, just 'easing' the sail.. a little less outhaul, a little less mainsheet will result in much better boat speed...

Make sure you pay attention to overall boat balance.... get the sails working together.... try to match the leach shape of the main and genoa... 'work the slot'... and most importantly, don't allow any weather helm.... that rudder is a big brake in light winds!

Finally, don't be tempted to pinch... its very easy to do in light winds, but rarely benefits overall VMG...

Most of all... enjoy it... for me, racing in light winds is the most challenging and enjoyable of all racing (until it turns into a drifter!)

 

[Skysail]

Get the main traveller up to windward, little or no kicker; this allows the top of the main to twist, good in light airs.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Also, sail for the wind... pay attention to 'spotting' where the wind is, and sail for it... look for the effect of land features 'bending' the wind, and play it to your advantage.... be accutely aware of tidal flows, and stay in shallow water when against the tide, and deep when with it..

Take time to think about your upwind strategy... its where races are won and lost in light winds.... tacking slows you down an awful lot, so avoid where possible... unless the wind is in a narrow area, often a long leg and a single tack (or very few tacks) can pay off rather than regualr tacks ups the centre of the course....

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Finally, squeeze the sails in when tacking.... tack, set 'em, but leave a foot or two of sheet, and gradually bring it in as the boat resumes her new course... helps you accelerate out of the tack....

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Try This

1. Change sheets over to light weight sheets on the Genoa if you have them.
2. Use a set of light weight spinny sheets as well.
3. Tape on some wool for tell tales on your genoa luff and mainsail leach.
4. Slack off halyard tension. Probably will have creases in your mainsail when slack enough.
5. Get the mainsail maximum camber depth around the 50% mark between the luff and leach.
6. Slack off the foot of the main sail to decrease flatness.
7. Cunningham and flatner on main probably at zero tension.
8. A wee bit of back stay tension to help the main keep shape.
9. Keep the kicker slack or just tensioned but watch your leach tell tales.
10. On close hauled keep the slot just free of the fully in position on the genoa. If the slot is too small you will stall the air flow.
11. Genoa fair lead right back for close hauled
12. Keep the spinny clew and tack up i.e. pole up the mast a bit more.
13. Before hoisting the spinny, lay it along the deck so that the clew and tack are in the correct place and then hoist the head. Don't hoist out the bag. Don't get it wet. I nice smooth raise can inflate the spinny in light winds as opposed to a big tube of sail cloth being hoisted out the bag.

The wind above the water will be at a different angle so you need the top to twist off a bit on the sails.

If its near flat calm then the belly in the sails can be too much and the air to sail friction simply stops air flow. You can then flatten the main and try and get the air to move over less surface area - this is hard to do, but it can work.

Crew weight to leeward to reduce wetted surface area. Big heel can be good. Make gravity keep you sail shape. If there is a slop or the boom wont go out, get someone to lean on the boom and stay there.

No sudden movements on the boat. No sudden movements on the boat. Rudder movements to a minimum and slowly move the rudder. Rudder movements to a minimum and slowly move the rudder.

Watch the speed indicator and be patient for any changes to take affect to overcome your momentum.

If its allowed empty your water tanks and take the minimum water in a container.

Scrub the water line if there is any slime build up. Take off any other heavy weather sails and any surplus equipment if the rules allow it.

Don't take extra crew along.

And of course it all depends on the cut of your sails, the amount they are blown, they type of boat, your handicap. I assume you are not sailing a big barge, if so ignore me.

Ok this is a winner tactic - roll tack the boat and roll gybe it. Roll tack: Just before the turn heal the boat over to leeward in a smooth manner, roll the boat back up and start the turn. As it comes through the wind roll her too the new leeward again, over turn, sheet in by hand both sails and allow her to roll back to near vertical as the sails get to the final position. Fine tune close hauled and heal the boat back to leeward.

You can only do this once on each tack and once rounding the leeward mark. If you can get the crew to change sides in unison with the turn of the boat and sheet in by hand the genoa and main it can work. You can not have your crews torsos outside of the guard rails. Below about 35 feet this can be done with a bit of practice.

But how light is light winds! Let me know how you get on and good luck.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Are you allowed to contribute to this thread with your username?

 

[dt4134]

First of all, make sure the boat is as light as you can safely make it (within the rules). Leave all gear unnecessary for racing in the garage. No water, just enough fuel to get you safely back. Obviously, dry the bilges. As you have to carry your bunk cushions, use a de-humidifier to get the last few kilos of water out of them.

You can even leave the odd crew member behind as you don't need as many.

Whether you leave warps & fenders behind is up to you. If you have a slick crew it is OK, but I've seen several boats do it who aren't really up to the job of coming back in without warps and fenders.

An extra clean of the hull with a brush from the dinghy will help.

To windward sails need a lot of belly, so ease the halyards. In F1-2 you can allow some horizontal wrinkles in the luff. Make sure the back stay in eased and the outhaul is somewhat eased. Lots of twist as the difference between the wind at the top and bottom of the mast is more significant than with stronger winds.

Twist in the main is gained by bringing the main up the track and easing it. Slightly ease the kicker. If you have a heavy boom that won't rise enough use the topping lift to get your twist. Move the genny cars back a bit to get extra twist in the headsail. You must leave a gap between the leech of the genny and the main. If the air doesn't flow through this slot you may as well turn the engine on and go home.

Your optimum course in not as close-hauled as normal so don't pinch. Bear off to get the boat moving (as you'll go nowhere otherwise) then slowly head up whilst SLOWLY AND GENTLY trimming in the sails (personal bug bear is trimmers who yank on the sheets in light airs). If you lose speed bear off and try again. Worst thing is an over-enthusiatic genny trimmer closing the slot (less easy to spot when they do it high up).

