Oct16
Big Wind Lessons Part 1 - Follow-up on Sound OD Championship Post
*1) Jib* - Inducing twist to the jib on Sunday was definitely correct. However the jury is split on the trim of the jib. Some of the top boats actually had the jib sheeted out to just outside the spreaders . I do not think we (djinn) ever had it outside the spreaders, but we did have it in tight and neither worked very well. Perhaps out to the spreaders is the way to go and/or something to try for next time.
*2) Vang* - As much a I wanted to stress the vang on Sunday, I think I still underestimated it. The amount of vang required to keep the main flat is intense, which is why some boats blew out their vangs altogether.
Equipment issue: Not enough purchase to put it on tight. Not properly rigged to blow it easily if needed. UPGRADE YOUR VANGS TO MAXIMUM PURCHASE ALLOWED BY CLASS RULES.
*3) Downwind spinnaker* - Definitely my weakest point. One of my constant fears is accidentally gybing caused by the action of the waves. After just a minute of talking through my fears, I realized that accidentally gybing the main in heavy air is not going to easily happen under spinnaker. It’s hard enough to gybe the main even when we _WANT_ to gybe, because the main is pinned against the shrouds.
Being by-the-lee a bit or being dead downwind for the entire run and getting pushed by waves isn’t going to do anything to move the main. So, then the question becomes how to control the rolls, and the answer is moving weight back in the boat. We should have had everyone much further back, and we should have been twinging in hard on both sites to better control the kite.
Equipment issue: Twingers rigged aft instead of having their own cleats near the beam. The rear cleats are too crowded..twingers get in way of spinnaker trim.
… More in Part 2…
Boathandling, Layout and Hardware, Race Report
peter Oct 18th 2007 at 10:28 am 1
Juju has the same gear issues or worse. We need to upgrade the vang, the outhaul is useless, and we don’t even have twings. We’ve got some work to do in the off-season.
It is amazing how solidly the main is plastered to the shrouds when the wind is blowing. The big fear is a sudden gust from a new direction. From the pictures over at Borrowed Light it looks like Suspense had a near broach. Did you see that?
Noj Oct 18th 2007 at 05:38 pm 2
Yes! I think you’re talking about this picture:
http://www.borrowedlightimages.com/ShowSelectedImage.asp?img=blimages%5CSailing%5CSound%2520One%2520Design%2520Fleet%2520Championships%5C2007%5CDSC_488087.jpg&itemID=DSC_488087.jpg&RaceDescription=Sound%2520One%2520Design%25202007
So that’s a standard (ha!) leward broach. I’ve learned that the best thing to do is have someone on the vang to get ready to blow it (another reason to have a proper vang setup that’s easy to uncleat) and , the trimmer needs to release the sheet (never the guy) . Of course it’s critical that the spinnaker sheets not have any knots in them or recovering from this isn’t going to be easy without a knife.
In this scenario the main stays on the same side as it was on. They were on starboard, they got to hot (to weather) and they broached to leward. Fairly easy to recover from this and no risk of the main killing anyone.
That regatta had the winds pretty steady. If the heavy winds are also shifty (more than 10 to 15 degrees) I would be very worried. You’re totally right, a big change in direction, combined with an ill-timed wave could easily cause the boat to crash gybe. I suppose in those conditions it’s either not advisable to fly the spinnaker or to do an extremely good job of steering the boat to keep the spinnaker in front.
To avoid a windward broach, I’ve learned to never let the leward clew of the spinnaker to get beyond the forestay (to weather). In a leward broach the main will inevitably swing over, the spinnaker will be in the water (as will some of the crew inevitably) and recovery is considerably more difficult and dangerous. We almost had one windward broach at this regatta, it was not fun. I’ve had dozens of windward broaches in bigger boats and they’re not the worst things in the world as long as the crew is all working together you can get good at avoiding them.
After all this heavy air talk, I’m starting to think about how to do better in light air days! Ha!
Noj Oct 18th 2007 at 05:40 pm 3
The last paragraph should ready “In a WINDWARD broach, the main will inevitably swing over”
Al Hobart Nov 20th 2007 at 01:53 pm 4
Lessons from long 40+ knot Macdonough race run on Lake Champlain in the late 1980s: Have a great crew. Place them as far back in the boat as possible. Keep the small jib up to prevent chute wraps around the forestay in the event of broaches. (When we rounded up in trying to pass wallowing bigger boats and were getting ready to walk out onto the keel to get the mast up out of the water, the spin. sheet was eased and we began to come up-right, whereupon the filling jib helped to drive the bow back down onto a run, rescuing us. There seemed to be only one slant on which we could survive: just above straight down wind. Abject fear kept me on that slant, with small adjustments to keep the boat under the mast. The vang was on very hard to reduce all main twist, and the chute was choked down hard by the twings. Close all hatches tight. Occasionally we would come down off of a wave and drive the bow under the next wave, aimed at China. When big waves are close together try to steer up a little when your speed has built coming off a crest to avoid going straight into the steepest waves. (.Beware of wind direction that doesn’t match wave direction). The j-24’s 3/4 rig allows greater control than one would expect in very heavy wind. A 36 footer under main and jib claimed their speed was 12 knots when we passed them like a motor boat.