Sail and sail trim question for the group

[CalebD]

My partner and I own a 1967 Tartan 27 which has a full keel and a centerboard. We started doing the weds night beer can races and enjoyed it. We enjoy having a 240 PHRF rating which always helps us beat some fin keel boats that croos the finish line ahead of us. One thing we have noticed with our boat and the 150% RF genoa we currently have is that we can not head upwind as much as almost all the other boats which I think all have fin keel hulls or similar. We are lucky if we can get between 40 to 45 degrees into the wind.My partner wants us to get a 176% genoa like the one that came with our boat and was shredded in an accident 3 years ago. While it would be nice to add to our sail inventory I am quite happy with the 150% and think that it is better balanced with our full batten main than the old sail. In lighter airs (<15) the 176% might be nice to have and would certainly make us go faster on most points of sail. In winds greater than 15 I think the sail we have now (150%) is more than adequate and again is well balanced with the main with a reef or two.My questions to the knowledge base out there are these: 1) Does anyone think that a larger sail on our boat with its full keel hull shape will help our boat head upwind better or would the larger genny help us go faster but not head up any better or perhaps worse?2) Does anyone think that with better sail trim with our existing 150% genny that we could achieve better upwind performance?I should say that we have mostly been just cruisers and I would categorize us as novice racers who are eager to learn.I hope I have not left out some crucial detail that makes these questions unanswerable and humbly await my come uppance.Thanks in advance.Caleb Davison

 

[r.w.landau]

CalebD, Most of the time , it is the cut of the

Sail that determines the angle of attack and the ability to sail close to the wind. Most of the time it is not the boat.Lets see what others have to say.r.w.landau

 

[Tim R.]

Keel shape

Keel shape has a lot to do with pointing ability. The keel is an underwater wing and the more lift it produces the better you point. A fin keel will almost always outpoint a full keel. Sails and the way they are cut also has a lot to do with ability to point. Oh yeah, did I mention the skipper;-)? No offense but sailing ability will also affect this. Remember your PHRF was figured on the fact that your boat may not point as well.To answer your questions:1) Not significantly. You should sail faster in lighter winds with a larger head sail in most cases. Also realise that most handicappers will adjust your PHRF for a headsail bigger than 155%. 2) Yes. Keep racing. Also learn about the "overlap" and how to tune your sails to take advantage of this aspect of sail trim and I bet you will point better.Tim R.

 

[novelman17128]

sail trim

If your shrouds allow it try an run your genoa sheets inside them or between them when racing up-wind. You can have two sets of sheets for each tack, using the niormal ones (outside the shrouds) when you don't have to point high. Try it, you'll like it.Novelman

 

[Alan]

CalebD

Well at least you are thinking about it!! ...a big plus.As Tim points out, your rating will be greatly affected by the larger head sail. If you are sailing YRA-LIS the largest headsail you can carry without penalty is 153%. The larger head sails don't point as well as smaller ones. In general, the penalty paid for sails larger than 153 is not worth any performance gain.The keel on your boat is going to limit your pointing ability, but there certainly are things that you can do to improve it. As has already been said, the condition and cut of your sails are major factor. Placement of the genoa sheet cars are another factor. How clean and smooth the bottom is is another major factor. A fixed blade prop is yet another factor. Drag is something that needs to made as small as possible. Reducing any wait aloft and moving the crew to the weather rail will also increase your pointing ability. A backstay adjuster on a masthead rig will allow you to tension the headstay which will move the draft forward and flatten the sail. The vang and cunningham on your main is used for the same purpose, all to the benefit of pointing.There are literally dozens of things that can be done to improve performance, all with varying amounts if gain, but all will help. Combining all the improvements can make a significant change.

 

[Bob7291]

no silver bullets

You are fine with what you have. Any headsail bigger than yours will only be of advantage in extremely light air or when going downwind, and those advantages will be countered by the fact that it will be harder to tack, take longer to tack, have a higher probability of hanging up on something during a tack, and might necessitate new track for the lead blocks, not to mention any handicap hit it would provoke, as Tim and Alan said. Of much more importance to novice racers is learning how to get in sequence with the shifts, start clean, manage your race, make the boat go in light air (heel it to leeward all you can to shape the sails), and make your gear handy to use and reliable. Become an expert at reading the tell-tales and shaping the sails you have. Work on making tacks smooth and with as little speed lost as possible. Pointing super high is nice but not everything, and your boat will have stability downwind the others don't have. In each race figure out where you made your mistakes, and modify your technique accordingly. Listen to the fast guys. And keep the bottom CLEAN.

