Boat Heel in Light Airs

[red_dolphin]

We are racing a Catalina-30 out of Newport Beach a week from Saturday.
No way of knowing what the wind will be, but light airs are certainly possible.
[Our club rules call for canceling the race if there is an SCA in effect.]

My co-skipper has heard that Cat-30s are best sailed straight up in light airs.
That goes against what I have been taught that you want to induce maybe 10-degrees of heel in light conditions to let gravity help maintain sail shape.

Comments?

 

[capejt]

Back in my dinghy racing days on lakes, we were told to create a little bit of heel in light winds. We were told this helps the sails keep proper shape. I doubt it has as much effect on larger keel boats in open water.

 

[Bill Roosa]

dito capejt
there is not much of a way to do it either. In a dingy it amounts to sitting on the downwind side. In a 30' boat you would have to bring a substantial amount of crew to act as rail meat. That is probably counter productive as the boat would then be much heaver and slower.
Sail upright and get the most sail exposed. Use your largest and lightest weight jib.

 

[Joe]

If your skipper has a lightweight staysail (wire luff, free flying) he could pull down the big ass genoa and fly it instead... the light air will stay attached to the smaller sail more so that a large 150.

The reason I mention the staysail, is that they were commonly used on masthead rigged vessels to help balance the big symetrical spinnakers, and it's good chance he's got one in the locker. The were sometimes called "daisy staysails" I have one on my boat, I rarely use it with the spinnaker, but have found it very effective as a stand alone sail in light air. The loose luff allows it to sag off a bit, like a drifter, but it's cut much flatter than one...so the air stays attached.

Inducing 10 degrees heel won't do that much for sail shape, especially if you have full battens... you could adjust the battens though... tighten them up a bit to keep the curve in the sail... the problem with that is that sometimes they won't pop over to other side when you tack... so you have to shake the boom back and forth to release them. Another way to induce heel would be hauling in the main a bit... but that would be counter productive.

Dinghy sailors often induce heel to windward, not leeward, in light air and especially on downwind legs, to get more of the sail up off the water where the air moves faster.

Old time square rigged sailors used to wet the sails during very light air conditions... thinking that wetting the cloth made it denser and thus captured the air more effectively and kept it attached to the sails.... The jury's out on that one though.

 

[Don Guillette]

If a mate can sail a boat in very light to light wind they can sail in any weather. How many times have you seen sailors in those conditions with sails where they have induced the maximum of draft depth (belly) possible - you see it all the time in So Ca!! Their thinking is that the large amount of draft depth will catch what little air there is. Seems logical but there is one big problem - the wind does not have enough force to get around the main and jib with a lot of belly in them and the wind stalls. The trick is to trim the main and jib as flat as you can so the wind can flow over the sails. Additionally, you do not want any twist in your sails as that spills what litttle power there is out of the top 1/3 of the sails. As the wind starts to pipe you you start to induce draft depth gradually until say about 12 knots or so and then you start flattening (depowering) until you're back to a flat, less powerful sail. That is your configuration just before you reef.

Give it a try Saturaday and let me know if it worked.

 

[RichH]

In light air conditions its vastly better to proper shape the mainsail by supporting the boom with the topping lift (or rigid vang) than it is to attempt (but fail) heeling the boat to gain the same effect.
The upward force provided by the topping lift (or rigid vang) would equal the booms weight and therefore the sail will take on its designed shape. When doing this 'counter-balance' soley by artificially heeling but not compensating for the weight of the boom the mainsail will have a 'hooked up leech shape' ... SLOW and with too much induced sail draft.

 

[FourPoints]

RichH is right. supporting the weight of the boom in light air is one of the most overlooked ways of acheiving light air performance. After installing the rigid vang on my boat last year I noticed a big boost in light air handleing. I can now ease the vang and the boom will automaticly rise up on it's own and allow the sail to take a proper shape (yes, I could have done this with topping lift, but that wasn't nearly as easy to manage, so I often didn't).

My rigid vang keeps constant upward tension against the vang sheet at all times, meaning the sail is NEVER holding the boom up. This allows the sail to remain in the proper shape to generate more power, and drive the boat forward.

 

[Alan]

I'm with Don on this one. Minimize twist and draft depth for maximum flow attachment along the entire height of the sail, the top being the most important. Crew weight on the leeward rail to induce a small heel but with very slow motion. No sudden movements. The helm should be moved as LITTLE as possible. Any rudder movement slows the boat. In ghosting conditions huge gains can be made with proper trim and crew work.
I've been accused of have my engine running while ghosting passed other boats that can't believe I'm able to develop the speed we can achieve in these conditions.

