It seems that every race teaches me something new about boat prep, trim, or tactics, and often the gist of what I learned was probably obvious to anyone but me. Had to figure it out the hard way. I'm curious to know what others would say are the most valuable lessons they learned in making their boats competitive, or that give them a little edge over the others. In other words, share a couple of those go-fast secrets with a guy who is low on the learning curve. Please.
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Boat Prep, Reading
Now this could be a long post. Allot goes into doing well on the race course. Most of it is spending the time racing the boat and learing what makes your boat fast. Something's work on one boat but not the next. Boat prep is huge, fast bottom is a must, folding prop and keeping the bottom clean. We get in the water and clean the bottom before every race. Sanding the bottom to 400 grit is real good but I have seen some allot better. With out a folding prop you will never over come the drag you get from a fixed prop. Yes they give you a credit for it but in light air it is not enough. Fast sail's, now if you want to be in the front of the fleet you will not get ther using 10 year old Dacron Sail's. This is where you decide how serious you are about racing. IF you are going out for a good time and don't care all that much about where you finish then crusing sail's or your exsisting sail's will work. But if you want to be in the front of the pack then it will take some new sail's. Some on here have said to race your boat and see how well you do. But if all your doing is seeing the back of the fleet then you will never know what tactic's to use. You can read,read & Read about it but if your not mixing it up with anybody then your spinning your wheel's. BOAT SPEED is king. Figuring out what you need to do when your sailing with the fleet is where the tactics and trying to remember what you read comes in. With out boat speed and sailing with the fleet you really won't learn much tactic wise since your not where they are. Getting the boat up to speed is key. Where are you sailing and what boat are you sailing? Getting info form some that are racing the same boat and becoming good friends with some one who is racing the same boat will help with the learing curve. SO what boat are you sailing and where are you sailing? Cliff H 28.5
Now this could be a long post. Allot goes into doing well on the race course. Most of it is spending the time racing the boat and learing what makes your boat fast. Something's work on one boat but not the next. Boat prep is huge, fast bottom is a must, folding prop and keeping the bottom clean. We get in the water and clean the bottom before every race. Sanding the bottom to 400 grit is real good but I have seen some allot better. With out a folding prop you will never over come the drag you get from a fixed prop. Yes they give you a credit for it but in light air it is not enough. Fast sail's, now if you want to be in the front of the fleet you will not get ther using 10 year old Dacron Sail's. This is where you decide how serious you are about racing. IF you are going out for a good time and don't care all that much about where you finish then crusing sail's or your exsisting sail's will work. But if you want to be in the front of the pack then it will take some new sail's. Some on here have said to race your boat and see how well you do. But if all your doing is seeing the back of the fleet then you will never know what tactic's to use. You can read,read & Read about it but if your not mixing it up with anybody then your spinning your wheel's. BOAT SPEED is king. Figuring out what you need to do when your sailing with the fleet is where the tactics and trying to remember what you read comes in. With out boat speed and sailing with the fleet you really won't learn much tactic wise since your not where they are. Getting the boat up to speed is key. Where are you sailing and what boat are you sailing? Getting info form some that are racing the same boat and becoming good friends with some one who is racing the same boat will help with the learing curve. SO what boat are you sailing and where are you sailing? Cliff H 28.5
Once again Cliff has it nailed down.
But as you have already figured out, you learn so much more in one race than a year of cruising. Take heart, the learning curve is steep. You will go from knowing practically nothing to a good understanding of sailing in a very short time.
But as you have already figured out, you learn so much more in one race than a year of cruising. Take heart, the learning curve is steep. You will go from knowing practically nothing to a good understanding of sailing in a very short time.
Cliff is right; it's tough to learn much at the back of the pack. Bottom preparation only takes a couple good weekends in the spring; scrubbing it the day before the race renews the benefits of that work. Most any good racers will take the time to answer your questions; some may sail aboard your boat or invite you aboard theirs. Sail trim can be learned and re-learned, but try to apply the written to hands on learning on the water. If something isn't working, make a small adjustment, make another and another until you've gone too far, then go back. Mark the best up wind Genoa car positions near the track. Mark your minimum and maximum halyard tension positions. Adjust the outhaul and halyard tension when you change legs of a race. Become good at light air trim and you will quickly move up in the fleet. Make a point of following the high point champion; figure out or just ask why he chose one part of the starting line or why one side was favored. Write the race course compass readings for each leg on your bulkhead (in pencil) Lay the course out on the chart (in pencil) Note the wind direction relative to the starting line several times before the start of the race and be close to the line within one or two minutes of the start depending upon the wind conditions. Pick a strategy that gets you to the line somewhere between the favored end and the mid point in clear air, and remember we're doing this for fun.