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

Some thoughts

Before you spend much money, the big gains are underwater.Haul the boat and have it blocked high enough so you can drop the centre board into it's upwind position. Take real close look at the shape of the foil. It cannot be too fair or too smooth. If it is a flat steel plate, you can still improve performance with a carefully radiused leading edge and a sharply cut trailing edge. The trailing edge does not need to be a knife edge, rather a narrow flat that is dead perpendicular to the boat. 1/8" or 1/4" wide is almost as good as 1/16" as long as it is flat, perpendicular and makes a sharp corner with the side of the board.Fair the bottom of the boat and again, it cannot be too smooth. The first 30% of the hull and first 30% of the keel should be smooth to at lease 220 grit, 400-600 would be better.Become friends with a local sailmaker. Ask him out on your boat for a race. Tell him you have a budget for 1 new sail or a re-cut of more than one. Let him advise you on trim and what the biggest bang for your buck will be. Sure you are not at the top of the A fleet, but a good sailmaker lives on their service rep. You might turn into a bread and butter 1 sail a year or every other year customer.If he sells you a new sail, have him deliver it on a race day and show you how to trim it. Sailmakers eat this stuff up and you will go faster.Here is a basic guide for sail trim:Calculate your boat's "hull speed", the formula is: 1.34 x sq. rt. water line.In 10-12 knots of breeze (just the occasional white cap) you should be able to sail the boat up wind at about 75% of the "hull speed", If not, you might need more sail area.Don't worry about what the other boats do. Sail the best you can, be aware of wind patterns. Just not making mistakes on course will improve your results. Catching all the shifts correctly will make more difference for your boat than for more close winded boats. There are huge gains (and losses) to be had in wind shifts.If you race in an area with tidal current, learn to know the current intimately to make the best use of your boat speed.If you pay attention and keep notes of what works, you will be in the top half of your division regulary.

 

[r.w.landau]

Moody, Just some thoughts.

You have some great input here! I have to say that your avatar is abit ...hard to deal with. I can trutly say, intimidating. I have enjoyed most of your info and look forward to your input but the avatar, doesn't fit you, If I were you, I would loose it. Your info is good but with your avatar, I would be concerned about the info given by you.Beat me up all you want, I am just looking and responding to my thoughts.Just a pirate from pittsburgh's opinion.r.w.landau

 

[CalebD]

I always liked the saying: "I like the cut of your

Jib". But the first post by r.w. did not quite say this although I think he meant to. What is it specificlly that makes a good "cut" of jib that allows upwind performance? My biggest beef has been with our old sail that you could not see behind and yes it created plenty of lift but totally blinded the helmsman on the leeward side. That is one reason I like the 150% genny we now have; you can actually see under it if you lean over enough. Does the upwind ability prefer a jib that has a low cut "foot" or should this be raised in order to let some wind out the bottom? Our current 150% does this as I can see the ripples on the water when beating to wind. Our boat has fairleads and track that of the old pull up kind that seems to favor a larger sail but as I have state I think that the 150% applies a good balance to the main even if the fairleads seem to be a little far aft fpr tje 150%.Any replies to this additional input.And thanks again, in advance.CalebDTartan 27, 1967 PHRF 240 - tub rating

 

[Joe]

Moody........

Love the avatar.... it's perfect... don't change it. I don't find it intimidating at all, I was in the Navy and I'm not afraid of pirates.BTW...Lots of good advice from everyone. Keepin clean and smooth underwater being the best. I might recommend using the VMG feature on your GPS...you'll have to have the course punched in of course... but that will help you determine whether what pointing angle is getting you to the mark fastest.

 

[Big Joe]

Avast Avatar !?

With respect I vote, for the avatar ... Aye.Regards, Big Joe.

