Can Racing Improve Your Sail Trim Skills?

[Don Guillette]

Recently, I had a phone conversation with a Aussie Catalina 30 owner. He wanted to know if I thought racing his boat would make him a better sailor? As background, he's a beginner sailor (this is his first boat - his previous boating experience was power). Additionally, his plan was to enter his boat, pay the race fee and try to duplicate the sail trim of the race boats in front of him - where most of the boats would be!!

I asked him if he thought he could learn to play the piano by watching a concert or become a better golfer by following Phil Mickelson around a golf course?? My Aussie friends first problem, and it's significant, is that he doesn't have an accurate (or any) conception of how other racers achieved their sail trim set and has no idea what sail trim controls he'd use on his boat to duplicate their results BUT he was insistent that he could pull it off, so I suggested that at the next race (two days away) he line up about 50 yards off the starting line and when the race fleet starts off that he should follow a parallel course and see how his plan works out and to call me after the race and report his results.

Three days later he called and indicated it didn't work out as he anticipated -- no kidding!! He could not duplicate their sail trim and would have been the last boat to make the first turn.

My first suggestion was for him to take a sail trim course in order to learn how all the sail trim controls worked as well as their function. My next suggestion was to become familiar with the racing rules -- something like "Racing Rules For Dummies" ( if there is such a book) or have a sympathetic racing committee member explain the rules in plain English -- this type of race committee member is hard to find because most tend to be too technical.

One of his suggestions was to join a racing crew. That's not a bad idea but he'd need to be on a winning boat and even then a winner skipper probably won't have the time during a race to explain the intricacies of sail trim. Unfortunately, that plan did not work out well for me.

Years ago, I felt that crewing on a race boat would help me improve my sail trim but when winning skippers found that I had no racing experience they never called me back. It was like asking the best looking gal in Jr High to the prom and she never calls you back!! I ended up on a pick up crew boat and many times the finish line committee had left before we crossed the line. I didn't learn anything about sail trim because none of us knew anything about the subject BUT the beer & sandwiches were excellent.

I also suggested that after he learned how to trim his sails and could duplicate the adjustment he was seeing on other boats that he find a racing school or at least a winning skipper who would be willing to teach him race tactics on his C30.

 

[Leeward Rail]

Great post Don.

I've had more than a few people think that "learning by watching, without any understanding of the underlying principles" was effective/possible, in many different activities. Truly goofy thinking

Can racing improve your sailing skills ? It did for me, but only because I had taken the time to learn BEFORE I crossed the starting line. Even then, I was lucky to have an experienced racer be willing to help.

 

[markwbird]

I have two Aussie dogs. They don't listen either.

 

[Justin_NSA]

I keep telling myself I'm going to crew on our Wednesday night races next time someone invites me. I think, as mentioned previously, knowing the principles and then getting a chance to see them applied while racing makes a better overall sailor.
Then you hear stories of boats t-boning each other down on Grand Lake, OK races and you have to wonder

 

[Don Guillette]

Leeward Rail: The great golfer Bobby Jones said it best -- "there are any # of people who have devoted enough thought, time & effort to the game to become reasonably good if they had only started out with an accurate conception of what to do". In order to do anything efficiently & effectively, there is a set by step process to kick a soccer ball, shoot a basket, hit a golf ball hit a tennis ball or sail a boat. If I fed a monkey enough bananas I could probably train him to shoot a basketball but he'd never be consistent.

 

[weinie]

Depends on the boat and the race. If it's a beer can race and the crew are enjoying a tasty beverage whilst they sail, hell yeah... ask question, make a suggestion, open yourself up to criticism. If they are hard core and yelling up and down the boat, maybe not so much.

 

[Parsons]

Far from an expert trimmer here, but some input learning theory ... Adult humans learn best by a combination of theoretical understanding and practical experience. The delivery methods that everyone talks about are important (kinetic, verbal, written), but not as important as the combination of theory, followed by practice. Don is suggesting that practice alone will not teach sailing as even accidentally getting a good result (perfect trim) does not cause a memory of how it was achieved (first adjusting for wind speed, then rough trimming for wind angle, then fine tuning for twist and puffs). As he notes, just seeing good trim does not tell you how to achieve it (which of these damn ropes do I pull on again?). I disagree that being on a winning boat is the best teacher. As he noted, competitive captains do not have much time or patience to give trim lessons. I suggest being on a less competitive boat, with an understanding, willing teacher.

 

[Jackdaw]

Racing will vastly improve your trimming, IF you are on a boat that is willing to teach, and do so in a quality manner.

Not all 'racers' are good sailors. - Some are actually terrible.

Not all racers are looking to train crew. - Some expect you to be a rock star.

But find a boat that is willing to bring you up and it will take YEARS off your sailing education. You will learn to trim the WHOLE sail, using ALL the controls. And in all condition and directions. You'll learn how to trim in flat water vs chop. How to shift gears. Go into different modes. How a boat feels when its fast. And slow. What pointing REALLY looks and feels like.

