Sail Trim and Balance Documents
April 23, 2009
Here are some documents that I like to use whenever I am discussing the topic of sail trim and balance as I did on Tuesday, April 21st with the Balitmore Downtown Sailing Center.
How Sails Really Work by Arvel Gentry
The Aerodynamics of Sails by Arvel Gentry
Sail Trim and Balance Slide Show (regularly updated – email for the most recent!)
Steering with balance by Frank Bethwaite
I am constantly writing new presenations and blog posts about all sorts of topics, so if there are questions that you have please send them along. I will use them as the foundation for a post or presentation and do my best to answer any questions you might have.
Wednesday Night Racing
April 22, 2009
It is Wednesday. If you live in Annapolis (or just about any other sailing town in America) that means that it is race night. Tonight happens to be the first Wednesday Night Race of the season – and I am excited. Casual beer can racing is fun. Great comraderie and a chance for most folks to blow off a little steam and hone their skills mid-week. It is great!
There are some tricks to doing well in a beer can race. Because the courses are often around government marks knowing the course is imperative to doing well. Several marks many miles away from one another may make up the course, and there is no promise that the course the last group to start is using is the same course you are doing. Fortunately the race committee provides everyone with the necessary information. But it is up to each competitor to read and use it.
In the case of the Annapolis Yacht Club they have published their Notice of Race (NOR) sailing instructions (SI’s) and amendments online. Results will be available there too!
So there aren’t any excuses for not knowing where to go, but it takes more than an understanding of the course to win on Wednesday. Smart sailing that keeps the fun quotient high, preserves crew, boat and sails for the more serious racing and a positive attitude are as critical to winning (and winning with a smile) as perfect tacks. I am certainly ready to have some fun and look forward to sharing stories from the first WNR later.
Sail Trim and Balance For Baltimore’s Downtown Sailing Center
April 22, 2009
Last night I was fortunate enough to speak before Baltimore’s Downtown Sailing Center (DSC). Special thanks to Maria Grotz and all the friendly faces in the crowd. I had a great time talking about Sail Trim And Balance and look forward to speaking to the group again in the future.
In the theater room of the Baltimore Museum of Industry more than 60 racing, cruising and casual racers listened to me go on and on about how cool I think sail trim is and how fun I think it is to effectively steer a sailboat with weight and sail balance.
If you were part of the audience and are interested in any of the materials I presented last night, or would like to discuss any of the concepts in more details please contact me or even better – leave a comment on this or future posts.
The Downtown Sailing Center is an 11-year-old, award winning, non-profit, 501 (c)(3) community sailing center offering area residents sailing instruction and access to sailing without the cost of private ownership and boat maintenance. They have a very clear mission:
To make the joy of sailing accessible to everyone, regardless of age, income, ability or disability.
DSC does this by:
- offering the community affordable access to quality sailing programs and event;
- providing education in sailing and water safety skills at all levels for all ages and abilities; and
- sponsoring both recreational and racing opportunities
The DSC’s many sailing programs include junior sailing day and overnight camps, outreach programs for Baltimore City youth and disabled individuals, adult lessons, open recreational sailing, charters, and racing. This is just the sort of grassroots community based program that sailing needs to grow in the future. Check them out!
First things first – The Keys To Winning
April 20, 2009
Sunday April 19th the Naval Academy Sailing Squadron hosted their annual spring regatta, an event that acts as a kick off for many Annapolis area racing teams.
Sunday was one design day and eight J105′s and nine J35′s hit the water for two races. I was onboard a J35 that is fairly new program with outstanding individual talent, but relatively little time sailing together on the boat.
The day started off with little to wind, and with arrival of a low pressure system the wind speed jumped to full on breezy conditions in a very short period of time. Of course, that short period of time was in the final minutes before the start. The overpowered conditions quickly highlighted how important boathandling is to racing success.
With all the boats traveling nearly the same speed, and few major shifts, the racing came down to who could execute the basic boathandling maneuvers best. With large overlapping head sails tacking becomes a chore and a challenge – but a necessary one.