 

[CalebD]

Avatars be Damned!!! Moody knows the

mathematics enough to put us all to sleep. He has an opinion just like everyone else. The difference is he can reference his knowledge of Calculus and make some of us non-engineers feel a little small. YAAAR! and AVAST YE MATEYS'. Thar be a wind a-blowing. Thanks to Alan for noticing that I am thinking about it. But pay attention me pretty. Everyone has made very good points and Moody is no exception so I am still trolling for the big one whatever that may be. AYE! and probably good-night.Smooth seas and following winds.Off to Hawai'i on Feb. 20 for 2 weeks and: "Thar be whales!".The truth is that all racing sailors konw is that it ther is an incesant need to keep the boat pointed correctly with respect to wind and surf and both sails matching, which requires constant and relentless trimming. I guess that is why I really enjoy just sailing or cruising but racing has taught me a lot more about sail trim and getting the most out of the boat regardless of point of sail. And yes, we have been using our handheld GPS to figure out what the heck is going on with the curent versus wind and apparent wind. I also need to think about replacing our ancient SUMLOG propellor unit through water speed indicator with something more practical. Thanks again for all the replies and advice. Keep it coming.CalebD

 

[Joe]

Caleb

Regarding your concern about visibility... have the helmsman sit on the rail, usually the upwind side, but sitting on the leeward side is sometimes preferrable.... let the crew help him with leeward visibility... you can have your sailmaker sew a window in your headsail if you want. I have a 150 decksweeper geona. You can't see jack diddly on the leeward side from the helm... so the trimmer keeps an eye out. There is a big plastic window in the sail but you still miss stuff. For that reason I rarely use that sail when I'm single handing... I looked at your first photo... is that your boat? If so, remember to keep the slot open in lighter air. In the picture the slot looks pretty narrow for a no whitecap day. My inclination would be to pull the traveller up and get the boom closer to the center line of the boat, then readjust the mainsheet to keep the tell tales flowing.. (you do have tell tales on your mainsail.) A small bubble in the main's luff is okay because most of the main's power comes from the back half of the sail. Now adjust the headsail, set the twist by adjusting the fairleads, then trim the sheet so that the inside telltale pops up and down, with the outside one flowing and...keep checking the main's tell tales to make sure you have good flow through the slot and over the main's leech.

 

[CalebD]

Thanks Joe. And yes that is me and my boat

sailing out to the committee boat while trying to get to the starting line so maybe we werent fully powered up. I appreciate your suggestions and as I stated we are novice racing sailors so I will take what you posted to heart. It is the "slot" that I need to pay attention to. Even if my full keeled boat will not head upwind as many fin keeled boats will I need to pay particular attention to the overlap or slot between the jib and main. This all makes so much sense to me. I just hope I can put it into practise come April when our old "tub" Odalisque gets put back in and our racing season starts again. We actually did pretty well considering our PHRF rating of 240 and even beat a Santana 30' once when they had a bad day. I am beggining to understand that racing (or getting the most out of the hull and sails) requires one to be constantly tweaking the trim and helm. It can be exhausting work on a cruise but is easy enough for a short race but it is very enlightening (I also own a newly acquired Lightning 19' that I am learning about and and old 14' Viking (circa 1950's) daysailor with no stays). Simplicity has its merits but getting the most out of a boat requires a lot of extra rigging that a Sunfish (my first sailing and learning experiences) just does not have.After 4 years of owning my larger boat I am convinced that it is magic and skill that makes your vessel go execttly where you want it to go. Thanks again and keep it coming.CalebD

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

History

I have a history that makes the avatar fit. Since this is a sail trim thread I'll only say that my bride gave me the nickname "Pirate" when we were courting. She became "Wench" (of course).Back on topic ...Yes, a deck sweeping Genoa is faster upwind and points higher. The sail is not as good off the wind as a higher clewed sail. When a deck sweeper is cracked off the head twists off and they become hard to trim. To be effective they require a sheeting angle of about 10-12 degrees off centre. On boats with wide shroud bases or chainplates at the hull/deck joint it is hard to make them work.As you raise the clew to lifeline level, the effective sheeting angle gets bigger and upwind performance is lost.On boats with full keels, the underbody is not very efficient. The boat has to sail with a large leeway angle to generate lift. It's a low aspect ratio / induced drag thing. Windward performance is improved by increasing the lift to drag ratio. The lift the keel produces exactly matches the side force from the sails. This means that for a given sail area and wind speed, all keel shapes will have the same lift. The difference in performance comes from reduced drag.The same thing goes for the rig and sails. Wide shroud bases limit the shape of Genoas. In general the sail will have more draft than needed. If you draw a line from the stem of the boat to a point 12 degrees off centre next to the primary winch, then measure out to the shroud, you can see how deep the sail must be to clear the rigging and spreader. Deep draft = high power and also high drag. A 170% Genoa may well point higher if it puts the shrouds closer to the maximum draft of the sail, it could have a tighter effective sheeting angle. When the wind picks up, Genoas on wide shroud base boats are harder to get into a flat, low drag shape. Once the wind is up in the higher teens, a jib that sheets inboard of the shrouds and does not overlap the spreader should be a great sail for the boat.In any case, with rigs and hulls like this, speed is your friend. The boat should get to the windward mark faster by sailing free and keeping the speed up. I'm sure you have found that trying to pinch and sail as high as the fin keeled boats gets you nowhere fast.Where your boat should shine is in random leg courses that include some reaching. The low aspect ratio main a large Genoa should balance nicely wing on wing and the boat should handle like she's on rails when sailing deep. A high clewed Genoa should make the boat a bandit on a reach (compared to her rating).Randy

 

[Joe]

Caleb...

