I spoke with a sailor recently who was trying to duplicate the sail trim of the boats around him - to no avail. Been there on that gig myself. The main reason it didn't work for him, or me, was we had no idea which sail trim controls for the main & jib the other sailor was using to obtain his results. The technique we were using was similar to us watching a guitar player at the Grand Ole Oprey and trying to duplicate the players efforts - ain't happening.
Probably a lot of you have no idea who Bobby Jones is. He was a golfer who many say had the perfect golf swing. One of his famous quotes was "there are any number of people (insert sailors) who have devoted enough thought, time and effort to be reasonable good if they only started out with an accurate conception of what to do".
That described me BEFORE I stumbled on his words. I had a Mac 22 on a trailer and I'd raise the main and roll out the jib in my driveway and try to figure out what each control was doing - I got nowhere UNTIL an instructor from Norway at the Newport Sailing School, Newport Beach, Ca (no longer in existence) who flunked me on my final checkout and who I then hired for private lessons turned on my sail trim lights. He told me I had no idea what the sail trim controls were adjusting. It's like playing video poker in a casino and you have no idea what a straight flush is or any of the other combinations. The Machine keeps playing ( the boat moves through the water) but you have no idea why. He showed me what each control was adjusting..
When you're in the middle of learning something (to sail the boat you just purchased) and you're fumbling around trying to learn how to sail it and realize you're getting nowhere you can't start from scratch, as I should have, because you have preconceived notions learned while you were fumbling so you have to work backwards or unlearn things. In other word, develop a "accurate conception".
The first step is to determine WHAT your sail trim controls are adjusting. Once you determine those elements, sail trim is a piece of cake - sort of but without that step you're nowhere. The second step is to determine what element each sail trim control is adjusting. The third step is the most tedious and time consuming. You need to determine the correct settings for each control for each point of sail and wind condition.
Once that's done your boat and sails will love you. Sailing your boat will give you the same satisfaction as driving a golf ball 275 yards straight down the fairway -- every time.
Probably a lot of you have no idea who Bobby Jones is. He was a golfer who many say had the perfect golf swing. One of his famous quotes was "there are any number of people (insert sailors) who have devoted enough thought, time and effort to be reasonable good if they only started out with an accurate conception of what to do".
That described me BEFORE I stumbled on his words. I had a Mac 22 on a trailer and I'd raise the main and roll out the jib in my driveway and try to figure out what each control was doing - I got nowhere UNTIL an instructor from Norway at the Newport Sailing School, Newport Beach, Ca (no longer in existence) who flunked me on my final checkout and who I then hired for private lessons turned on my sail trim lights. He told me I had no idea what the sail trim controls were adjusting. It's like playing video poker in a casino and you have no idea what a straight flush is or any of the other combinations. The Machine keeps playing ( the boat moves through the water) but you have no idea why. He showed me what each control was adjusting..
When you're in the middle of learning something (to sail the boat you just purchased) and you're fumbling around trying to learn how to sail it and realize you're getting nowhere you can't start from scratch, as I should have, because you have preconceived notions learned while you were fumbling so you have to work backwards or unlearn things. In other word, develop a "accurate conception".
The first step is to determine WHAT your sail trim controls are adjusting. Once you determine those elements, sail trim is a piece of cake - sort of but without that step you're nowhere. The second step is to determine what element each sail trim control is adjusting. The third step is the most tedious and time consuming. You need to determine the correct settings for each control for each point of sail and wind condition.
Once that's done your boat and sails will love you. Sailing your boat will give you the same satisfaction as driving a golf ball 275 yards straight down the fairway -- every time.