Good sailors bring their boats to WYC and start to race, and are shocked when they actually get LAPPED on a WL2.5 course. They are that slow and that far off the wind. The best advise they ever get is to spend one series a week crewing on someone else's boat, where they learn what good trim looks like. Then they can join the pack. If they don't, there are DFL forever.

 

[Maine Sail]

The same can be said for alpine skiing. Anyone who grew up racing, and actually learning how to ski properly, can spot someone who "watched others" thinking they could learn by observation. We call them "butt wigglers" and the problem with this is the difficulty in un-learning poor habits. I have raced with some cruisers who had literally never learned what a vang or cunningham, Barber Hauler or traveler even do let alone what good sail trim actually looks and feels like. When they begin to learn this it is literally a head bonk moment but this often also involves a lot of un-learning bad habits....

But find a boat that is willing to bring you up and it will take YEARS off your sailing education. You will learn to trim the WHOLE sail, using ALL the controls. And in all condition and directions. You'll learn how to trim in flat water vs chop. How to shift gears. Go into different modes. How a boat feels when its fast. And slow. What pointing REALLY looks and feels like.

^^Yep!!^^

 

[Don Guillette]

Thank you jackdaw. I talk to sailors all over the world and a large majority have forgotten more about sail trim than I'll ever know. Unfortunately, they don't know how to communicate their knowledge especially to beginners.

Sail trim is not nuclear research, which goes on forever. It's like riding a bike -- once you learn that's about it. Most sailor won't progress past high intermediate and there's nothing wrong with that because at that level sailing can be a wonderful and rewarding experience.

I've mentioned a program I developed many times - there are probably many other ways to introduce a person to sail trim but this approached worked for me. First, the beginners attended a 3 hour seminar. My book was the subject matter and it was like getting info through a fire hose!! Now they had a basic understanding of the function of all the sail trim controls for the main & jib. The next section was on my boat and lasted for 4 hours an included 6 people. From a dead stop when closedhauled, they had to get the boat up to full speed. When that was accomplished, the boat was stopped, I messed up all the controls, the folks switched position and we did it all over again. We then did the same thing reaching and running. Before they made an adjustment they had to tell me WHY and how much. At about the 3rd hour they could determine the sail trim problems of boats around us and suggest an adjustment. On the sail back to the marina I'd stack their sail trim against any sailor. They weren't experts or in jackdaw's class but they were pretty good.

Practice is a funny term. Lots of folks ask me what sail trim should they practice. I don't know what to tell them. How can a person practice something when they only have a minor understanding of what they're doing. Actually, they get worse because bad habits creep in. The folks that spent 4 hours "On The Water" with me know what to practice.

 

[Roland5048]

Many years ago when I was just starting to sail, I was invited to crew in a race on a boat of about 35 feet. I was delighted excited, and a bit intimidated. I thought, for sure, I was going to learn a few things. Winds dropped to about 5 knots and some boats just abandoned. It was summer in Fl. Not this skipper. All he did for the next two hours was yell at everyone to make the boat go faster. I was never so happy to get off a boat in my life. Moral of the story: listen to what the previous posters have said and find a racer who is patient enough to, at least, explain what is going on. Racing can be a lot of fun and it will help improve your skills once you have the fundamentals down.

 

[Don Guillette]

Roland5048: Same thing happened to me -- we didn't know what to do and neither the skipper. On another boat the skipper would command "adjust the outhaul", "move the traveler or fairleads" but he never said which way or how much.

During another race, and after I had figured out sail trim, a skipper asked me to join the crew in an attempt to help them improve their position. On a closehauled leg where we were in the middle of the pack, I suggested using a barberhauler. The skipper was reluctant -- like what did we have to lose? My first thought was why am i on this boat. Anyway, he relented and we picked up 3 positions, which we lost when we turned the marked. Additionally, I told him he should install telltales and I always carry a set in my sail bag. He asked me why they are needed - my thought was if you have to ask you'll never know.

Anyway, he never asked me aboard again, which was too bad because his wife was very pretty and she made killer Italian sandwiches.

 

[Joe]

You've got to learn the basics.... there is no short cut.

 

[Don Guillette]

Jackdaw/Joe from San Diego & a few others: I was thinking of you guys when I started this thread. I didn't know the type of response I'd get and am happy with the result so far.

I've been writing a series of sail trim articles for the Catalina Owners Mainsheet Magazine and I'm considering this subject for my next article. The purpose of my articles is to help mates become better sailors and get more fun and enjoyment out of their boats. In other words, sailing them as opposed to maintaining them even though maintaining them is fun also. The bottom line is I really hate for folks to have to go through what I went through in order to learn how to sail a silly sailboat and any way I can help them make the process easier is what I'm about.

Do you guys have any thoughts on the subject that I could include in the article -- I intend to indicate the source of the article as a sailboatownners.com sail trim forum topic and I'll mention your names, and any others, as the reference source.

