| From
the front of the boat everything is much clearer. Crews can glance around
without worrying about whether or not the boat is on the wind or not. Keep
this in mind when your legs are saying not another minute, or your feet
feel like they will come off right at the ankles. What a great moment to
strain those tired stomach muscles one more time and look around the
course. Has your skipper overlaid again? Now you will have to hike even
longer. Has your skipper missed the 2-boat circle at the weather mark and
now you will be ducking a string of 5 - 10 Snipes on starboard? What about
the main: is it trimmed in so tight that the leech is cut off and the boat
is going a knot slower than the one on your hip? Or maybe there is one
huge shift on the left as you sail of to the right. Many times it takes
the crew to discover these mistakes. If your skipper is doing their job,
concentrating on the speed and point then someone on board better be
thinking tactics. It is the crew's job to make sure the skipper has not
led the team off to a dead end. Keep your eyes open on the courses. Give
the skipper feedback. |
Puff
on the left. Righty just ahead. Port layline 5 boat lengths. You're too
low and fast, let's try some point. Now an idea for speed: before each
start, check your trim. Go down low and look up the sail. The leech of the
jib should match the back of the main. This means there should be a good
deal of twist in the jib. The slot (gap between the leech of the jib and
the luff of the main) should be fairly equal all the way up. Under
the boom in the lower part of the jib you may use some more return on the
jib. This means that the jib can be hooked back toward the centerline. In
my new boat I use an inboard lead. But most of the time this is in light
air. That means you can sit low and hold the jib in with your hand. Don't
forget the leech must match the back of the main from the boom up. With
this inboard twist you may go faster and higher. Give it a try next time
the wind is under 8 knots. Go up with another boat and then make the
change. Work on this technique over time and you will find when it works
best. |