Draft Stripes
Lynn1120: S. Sauer is right in that there is a a lot to sail trim control. The good news is that sail trim is very easy to learn but you have to start at the beginning and draft stripes are not the beginning. The mistake a lot of beginner to intermediate sailors make is they start in the middle of sail trim and they end up being confused. In other words, I could describe draft depth and draft position to you but what would you do with it?Here's where you have to start. There are 4 element to sail trim and they are draft depth, draft position, twist and angle of attack. ALL,AND I MEAN ALL, the controls for the main and jib are adjusting those 4 items and only those items so the first thing you have to do is completely understand those 4 items. If you don't, sail trim will never make any sense to you. The next thing you have to know is which sail trim controls for the main and jib are used to adjust the 4 element and which way to push or pull them to get the effect you desire. The "effect you desire" depends on your point of sail and wind condition. There is a particular setting for each point of sail and wind condition and you have to know what it is or you'll never get 100% efficiency out of your sails.I'll bet there are a number of sailors out there that could not tell me which controls for the main and jib are used to adjust the 4 element of sail trim. They have not mastered step 2 and it will be very difficult for them to advance from a sail trim standpoint. I know that sounds like a lot of stuff to understand but it really is very simple when presented in a logical manner. Once you have an understanding of the above, you've arrived. It is like riding a bike. There is only so much to learn and that is it.