Learning
With all due respect to those that have posted here. Cliff and Alan, I have read many of your post and enjoy hearing about how you have done and what you do as far as boat prep in concerned and so on. But one thing I would like to bring up is this. Racing in your local club races is not rocket science and is not difficult, and does not require hugh expediturers of money. Sometimes people make it sound like racing a sailboat is just so difficult and costly that it just scares them off. Participation in sail boat racing has dropped off over the years and maybe its because new sailors just don't want the hassle. Racing a sailboat can be fun, doesn't necessarily require all the lastest and greatest stuff to be competitive. The best thing to do if you are a new sailor or are thinking about giving racing a try is to come on out, pick out a boat that looks like they know what they are doing, then following them and do everything that they do. After a while you will pick up the important things and begin doing them yourselve and the reward will be at the after race party when all the racing vets come over and welcome you and congradulate you and your crew on doing a great job. After a newbie has done this for a while then they will decide if jumping into the new high tech sail, folding prop money issue is for them. We need more boats participating no matter how good their sails are and no matter high tech their equipment is. They will learn new skills and will become better sailors and probably see the benefit in upgrading their boats at some time and over a period of time. But lets get them out there having fun with the rest of us without scaring them off with all the "you must" stuff and steep learning curve stuff that really isn't required to learn and have fun. Hope you guys can see where I am coming from, the local Hunter sailboat owner isn't going to be racing in the America's Cup anytime soon. Best of luck to all you PHRF guys, and to the cruising guys, come on out and have some fun and sail what you bring.
With all due respect to those that have posted here. Cliff and Alan, I have read many of your post and enjoy hearing about how you have done and what you do as far as boat prep in concerned and so on. But one thing I would like to bring up is this. Racing in your local club races is not rocket science and is not difficult, and does not require hugh expediturers of money. Sometimes people make it sound like racing a sailboat is just so difficult and costly that it just scares them off. Participation in sail boat racing has dropped off over the years and maybe its because new sailors just don't want the hassle. Racing a sailboat can be fun, doesn't necessarily require all the lastest and greatest stuff to be competitive. The best thing to do if you are a new sailor or are thinking about giving racing a try is to come on out, pick out a boat that looks like they know what they are doing, then following them and do everything that they do. After a while you will pick up the important things and begin doing them yourselve and the reward will be at the after race party when all the racing vets come over and welcome you and congradulate you and your crew on doing a great job. After a newbie has done this for a while then they will decide if jumping into the new high tech sail, folding prop money issue is for them. We need more boats participating no matter how good their sails are and no matter high tech their equipment is. They will learn new skills and will become better sailors and probably see the benefit in upgrading their boats at some time and over a period of time. But lets get them out there having fun with the rest of us without scaring them off with all the "you must" stuff and steep learning curve stuff that really isn't required to learn and have fun. Hope you guys can see where I am coming from, the local Hunter sailboat owner isn't going to be racing in the America's Cup anytime soon. Best of luck to all you PHRF guys, and to the cruising guys, come on out and have some fun and sail what you bring.
I agree
I agree that getting out on the race course is important. Bob did ask about some of the go fast stuff. Alan and I hit on that many times in the racing forum and we hope some become serious about it. I started racing on H 23 with Dacron Sail's doing club races on the weekend. First winter lay over I was in the back yard sanding the bottom to get the racing finish. At the time I had 3 kids and money for new sail's was not there. So I did all I could to make the boat go with out spending allot of money. Sandpaper is cheap and so is reading Sailing World and I also got Speed & Smarts for a few year's. This worked well for me it put me in the mid fleet beating some who had not done the prep work on the boats. Was easy to see who was serious about racing ther boats when they got ready to launch and I could see who was not so serious by seeing some of the bottom's on ther boat's. I had a friend who was not a racer who put this paint every few years bottom paint on. He had about a 60 grit bottom no growth but later in the season he noticed how on a light air day I was a knot or more faster then he was. He was amazed that I was alot faster then he was and that a smooth bottom can make that much of a difference. So I agree it is very important to get on the course and start racing. But if a racer wants to take his boat and crew to the next level then he will need to do some up grades. My biggest worry about it is a newbe goes out and get's crushed his 1st race or to and then gets very discourged and quits racing. My point most of the time is getting the boat in racing condition. All of our PHRF # are based on boats being in perfect