150 Genoa in light wind JAM race

[Ben4195]

Hello folks, I have a question on tactics for downwind sailing in a light wind race. the boat I crew on races only JAM, and this past Wednesday the wind died down to almost nothing halfway through the race.

On the downwind run, of which there were three because of massive wind shifts, where we usually deploy our genoa on a whisker pole, most of the time during that race the wind was so light it wouldn't fill the genoa, and in fact the genoa was backwinded a considerable amount of time.

My thought is that the sail fabric for the 150 was simply too heavy for such light wind. Our speed through the water was between 0.7 knots and 1.2 knots. Should we have just furled the genoa and sailed on main alone? It certainly didn't appear as though the genoa was doing anything for us, and I'm wondering if it being backwinded actually hurt us.

I thought that during the race and wonder if I should have made that suggestion. Everything ended up nicely though as we finished first, and the second place boat finished 23 minutes behind us. The rest of the fleet had to abandon.

The boat is a Ranger 26-2, and we had the keel up on the downwind runs.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Jackdaw]

First thing, in VERY light airs (0-3 knots) pointing straight at the mark is the way to go, even if this is DDW. Even j/70s will go wing-on-wing in these conditions. If you were sailing DDW, you should be able to get the genoa to draw. That boat is a old 3/4 fractional rig, so the 150% is not nearly as big as it would be on a masthead boat, but it should never backwind. What angle to the true wind were you sailing?

 

[Ben4195]

JD, very little of the downwind sailing was DDW, more like a broad reach. If we took the whisker pole down, the genoa still wouldn't fill.

this is a link to a video of part of a downwind leg. I'm the guy in green.

 

[Jackdaw]

Wow the video helps! Looks like you are sailing in 2 knots of breeze, going 1. With wing on wing configuration like that, your sails are not airfoils, but wind catchers. In that little pressure they will never fill. The boat going forward drops the apparent wind speed down to about a knot. If the breeze drops off for a moment, the forward motion of the boat will drop the apparent to zero or even negative, creating a backwind effect.

Overall, lighter cloth might help, but not much in that mode.

Good job getting crew weight low and out of the back of the boat. You want the boat heeled to leeward to minimize wetted surface and help keep the mainsail as full as it can. Skipper should get a tiller extender.

 

[Ben4195]

Thanks JD. Got a text from the skipper earlier this morning. A tiller extender has been ordered.

 

[Jumpstart]

pole needs to be lower on mast. A ring just up from base would help you tension leech of headsail. Also release the backstay all the way. jib sheets should be through end of pole so that you can constantly adjust them. Sail about 170 degrees. Not much wind down there at Alum Creek.

 

[shemandr]

... most of the time during that race the wind was so light it wouldn't fill the genoa, and in fact the genoa was backwinded a considerable amount of time.
My thought is that the sail fabric for the 150 was simply too heavy for such light wind. Our speed through the water was between 0.7 knots and 1.2 knots. Should we have just furled the genoa and sailed on main alone? It certainly didn't appear as though the genoa was doing anything for us, and I'm wondering if it being backwinded actually hurt us.

I do think there are conditions when furling the jib and/or sheeting the main tight downwind can be the best strategy - other than starting the motor and going for a cold beer.
I have sailed in two regattas in the last 2 weeks where the wind was light and lighter. We also have current here. So it's possible that the current wind on a light downwind leg can backwind the sails and SLOW the boat down. You don't become popular crew by calling for striking the sails but in that situation the backwinding of the jib was hindering the speed of the boat from the current. Also, the main isn't helping if it's backwinded either as Jackdaw said, by the apparent wind being less than the boatspeed, or by the current carrying the boat faster than the wind. So when I recognize that situation I call for sheeting the main to centerline. It almost never happens.

 

[glaufman]

Had a drifter like that last season... No pole... During the few puffs crew held clew out manually to keep her filled... During lulls, when the jib backed, had the crew let go to let the sail collapse so it wouldn drag our coasting...

 

[weinie]

Furl the genoa partly so that you can sheet it as flat as you can going upwind. Don't be afraid to foot off to build speed.

As JD said, with pole out, genoa should not be backwinding downwind, but if your sail is bigger than your pole for phrf reasons, furl the jib so that the foot is just a tad larger than the pole.

 

[Ben4195]

Thanks so much guys!!