...you will learn so much from this racing experience...good for you. Have fun.

 

[Wanderer138]

Here's my two cents...

Unless I am completely mistaken, CalebD's question was about improving pointing ability, not boatspeed, so IMHO, the place to start is with sail trim, particularly the mainsail. Yes, things like low drag and trimming the genoa inboard are important, but there is no faster (and less expensive) way to improve pointing ability than to power up the mainsail relative to the headsail. You can get the same effect by depowering the headsail a little.First off, CalebD's boat has a masthead rig and a headsail that's at least as large as the main. That's probably half the problem right there. Reducing headsail power would be a good place to start. Try the following:a) furl the headsail partway, say to about 140 percent (may not work too well if you can't get a clean entry)b) tension the foot of the headsail relative to the leech. This spills wind off the upper third of the sail but keeps the rest of it working. If you don't have adjustable jib leads (and I'd be surprised if you didn't, since you have a large roller-furling genoa), try sheeting through a snatch block farther aft on the toerail or run the sheet directly to the winch.Then try working on improving the mainsail trim:a) when sailing close-hauled, the boom should be on the centerline of the boat. You can't point properly otherwise.b) As you harden the mainsheet it eventually stops pulling the boom in and starts pulling it DOWN. This is a source of additional mainsail power, but there's a catch. In small doses, it helps the boat to point up into the wind but if not managed carefully it causes excessive weather helm (the boat wants to round up into the wind) which requires a high rudder angle (and a lot of drag) to counteract. If you need a white-knuckled death grip on the tiller just to keep the boat on track, you have too much weather helm. The solution is to use the traveler to control the angle of attack.These suggestions come from my efforts to solve similar problems with my H23. I heard all the comments about fixing the notoriously excessive weather helm and improving pointing ability. Shorten the forestay to move the CE forward (didn't work), shorten the spreaders to narrow the sheeting angle (nope), sail it flat to improve the symmetry of the wetted surface (naah), sail it with more heel so the hydrodynamic lift from the wing keel helps pull the boat to windward (nada). Better mainsail trim solved everything. I now tack consistently through 90 deg. (and sometimes narrower) whereas the best I could get before was 110 to 120 deg.In closing, here are three good references that I have used a lot and would highly recommend:Sail Trim User's Guide by Don Guilettehttp://shop.hunterowners.com/books/detail-books.htm?sku=102.2&fno=0&A Manual of Sail Trim by Stuart H. Walkerhttp://www.amazon.com/Manual-Sail-Trim-Stuart-Walker/dp/0393032965North U. book on Sail Trim by Bill Gladstonehttp://www.northu.com/nu/NU_catalog.taf?_function=list&category=21&flash=5They are readily available through HOW, your local boat store or on line. Good luck and happy sailing.PeterH23 "Raven"

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

Ok ...

All the tricks to improve performance to windward start from the assumption that the sail trim is correct.Sacrificing boat speed for pointing angle is one of the most common mistakes racing skippers make. Most boats get to weather faster sailing at angles that are not as high as they can point.I can trim my boat to tack through 90 degrees, but VMG is not as high at most wind speeds as when I tack through greater angles:95.2 @ 6 knots true (47.6 deg)94.2 @ 8 knots true (47.1 deg)92.8 @ 10 knots true (46.4 deg)90.6 @ 12 knots true (45.3 deg)89.6 @ 14 knots true (44.8 deg)89.6 @ 16 knots true (44.8 deg)91.6 @ 20 knots true (45.8 deg)The apparent wind angles are 28.1 @ 629.0 @ 830.1 @ 1031.0 @ 1232.0 @ 1433.0 @ 1635.5 @ 20Although the boat "points" higher (28.1 deg apparent) in 6 knots, it is tacking through 95.2 deg.At 14-16 knots true it is "pointing" lower (32-33 deg) but tacking through only 89.6 degrees.Racing to weather is all about VMG, whatever combination of boat speed and angle provides the highest VMG is best. Pointing and tacking angles have very little to do with it.Starting with the boom on the centerline and the top tell-tale just flicking and the rest of the tell-tales streaming is a good foundation. Keeping the leech of the Genoa parallel with the leech of the main (matching twist), is another cornerstone.You are quite correct in that we often overlook the most basic things.If you are into knowing what your boat *should* be able to do, buy a Performance Package from US Sailing. For only $300 you can stop guessing what speeds and angles you should be sailing and just try to sail to the targets.

