Tiger Trophy

I wouldn't let the kite flog it makes the boat unstable and you loose control in a big gust the flogging sails will still drag you down.I would let the main out to the shroud and oversheet the kite so it has a crease along the bottom, the kite will pull the bow round and its very stable in this mode the boat will almost stop its what I do to drop the kite.

best not to get in trouble in the first place though, if the boat is flat it will accelerate in the gust instead of loading up, to get the right angle I head up smooth and firm, until I feel the boat load up and start to heal, then allow the boat to bearaway on its own until its dead flat then hold it on that course. if it starts to slow or I get a lull I firmly (but smooth so you dont fall off)head up again, if I get hit by a big gust I allow it to bearaway.

usually in a big gust I would oversheet the main to lift the bow, It may have been your bow catching the waves that made you loose flow on the rudder oversheeting the main is faster in alot of conditions.

another posibility is your kite had collapsed in the gust because the apparent wind has moved aft, in which case you need to ease the main to allow you to the head up and get the kite flying again.

I guess prevention is better than cure ...

If the rudder has lost flow & is cavitating you can only hang in there; if you are not too heeled already a quick luff will help re-attach flow so you can then bare away again with a big hike/wire bounce ...

Thanks Neil (and Chris) - That's good advice, but I have 'done a bit' in my time  and I did know those techniques -  I wasn't asking how best to prevent it but best way of surviving it should it happen.

So what I want to know is what do the top 29er sailors do to regain control if the rudder stalls like that?

I don't recall it ever happening to me in a Fireball or RS200 or Vortex. It did in Lasers but only when an error was made and I knew what to do to correct it. I'm newish to a 29er and didn't feel I could have done anything better to prevent it - so any advice happily recieved. Bailing out seemed a good option!

You have just stay flat as Neil said, although it is easier said than done..

Crew should always be looking out for the gusts and telling them helm so the helm can bear away before the gust hits, again as Neil said

Yep, it was! Big credit to the rescue teams and all organisation. Who were those nutters in Bermuda shorts?

Any event this big is going to throw up some problems such as a few dodgy results, i.e. I know the RS 200 shown 2nd in race 2 and they said they capsized, and finished behind most of the other 200s. My first race result shows me behind 29ers we beat on the water!

But I don't care - the sailing was amazing, finally making up for the last 3 - 4 years of 'no wind' events. Graham Vials was brilliant and a deserving winner, and yes, that leg towards the tower in the pursuit race was simply amazing in a 29er. The money raised for the Merricks trust is a great bonus, and I didn't eat much at the club - but had a superb meal at a pub with Timmy Taylors on tap - result!

It was a really positive step that unlike the Bloody Mary, the club allowed the foiling Moths and other non PY boats to compete and get results, but it was a shame about another club not having crews mentioned at the prize giving - you'd have thought that after the Bloody Mary, that lesson would have been learnt.

Advice from 29er sailors please  - what do you do when youre barreling downwind in a huge gust,  at something approaching 20kts, and an even bigger gust hits, you start a bear away, but the the rudder suddenly loses grip and stops working? We survived that once by dumping kite, but not the second time and was amazed not to break anything in the resulting crash.