SAIL HARDER

 

Sail Hard, Sail Fair – The Rules in Practice

Do your turns…….
Rather than ruin your whole days sailing, to correct an error (as long as there has been no damage) you need to perform a "720". That is: you sail in two complete circles, and then you can carry on with the race. If you hit the mark while going round it, then you have to perform a "360". That is you sail one complete circle. These "turns" should be done away from the other boats that are still racing, as you have no rights while you are doing your turns.
As well as the racing rules here are also a few “Fundamental Rules”. These apply at all times, and are designed to help ensure that the racing is as safe and as fair as possible for all competitors. For example:

• A boat shall avoid contact with another boat if reasonably possible.
• Rule 10: When boats are on opposite tacks, a port-tack boat shall keep clear of a starboard-tack boat.
• Rule 11: When boats are on the same tack and overlapped, a windward boat shall keep clear of a leeward boat.
• Rule 18: When boats are overlapped the outside boat shall give the inside boat room to round or pass the mark or obstruction within 3 boats lengths of the mark.

In Rule 18, room is room for an inside boat to round or pass between an outside boat and a mark or obstruction, including room to tack or gybe when either is a normal part of the manoeuvre.

Clear Astern and Clear Ahead
One boat is clear astern of another when her hull and equipment in normal position are behind a line abeam from the aftermost point of the other boat’s hull and equipment in normal position. The other boat is clear ahead. They overlap when neither is clear astern. However, they also overlap when a boat between them overlaps both. These terms do not apply to boats on opposite tacks unless rule 18 applies.

Keep Clear
One boat keeps clear of another if the other can sail her course with no need to take avoiding action and, when the boats are overlapped on the same tack, if the leeward boat can change course in both directions without immediately making contact with the windward boat.

Leeward and Windward
A boat’s leeward side is the side that is or, when she is head to wind, was away from the wind. However, when sailing by the lee or directly downwind, her leeward side is the side on which her mainsail lies. The other side is her windward side. When two boats on the same tack overlap, the one on the leeward side of the other is the leeward boat. The other is the windward boat.

Room
The space a boat needs in the existing conditions while manoeuvring promptly in a seamanlike way. The quicker you are going the more room will be needed!

Beating Upwind
Going upwind is the most important skill for the new racer to learn. Most places can be gained and lost going upwind, and being able to do it well may enable you to recover from a bad start.

Boat Trim
The first thing you have to think about is that you are sailing in a boat that floats in the water. Whatever movements you make when you're sailing affect the relationship between the two, and this relationship is vital to understand because it's the water that slows the boat down the most.

Fore and Aft Trim
Drag affecting the hull is sometimes a difficult thing to detect, but there are ways to find and reduce it. For instance, while you're sailing, move back in the boat until you're sitting on the transom. Look down behind the boat and you will notice a lot of drag coming off the stern. This is an easy problem to fix-just move forward until you see the water smooth out behind the boat. This reduces the drag generated by the stern sitting in the water.

Side to Side Heel
The most important rule for going upwind is to keep the boat as flat as possible. This does some great things for the boat. First, when the boat is completely flat, the centreboard will be as deep in the water as possible.

Maximizing the depth of the board in the water allows it to do its job the best. If you're slipping sideways while going upwind, you're losing ground to those who aren't. As an experiment, lift the board halfway while sailing upwind. You will notice the boat won't point as high. Second, when the boat is heeled, the hull acts as a rudder and tries to turn the boat in one direction or the other. This can be used to your advantage downwind but should be avoided upwind. This can be known as weather helm and thus is a sign the boat is not flat! When you enter a gust, and you are persistent enough to try and hike the boat flat, you're doing the wrong thing. You must ease the sail; even dump it way down sometimes. If the boat heels, you will be losing sail efficiency and pointing ability. More often than not it’s only the inertia of the gust that will force the boat to heel, so once to you have initially taken out the initial ‘hit’, nine times out of ten you will be able to slowly draw your sail back in to power through.

Ease-Hike-Trim

“Is it okay to let the boat heel when the gust hits? Because then I can hike it flat and take even more advantage of the wind”. (You all know who you are!) The short answer is no. When the gust hits and heels the boat, you will be blown immediately sideways. If there is too much power in the sail, let some go.

EASE-HIKE-TRIM is a great rule to make the boat go fast when the gusts hit.
1. When the puff hits the boat, EASE the sail, but just enough to keep it flat.
2. Immediately afterwards, start to HIKE, and at the same time, TRIM the sail back in.

