"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...

Hmm... well, I think there is a spot when there's zero heel,

I'm open to learning under what conditions this may be true. I can't
conceive of it, however. If the boat is hard on the wind and there IS
wind, a boat will heel, unless it's one of those redundant-hull thingys
that Oz sails.

Well, I thought you said that yourself... upwind, very light wind. I would
think that when there's a lull in light wind, the heel would go to zero, if
it wasn't nearly there already. I'm not sure how one would judge that, since
I don't have nor have I seen a tilt meter that accurate.

but it may not be sustainable upwind. Assuming no current and light wind,
it seems like you would want some heel.

You'll always have *some* heel, but minimizing it is advantageous for a
number of reasons. If this weren't true, why all the railmeat on maxi
boats? Dinghies are generally best sailed, in all but very light winds,
with a minimum of heel. Big boats are no different, unless they are
classics with long overhangs which increase effective waterline when
heeled.

I've always used the term heading up or pinching up. I guess you did say
something about falling off before attempting to heading up.

I've always interpreted "pinching" as simply sailing too close to the
wind. An example would be a boat with the ability to sail at, say, 30
degrees to the relative wind. Pinching would be to sail it along at 27
degrees, and footing would be at 35 degrees, plus or minus. Feathering
is, according to Snipe guru Ted Wells, alternating between footing and
pinching, but maintaining speed by spending only that amount of time
pinching that won't denigrate boat speed significantly. It's an active
process, with the skipper moving the helm quite a bit.

Ok... so feathering is zigzagging.

There are some experienced skippers who prefer to find that sweet spot
when hard on the wind, holding the helm very still. I can generally
outpoint them, but they do seem to win their share of races. It's just
another school of thought.

Yup... straight line sailing is faster.. turn = slowing.