DSK wrote:

Walt wrote:


Keelboat sailors refuse to understand this last bit, they think looking
at a knotmeter makes you go fast (shakes head).

I've done some big boat racing, and the process of tweak something -
look at the gps, tweak it again, look at the gps is somehow unsatisfying...


..... Although, mostly my strategy in the planing reaches is along the
lines of "hang on tight and try to remember to breathe."

Yelling "YEEE-HAA-AAA-AAWWW!!" helps with the breathing.

Huh. So it helps to sail like you're Howard Dean? I'll keep that in
mind next time.

The 16-vang is de-rigeure these days, and you have to be able to
adjust it without moving in from the rail.

That's a lot of purchase!

The new Laser vang is 15 to 1. More and more classes are understanding
the value of a powerful vang. Of course, all that force can break the
gooseneck if you forget to ease it when you bear off...

The problem is that you end up with a loose tail underfoot which then
gets sucked into the Elvstrom bailer.

Solution: continuous controls. The top boats have continuous vang and
halyard control lines. No tails, the slack is taken up with shockcord
and kept out of the way. Mine aren't continuous (yet).


The really top crews are the guys who, when approaching the leeward
mark, can gybe cleanly & get into the right lane & get the board down &
close up the bailers & pull the outhaul to "on" & roll the boat into a
turn & miss the other boat by inches & remember main first & and decide
whether to tack or cover as they exit... all smooth & quiet. Whoever
said sailboat racing was boring simply had no clue what all was going on!

The top boats come roaring down the starting line planing on a port tack
with 40 seconds to go before the start, find themselves a gap, roll tack
the boat to a dead stop inches to leeward of the next boat, and then
foot off into the gap to accelerate into the front row. It's quite the
sight.

The good teams are really "one" with the boat. It's like they're
wearing it, rather than riding in it.

//Walt
//
//Small boats and cold water - no better way to learn.