West Marine/ Columbia YC regatta - Observations from Andrew Kerr

The fleet experienced a great day of close racing, here are some observations that I hope prove helpful for the rest of the season’s races. Best of luck and good sailing to all the teams in their next regatta.

The starts:

 In the light air we experienced (5 to 9 knots), some of the key elements included:

-         Starting in a low density area (away from the crowd) with room to go fast.

-         Sailing in clear air for as long as possible.

-         Being careful not to over trim the sails so that there was plenty of power.

Upwind:

-         Never pinching – always in fast forward mode – bow down to go fast and get to the next shift and breeze line.

-         Minimizing tacks – each tack was costly.

-         Tacking in gusts of wind to minimize the loss.

-          Sailing in max velocity and clear air were more of a priority than angle (sailing the lifted tack) in the light air conditions – sailing to the wind in clear air and tacking in the wind. At the higher wind ranges the angle (optimum tack) started to become a priority but overall sailing in the most wind was the key.

-         Roll tacking – having the middle crew roll the boat and keeping there weight low out of the tack to inject some feel into the boat. This is well worth practicing.

-         Seeing boats from other fleets early and forming a game plan accordingly.

-         Easing both the mainsheet and Genoa sheet in the lulls – opening the leeches to promote flow on the sails and then squeezing in the sheets in the puffs for pointing. Term I use for this is “ease and squeeze”.

-         Evaluating Genoa Halyard tension consistently, especially as the wind velocity changed – in the lulls considering easing it for more power and then tighten a very small amount for the higher wind ranges to help keep the leech profile consistent and the draft approx. 35% aft of the luff on the draft stripe.

Downwind:

-         Be wary of a quick jibe set in light air – it is a slow maneuver and the team can run the risk of sailing into a lot of wind shadows from boats on the starboard tack lay line. In light air a bear away set is generally preferred and then a jibe when the air behind is clear will reap benefits.

-         At the windward mark rounding – deciding how best to defend the boats from astern – the rule of halves can work well, if the boats behind are sailing 10 degrees higher then sail 5 degrees higher to defend – this will keep your air clear and minimize extra distance sailed. If a team is very aggressive about trying to get on your air then you may have to sail high initially to defend ( while negotiating) or consider jibing away if there is a clear path behind and neither jibe is particularly favored from an angle or velocity standpoint.

-         Use the Windex to see if your air is being blocked – if it is pointing at any part of the other boats sail plan then they are blocking the air.

-         Have the spinnaker trimmer talking continuously about pressure on the sheet to the skipper and guy trimmer so that the boat is sailing the optimum angle.

-         Be wary of sailing too low  in light air as the boat will take a lot of time to regain momentum , have the spinnaker trimmer constantly communicate pressure and the wind spotter communicate puffs & lulls so the boat keeps sailing at the right angle.

-         Clear air and velocity is of utmost importance – both of these will be a priority over angle (optimum jibe angle).

-         Try to jibe in puffs of wind to help make the maneuver smoother.

-         Try to anticipate the angles and approaches of boats in other fleets, it may be better to jibe or sail a little lower to stay away from Asymmetric boats that have quite different sailing angles.

-         If experiencing trouble flying the spinnaker – particularly in a lull with chop -  try lowering the pole to create a more stable and forgiving shape, also try easing the pole forward slightly to make the sail less supercritical.

               Once the sail has regained composure then edge the pole back up a little and square it back. Try to keep the curl on the sail in the middle part of the luff of the sail.

The downwind finish:

-         Try to finish at an end of the line (the upwind, closer end), avoid finishing in the middle as it is harder to judge when to bear away and “shoot “the line.

-         If possible come in on a fast angle and on starboard tack.