 

[Don Guillette]

FourPoints: When I lived in So Ca I sold and installed Garhauer stuff. With their rigid boom vang I always installed it so at rest it was about 10 degrees above horizontal. This worked great in So Ca where there is very little wind in the AM. So when the crew hoisted the main and took off in the AM they were already set for light air. The 10 degrees that I set with the installation took the place of the topping lift. Lots of folks ask me how to trim sails using the topping lift. The topping lift is not a sail trim control. I't's only purpose is to hold up the boom when the sail is flaked but folks found a way to TRICK the sails into thinking something was happening. Sailors can be very creative!!

 

[red_dolphin]

Great feedback all. Thanks so much!

For the record, moving a crew member from port to starboard on a Cat-30 actually does make a difference in the heel.

I like Don's advice of trimming the sails relatively flat in truly light airs, and working for more draft as the wind increases.

When I was a polywog, my skipper would tell me to light a cigarette in light airs -- the better to see where the wind was actually blowing.
I no longer smoke.
But in truly light airs, I am tempted to use that ploy [and not inhale].

 

[sinnettc]

When I was a polywog, my skipper would tell me to light a cigarette in light airs -- the better to see where the wind was actually blowing.
I no longer smoke.
But in truly light airs, I am tempted to use that ploy [and not inhale].

What do fleet rules say about incense?

 

[red_dolphin]

What do fleet rules say about incense?

Hey, we are old guys racing cruising boats in Southern California.
Even if you lit up a doobie, odds are someone on board would have a prescription that made it legal.

But incense on the pedestal ... we could be becalmed and serene too.
Might try that.

 

[Don Guillette]

The crew position in very light to light air is as Alan states - leeward. They should also be forward but what does "forward" mean - like forward of what? For starters, they should be placed slightly forward of the cockpit. Then inch them forward a little at a time and watch your speedo. Remember you "ain't" going to be breaking the the land/ sea speed record.

Another thing, once they move to a new position you have to wait a second to see if anything kicks in. It is like taking a shower and adjusting the hot/cold or adjusting a carb on an auto enginge (when they could be adjusted). You have to wait a minute for the adjustment to catch up.

Crew position is the most overlooked sail trim adjustment (that's what it is) that skippers make. In light air if you want to win a race or even if your a cruiser and want to get somewhere - eventually - you have to use all your tools. The crew problem in light conditions is they are bored to death and start moving all over the boat and that kills what little speed you have.

Red dolphin - I'm really looking forward to hearing how you make out this weekend. Please keep us posted

 

[Witzend]

One aspect that has not been mentioned (unless I missed something) is that, on most modern hull designed cruse/racers, by inducing some heel, it reduces the weted area thus reducing drag, and certainly if you have a dirty bottom, some of that drag is now out of the water.

 

[Alan]

Witzend, this is true but the amount of heel we are talking about is in the ten degree range which wont affect wetted surface area a huge amount. As for a 'dirty' bottom, well no self respecting racer would even consider such a thing. :naughty: Just slime alone is worth a drag equal to over a half knot. Considering that in light air you're happy to see even 3 knots of boat speed, that would be a nearly 20% loss of speed. Totally unacceptable.

 

[Witzend]

In my book every little bit helps.

 

[red_dolphin]

....
Red dolphin - I'm really looking forward to hearing how you make out this weekend. Please keep us posted

Don:
Our team, with co-skipper Erik in charge, finished fifth overall and corrected to 3rd place -- that's worth a mug in this series.

A family 'opportunity' caused me to miss the race. Instead my wife and I traveled to the Bay Area where both daughters, and their families, were in the same city. [That doesn't happen often.]

The good news is that I got a ride on an Olson 30 out of Redwood City while I was there. Cousins David and Scott were testing a new main. These are 'once removed' cousins and thus a generation younger. We found a break in the rain on the Friday and went out for a great afternoon sail -- touching 7 kts on the main alone in winds of 10-15. Here is a link to my sailing blog, where you can find more words about that afternoon.

Our next race is this Saturday out of King Harbor, Redondo. We are sailing a Catalina 320. Should be fun.

 

[sinnettc]

How was the Olson 30? There are 2 Olson 25's on our lake and they're pretty hot competitors in the local racing.

 

[red_dolphin]

How was the Olson 30? There are 2 Olson 25's on our lake and they're pretty hot competitors in the local racing.

The Olson 30 delivers pretty much what you would expect from a light-displacement 30' boat with no galley or head.

• It sails fast
• It accelerates quickly
• It is responsive
• It is NOT what you want to take on a two-week cruise.

Most of the fun, for me, was watching my [one generation younger] cousins sail the boat.
They started sailing Lasers as pre-teens.
Their family has a Hawaii round-trip in their history.
As brothers, their communication is terse and highly efficient.

No matter that I was the elder sailor on board.
I figured I was there to observe and to learn.

The good news for me is that I was invited back for Wednesday night 'beer-can' racing this summer.
That's just one more reason for me to travel north more often to see my daughter and her boys.