My last sail of the season was a local race in which I got vivid lesson in why sail trim is not just about making the boat go fast... Shortly after rounding the second mark, we were close-hauled in about 12 knots of wind when a sailboat still heading for the mark crossed in front of us. I slightly altered our course to pass just behind her, no big deal. It became a big deal rather quickly as we got closer: about three boat lengths from her, we were hit by a 20-knot gust with a big lift. The gust caused us to start rounding up rather quickly: our pulpit began tracking thier mid-ships rather precisely. I wasn't overly worried until I felt the wheel hit the rudderstop...the forces causing the roundup were greater than the rudder force at hard-over! We continued turning up to track the crossing vessel and accelerated towards it. Fortunately, having spent a fair amount of time balancing our sails and even steering with them over the course of the season, I realized what was happening and how to fix it. I yelled to release the mainsheet, my wife popped it free and, since we normally let the sheet trail down the companionway so it will run free whenever we are sailing in cramped quarters, the main depowered almost instantly. With the jib at full power, the main luffed, and the rudder hardover, we fell off like we going over a cliff...all we had to do after that was grin maniacally at the crew on the other boat, and harden back onto course. Going fast is a great reason to master sail trim, but just understanding and practicing the basics can help you quickly diagnose and correct "weird" behaviour. In this case, being able to do it instinctively made the diference between a good story for the post-race party and what might have been an expensive incident.
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Bill O'Donovan
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Michael O
Dismasted!
Years ago, right at the starting line with the wind blowin' stink, the boat on our portside rounded up into us. Right into the chainplates. My brother, the skipper, detected a slight slackening in the rig and was quite concerned..... then we made our first tack. The mast collapsed on us in a heartbeat! Definitely a "non-habitforming experience". Wouldn't have happened if the other boat knew what to do and did it FAST when rounding up! Michael O'
Years ago, right at the starting line with the wind blowin' stink, the boat on our portside rounded up into us. Right into the chainplates. My brother, the skipper, detected a slight slackening in the rig and was quite concerned..... then we made our first tack. The mast collapsed on us in a heartbeat! Definitely a "non-habitforming experience". Wouldn't have happened if the other boat knew what to do and did it FAST when rounding up! Michael O'
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Don Guillette
Another Reason To Study Sail Trim
Colin: That was a good story. Sadly, I have a similiar one that went a step further because the skipper was not as alert as you and had not developed that insctinct to react automatically. We were on a Newport 30 - two man crew race. The other boat was our YC race boat called "Yellow Jacket". That color is significant in a minute. The Newport had a 155 deck sweeper which obscured my view, while working the mainsheet traveler. Anyway, we are about 500' off the start line and were first over the line and going at top speed. As i looked straight ahead, I saw a splash of yellow, which was the yellow bow of the club boat cross right in front of our bow. I had now idea they were anywhere near us and the skipper, who had a better view than I did of what was around us, didn't see them either. Additionally, the YC crew never sounded any warning. My skipper was in shock. He started to turn but it was too late and we hit them above the water line just aft of center. The side of the boat caved in like a tin can and you could see inside. Fortunately no one was hurt but it sure ruined ewveryones day. The moral is if your going to race these boats you better be aware of what is around you and to expect the unexpected. Racing is not like a moon light cocktail sail.
Colin: That was a good story. Sadly, I have a similiar one that went a step further because the skipper was not as alert as you and had not developed that insctinct to react automatically. We were on a Newport 30 - two man crew race. The other boat was our YC race boat called "Yellow Jacket". That color is significant in a minute. The Newport had a 155 deck sweeper which obscured my view, while working the mainsheet traveler. Anyway, we are about 500' off the start line and were first over the line and going at top speed. As i looked straight ahead, I saw a splash of yellow, which was the yellow bow of the club boat cross right in front of our bow. I had now idea they were anywhere near us and the skipper, who had a better view than I did of what was around us, didn't see them either. Additionally, the YC crew never sounded any warning. My skipper was in shock. He started to turn but it was too late and we hit them above the water line just aft of center. The side of the boat caved in like a tin can and you could see inside. Fortunately no one was hurt but it sure ruined ewveryones day. The moral is if your going to race these boats you better be aware of what is around you and to expect the unexpected. Racing is not like a moon light cocktail sail.
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Alan
BUNK!!!
