Sail Trim Chart Question

[Don Guillette]

I recently spoke with a New Orleans sailor. My first thought when he mentioned New Orleans was my wife and I stopped at Pat O'Brien's one afternoon for a drink before dinner. We both had Hurricane's. I like mine so much I had a second and helped her finish her drink. Not sure how I got back to the hotel and dinner didn't happen - wife was pissed but I felt real good in the morning.

Anyway, his question was "how does he use the sail trim chart". Kind of threw me for a loop and I didn't have a quick answer so, to buy some time, I asked him what he does from a sail trim standpoint when he leaves the dock and raises the main and rolls out the jib and sails closehauled. He said he didn't do anything - no fairlead, outhaul, traveler adjustment. He just used the main and jib sheets. I still didn't know where to begin so I asked him if he knew what ANY of the sail trim controls for the main and jib were adjusting. With each chart I include free a "Quick Reference" which explains what each sail trim control for the main and jib is adjusting and which way to push or pull it to get the adjustment the sailor desires. He told me he threw it away because he didn't understand it.

Even though the Sail Trim Chart came first it is actually an outline of the book (The Sail Trim Users Guide) which came second - sailors who had the chart told me the the chart told them WHAT to do but they wanted to know WHY they were making a particular sail trim adjustment and could I write a book, which I did.. The WHY of sail trim is everything otherwise a sailor is just guessing at the adjustment. Unless the New Orleans sailor had a basic understanding of draft depth, draft position, twist and angle of attack plus knowledge of what each sail trim control for the main and jib is adjusting the sail trim chart would be confusing. Since I wasn't about to teach sail trim over the phone I sold him the book and told him to call me with any questions AFTER he read the book. I never heard back from him - I hope that's a good sign.

 

[Simon Sexton]

@Don Guillette ,

The book should cover the essential knowledge for sail trim that this particular gentleman should need in order to further improve his skills. Unfortunately, I've had experience with multiple failed attempts to try and achieve the same goal of trying to better explain the depths of sailing physics (the "WHY"). In my experience as a 22 year old, it's mostly been because I'm young and most ole sailing geezers don't oblige in receiving education of any sorts from a "kid". Hopefully your new friend was able to retain the knowledge, and is playing with the adjustment settings on his jib blocks as we speak!

 

[Dr. D]

@Don Guillette ,

The book should cover the essential knowledge for sail trim that this particular gentleman should need in order to further improve his skills. Unfortunately, I've had experience with multiple failed attempts to try and achieve the same goal of trying to better explain the depths of sailing physics (the "WHY"). In my experience as a 22 year old, it's mostly been because I'm young and most ole sailing geezers don't oblige in receiving education of any sorts from a "kid". Hopefully your new friend was able to retain the knowledge, and is playing with the adjustment settings on his jib blocks as we speak!

Yeah, I hear you. I am an old geezer. It matters not a whit to me if someone trying to explain a topic to me is young, old [etc., etc.]. Rather, is their knowledge of the topic and their ability to communicate readily apparent? If so, then I listen. If they are blowing smoke, I'll find an excuse to leave. Life is too short.

 

[jon hansen]

geezer here too. simon, the bigger ingredient that's coupled with one's trim, that is shared with one's tweeking, is the wind. understanding how air moves across the surface of the earth applies to the shaping one wants.

the bible for such interest is.

simon, you'll love it. read through. then again 20 times

 

[jssailem]

Love @jon hansen 's book by Bethwaite
His "Faster Racing Techniques Paperback – March 15, 2011" and "Faster Handling Techniques Paperback – Illustrated, November 26, 2008" are also in my Library.

Don's "Sailing Trim Chart" is a handy gathering of the ideas in an easy to use package.

If you want to understand the physics of what is happening with your sails, I favor Arvel Gentry's work. Gentry Sailing | Recalling the research, writing and design of Arvel Gentry His ideas were capitalized by the founder of North Sail. Gentry's ideas in the mid-70's were crucial to Americas Cup successes of Dennis Conner and others.

 

[DArcy]

I'm only a geezer in training but I still listen to anyone that wants to talk about sailing, young or old. I love tweaking sails to get the most out of them. A few years ago I came on watch in the middle of a 300 mile race, looked around and immediately saw a few things that needed adjustment. We were close reaching in about 10~12 knots, in a minute of tweaking I got a gain of more than a 1/2 knot of boat speed. When the owner asked me how I knew what to do I wasn't really sure how to answer, it just seemed obvious, but I walked him through my thoughts. I'm sure Don has put more thought into this subject than most sailors and could explain it more eloquently. I should keep a link to his sail trim chart handy for the next time someone asks

 

[MikeHoncho]

I learned on a Laser. It’s blatantly obvious on one when your doing it wrong and about 75lbs beyond the designed weight for it. It’s not so obvious on a 30ft tank like a Hunter. I do believe I point slit higher than others with what Laser experience.

