Nav wrote:
Hey Doug here's a good helming question for you:


Lets say you are racing hard on the wind with no boats near you and the
wind strength changes from 10 to 15 knots with the same direction.

Q1) As helm what should you first do first:

1) Nothing and wait
2) Immmediately change course to keep apparent wind direction the same
3) Counter increased weather helm but keep course the same
4) Reduce helm and let boat round up more quickly
5) None of the above -explain.

It depends largely on the boat & crew. The difference between 10 knots
true wind and 15 knots true wind is rather substantial, at ten you're
still powering up and at fifteen you're depowering. In some boats you'd
be reefing.

In general, the response to a short term increase in wind is to feather
up slightly, traveller down slightly... also tighten the backstay, and
bring the jib sheet leads aft a bit. Then yell "Hike, dammit!" at the crew.


Q2. The wind drops to 10 knots again with no change in direction.

Your immediate reaction is to...

Undo everything above.


There's some good racing lessons in the answers and their explanations.

We'd be glad to see your explanation.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King