Racing in a Headwind
- Thread starter Iriegal
- Start date
one thing you can check...that won't cost a dime...is look at your forestay while sailing and see if there is a lot of sag to the side. This really reduces pointing quality. If you have never adjusted your rig it could probably stand to be tightened. This is especially true on older O'Day's that many have a little deck compression under the mast...this loosens things up. If it were me I would be tightening my back stay a tad before races (to tension the forestay)...and then back it off when the boat is sitting, for deck longevity. it is interesting that your friends say the boat points well - the 272 is kind of known for being a "sleeper" is races...but when it is sailed more off the wind. when I got new sails for my O'Day 23...it was like the boat woke up from a nap. best of luck. Enjoy!
Wow! Thanks for all the wonderful responses! Everything y'all have said is 100% true. We raced on Saturday. Winds were on the beam at about 15 knots with gusts to about 18 for the first leg, and I was keeping up with all the big boys! What a great feeling! Then we had a tail wind for the second leg, and even though I don't have a gen pole, we were able to sustain wing-on-wing until we reached the next buoy. The boats with gen poles overtook me at that point, but we were still doing great! Around the last buoy - ugh - headwind. This is the longest leg of the race, all the way back to the dam. The wind started gusting up to 20-22, and we were still hanging in there, but had noticeable drag. I was pointed off, like I said I would, to about 45 degrees, but to no avail. My racing nemesis then overtook me and the other boats just left us behind. The wind was fierce that day and by the end of the race, was a steady 20 with gusts over 25. I was glad when it was over, I'll tell you that much. 
My take from all this: I need a new main sail for sure, and it sure wouldn't hurt to get a new jib. Also, my rigging is too loose. I noticed this yesterday when I was at the dock. I will adjust all my standing rigging tighter, and I think this should help as well. All the advice I received here as been invaluable and very encouraging! Thanks so much!
My take from all this: I need a new main sail for sure, and it sure wouldn't hurt to get a new jib. Also, my rigging is too loose. I noticed this yesterday when I was at the dock. I will adjust all my standing rigging tighter, and I think this should help as well. All the advice I received here as been invaluable and very encouraging! Thanks so much!
If you can beg, borrow, steal, or buy a Loos Guage it will help immensely in getting repeatable rig tensions. Loos Tension Gauge A Not sure if this is the right model for your boat. Check shroud size.
A gauge will allow you to tension both sides of the rig evenly. If one side is different from the other you'll different performance on tack than the other tack.
Die hard racers record the tension for different wind speeds and sea conditions and adjust the tension before each race.