Sail shorter distance/ Part 2

[Don Guillette]

The following sailing situation actually happened. I used to race with a guy who always ignored wind shifts - in my opinion that is one of the reasons he was a middle of the pack racer. One day at Shoreline YC in Long Beach I made the mistake of telling him he would do better if he played the shifts. This ended up in a big argument and he told me I was full of crap. Playing the shifts is so obvious I could not believe what he was saying. I told him the next time we cruise together on a shifty day I'll prove it to you.About 1 week later I got the conditions I wanted and we started off. we set a point on our GPS's about 6 miles out. We stayed together for about 3 miles with nothing happening. I thought this was going to be a bust but at about 3 miles we got headed about 20 degrees. I immediately tacked and he continued on his course. Now I'm on a lift and 20 degrees above his course and praying for another wind shift, which is not comming. At about 2.5 miles on that course I thought it was all over as I though he would just tack at the lay line and that would be it but the wind God smiled on me and the wind shifted back to its original direction at about 3 miles. Now I'm headed and he is lifted and he is at the lay line and tacks. I tacked also and sailed to the lay line and tacked again just shortly before the destination point.Back at the YC bar we compared GPS's. On this 6 mile point A to point B test course, how much farther do you think he sailed than I did from the start to finish line or do you think he crossed the line ahead of me?

 

[Ted]

More facts needed

Don, you failed to tell us who was sailing the faster boat. If they were identical boats (or if their PHRF ratings were the same) you would have reached the destination point first unless of course your sail trim was wrong. You didn't mention how many degrees the second shift was. My guess is that your friend sailed an extra half a mile.

 

[Don Guillette]

Sail shorter

Ted: The other boat was a C30 just like mine but newer and with better sails than I have. The shift brought me almost back to the original course so it was somewhere around 20 degrees. I hit the destination about 1.50 to 1.75 miles ahead of him. Has I had better sails it would have been closer to 2 miles.The nice part about this was I made a believer out of him and we are the best of friends. In the next race he participated in he came in 3rd. He has never finished that high - he played the shifts and the middle to back of the pack racers did not. The next time I saw him he handed me a bottle of Chivas Regal as a token of his appreciation for what I had done for him - which was really nothing. I like sailors that have an open mind. Some that I have run into, when they lose an argument, they hold a snit forever!

 

[Alan]

Don, one little error. If you were headed 20 degrees and tacked while he fell off 20, you have effectively picked up 40 degrees on him. When you tacked on the next knock you were way ahead and should have been lifted close to the layline. He now has to sail a knock to the next tack.

 

[Don Guillette]

Error

Alan: Actually I never thought about it (I always tack on a header) as he just kept going but the longer he kept going the worse it was for him - I went to Catholic school and I knew why God created me but I was very poor in math and had trouble with nouns and verbs! The fact that your sailing farther from your destination is the best reason to tack on a header.

 

[Alan]

Don

sometimes you really me smile ....anyway its hard to understand how a seasoned sailor couldn't understand that tacking on a header is almost always the right thing to do upwind and jibing on a lift downwind.

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

There is a case for sailing the headed tack

That Don is describing is an oscillating shift pattern.The choice of whether or not to tack on a header involves the time between shifts and the time to the mark.In a persistent shift, where the average wind direction shifts more or less continuously during the weather leg, it pays to sail the headed tack first. The shift puts you close the the opposite tack layline and you tack when the shift will continue to lift you to the mark.If you sail the lifted tack first you sail more distance. Its called the great circle route. I used to have a GPS plot of a weather leg where I made that mistake framed and hung on the wall of my office, just to remind me not to do that again. There is a time on the weather leg that the wind will not shift again before reaching the mark, from that time on, treat the shift as persistent and try to plan your weather leg to place you on the course to take advantage of the last shift.I've seen sailors that play the shifts upwind, not work them downwind. They become easy prey for the boats that do.

 

[Alan]

Moody

You stated it exactly right. Holding your course on a persistant header is a hard thing for many skippers to do, but it is right. The trick is KNOWING that it is a persistant and not an oscillating shift.Also true downwind, many skippers and crew tend to relax on this leg. This is the time where you can make the very best gains and pick up many many boat lengths on the competition.

 

[Don Guillette]

Downwind shifts

There is not a lot written about downwind sailing. In So Ca that leg is when most crews break out the beer and sandwiches but it is when I go to work. I can generally pick off a couple of boats easily. Holding them off after the mark rounding is another matter. Check out the article I wrote on downwind which covers just about everything you need to know about that leg. The info contained is not just for racers. Cruisers can get a lot out of it also. I apologise for a couple of the typo's in the artcle but just ignore them and you'll get the drift of what I'm saying.

 

[Dick of Sylvan]

Clockwise or //Counter Clockwise Swirls?

On Fremont Lake, WY, we can usually see by the surface water patterns that wind shifts are coming. These are usually swirls caused by complex mountain topography. Problem is I find it hard to tell if they will be clockwise or counter clockwise? If direction is read wrong, tacking on a header often may last only seconds resulting in more loss than gain. In worse case scenarios these gusts can lead to near knock-downs, or worse. If you are back in the pack, swirls can be read by watching the boats ahead, but any advice on how to better read these short-lived gusts if you are out front? Dick

 

[Alan]

Clockwise or //Counter Clockwise Swirls?

Dick, sounds like you're dealing with short lived oscilations that are very localized. When a breeze touches down it fans out on the water. This 'fan' can be read by the guys on the rail. As the boat approaches the left side will be a lift for a stbd tack and vise versa for a port tack. If you are on the wrong tack for the side you are sailing on, tack before you reach the puff to be able to take advantage of the double lift (oscilation plus velocity lift)

 

[Dick of Sylvan]

I'll Try It

Thanks Alan: True, I can see left side and right side of these gusts, so I can try tacking as you suggest. I said swirls, because in severe cases they appear like small dust devils. Dick