On any given race it is likely that your tacking to gybing ratio is 3:1 – maybe more. Meaning that you may tack 5 times per beat and only gybe once or twice. Add to that ratio that the best tacks slow the boat quite a bit (maybe a three boatlength loss) – and you quickly realize that your tacks have got to be good. There not easy either. So even though the maneuver is fairly simple it must be practiced to perfection.
For instance on the first windward leg of both races yesterday we rounded about eight boatlenghts behind the leaders. If we lost one boatlength per tack to the leaders or did just one more tack than the leader right there is the difference between first and fourth. That’s pretty good incentive to work on your tacking technique.
The best part of about boat handling practice is that it can happen just about anytime. With or without a full crew compliment. Until you are perfect I suggest practicing with your smallest sails. It makes it easier on the crew and lets the initial focus be on the driver’s turn. When you are at compliment let the focus be on the trimmers choreography, and if they boat is really doing well with the smaller sail then you can take the technique and timing up to the bigger headsails. When it is light, and you’ve got the whole crew aboard, work on having the forward crew members roll the boat aggressively.
A very simple drill is to find a long runway, set a repeating countdown timer to 2:00 and tack every time the watch beeps. Do this for an hour. That’s 30 tacks. If possible it is great to mount a video camera either at the mast looking aft, or at the stern pulpit looking forward. The camera will provide great feedback for everyone on the boat.
The point here is that if you are going to get the crew together to practice focus on your boat handling until it is absolutely perfect. Boat speed and tactics won’t mean a thing until then.
Here are the scores from yesterday’s races:
Division: J/35 (9 boats) (top)
| Pos | Sail | Boat | Skipper | 1 | 2 | Total Points |
Pos |
| 1 | 40738 | Maggie | Scheidt, Peter | 3 | 1 | 4.00 | 1 |
| 2 | 40248 | Bad Company | Moss, Barry | 1 | 4 | 5.00 | 2 |
| 3 | 73000 | Medicine Man | Kohlerman III,IV, Charles F | 2 | 3 | 5.00 | 3 |
| 4 | 53408 | Aunt Jean | Christofel, Jerry | 5 | 2 | 7.00 | 4 |
| 5 | 41870 | T-Bone | Artman, Bruce | 4 | 7 | 11.00 | 5 |
| 6 | 33785 | Tiamat | Downes, Buck | 7 | 6 | 13.00 | 6 |
| 7 | 97864 | Dakota Girl | Reuer, Stephanie | 9 | 5 | 14.00 | 7 |
| 8 | 53427 | WINDEPENDENT | McGonigle, Masci- | 6 | 8 | 14.00 | 8 |
| 9 | 73425 | Rebel Yell | Hamburger, Joel | 8 | 9 | 17.00 | 9 |
April Showers…
April 20, 2009
Better bring some May flowers, because I am tired of sailing in the rain. Of course all of these low pressure systems sure bring good wind and a chance to learn a little bit about weather systems and how they influence the wind we use.
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to sail with clients Friday, Saturday and Sunday and witnessed a fairly regular weather system change.
Monday through Thursday a low pressure system pounded the Chesapeake Bay with big breeze (from the East) and lots of cold rain. Then a high pressure system swept in, brought big wind initially and lots of sunshine. For the Annapolis area with the sun came warmer temperatures and a bit of sea breeze (water temperature in the Bay is 52 degrees) and some great sailing conditions. But by Sunday a new system was moving in and the wind and weather changed pretty radically.
I had predicted that the weather system would arrive late in the day on Sunday – but instead it showed up around 1130 and conditions changed from light and variable to NE and building, and finally settled into an easterly 12-16kts.
In fact in the race on Sunday we went from 10-20kts of appartent wind in about 15 minutes. WHOA! Looking at my notes from that race there were some pretty clear indicators. Patchy clouds at 0900 gave way to steady cloud cover at 1045. Swinging ships with at least a 100 feet more “air draft” began swinging, long before we felt the shift at the surface – yet it was obvious enough that I wrote it down.