condition. It took me about 3 years on the 23 to move up to the front of the fleet. Buying all the go fast stuff does not mean I will go out and clean up and start winnig lot's of trophy's. It takes a few years of racing to figure out what makes a person's boat really go. Plus throw in all the other factors of weather, condition's,crew work amd plain going the wrong way. This is the 3rd season racing my 28.5 and I have not finished in the top 3 as often as I would like. It takes commitment,time and money most of the time in that order to get to the front of the fleet. But once ther it is sweet. I am not to the stage of boat prep like Alan. He has a new keel that the 35.5 really needed I have seen pictures of his boat bottom. He races allot and does well but has put forth allot of time and effort to get his boat to the top of his game. I am sure it has taken him some time with racing the boat and figuring out what makes it go. Ther is allot that can be done before buying new sail's and spending allot of $$. I did it with the 28.5 on a 5 year plan. Every year I spend some money to make the boat a little faster. This past year it was a new rudder and next season I am taking all the bottom paint off and starting with a fresh bottom. Year after that it is a new head sail. So if it is done over time and a person is learning about the boat reading all he can on racing and sail trim it will all come togather. Most inportant thing is getting more boats on the starting line and having a good time. Getting crushed happens to even the top sailor's some of the time and not getting discourged and trying to get better is also part of the learing curve Cliff
I agree that getting out on the race course is important. Bob did ask about some of the go fast stuff. Alan and I hit on that many times in the racing forum and we hope some become serious about it. I started racing on H 23 with Dacron Sail's doing club races on the weekend. First winter lay over I was in the back yard sanding the bottom to get the racing finish. At the time I had 3 kids and money for new sail's was not there. So I did all I could to make the boat go with out spending allot of money. Sandpaper is cheap and so is reading Sailing World and I also got Speed & Smarts for a few year's. This worked well for me it put me in the mid fleet beating some who had not done the prep work on the boats. Was easy to see who was serious about racing ther boats when they got ready to launch and I could see who was not so serious by seeing some of the bottom's on ther boat's. I had a friend who was not a racer who put this paint every few years bottom paint on. He had about a 60 grit bottom no growth but later in the season he noticed how on a light air day I was a knot or more faster then he was. He was amazed that I was alot faster then he was and that a smooth bottom can make that much of a difference. So I agree it is very important to get on the course and start racing. But if a racer wants to take his boat and crew to the next level then he will need to do some up grades. My biggest worry about it is a newbe goes out and get's crushed his 1st race or to and then gets very discourged and quits racing. My point most of the time is getting the boat in racing condition. All of our PHRF # are based on boats being in perfect condition. It took me about 3 years on the 23 to move up to the front of the fleet. Buying all the go fast stuff does not mean I will go out and clean up and start winnig lot's of trophy's. It takes a few years of racing to figure out what makes a person's boat really go. Plus throw in all the other factors of weather, condition's,crew work amd plain going the wrong way. This is the 3rd season racing my 28.5 and I have not finished in the top 3 as often as I would like. It takes commitment,time and money most of the time in that order to get to the front of the fleet. But once ther it is sweet. I am not to the stage of boat prep like Alan. He has a new keel that the 35.5 really needed I have seen pictures of his boat bottom. He races allot and does well but has put forth allot of time and effort to get his boat to the top of his game. I am sure it has taken him some time with racing the boat and figuring out what makes it go. Ther is allot that can be done before buying new sail's and spending allot of $$. I did it with the 28.5 on a 5 year plan. Every year I spend some money to make the boat a little faster. This past year it was a new rudder and next season I am taking all the bottom paint off and starting with a fresh bottom. Year after that it is a new head sail. So if it is done over time and a person is learning about the boat reading all he can on racing and sail trim it will all come togather. Most inportant thing is getting more boats on the starting line and having a good time. Getting crushed happens to even the top sailor's some of the time and not getting discourged and trying to get better is also part of the learing curve Cliff
Crew
These guys hit the nail on the head, so if it all seems a little overwhelming, jump on someone else's boat for a race and crew with them. The experience you gain with your own boat is the best, but crewing with an experienced crew is pretty good also. Enjoy....
These guys hit the nail on the head, so if it all seems a little overwhelming, jump on someone else's boat for a race and crew with them. The experience you gain with your own boat is the best, but crewing with an experienced crew is pretty good also. Enjoy....
How doers one find ...
... the PHRF handicap for a boat? I sail a 26.5 and am considering getting into racing next year.
... the PHRF handicap for a boat? I sail a 26.5 and am considering getting into racing next year.
One More Thing....