The hike and trim steps should happen at the same time, counterbalancing each other. Your concentration should be on keeping the boat completely flat at all times, throughout the entire gust (and don't be afraid to dump a lot if the gust is a big one). The initial ease keeps the boat flat and prepares the sail for the new wind direction. This whole procedure should be done within seconds and continually carried out if the conditions suit.

Watching the Telltales
The eventual goal for your upwind development is to be able to sail to windward by merely feeling the boat. However, in many occasions it can be use full to use telltales and especially up the beat. Your goal is to make the outside telltale flow straight back and the inside telltale ‘lift’ occasionally, meaning some air is getting to it, but not all the time.

Feathering
Feathering is a technique that can enable you to increase your overall pointing performance by 5 -10 degrees if executed properly. However there is a fine line and many succumb to ‘over pinching’. Start by pointing into the wind as high as possible, and have the mainsheet pulled in tight. Now, every time a gust hits, head up into the wind until the boat is flat again. Then, when the gust has died off a little, you will be sailing in what feels like a header, so bear off until the power returns to the sail. You should be constantly making adjustments to your course.

Ease-Hike-Trim should be used in conjunction with feathering. The gusts sometimes strike too hard to compensate with only one method. The heading up should be done slowly, to keep control, and the boat should not ever heel more than 10 degrees. The initial heel not only indicates the gust (or lift), but it also helps the boat to turn up into the wind to point higher. Use this heel to steer, minimizing rudder usage. The same is true when the lull (or header) hits. The boat will heel to windward, turning the boat away from the wind. What you will be doing when you bear off, is building up speed-then, the ‘feather’ up into the wind using that speed to draw you closer to windward.

Tacking
Tacking is a very important transition. You can lose or gain many boat lengths relative to other boats, depending on the quality of your tacks. There are three keys aspects to a good tack:
1. The turn through the tack should be gradual, not fast. A tack that begins too quickly bleeds off a lot of speed. Make sure you initiate the tack slowly, with as little rudder movement as possible, keeping the rudder drag to a minimum.
2. The boat should not tack through too large an angle. When you begin the tack, you should be on a close-hauled course. When finished, your angle should be 10 degrees past close-hauled on the opposite tack. If this angle is too large, you're wasting speed going in the wrong direction as well as height upwind.
3. The boat should accelerate well after the tack. Every time you tack the boat, you lose speed. Half the tack you spend luffing the sails, with the wind pushing you backwards. This is why it's so important to accelerate immediately afterwards. To do that quickly, make sure you are 10 degrees past close-hauled when you finish the tack. In this position, you can pick up speed quickly. Then, when you are at full speed, you can begin to point. Head up into the wind slowly, while trimming in the sail.

Roll Tacking
Roll tacking is a method for getting the boat through a tack quickly, without losing much speed or ground.
Listed below are three basic advantages to a roll tack, which is used primarily in light air when boat speed out of a tack is important.
1. Heel the boat to leeward about 10 degrees. This initial heel allows the boat to turn its self, cutting down on the rudder usage necessary to initiate the tack. Don't heel the boat too far. The object is to turn the boat slowly enough so you can control the tack. During this step, you should be able to let the tiller extension slip through your hand, with the hull of the boat doing all the work.
2. As the boat starts to come down, rock it hard to windward. Timing is important in this step. The goal here is to help the boat do what it wants. The biggest mistake you can make is to try to roll the boat too 9 soon, ‘stalling’ the tack, finding yourself head to wind, or on the same tack on which you started. Wait until the sail luffs and the boat feels as though it wants to tack, and then bring it down hard. You must get the feel for how far you can go. The purpose for this step is to get the sail through the tack as quickly as possible. Usually when you tack, there is a long period of time where the sail luffs through the tack. This step will alleviate that luffing, with a telltale ‘pop’ of the sail.
3. Once the boat is on the new tack, and still heeled, flatten it quickly. When you flatten the boat, you are pulling the sails through the air, effectively increasing the wind speed over them. This gives you a nice lift forward, accelerating you out of the tack. The sail should be trimmed in during the flattening, but not all the way. When this ‘wind’ is created, it acts as a lift, so the sails should be eased slightly. Then, when the boat is flat and up to speed, trim in the sails in for pointing. This flattening should be done after the sails fill, but as soon possible to avoid the boat being heeled for any length of time. Just watch someone who doesn't flatten immediately. They will lose a lot of distance to leeward, much more quickly than you would think.