 

[danstanford]

Don, I know you didn't ask for my opinion but I think I represent your target "market". It is somewhat like teaching software to people, until they abandon the rules and start understanding the concepts they will never truly start to learn on their own...they will simply need a rule book covering every eventuality. To the degree that you can make them understand what different sail shapes are, and how they effect the boat's performance in different conditions, you will have created a person who can learn to trim by then being able to both read and experiment on their own how to create those shapes.
Skippers (or trimmers) who want to teach will do much better by showing the student the existing condition and how it could be improved before simply telling somebody to adjust the relevant control. This is obviously tough to do when racing because you do not want to waste time explaining, you really just want to catch and pass that boat in front of you. Showing somebody the hook in the leech and then describing how it needs to change should prompt them to start thinking about twist, why it is shaped as it is and how to change it. Telltales are so easy to see and to see the effect of changes on that they are the easiest tool going as they represent the anecdote in a clear yet dynamic way. Change sail angle and they behave differently and what is desirable is easy to understand.
What I will say is that you can only teach in this fashion to those who really want to learn it. I have had people who wanted to learn and I have had people who wanted to have learned but are really more interested in something else going on in the boat.
Dan

 

[Joe]

The most valuable sail trimming lesson I learned when racing around the buoys was the concept of powering up and de powering.
Racing around the buoys requires shifting gears after each turn.... just like a sports car.... except sailors shift gears by changing the shape of their sails. I learned that the mainsail trimmer needed to coordinate with the rest of the crew because many of the controls were out of his reach. So the crew at the pit and mast had to be tuned in to the mainsail trimmer.

So....back on my own boat, instead of trying to memorize the list of control settings for each sail, for each point of sail at each wind speed... I use the feel of the tiller, heel of the boat and speed it's moving to determine if I need to power up or depower the main or the jib or both.

Interestingly enough.... I did not discard the "list" of settings...... there are numbers and gradients all over the boat.... but what it did was make it easier to memorize the list.... in became intuitive once I knew the ultimate purpose.... to find the right gear.

 

[pateco]

This was during our beer can race last Wednesday evening. As you can see our trim is off. I have raced a lot when I was younger, but my current crew (2 sons and whoever needs a ride for the race), are very green. This was only our third race of the summer since we just joined the Hillsboro Inlet Sailing club this month. First race we got lapped by the fleet, and missed the windward mark twice due to bad tacks resulting in a DNF. Second race, we made all of our marks, but still got lapped by the fleet, and called it quits when the rest of the boats and race committee wanted to go in for the raft up another DNF. This week, we not only made our marks, but actually finished. YAY!! DNF to 8th place in 3 races. Still getting walked all over by other boats, but we are doing better.

Go for it, you will get better. See if you can borrow experienced crew for one of the races to give you tips regarding your boat.

PS: I think I need to upgrade my jib to something larger, does anyone have suggestions or comments. (all the other boats in the fleet are running much larger sails)

 

[LuzSD]

Racing will vastly improve your trimming, IF you are on a boat that is willing to teach, and do so in a quality manner.

Not all 'racers' are good sailors. - Some are actually terrible.

Not all racers are looking to train crew. - Some expect you to be a rock star.

But find a boat that is willing to bring you up and it will take YEARS off your sailing education. You will learn to trim the WHOLE sail, using ALL the controls. And in all condition and directions. You'll learn how to trim in flat water vs chop. How to shift gears. Go into different modes. How a boat feels when its fast. And slow. What pointing REALLY looks and feels like.

Good sailors bring their boats to WYC and start to race, and are shocked when they actually get LAPPED on a WL2.5 course. They are that slow and that far off the wind. The best advise they ever get is to spend one series a week crewing on someone else's boat, where they learn what good trim looks like. Then they can join the pack. If they don't, there are DFL forever.

EXACTLY! completely agree

 

[LuzSD]

The most valuable sail trimming lesson I learned when racing around the buoys was the concept of powering up and de powering.
Racing around the buoys requires shifting gears after each turn.... just like a sports car.... except sailors shift gears by changing the shape of their sails. I learned that the mainsail trimmer needed to coordinate with the rest of the crew because many of the controls were out of his reach. So the crew at the pit and mast had to be tuned in to the mainsail trimmer.

So....back on my own boat, instead of trying to memorize the list of control settings for each sail, for each point of sail at each wind speed... I use the feel of the tiller, heel of the boat and speed it's moving to determine if I need to power up or depower the main or the jib or both.

Interestingly enough.... I did not discard the "list" of settings...... there are numbers and gradients all over the boat.... but what it did was make it easier to memorize the list.... in became intuitive once I knew the ultimate purpose.... to find the right gear.

What an interesting way of describing racing! You are so right Joe. And in the days that the wind is enough and you find the right gears it's perfection.

 

[Don Guillette]

danstanford: Thank you for your post. Actually, I'm interested in every forum lister's opinion because that's what make this forum great and there's none like it on the net. Jackdaw, Joe from San Diego, Stu J, RichH (I wonder what happened to him as I haven't heard from him for a long time) and a few others have been contributors for a long time so I know them. Ironically, I've never met them but I'd sure like to because i feel like I know them. When i describe my products to sailors I indicate the CHART tells you WHAT to do & the Book tells you WHY you're making a particular sail trim adjustment because the WHY is everything otherwise a mate is just guessing at the adjustment.