Beam reach, fastest point of sail?

[HakunaMatata]

All have had good advice. Just an extra note....a monohull may be faster into the wind in some cases....this is not that unususal even with sails properly trimmed. They like heading into the wind! They take the waves better. A multi-hull is pretty fast on a slight upwind reach more so than they are hard into upwind....but they usually can make up the distance upwind by thier very quick zig zag route ability.

I'm certaily no expert, but it takes a little time to get the feel of what works best on a particular boat. Bu if you want "drive" out of a sail instead of heel let it out a little and let the front sail out to keep from backwinding the main.

 

[skipper66]

In a 15 knot breeze, simple easing to the point of luff, then just enough trim in to end the backwind on the sails should be pretty close to perfect trim if you are holding a steady course (relative to the apparent wind). Tell-tales are best used sailing to weather and can be "steered" to perfect alignment to take advantage of every little lift and knock.

 

[watercolors II]

Get the sail to pull not push!

The non- sailor believes the mechanics of how a sail ALWAYS works is that the wind pushes the sail from behind to make the boat go. This is only true in RUNNING down wind with the wind behind you pushing, you can only go as fast as the wind minus the water resistance on the hull and then for you to get back home you will need to find a spot on the water where the wind is coming from the opposite direction, this is the way the old square rigged clipper ships worked in the 1800’s.
The modern day sloop rigged boats work the mechanics of nature by using the wind to pull on the front of the sail to make the boat go. To pull not push! To pull the sail you must have wind on the sail front. Sounds crazy, but that is how a modern day sail works.

Take a letter size piece of paper and grab two side corners one in each hand, holding them level about a foot from your lips. With the two corners level the paper bows out away from you and bends down till the other two corners are pointing towards the floor. Blow real hard over the top of the paper!

Now, to get the wind moving over the front of the sail you need the first 12 inches of the luff or the leading edge of the sail to point dead into the wind, wherever it’s coming from. So, letting it out or 45 degrees is close but, not exact. The ideal spot is when the wind is equal on both sides of the sail, if one side it’s stronger then the other side of the sail will stall a little bit, reducing pull.

You have two indicators of where that sail should be, telltales and the feel of the helm!

If you learn to use the telltales the feel of the helm will come to you over time.

Headsail
The material your head sail is made from is semitransparent so that a length of dark ribbon or yard about 10 inches back from the leading edge can be seen through the fabric. When both of these telltales are streaming backwards the leading edge is pointing dead into the wind. If one of these telltales is flopping around then you do not have enough wind on that side of the sail.

Place one tell tale on each side of the sail up as high as you can see from the helm under the mainsail. Make sure this tale is light in structure so it will move in the wind. Placing other tell tales can be done later when you learn how to use them to tune the whole sail or rigging.

As someone stated, when they race someone is always adjusting the sail. For you now, set your point of sail, adjust the headsail so both tales are flying back and then steer the boat to keep them both flying till you make a turn to go in another direction.

Don’t worry about tales on the mainsail, after you figure out the headsail placement for the direction of the wind, let the mainsail out till you see a little belly in the main right next to the mast, then pull the main in till that belly is gone.

 

[skipper66]

Pulling, not pushing is exactly right. Same idea as an airplane wing with the top surface curved to cause the wind to travel farther thereby creating upward pressure or "lift". Thinking of the windward side of the sail as the bottom of the wing, and the outward curved surface of the leward side as the top of the wing helps me to understand it.

 

[Don Guillette]

Actually, if a boat could be turned on its side it woulld be called an airplane!!

 

[kito]

Actually, if a boat could be turned on its side it woulld be called an airplane!!

So if I get heeled over enough to get the mast parallel with the water the boat will take off?

 

[agprice22]

Yes! There are plenty of videos of windsurfers flying their boards by getting the sail parallel to the water. They can fly their boards many dozens of yards. Unfortunately... We won't be matching that feat!

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[SailingHarry]

There's no "guessing" involved with boom positioning. Unless the course you're on will be "fixed" for more than maybe 1/2 hour, the vang can become a PIA to use.

Racing, would minimize my notion some but I have a vang and have yet to even find an opportunity to use it! By the time I get it into place - we're on a different course where it's merely another object that's "in the way."

Sounds like your boom vang is the type that goes from the boom to a spot on the rail -- and indeed, they are a pain. If you have a vang that goes from the boom to the base of the mast, or can rig such a vang, they you can (and should!) use it nearly all the time. It requires very little adjustment, as it moves with the boom.

The vang keeps the the end of the boom from rising. In all but the lightest of air (except when going up wind), the boom will rise and the leach of the sail will billow way off to leward. The vang is critical for keeping sail shape when the boom is eased.

On very small cruising boats (and the OP may well qualify for that) the space between the cabin top and the boom, up near the mast, is very short. That can make a vang that goes from the boom to the mast all but impossible to rig.

 

[SailingHarry]

I just found this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h73r0xuWPy4
in the first 5 seconds or so, you see a clear shot of a c22 boom vang, and it goes from the boom to the mast. Works fine (and in fact, it i properly tensioned, as the boom doesn't lift throughout the video).

 

[kito]

Sounds like your boom vang is the type that goes from the boom to a spot on the rail -- and indeed, they are a pain. If you have a vang that goes from the boom to the base of the mast, or can rig such a vang, they you can (and should!) use it nearly all the time. It requires very little adjustment, as it moves with the boom.

The vang keeps the the end of the boom from rising. In all but the lightest of air (except when going up wind), the boom will rise and the leach of the sail will billow way off to leward. The vang is critical for keeping sail shape when the boom is eased.

On very small cruising boats (and the OP may well qualify for that) the space between the cabin top and the boom, up near the mast, is very short. That can make a vang that goes from the boom to the mast all but impossible to rig.

My vang goes from base of mast to boom. Never seen one set up differently than that. Works fine.....just not with the pop top open. But you shouldn't have the pop top up under sail anyway.