 

[RichH]

Tips for making a full keeler 'point'

The disadvantages of full keeled boat vs. a deep fin when attempting to 'point' is well known. If you allow a full keeled boat (with relatively shallow depth) to heel much you will get a LOT of slip where the boat will begin to 'skid' off to leeward .... the boat will be heeled over, apparently pointing, but the track will show that the boat is skidding off to leeward. If you have a GPS aboard, always compare the GPS track to the magnetic course and note/compare the difference to find the sweet spot (of heel) that gives you the least amount of slip. A full keeled boat will point (less skidding to leewards) better when standing more up straight than heeled over on her ear. .... do some trials while recording the windstrength, the apparent heel angle, etc. to find the BEST compromise between heeling angle and the best pointing TRACK. Other principal things that will enhance 'pointing':1. tight headstay tension (controlled by backstay tension)Take the present genoa and lay it FLAT on the ground. Make an accordian fold (2 folds one on top of oneanother) about 2-3 ft. back (and parallel to) from the luff ... and remove any creases or puckers in the sail material that are caused by the folding. This will cause the luff section to be totally FLAT on the ground ... and you will notice that the luff has a 'curve' to it - (called 'luff hollow' .... a thin crescent shaped section of luff that the sailmaker cuts out of the luff section so that the normal 'sag' of the headstay to leeward when the sail is wind loaded is compensated by 'whats cut away from the luff'. The BEST adjustment/trim for pointing is when the headstay sag (due to a windloaded sail) matches the luff hollow. ...... with the sail (luff) FLAT (unwrinkled) on the ground - take a string and pull it taught between the head connection of the sail and the tack/gooseneck connection .... measure the distance between the taught string and the maximum distance (and location) between the leading edge / luff and the string --- this is maximum 'luff hollow'. Record and REMEMBER the shape of the LUFF HOLLOW. When attempting to point, the luff hollow should 'match' the curve of the loaded (sagging to leeward) headstay. If you want to get 'fancy' get a roll of sailmakers adhesive backed 'insignia cloth' strips (about 3/8" wide) and run a *straight* line of insignia cloth between the head and tack along the luff..... visually when this 'stripe' is dead straight the genoa luff will EXACTLY match the proper headstay tension .... and you may have to adjust the backstay tension to make the 'stripe' to be straight when sailing. Beware that hard sheet/winch tension will increase the headstay 'sag', so you will/may have to decrease sheet tension or tighten up the backstay. All adjustments should be made while watching the speedo for maximum boat speed - dont 'overtighten' the genoa sheets when pointing as all you may be doing is increasing headstay sag (thus increasing heel) !!!!!!!!!!.Once you get the correct headstay tension, then you can begin to arrive at the final trim/adjust sails.Briefly - Set the mainsail so that the second from the top batten is parallel to the centerline of the boat... then begin all other trim/shape adjustments from that starting point. Use telltales on the LEECHes as well as midcord (and additionally slightly back from luff on the genoa). The leech tell tales are the MOST important on a mainsail if you want 'any' speed out of the boat. You will also want a 'row' of steering telltales about 6ft. from and parallel to the deck on the genoa. Once you get the boat set-up for correct trim and sail shape simply follow (continually steering to keep leeward tales flat and quiet and the windward tales just 'lifting' occasionally) the row of steering tell-tales for best speed and pointing ability. Make sure that he boat has correct weather helm: After basic shaping/trimming of the sails, notice the amount of weather helm when pointing (a boat with weather helm is dragging its rudder and has its brakes on). If weather helm is noted .... increase halyard/cunningham tension until the helm is 'dead fish' NEUTRAL (this will occur when the luff rope of the mainsail is stretched about 1" for every 10ft. of mainsail luff length (called 'luff preload').. increasing the halyard/cunningham tension moves the position of maximum draft in a sail *FORWARD* (in ALL sails!!!). A NEUTRAL helm will allow the boat to sail off to infinity in a straight line ... all by itself. Then, decrease the halyard tension (with hands off the tiller) until the boat s-l-o-w-l-y begins to head up and has *very slight* apparent weather helm. Do the SAME with the halyard of the genoa !!!!!!! Then