Racing Down Wind

[jeff]

I understand about not sailing directly down wind, we should sail off of the wind at various angles to the wind based on wind speed. When sailing to a mark that is directly down wind, How many degrees off of the rhumb line should you sail before you jibe onto the next tack?

 

[Steve S]

Check Link...

Jeff,To save Don the trouble, check out the link to his article on Downwind Sailing on this web site. It should answer your questions. BTW...he also writes a good book.Steve

 

[Jeff]

Re:link

I have printed the article and own the book. Maybe my question was not correctly stated. If the compass heading to the next mark is 90 degrees, 10 knts of wind and the rhumb is directly down wind with all other things being equal my compass heading would be either 50 or 130 degrees. The question I have is, how wide of a cone do you sail in getting to the mark?

 

[Alan]

I'll give this one a shot

Jeff, This is where "polars" become so very helpful. If you have VMG displayed on your instruments then sail to the highest VMG. If not, it becomes more of a guessing game. As a general rule you should not sail farther than 15 degrees off. In a strong breeze you can sail deeper. When sailing downwind to a mark bearing 090, you should be sailing a course of about 075 or 105. 050 and 130 are far too broad to be effective.