 

[Tom J]

I came to sailing late in life, and am self taught. For a while, I was happy just to get from point A to point B. I accepted that weather helm was unavoidable, since the previous owner of my O'Day 23 said his arms were killing him after sailing home to Cape Cod from Nantucket. Then, one day, a coworker sailed with me and trimmed that old boat so that she sailed straight and true with no one on the helm. Who knew? Since then, I have acquired Don's book and chart. Now I play with the fairleads and watch the sail telltales. Getting there.

 

[jon hansen]

once you've learned that a sailboat steers with it's sails, driving from the helm gets really fun. keeping your head out of the boat. having a skilled crew trimming the sails. having a tactician calling the sails to match wind. getting the most out of every puff. dancing through the lulls. watching for the strongest winds. using every wave. that's a hoot


i always sail with a crew

 

[Don Guillette]

. Rather, is their knowledge of the topic and their ability to communicate readily apparent?

Dr. D: I completely agree. There are people who present their ideas in scientific terms and others who present in layman's terms - I prefer layman's terms. There's another small group who use the BS method. When Chuck Yeager was testing the X-1 at Muroc he said "I'd attend those highly technical preflight planning sessions and not know what the hell they were talking about". His friend Jack Ridley, who was a brilliant engineer, but also a country boy like Yeager, would take him aside and explain the plan in layman's terms.

When I first got back into sailing I realized I needed lessons. I took every lesson the school offered. Unfortunately, with me anyway, I had no idea what 2 out of 3 instructors were talking about regarding sail trim After a while at the school I realized the 3rd instructor could explain sail trim to me in layman's terms and I hired him for private lessons. He turned on my "sail trim lights" and I realized how simple sail trim really is.

I originally developed the chart for my own use. Therefore it had to be in layman's terms and so is the book - so I could understand it. Some folks prefer scientific explanations. In the forward of the book I state that if the reader wanted a scientific presentation that includes intricate details, together with complicated formula for hull speed, wave lengths and displacement/length plus endless verbiage then my book is not for you. My bible, Dennis Connor's book "Sail Like A Champion", which I've used so much that it's falling apart, is full of that stuff. In the beginning I had trouble trying to understand what Dennis was talking about

Sail trim is an acquired art and very simple to understand WHEN it is presented in a easy to understand fashion - in other words, layman's terms

 

[Tom J]

What you say makes perfect sense to me, Don. When I was a mechanic in the Air Force, I found the tech manuals to be difficult for the layman to comprehend. They were written by engineers, and were written in "Engineer Speak", meaning very technical terms. In addition, the sentence structure and punctuation, etc., were terrible. As an English major in college, I found this to be disconcerting. After my service in the AF, I got a job at Ingersoll Rand and I saw a job posted for a tech writer. I thought this was an opportunity to fix the problem of Engineer Speak, by combining my technical background with my degree in English. Unfortunately, IR only hires people with a BS degree (no pun intended) to write tech manuals. Oh, well.

 

[Benny17441]

Ignorance of the sail trim guidelines is just as bad as the strict adherence to them for all types of sailing. I myself like a comfortable point of sail which may require the minimum trimming effort and I am willing to trade a knot of speed for it. It is also good to know that under certain circumstances I have the tools to pick up the pace to a destination and a targeted ETA but that don't happen very frequently. That New Orleans fellow could be a good sailor for all we know.

 

[Don Guillette]

That New Orleans fellow could be a good sailor for all we know.

If you had a sail trim conversation with that guy, in 3 minutes you'd know he didn't know diddly about what it takes to move a sailboat through the water. Probably 20% of the sailors worldwide are in that group.

 

[jon hansen]

love trimming! i get into a porshe 930, i like putting the hammer down, not drive 10 under the speed limit. but that's me

the boats i have gotten to sail my whole life are sports cars, not minni van

 

[h2o_snow]

Interesting conversation. Just ordered 2 copies of Bethwaite's book - thanks.

Been racing old beach cats for years and am still learning. Its fun to have the time and desire to figure out what makes a boat go fast. A few years back in the R2AK we had 4 boats converge on Bella Bella at the same time. Wild: 3 separate courses - had not seen anyone in 2 days and we were 5 minutes apart. Our S2 7.9 was the second slowest boat in the group. It liked to be sailed flat. My watch - trimmed constantly and sailed away from everyone after during 3 hours of short tacking, then reaching when we hit the Seaforth Channel at sunset. Satisfying to really focus. Game on after some long days.

Hit a log hard later at 3am and cracked the boats daggerboard trunk, but that's another story.