completely 're-do' all the shaping, headstay/backstay tensioning to get max. boat speed. Use a FULL set of telltales ('gentry tufts') and DO anything and everthing so that ALL the leeward side tales are FLAT ... and the ALL windward side tales are 'just occasionally rising' .... and ALL leech tell tales are streaming STRAIGHT BACK !!!!!. If the telltales on one side are behaving differently .... there is a shape/trim error ... fix it; for max. speed ALLl tell tales on each side should be doing the exact same thing. Ignore 'backwinding' as this isnt 'backwinding' .... its OK to be pointing well with a 'happy bubble' at the luff of the mainsail. The BEST information ever written on use of telltales is found: www.arvelgentry.com ---> "magazine articles" ----> Checking Trim on the Wind, November 1973Achieving Proper Balance, December 1973Sailing to Windward, January 1974Are You at Optimum Trim?, March 1974Arvel Gentry was the 'secret weapon' of the US Americas Cup boats during the 70s & 80s ... these 'articles' set the entire racing/sailing world on its collective ear.All the above will get your boat pointing the highest angle and at the greatest speed; but, doing so is only 30% of the requirement ......Tactics and Strategy on the race course is the other 30%. Suggest you get some elementary texts on racing tactics and strategy. The best I can recommend would be "Sailing Smart" by Buddy MelgesThe next 30% is practice, practice, practice and more practice ... and everytime you practice keep detailed records of sail shape, speed, windconditions, tacking angles, sail trim, etc. etc. etc. The next 5% would come from optimization of tacks/gybes using a masthead wind instrument and GPS and software/hardware such as "sail timer" ... which computes the optimized tack/gybe angles and WHEN to tack/gybe. http://www.motionparallax.com/TCDVDs/4versions/Products.htmlThe next 5% is luck .... and if you 'prepare and practice' you will easily 'make' most of your luck. As regards getting a larger Genoa .... I'd actually go SMALLER probably something on the order of a 120-130% "deck sweeper". A deck-sweeper is a headsail that actually touches the deck and closes off the air thats attempting to go under the sail from the higher pressure side to the lower pressure side. A deck sweeper is VASTLY more efficient than a headsail that you can 'see under'. So, get your present sail as close to the deck as possible ... if you NEED to see on the other side of the sail... get some vinyl windows added to it. A smaller LP headsail will also usually enhance upwind performance. You wont 'point' well (at speed) without a 'good' headsail !!!!!!! As regards the mainsail ... I would assume that the present mainsail is quite old ..... old sails usually have shrunken boltropes which set with draft-aft shape, too full draft and the leech hooking to windward (usually such a sail will set with the boom/clew much lower than the gooseneck (in comparison to the horizontal) ... if thats the case, take the sail to a sailmaker and have him/her 'ease' the boltrope and possibly slightly 'over-ease' the luff boltrope so that the sail is reshaped to a slightly flatter shape to the luff section. (Flatter luff 'entry' will result in a faster sail but one that will have a bit less amount of 'power' for punching through chop). A mainsail with a shrunken boltrope will make the boat heel excessively (skidding off to leeward with a full keel) and you wont go anywhere 'fast'. While the mainsail is at the loft, consider to get it converted to 'loose foot' configuration (slashing off the boltrope, etc. at the foot) for vastly better ability to control the amount of draft in the lower sections/panels .... so you can make the mainsail 'board flat' (almost as flat as a sheet of plywood) instead of reefing. Hope this helps as the above 'stuff' will begin to move you up from the back of the pack well towards the front and 'in contention'. The "practice" and data recording is the fastest means ... as nothing beats time on the water 'with purpose'. Since your boat is a masthead rig .... for best perfomance NEVER reef that genoa!!! Rather, always reef (or better, flatten) the mainsail and leave that genoa flying FULL out ... even sailing ONLY on the genoa and with the main fully down. You'll be very surprised how well you will 'point' with 'just' that (correctly trimmed/shaped) genoa flying. hope this helps. 

 

[mike C16582]

where do you race??

where do you race?? If it is on the Hudson, remeber that a full keel will have lots of leeway compared to fin keels due to the current. Keep out of the current (and channel) as much as you can (when going against it) and try to keep your bow pointed into the current as much as possible (less leeway)