. By Andrew kerr

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.By Andrew kerr

• Sail Trim, Tactics Boat Handling for Speed

By Andrew Kerr
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Tuning before the start set up the critical
settings and split tacks
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Rig tension light Air

• In light air watch the leeward shrouds if they
  are taught then the rig is too tight , set it up
  for the lulls and lots of power

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Watch the leeward shrouds how loose are they ?
How much forestay sag ? Try a spinnaker halyard
to the forestay as a reference.
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Key Elements upwind Mainsail trim

• At the start- set up for power, note the 3 baton
  positions on mainsail across the range of
  conditions Open, closed, open again.
• Light Air Upwind
• Set up the sail for twist - ventilate the leech
  have a fast mark on the mainsheet.
• Ease the Mainsail halyard to open the top of the
  sail

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Set up for power off the line
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Key Elements upwind in light air - Jib Trim

• Soft Jib/ Genoa Halyard keep evaluating.
• Ease in the Lifts to help the speed
• and gain the lift

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Upwind Light/ medium air set up in chop/ swell
some sag for power.
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Trim the sails together, ease and squeeze .
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Roll tack the boat but be sure not to pre roll
as it unloads the boat.

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Roll tacking
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Speed build out of tacks with both leeches open
and then closed as up to speed.
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Medium air
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Medium Air Trim

• If smooth water Trim the mainsheet on so the top
  baton is parallel to the boom or 2 to 3 degrees
  to weather for pointing.
• Set up for the lulls not the puffs set the rig
  up half a setting looser than the tuning guide.

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Medium air trim

• If choppy set the boat up with more twist to help
  deal the changing apparent windle angle changes
  .

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Medium air Trim

• If there is too much forestay sag the mainsail
  will luff early backstay on or tighten the
  forestay and/ or shrouds.
• Play the backstay like a throttle for power be
  sure to set it from the premise of max hiking on
  the rail

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Medium Air Trim
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Mainsail trim in medium air flat water
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Medium air trim flat water
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Contrast in Mainsail leech tensions which looks
best ?
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Jib trim Medium air flat water. Halyard
tension effects leech profile .
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Heavy air Trim
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Heavy air Trim

• Max outhaul
• Max Backstay
• Tight Cunningham
• Rigid forestay
• Tight vang Vang sheeting
• Traveler down
• Very tight Jib halyard for draft forward shape
• Jib leads aft a small amount
• Ease headsail in gusts in tandem with mainsail to
  keep the slot consistent.

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Minimum Forestay sag
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Heavy air Trim

• Play the traveller to keep the boat at a constant
  angle of heel
• If the traveller becomes exhausted as a vehicle
  of balance, or the gusts are coming in very
  quickly or you have a short traveller consider
  Vang Sheeting .

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Heavy air mantra constant angle of heel.
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Twist !
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Heavy air Trim with the Jib

• If sailing with the small jib be sure to not
  over sheet it and ease it slightly in the gusts
  to keep the slot consistent and the boat tracking
• Make sure the halyard is really tight so that you
  can ease the sheet and still maintain the leech
  profile

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• Out hike the other teams !

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Hiking
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Key elements for a big fleet

• Get off the line in the front row with a gap to
  leeward - go for a low density area.
• Sail fast unhindered by other boats until you
  decide to tack and consolidate.
• Meet the fleet later in the leg when it has
  thinned out and the lanes are wider.

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T10 NAs 2010
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Starting pictures T10 NAC 2009
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Starting pictures T10 NAC 2009
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Starting pictures T10 NAC - 2007
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Weather Mark rounding
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Rounding the weather mark

• Be smooth keep weight on the rail as long as
  you can
• Ease the Vang slightly prior to the rounding
• Be sure to ease the main out fluidly and quickly
  to help the bear away

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Sailing to an Offset
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Sailing to an offset mark right shift
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Sailing to an offset mark

• Sail the boat well between the marks
• Sight the offset mark where is it, how far
• and what angle ? Can we set the spinnaker?
• Do we have to beat to it? ( left shift)

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Downwind Trim

• Have the pole height or tack line set to a fast
  Mark
• Have the Vang set to a fast mark
• Assume the right angle as soon as possible the
  trimmer should immediately be talking to the
  skipper about pressure on the sheet

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• Assume the correct angle immediately the
  trimmer should be talking pressure on the sheet
  all the time

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Downwind trim Key elements

• Play the pole height in puffs and lulls raise
  up in the puffs to get more projection , lower
  the pole to induce stability in the sail
• Playing the vang watching the top baton
  carefully 3 modes
• Low mode top baton open 3 to 5 degrees
• Average parallel to the boom
• Rolling enough o stop rolling

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If overpowered on a reach- weight aft, go with a
bigger curl on the luff , play the vang and leave
the backstay on.
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Spinnaker Pole height

• Watch where the luff breaks

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Spinnaker Pole height Light
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Light air pole height with puffs
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Spinnaker pole height Medium air
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Pole height in light/ medium air, center seam is
vertical look back for shifts/ puffs as you
sail to the line.
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Spinnaker pole Height medium air
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Spinnaker pole height medium air vertical
profile
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Spinnaker pole height Heavy air lower to
spill leech.
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Weight distributed with neutral helm
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Downwind weight placement

• Make sure the crew is distributed low and to the
  sides so the boat steers itself.
• Particularly in light air get as many crew out of
  the cockpit to reduce drag in the stern and
  reduce wetted surface
• In marginal conditions big puffs and lulls
  make sure the crew is moving for and aft so the
  stern doesn't sink in the lulls or the bow is
  buried in puffs.

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Downwind heel to weather
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Heavy air trim technique
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Heavy air downwind

• Over sheet the spinnaker to prevent rolling
• Twing down on both sides to stop the spinnaker
  oscillating
• Lower the pole to spill the upper leech
• Make sure there is enough vang on to stop rolling
• Steer under the spinnaker center seam to keep the
  boat upright

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Ease the !!
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Pole down free fly
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Weather takedown weather heel
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Spinnaker takedowns - Windward

• Set mainsail controls for upwind
• Headsail up, keep eased, set halyard tension
• Pole down guy back, heel to weather bear off

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Windward takedown
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Leeward mark rounding

• If rounding alone (Clear air) sail VMG
• Critical to trim the sails properly for the rate
  of turn particularly light air where the sails
  want to be trimmed for every point of sail.
• Be sure to trim the Genoa strictly to the
  telltales

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Halyard drop stretch and blow
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Tighten the sheet , dump the halyard !
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Gather the sail in with the middle of the foot,
only then release the guy.
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Light air rounding weight to leeward and slow
trim on the sails
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Leeward mark rounding good sail trim
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Medium air rounding
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Out of the rounding jump in to your mode VMG,
Fast forward or high mode
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Conclusion

• Two boat tuning raises both teams
• Be careful of not over trimming stalled sails
  take twice as long to reattach flow as sails on
  the verge of luffing
• Really focus on the critical settings before the
  start so you are optimized off the starting line
• As much - if not more to be gained shifting gears
  in the lulls as well as the puffs.
• The more you keep your head out of the boat the
  better.