Bill, I'm sorry but I can see absolutely no reason why sailboats should not race. Sailing in good wind and learning to control your boat is what it's all about. If you're afraid of racing because you might have a collision or something might break you might as well stay home on the couch. There is no sport that I know of that doesn't involve risk of some kind. Most of the people that I hear talk against racing are the ones who haven't mastered the basic skills to control their boat, so aren't yet qualified to be able to race. And racing will sharpen your skills the way nothing else can.
Bill, I'm sorry but I can see absolutely no reason why sailboats should not race. Sailing in good wind and learning to control your boat is what it's all about. If you're afraid of racing because you might have a collision or something might break you might as well stay home on the couch. There is no sport that I know of that doesn't involve risk of some kind. Most of the people that I hear talk against racing are the ones who haven't mastered the basic skills to control their boat, so aren't yet qualified to be able to race. And racing will sharpen your skills the way nothing else can.
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Colin Wightman
It didn't have to be in a race
The point was that understanding sail trim can be a matter of safety, not just speed. Exactly the same situation could occur if a gust hit and caused me to round up towards a shoal, or commercial traffic or just some poor sap in a bass boat.
The point was that understanding sail trim can be a matter of safety, not just speed. Exactly the same situation could occur if a gust hit and caused me to round up towards a shoal, or commercial traffic or just some poor sap in a bass boat.
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Bob
Don, I almost had the same experience
Saturday. We were about half way up the windward leg on the second lap, having just tacked, and going fast on starboard. I noticed a boat approaching our port side on port tack, coming up fast, and with the 150 blocking his view. "Surely he knows we're here," I thought, "he wouldn't sail that fast blind, especially in a race." Wrong. When I realized our boats were on a collision course and that he hadn't yet seen us we were pretty close, time was running out, and I was afraid of alarming him with a hail and having him do something unpredictable. As long as he held his course I could duck him, but if I yelled "starboard," he might fall off or might not, depending on his reaction time, and if I guessed wrong we would hit head-on or do a T-bone. So I ducked him, yelling "hold your course" as we passed, with about 2' between us. Next time I won't assume the other guy sees me, I'll hail a lot sooner, and I'll keep a better lookout. We didn't leave any fiberglass or blood in the water, but the adrenalin was coming through a two inch pipe.
Saturday. We were about half way up the windward leg on the second lap, having just tacked, and going fast on starboard. I noticed a boat approaching our port side on port tack, coming up fast, and with the 150 blocking his view. "Surely he knows we're here," I thought, "he wouldn't sail that fast blind, especially in a race." Wrong. When I realized our boats were on a collision course and that he hadn't yet seen us we were pretty close, time was running out, and I was afraid of alarming him with a hail and having him do something unpredictable. As long as he held his course I could duck him, but if I yelled "starboard," he might fall off or might not, depending on his reaction time, and if I guessed wrong we would hit head-on or do a T-bone. So I ducked him, yelling "hold your course" as we passed, with about 2' between us. Next time I won't assume the other guy sees me, I'll hail a lot sooner, and I'll keep a better lookout. We didn't leave any fiberglass or blood in the water, but the adrenalin was coming through a two inch pipe.
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Joe Barrett
Mainsheet and Traveler lines ready
When we race and are in a position where we need to duck a stern on a windy day the crew always has mainsheet and traveler lines in hand. We will then be ready to ease both in a puff to control the helm. It is real possible to loose control of the helm and round up in the puff and T bone the boat you are ducking. The other point I can make Colin is you say the wheel went all the way to the rudderpost. That means to me that you had the helm to far over stalling the rudder. Next time out on a windy day try in a puff making an agressive move to correct but just as quickly move the helm back to center. That way you will have control of the helm and won't usually loose control by overstearing causing the rudder to stall. We had a hotshot on board on a windy winter race and he held the helm hard over in a big puff stalled the rudder and we did an acidental tack!
When we race and are in a position where we need to duck a stern on a windy day the crew always has mainsheet and traveler lines in hand. We will then be ready to ease both in a puff to control the helm. It is real possible to loose control of the helm and round up in the puff and T bone the boat you are ducking. The other point I can make Colin is you say the wheel went all the way to the rudderpost. That means to me that you had the helm to far over stalling the rudder. Next time out on a windy day try in a puff making an agressive move to correct but just as quickly move the helm back to center. That way you will have control of the helm and won't usually loose control by overstearing causing the rudder to stall. We had a hotshot on board on a windy winter race and he held the helm hard over in a big puff stalled the rudder and we did an acidental tack!
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