downwind specialist

R

RobKoci

New Member
I recently read a story where Bernie Luttmer, Canadian Olympic rep was quoted saying he considered himself a downwind specialist. It got me thinking; will a downwind specialist ever be able to win against an upwind specialist in this class? Is there enough play in downwind speed to make up for the greater length of time we spend sailing upwind? It seems sailing downwind has enjoyed a revival in recent years with the advent of sailing by the lee and other changes to trim, in particular the boom vang setting, but has it been enough to allow the downwind specialist to dominate, or even win consistently?
The question really relates to body weight, because the downwind specialist is likely to be the lighter weight sailor who is trying to make the best of his/her bad luck of being light. And a suplimentary question: If sailing downwind fast can make up the difference, wouldn't is stand to reason that recommended weight for laser sailing would drop?
Just thoughts on a slow, snowy work day.
 
i think it all depends on how much faster the downwind specialist is compared to the rest, if he can be 10 boatlengths quicker than the average boat downwind but lose 15 upwind, either he is too light or has a bad upwind technique (or fantastic downwind technique).

fitness is also a key factor for upwind, a world class 76kg sailor could most likely keep up or perhaps be faster than a 90kg master or heavy wind specialist. the fitness of world class sailors allows them to get their body out as far as possible (straight leg hiking from the toes, tiller and mainsheet held as far up the body as possible to maximise weight out) while a heavier less-fit sailor could half hike and keep the boat decently flat.

Once they round the top mark its easy to guess who would be faster
 
167 sounds feather-light. And encouraging for a lightweight like me. I am now at 164. Aiming for 171 by the Midwinters in Clearwater. But my 164 is on a 5"7" frame, which according to the same story referenced, is way too short.
 
last summer my coaches kept telling us that if you could catch the lifts going downwind, you would gain twice as much distance as you do going upwind. so being a downwind specialist really is an advantage, i would think.
 
RobKoci said:
It seems sailing downwind has enjoyed a revival in recent years with the advent of sailing by the lee and other changes to trim, .
Click to expand...

Here's an article on downwind S-curve sailing by Luther Carpenter, going from a broad reach to by-the-lee. He was Europe coach at the time of writing, but he wrote it using the Laser as his example. Something to sink our teeth into until drlaser is back.

http://europedinghy.org/links/docs/luth200_dw.htm

Merrily
 
I sail on a river with pretty flat conditions, even when the wind gets up to 20 knots, when it gets choppy but without any significant waves to surf on. The Europ article talks about using S-curving to take full advantage of wave-surfing/planing but is it still faster to S-curve when there aren't waves ?
 
once you get good at s-curving it should be faster than just heading for the next mark because of VMG (velocity made good) which is why skiffs with assymetric spinnakers gybe downwind on large angles instead of going as low as possible
 
Murphs said:
once you get good at s-curving it should be faster than just heading for the next mark because of VMG (velocity made good) which is why skiffs with assymetric spinnakers gybe downwind on large angles instead of going as low as possible
Click to expand...

I heard a lecture by Finnish national team coach who stated that Laser is
a class where sailing at angles doesn't bring benefits as such. The only reason for curving is to catch additional speed from waves or moving to a benefit like gust, current, advantageous side of the course or tactical positioning. Of course you do get some "paddling effect" from your centerboard while turning.(legal)
 
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