Much of my racing takes place with the Hillsboro Inlet Sailing Club. We have a unique in house computer scoring system that adjust ratings after every race. (The club had many IBM'ers that wrote the program) The program works on a wind/sea state equation and then uses a course correcting factor to score and adjust ratings. One key is, in order to receive a rating adjustment you must sail within 10% of current rating. This works to prohibit sandbagging. Now if you finish within the top three your rating will take a hit while if you finish 4-5-6 etc and sail within 10% of your current rating you will see your rating adjusted higher. Now some of these adjustment are just a few seconds, but in some races in certain conditions the system will adjust as much as 10-12 seconds. I know this makes some hard core PHRF guys cringe but it has helped us in increase participation. The benefit to the PHRF guys is that this becomes a real competitive practice for them and while they may not win as many club races do to the scoring program they end up being at the top of their game in all the local major regattas including Key West Race Week (We've been a the top our PHRF class the last 3 years) Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race (Have finsihed no lower then 2nd in class over the last 8 years, and this includes 6 class first places finishes and the overall winner 2 years ago, beat Chessie Racing's Farr 52 on corrected time), Winner of the Bahamas Cup as overall winner of the Race Time in the Abaco's 2 years ago, and Overall winner of the Hospice Regatta last year. These are just a few of our successes over the last few years. Getting back to the HISC program. When a boat signs up to club race with us we research and assign a base PHRF rating. From that point on any rating changes for that boat is done by the computer scoring program. It is what it is. We have 2 fleets, Spinnaker and non-spinnaker. We try to make the program competitive, every boat has a chance to move up in the fleet and every boat will win a race at some point in time. We try to make it a little laid back so that it becomes fun and not so over whelming. We do encourage basic boat maintenance, clean bottom and understanding of the Racing Rules of Sailing(have held rules seminars), and have wonderful after race parties that add great commraderie between all members. How about over 100 people at Bar-B-Que poolside at the Hyatt Regancy Pier-66, and this is a club that has 175 members. We routinely have 20-25 boats out racing. We run an 8 race spring series, 12 races summer beer can series and a 10 race fall series. We have a core of 8-10 boats that then go on and race in all the local regattas which number about another 10-15 events (thats South Florida for your sailing pleasure). Bottom line here is we need to take the edge off, stop crushing people, encourage them to participate, do all you can to sacrifice your own glory and give some rewards to those that aren't as hard core and pretty some you have a viable, competitive race fleet tha has lots of fun. From that you will find a few that will step up to the next level and start doing all the things that are necessary to go race hard core. 8 years ago we had 4-5 boats coming out, we have now built the program to point that it is meaningful. Believe me, the competitive nature takes over at different levels in each person. Some will take the time and effort in addition to spending the money to go PHRF'ing, the others are totally happy doing our club program, and they get their share of the rewards. Its heathly for sailing and appears to squish the "One with the most gold. wins" mentality of hard core PHRF racing. We have a local rep for Doyle Sails, he is a former America's Cupper with Tom Blackballer's effort of the late 70's, he thinks our program is great and he enjoys crewing with different boats, and approves of the "Race to a Party" slogan that our program tries to uphold. Thanks for the chance to share different views and thoughts about how sailing can and should be more fun for more people. Sincerely, Darrel
Much of my racing takes place with the Hillsboro Inlet Sailing Club. We have a unique in house computer scoring system that adjust ratings after every race. (The club had many IBM'ers that wrote the program) The program works on a wind/sea state equation and then uses a course correcting factor to score and adjust ratings. One key is, in order to receive a rating adjustment you must sail within 10% of current rating. This works to prohibit sandbagging. Now if you finish within the top three your rating will take a hit while if you finish 4-5-6 etc and sail within 10% of your current rating you will see your rating adjusted higher. Now some of these adjustment are just a few seconds, but in some races in certain conditions the system will adjust as much as 10-12 seconds. I know this makes some hard core PHRF guys cringe but it has helped us in increase participation. The benefit to the PHRF guys is that this becomes a real competitive practice for them and while they may not win as many club races do to the scoring program they end up being at the top of their game in all the local major regattas including Key West Race Week (We've been a the top our PHRF class the last 3 years) Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race (Have finsihed no lower then 2nd in class over the last 8 years, and this includes 6 class first places finishes and the overall winner 2 years ago, beat Chessie Racing's Farr 52 on corrected time), Winner of the Bahamas Cup as overall winner of the Race Time in the Abaco's 2 years ago, and Overall winner of the Hospice Regatta last year. These are just a few of our successes over the last few years. Getting back to the HISC program. When a boat signs up to club race with us we research and assign a base PHRF rating. From that point on any rating changes for