All in all it was a great lesson that I hope I can apply to a race situation again in the future.
I have posted a current surface map for the Mid-Atlantic region in this post. You should be able to click on it and view a larger version. Here is some information on how to read that map.
How to Read a Surface Map
Surface maps depict the large-scale elements of the weather. These elements include high and low pressure systems, cold and warm fronts, and precipitation areas.A high pressure system is an area of relative pressure maximum that has diverging winds and a rotation opposite to the earth’s rotation. Fair weather is typically associated with high pressure.
A low pressure system is an area of relative pressure minimum that has converging winds and rotates in the same direction as the earth. This is counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Stormy weather is often associated with low pressure systems.
A cold front is the leading edge of an advancing cold air mass that is under running and displacing the warmer air in its path. Generally, with the passage of a cold front, the temperature and humidity decrease, the pressure rises, and the wind shifts (usually from the southwest to the northwest in the Northern Hemisphere). Precipitation is generally at and/or behind the front, and with a fast-moving system, a squall line may develop ahead of the front.
A warm front is the leading edge of an advancing warm air mass that is replacing a retreating relatively colder air mass. Generally, with the passage of a warm front, the temperature and humidity increase, the pressure rises, and although the wind shifts (usually from the southwest to the northwest in the Northern Hemisphere), it is not as pronounced as with a cold frontal passage. Precipitation, in the form of rain, snow, or drizzle, is generally found ahead of the surface front, as well as convective showers and thunderstorms. Fog is common in the cold air ahead of the front. Although clearing usually occurs after passage, some conditions may produce fog in the warm air.
Current surface maps are updated every hour. Forecast surface maps are updated once each day.
If you are looking for more resources on weather, wind and forecasting. Give us a call or contact us.
April 12, 2009
Tides.Info: Tide Predictions for Annapolis, Maryland
Building the Ark
April 1, 2009
Spring has arrived and I know that there are plenty of folks who are eyeing their savings accounts and the brokerage pages thinking about a great season on the water. I can’t think of a better bad idea. Boats make very little sense – except for all those times you are on them. DO IT!
HEY SOS SAILORS!
March 20, 2009
So apparently it isn’t as easy as I had hoped (or as easy as it used to be) to download the documents I reference below. If you’d like copies shoot me an email or give me a call and I will email them to you ASAP.
Thanks!
kb
Sail Trim Documents – Spring Tune Up!
March 17, 2009
As many of you may know I was at the Singles on Sailboats Spring Training this past weekend to discuss sail trim and balance. In an effort to reduce my paper consumption I didn’t print handouts for the event, but wanted to make available via downloadable PDF what would have otherwise been handouts.
Embedded below are the documents that we discussed this past weekend at the Singles On Sailboats Spring Training. The sailstravaganza as I like to call it. What you will find below are the sail shape control guide that we discussed. Using the three sail shape descriptors – Angle of Attack, Draft, Twist – you can figure out what controls are useful for shaping your sails. There are always exceptions to the rules, but this is a pretty good starting point for most boats.
Then below that you will find “set-up” guides for the mainsail and jib or genoa. Again, this is a rough place to begin, is not boat specific but is a good place to get you into the ballpark. If you have questions about specific conditions, points of sail, etc. don’t hesitate to post a comment or question. You can catch me at JWorld teaching these concepts and you can always contact me directly too.
Here there are. If you have trouble downloading – contact me.
Mainsail Matrix
Jib/Genoa Matrix
fundamental-sail-controls-matrix
mainsail-set-up-matrix
base-jib-genoa-settings-matrix
SOS Documents
March 14, 2009
If you are here looking for the documents discussed today at the SOS lectures on Sail Trim, please check back soon. They will be downloadable as PDF’s shortly.
Thanks you –
kb
About me
I am the owner of Gale Force Sailing and write about all things related to coaching, instruction and team building. contact me>>
