Light Winds

[david1080_old]

Posted by tim stevenson on 19.05.2004 at 22:43:48


oops nearly last in club race tonight

could not get boat moving in lighter winds, any tips, clearly I got controls wrongly set

previous owner has extended the downhaul line extra line from pulley to hook, is this normal?


Follow up from: Mike Gibson - 20.05.2004 - 13:31:56
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If I help you go well in light winds perhaps someone will help me when it blows hard.
Generally forget about the control lines, as no kicker or cunningham is needed.
Try using a little more outhaul, which will flatten the sail abit.
Keep your weight well forward and the boat fairly flat.
Keep your head out of the boat!which means looking out for patches of stronger breeze.Check the direction of this breeze.
Make sure you are sheeted in correctly.
If on a reach or run take the mainsheet straight from the boom as this will give you alot more feel.
See how the telltales are flying.
Don't be afraid to tack on shifts and make the tacks smoothly.
Keep practising and also come along to an open meeting where we can meet and help you.
Don't worry if you don't get instant results,I still make mistakes in light airs. I started sailing on a very small reservior in a valley when I was 6 years old. 38 years later and I'm still learning. Perhaps that is why we still enjoy the sport.
Yours nautically Mike Gibson

Follow up from: David 556 - 21.05.2004 - 17:42:9


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Mike is right about the settings, as he proved by winning the WOSC open in very light airs. With little or no wind and 29 Supernovas we all had plenty of practice!
The main thing is to keep the boat moving, sounds obvious but it is easy to fall in to the trap of just sitting waiting for a puff to come along. Don’t worry about your course, just concentrate on keeping the boat moving. On the beat free the main and bear off, only when you have built up some momentum start to think about your course. As soon as the boat slows down bear off again. That should be enough to get you passed half the fleet, because they will all be thinking look at that lucky ******** instead of concentrating on getting the boat moving.

Passing the other half of the fleet is much harder, as they have been listening to Mike and will have their “head out the boat”. Avoid using the rudder by healing the boat, an elastic helps hold out the boom when doing this on the run. Allow plenty of time so you can put in a nice slow roll-tack (keeping it legal). I like to put on a little kicker just before tacking, this helps the battens flip over but don’t forget to let it off again.

Good luck Tim, lets hope though we don’t have too many days with no wind.