Anthony wrote an interesting question titled Confused. I'm so confused I can't find it but fortunately I printed it before I lost it. Anthony, refer to the article I wrote on Twist. You've almost got it. Assume your sailing closehauled and want to get as much speed as you can. Your correct that the wind blows harder the higher up the mast you go. So to achieve max speed you have to take the twist that was built into the sail and is being blown into in by the wind, out of the sail. Take a look at some of the pictures of the America Cup boats and you see a very straight sail. Why do they sail that way? They want as much power as they can get.
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a rule of thumb
Long ago, when I was mainsail trimmer on an Olsen 30, I learned a simple rule of thumb which might help those still confused about mainsail twist: to maximize twist adjust the vang tension until the 2nd batten is parallel to the boom (thus allowing the top batten to twist off.) As with any rule, these are exceptions, and one exception is if the wind shifts as it builds, causing wind direction and wave direction to be out of synch. If the wind clocks, more power will be required on starboard tack in order to help the boat through the chop, which means that the main should be twisted with the 2nd batten parallel on starboard, but flattened (1st batten parallel) on port tack, where the power is not needed and the flattened main helps the boat roll less in the side seas. If the wind backs, of course, you would trim so that the 1st batten is parallel on starboard and the 2nd batten is parallel on port. This technique is especially important on ultra-light boats that have trouble powering through chop.
Long ago, when I was mainsail trimmer on an Olsen 30, I learned a simple rule of thumb which might help those still confused about mainsail twist: to maximize twist adjust the vang tension until the 2nd batten is parallel to the boom (thus allowing the top batten to twist off.) As with any rule, these are exceptions, and one exception is if the wind shifts as it builds, causing wind direction and wave direction to be out of synch. If the wind clocks, more power will be required on starboard tack in order to help the boat through the chop, which means that the main should be twisted with the 2nd batten parallel on starboard, but flattened (1st batten parallel) on port tack, where the power is not needed and the flattened main helps the boat roll less in the side seas. If the wind backs, of course, you would trim so that the 1st batten is parallel on starboard and the 2nd batten is parallel on port. This technique is especially important on ultra-light boats that have trouble powering through chop.
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