that boat is done by the computer scoring program. It is what it is. We have 2 fleets, Spinnaker and non-spinnaker. We try to make the program competitive, every boat has a chance to move up in the fleet and every boat will win a race at some point in time. We try to make it a little laid back so that it becomes fun and not so over whelming. We do encourage basic boat maintenance, clean bottom and understanding of the Racing Rules of Sailing(have held rules seminars), and have wonderful after race parties that add great commraderie between all members. How about over 100 people at Bar-B-Que poolside at the Hyatt Regancy Pier-66, and this is a club that has 175 members. We routinely have 20-25 boats out racing. We run an 8 race spring series, 12 races summer beer can series and a 10 race fall series. We have a core of 8-10 boats that then go on and race in all the local regattas which number about another 10-15 events (thats South Florida for your sailing pleasure). Bottom line here is we need to take the edge off, stop crushing people, encourage them to participate, do all you can to sacrifice your own glory and give some rewards to those that aren't as hard core and pretty some you have a viable, competitive race fleet tha has lots of fun. From that you will find a few that will step up to the next level and start doing all the things that are necessary to go race hard core. 8 years ago we had 4-5 boats coming out, we have now built the program to point that it is meaningful. Believe me, the competitive nature takes over at different levels in each person. Some will take the time and effort in addition to spending the money to go PHRF'ing, the others are totally happy doing our club program, and they get their share of the rewards. Its heathly for sailing and appears to squish the "One with the most gold. wins" mentality of hard core PHRF racing. We have a local rep for Doyle Sails, he is a former America's Cupper with Tom Blackballer's effort of the late 70's, he thinks our program is great and he enjoys crewing with different boats, and approves of the "Race to a Party" slogan that our program tries to uphold. Thanks for the chance to share different views and thoughts about how sailing can and should be more fun for more people. Sincerely, Darrel
On the money, guys
Each of you gave me something to think about and apply. My boat is a '76 Ericson 23, so she isn't remotely 'state-of-the-art', but she is solid and has been very patient while teaching me. We went from back of the pack last year to being in contention most of the time this year, mostly due to new sails and some equipment upgrades. I have learned something new every time out, but sometimes it just seems to take a long time for me to assimilate ideas that in retrospect seem obvious. I know most of the standard principles now, at least in theory, but it seems there is so much small stuff that really does make a difference when the race is close, and I'm just scratching the surface there. That's the fun of it, eh? Darrel, you guys have written the blueprint for the ideal program - participation is everything. I'm copying what you wrote and will share it with my club. Wright, search phrf on the internet and you will find the lists for lots of associatios. The New England one has LOTS of boats listed, for example. Cliff, that multi-year plan makes a lot of sense, especially in keeping expenses manageable. Sauer, I second your observations on light air trim being a great men/boys separator - one of the many lessons I learned the hard way but haven't come close to mastering yet. I am going to make some duplicate charts and start writing stuff down for each race, as you suggest. Lots of good fine points in what you said - just what I was looking for. And Jim, I do enjoy - almost too much, sometimes. It's hard to go to sleep the night before a race - is that good or bad? Thanks to all.
Each of you gave me something to think about and apply. My boat is a '76 Ericson 23, so she isn't remotely 'state-of-the-art', but she is solid and has been very patient while teaching me. We went from back of the pack last year to being in contention most of the time this year, mostly due to new sails and some equipment upgrades. I have learned something new every time out, but sometimes it just seems to take a long time for me to assimilate ideas that in retrospect seem obvious. I know most of the standard principles now, at least in theory, but it seems there is so much small stuff that really does make a difference when the race is close, and I'm just scratching the surface there. That's the fun of it, eh? Darrel, you guys have written the blueprint for the ideal program - participation is everything. I'm copying what you wrote and will share it with my club. Wright, search phrf on the internet and you will find the lists for lots of associatios. The New England one has LOTS of boats listed, for example. Cliff, that multi-year plan makes a lot of sense, especially in keeping expenses manageable. Sauer, I second your observations on light air trim being a great men/boys separator - one of the many lessons I learned the hard way but haven't come close to mastering yet. I am going to make some duplicate charts and start writing stuff down for each race, as you suggest. Lots of good fine points in what you said - just what I was looking for. And Jim, I do enjoy - almost too much, sometimes. It's hard to go to sleep the night before a race - is that good or bad? Thanks to all.
Great thread. However, when I saw the title I thought that I was going to read about racing lessons in the literal sense. I am a newbie and don't have a clue HOW to race, but I plan to try it in the fall with a Cal 25. It'll be club racing, I presume. I'm looking forward to learning about sailing while I race even if I do come in last our first few races.
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