Boom Position On the Windward Leg (close-hauled)

Zoey

Member
Hello,
I'm pretty new to sailing the Sunfish and have been out sailing almost every other day, but I'm still having a problem trying to figure out what the position of the boom should be when beating/close-hauled on the windward leg. I pull it in as much as I can then try to sail as close to wind as possible, but it's hard tell if the sail is too tight. I really have that problem when sailing on the Port Tack. How close in degrees can the Sunfish sail into the wind?
Thanks,
Zoey
 
Zoey,
Experience is probably the best answer to your questions, but in lieu of that, a copy of the Sunfish Bible is your best bet. The section "Successful Sunfish Racing" has pretty good instructions on how to sail upwind, downwind and points in between. It also mentions that the trim is a little different on port and starboard tacks. As to how close a SF can sail into the wind, one factor is which daggerboard you have. I believe the Composite board will sail closer than the Barrington, which is better than the original or shadow boards. I did read a discusion somewhere about the differences (a few degrees), but I can't remember (CRS) what the actual angle was.
 
i think its about 45 degrees. because the "no sail zone" is 90 degrees.
hope that helps. also if you feel yourself slowing down you are prob. to close to the wind so head off allitle untill you feel your boat speed pick up again
hope this helps
joe
 

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