Hey Sailors, Thanks for braving the cold and extreme conditions this weekend. I hope you all learned something and will come back to Lakewood again someday. Due to the windy conditions (15-25 kts. Saturday and 20-30 kts. Sunday) we were not able to get any races off, although one was attempted Sunday morning. Big thanks to Megan Link, Phil Gordan, and Paul Foley for helping rescue people. I think when all was said and done everyone (including volunteers) went in the lake at least once this weekend. Also big thanks to the Western team for hosting and organizing this event.
Here are some of the points we touched on regarding heavy air sailing... Boat Setup- Lots of rig tension. That's the number one thing. Get more than you think you need at the dock, because it's always easier to let a little off than try to put more on. If you do need to get more on, do so while sailing downwind (before of after the start) and let the wind help you push the rig forward. Lots of outhaul. Clew should be within an inch or two from the end of the boom (might need to "bowstring" the line to get the last couple inches). Lots of vang, have the skipper feather up before the start and pull hard on the mainsheet with 2 hands then have the crew dive in the middle of the boat for a second and take out all the slack in the vang. That will give you what you need for your upwind tension. Ease a little off if you start getting blown over and easing the main 12" fails to help keep the boat on its feet. Downwind vang= stability. Ease a little off if you want to really go fast, but keep it on if you want to survive. If you feel comfortable crews should be actively playing the vang down wind (on in puffs/eased in the lulls). Moving the jib leads back to 1-0 holes showing from the back would have been appropriate this weekend. Lets some power escape out of the top of the jib and won't close down the slot as easily when the main is eased. One last thing is bow lines. Many people just had their bow lines hanging in the water. Tie it under your jib sheets and around the mast. Make sure you have an easy to untie system in case a safety boat needed to tow you. Balance- Try to keep your boat at a steady angle of heel (preferably as flat as you can). In those conditions all pairs should be in a flat hike once the boat is dialed in. At any point if you weren't hiking you could probably trim harder or put the bow down for a bit more horsepower. There were also some really big headers out there that seemed to really unsettle crews off the rail. In a big header in heavy wind, just stay hiked and let the boat heel a little to windward. The boat will carve down and before you know it you'll be right on the edge of the new puff. It feels a little scary, but it will save energy instead of both diving into the middle of the boat and then diving back out into a full hike again. It works most of the time but every once and a while you may capsize to windward. Pairs this weekend also need to keep their weight together. Upwind in heavy chop the crew should slide back to the skipper, in flat water the skipper should slide forward to the crew. Downwind both pairs should be back, with the skipper hiking out and back when surfing or planing. Skipper should be holding directly onto the tiller or at the base of the extension for more control. Being able to move fore/aft quickly is almost more important than being able to move laterally in the boat downwind. Slide weight forward to pitch the bow down and stick on the face of a wave, then move it aft again once the boat is off and surfing. Mindset- Survival mode vs. racing mode. Most boats (even those near the top) looked like they were more survival oriented and less focused on speed or tactical decision making. People were overstanding laylines by large margins, making sloppy mark roundings, neglecting shifts, and hesitating to tack or gybe for fear of capsizing when doing so made tactical sense. Bottom line is that boat handling needs to happen before you can start putting other pieces of the puzzle together. The only real way to do that is get out there and do more heavy weather sailing. Nerves are something I think everyone encounters when sailing in big breeze, but the more you do it the more second nature it becomes. When focused solely on trying to stay upright, it's hard to get your head out of the boat. Conditions like that are very possible in the Gorge this year for Womens Nationals, and they will race you! Endurance- Avoid moving in and out of the boat frequently (especially crews). Not only does this make it hard to balance the boat, it also tires you out. Moving from a full hike to the middle of the boat and back will tire you out quickly. Just like in light wind try to reduce how much you are moving about. Obviously going to the gym and working out your sailing muscles is very important, and hopefully it is something all teams in the district are already doing. Don't forget to adjust your hiking strap either. Having proper strap tension will allow you to hike longer and harder. The taller you are the tighter it should be, while small sailors might need a pretty loose strap. New boats are a lot easier to adjust for skippers, but crews should be checking and making adjustments anytime they get in a new boat. As the day goes on you may want to tighten up the strap a bit more, as a tighter strap will help save your legs at the end of a regatta. If you are a skipper and your arms are getting burned out from the mainsheet make sure you have enough vang on. Having an ultra tight vang upwind will take a lot of the load off your sheet. At some point if it gets really nuclear you will have to start easing off a bit of vang to dump some power out of the top of your sail. It's all about technique- You don't have to be a large pair to do well in heavy breeze. The FJ is designed for about 250-290 lbs. Once you start exceeding that weight it doesn't really do you any good, because you'll be taking on much more water than other boats and makes you slower to get on a plane downwind. There have been small pairs (near the 250lbs end of the spectrum) like Molly and Katie who could hang with the fleet in big breeze and even beat a lot of the boys. They weren't super human, but they were super efficient and that's half the battle. Its a lot easier and sometimes faster to feather up in a big puff instead of dumping the main sheet. Staying in a full hike and not constantly moving in and out of the boat also helps (see above). Making sure skipper and crew are easing their sheets in unison. All you really need is to ease the main about 6" and the jib about 3." I saw lots of pairs letting their jib rag or letting their main all the way out this weekend, instead of easing a little bit, feathering up a touch, and hiking hard. When you ease your sheets that much, then you have tons of sheet to pull in making your arms tired. Always keep tension on your sheets and talk to each other when easing! Skippers can also help by "bowstringing" the jib sheet to help the crews get it in that last little bit, since there is considerable load and no purchase system on an FJ jib. Again with technique it's all about practice time in those conditions. Cheers ~Andrew ________________________________________________ nwicsa mailing list [email protected] http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=nwicsa Unsubscribe: Send a blank email to [email protected]