Downwind you need to keep the flow going over the spinnaker. It is better to keep moving rather than point dead downwind. You'll find that the optimum angle is approximately the reverse of the tacking angles. When you have speed sink down gently to gain to leeward as you lose speed heat her up by bearing up a bit. The pole must be moved as the boat turns. Guy & sheet trimmers & helm have to work together as a team. If it is really light sheet should be trimmed from leeward near the clew.

Crew weight should be to leeward and forward. Putting them down below over the keel helps. Even consider sending a heavy crew member into the forecabin as it helps lift the stern and reduce wetted surface area (& friction). You, however, need to be able to watch to windward to see any gusts (zephyrs).

Crew should move very gently (and vibrations from quick movements and heavy footfalls disrupts the water flow over the keel & rudder). They should not distort the shape of the sails when sitting/lying to leeward, nor should they disrupt the flow through the slot. I like to position a crew member on the coachroof directly below the boom to deflect air up into the mainsail.

One consequence of asking the crew to tip toe around is that you must give them plenty of warning of manouvres. If you give them two seconds warning of a tack don't complain if the jump into the cockpit like a herd of elephants.

The roll tack technique works on some boats, so concentrate weight to leeward to get the boat to turn up into the wind. Try to reduce the number of tacks you make as they're relatively more costly than in stronger winds.

Light airs racing is great fun but you have to concentrate more and be really on the ball. The crew should be looking out for what is happening all over the course. Being the first to know that the back marker is doing 6kts up the beat under spinnaker can be very valuable (been there!). It is easy for crew to get bored and start nattering then everything falls apart.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Light airs racing is great fun but you have to concentrate more and be really on the ball. The crew should be looking out for what is happening all over the course. Being the first to know that the back marker is doing 6kts up the beat under spinnaker can be very valuable (been there!). It is easy for crew to get bored and start nattering then everything falls apart.

Excellent advice and its knackering sailing in light airs if you can keep the focus and concentration up.

The 2nd last sentence is very important. As a school boy I remember sailing at Castle Semple (Loch Winoch) in GP14s. We were up the front of the fleet in near calm conditions, beating. The wind came in from the west in 2 m wide bands, blowing about F4-6. The tail boats got their spinnys up and shot by everyone. About 15 minutes later the wind filled in to a nice windy day, but by then it was all over.

Sitting in a near calm, while someone blasts by you only a few meters away is a real downer!

 

[Twister_Ken]

All good stuff. One more thing to add. Keep an eye on SOG and COG, or if you haven't got this available, keep watching transits. You're trying to spot the moment you stop moving forwards over the ground. Unless you're deliberately crabbing across to less current, that is the moment to let the kedge go. Kedge early, kedge often can be a real winner on days when there are holes in the wind.

Consequently have the kedge ready to go over at a moment's notice, preferably on just a few meters of chain and a light warp, so you can recover it quickly.

 

[Mavro]

Finally, don't be tempted to pinch... its very easy to do in light winds, but rarely benefits overall VMG...

Have you got any more tips on how to find the balance between being as "close the wind as possible" but slow and slightly off the wind and a bit faster. My racing skipper is for ever telling me go as high as you can and keep the speed up but somehow I always managed to get it wrong. Either pinching too much or not enough.

Are there any tips or secrets to getting the balance right and keeping your VMG up? Is it different in light and heavy airs?

All the rest of advice is really helpful by the way.

 

[flaming]

Some excellent stuff here.

In light winds, if you're slow pick any random control and ease it. You'll probably accelerate.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Some excellent stuff here.

In light winds, if you're slow pick any random control and ease it. You'll probably accelerate.

Brilliant!.... and sooooooo true...

 

[AliM]

You do know all the tides, eddies and strange currents in your area, don't you?

Watching racing boats sliding along the shallows in no wind, but an eddy in the tide, while their less savvy friends tack ineffectually against the foul tide, is a good spectator sport - and that's about as close as I get to racing!

 

[jason -and the arguenauts]

But how light is light winds! Let me know how you get on and good luck.

2kn in the morning and 6 kn after lunch. We did badly

the morning race outside the barrage had to be abandoned - even neap tides round here reach 3kn

in the afternoon we had a windward leeward course inside the barrage with a spacer buoy to prevent us mere PY types from playing chicken with the IRC hotshots starting 5 minutes later. 20 boats in total but in a very confined non tidal area - you can tell how confined when even cruisers took only 14 mins for a lap.

windshifts from the surrounding blocks of flats etc caused us to miss the first leeward mark and we made a cock of short tacking round it. we tried the spinny on the second run but had difficulty in getting it to fill and decided that with a small crew and cruising rahter than race boat gear, the 1 kn max speed advantage it gave over a 6 minute run just wasnt worth the delay involved in hoisting / furling the genoa. so we did the rest with all white sails, got into our rhythm and lost no more from then on, even making up some of what we had given up.

the winner was a racing dighy the organisers had allowed to enter . You can imagine what he did to a 7 tonne cruising boiat in those sort of conditions. almost lapped us

but thanks for all the advice. we won a trophy for the series but thanks to the weather it wasnt the first place we had hoped for.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

You won a trophy and you were out their doing it... great stuff and congratulations. Just think about what you did and try and improve on it.

 

[jason -and the arguenauts]

next series starts in 2 weeks and runs till xmas. hopefully there will be enough rain and wind to frighten off any more dinghy types. though there were more races cancelled for lack of wind last winter than abandoned for too much.

get more fun and more use out of the boat off season racing than I do summer cruising. cant understand why most boat owners hibernate from october to april.