49er First timer. Any tips?

Will be jumping out of my 16ft skiff for the first time in about 10yrs to have a go in the 49er Aust Champs in 2 weeks. We pick up the boat this saturday, and having never sailed one before, I'm a tad nervous on how we will fair.

Any tips on rig settings for different breeze strengths from some of you guys who sail them all the time would be a huge help.

The average breeze we get around Belmont Bay this time of year can vary from 10 knots, and if our NE seabreezes get going up to 25-30 knots, so it could get a bit hairy.

I understand some guys probably dont want to give too much away so if you want to pm it to me I promise I won't tell noone.  .

Thanks,

 I'm happy to do reports for the races too for  anyone who's interested

Have a good wetsuit     

Originally posted by Contender 541 Gumshield

dont forgot matching crash helmet

Depends what 16 footer you've been sailing, but reckon the rig settings might be quite similar as the Bethwaites have been designing 16ft skiff rigs round the 49ers, if anything, the key fundamentals about when to put loads of downhaul on etc, will remain the same. If I was stepping into a 16 footer, I'd see it more of a step sideways than forwards or backwards, so reckon the same could be applied vice-versa. If you remember the key fundamentals about how you sail your own boat and apply it to the 9er, it shouldn't be difficult. If possible, get a bit of training in to familiarise yourself with where things are so you can do manouveres with your head out of the boat when its windy, land drills help loads to familiarise yourself with deck layout if you can't get time on the water, although the 9er layout should be a lot more minamalistic than the 16 foot skiffs. Think the 9er might also be less bouyant at the front end, so keep an eye out for the bow going down when bearing away and reaching.