Beginner questions: Sailing Flat

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Sailing Flat

Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: General
Forum Name: Beginner questions
Forum Discription: Advice for those who are new to sailing
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6312
Printed Date: 10 Aug 25 at 2:47am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Sailing Flat

Posted By: kurio99
Subject: Sailing Flat
Date Posted: 03 Jan 10 at 11:33pm

On the last day of my sailing course, we took out a 420 in gusty conditions. We had a difficult time keeping the boat flat.

What is the proper combination of hiking, till, and mainsheet?

On hiking alone, we were bouncing around like monkeys to counter the gusts. Do we use hiking to counter the overall wind conditions and the mainsheet to counter the second to second gusts?

Regards,...Ron

Replies:

Posted By: Garry
Date Posted: 04 Jan 10 at 9:46am

1. were you trapezing or just hiking?

2. The helm needs to create a stable platform for the crew first by setting the sail up correctly with the rake, kicker, outhaul, cunnungham. You then steer / ease main to stay flat with the crew fully committed.

3. If you were on a course what advice did your instructor give?

problems...

1. not enough kicker, you then ease main a couple of inches at the boom = 2 feet at the top batten boat loses loads of power heels to windward crew comes in helm sheets in boat heels to leeward and you get out of sync with each other. This happens even more if you're trapezing because the righting moment is even greater. Solution more kicker so upwind the sail eases evenly up the whole leech.

2. Crew doesn't commit to hiking hard, jumps all over the place and likes to sail with 10 degrees of leeward heel - solution practice or change crew, sometimes the helm sitting in a bit will give the crew more confidence to stay out.

3. slow reactions / over corrections - solution practice

Fundementally in gusty conditions you set the boat up to sail flat in the lulls and steer / dump in the gusts. When it really blows and is shifty there will always be some gusts that get you no matter how good you are. Some tips to help, lift the centreboard, sail slightly freer so your boat speed stays up, shorten the spreaders, watch for the gusts, learn to make lots of quick small adjustments rather than slow big ones (remember when you first learnt to drive and you tended to oversteer, veer off when changing gear...)

practice and coaching will pay dividends, even watching, follow someone of reasonable standard in a powerboat in a fastish tippy boat around the course (rs300, rs200, MPS, laser even) and watch what they are doing with their hands to control sheet/tiller and body.

Garry

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Garry

Lark 2252, Contender 298

www.cuckoos.eclipse.co.uk

Posted By: JimC
Date Posted: 04 Jan 10 at 9:59am

Originally posted by kurio99

Do we use hiking to counter the overall wind conditions and the mainsheet to counter the second to second gusts?

Well, how long does it take you to jump in and out of the boat as opposed to how long does it take to pull the mainsheet in and out... Get sat out, get stable, and control the heel by mainsheet and rudder.

Rule 1: never cleat the mainsheet, keep it on a ratchet block. The cleat slows you down too much.
Rule 2: Practice!

Posted By: kurio99
Date Posted: 04 Jan 10 at 10:25pm

In this case, no trapeze, just a couple of old guys whose collective girth could counter any wind conditions short of a hurricane.

I notice that you both mention steering plays a role in combination with the mainsheet to level a boat. Could you be more specific?

I would have thought that the rudder would only be applied for course corrections to counter the tendency of a leaning boat to turn. Or to turn into the wind when faced with a big knockdown gust.

Regards,...Ron

Posted By: winging it
Date Posted: 05 Jan 10 at 8:59am

Some sailors survive the gust by a technique called feathering, where they point up into the wind slightly to lose power, then bear away back to course once the gust has passed. This does work, but it's also slow and can lead to the nasty habit of pinching, where you're constantly sailing too close to the wind (pointing too high) this is also slow.

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the same, but different...

Posted By: JimC
Date Posted: 05 Jan 10 at 10:14am

Originally posted by kurio99

I notice that you both mention steering plays a role in combination with the mainsheet to level a boat.

If the boat heels left steer left. If the boat heels right steer right. Basically you sail the boat under the mast, but we are only talking about a very few degrees of steering.

Posted By: redback
Date Posted: 07 Jan 10 at 11:43pm

I'm afriad this is one of the most difficult of skills to master and only time in the boat will give you the skill. Some good suggestions above but I frequently find the less experienced don't set their boat up well and this makes it almost impossible to sail well.

The chief culprit is old rags where the fullness has drifted aft or if you have a kicker and down haul that is not tight enough you are going to stagger in the gusts. Put both together and you'll never manage no matter how much weight you have on the gunwhale.

Personally the idea of pinching up in the gusts only works up to a certain wind strength and then only in certain boats. The 420 is a boat to be driven which means you should be driving in the gusts and sheeting in and pointing in the lulls.

Just as JimC says above - if you think about it - he is advocating bearing away in the gusts and pointing up in the lulls. When you bear away (on a beat) you are increasing the heeling force, so you must ease on the main. In the lulls you head up, and to maintain the same heeling force you sheet in.

Look up at the sails are the leaches flat and any fullness in the sail well forward if not the kicker must be applied harder still and the downhaul too. If the sail is "ragging" a lot then these controls are not on hard enough.

Its important to keep speed on the boat. Pinching up in the gusts kills speed. With little speed it takes large rudder movements to change direction and if its gusty you have to change direction a lot and quickly. This emphasises another aspect of sailing in strong winds - you can't be tentative, you have to "go for it".

Finally, on reaches you can't ease the power by steering so don't whatever you do try. Keeping upright on a reach is all about playing the mainsheet. If the boat doesn't stay level then play that mainsheet faster.