What is the secret of downwind boat speed
- Thread starter TacSailor
- Start date
49208
Tentmaker
Start by telling us the wind and wave conditions and your setup (vang tension, board position, heel, and how far out you are letting the boom)
Wind is hard enough to have to hike most of the time, up wind, never planning down wind. Waves, 1 foot or a little bigger, hitting the boat stern quarter, so sailing directly down the wave meant you have to sail on a little bit of a reach. Sailing by the lee most of the time. Main out to about 80-85 degrees, except in the puffs I pulled it in and drove down for fear of a death roll. Main out further if I really want to sail by the lee,and was not in the middle of a puff. No vang, no cunningham, and outhaul eased to about two fists. Board up 1/3 to 1/2.
What is the art of catching as many waves as possible? Do you wait until you are actual on a wave before you turn down, or do you turn down sooner. Also when do you turn back down to sail more by the lee to wait for the next wave to catch?
What is the art of catching as many waves as possible? Do you wait until you are actual on a wave before you turn down, or do you turn down sooner. Also when do you turn back down to sail more by the lee to wait for the next wave to catch?
Rob B
Well-Known Member
Usually the waves are going faster than the boat and you have to catch a wave to ride it. So, you sail a little hot, (tighter reach) to catch a wave. Just as it hit hits your stearn, drove down aggressively and ease your sheet. this should get you launched. When you loose it, rinse, lather, repeat. Keep doing it. Sail up, position yourself to the wave, catch the wave, sail down and ride it. Be careful while bearing away that you move your weight in as you can get too agressive and roll the boat on top of yourself. This is slow.
Rob B
Well-Known Member
A couple of other things. You do need some vang on. I like a 1/3 to 1/2 board up max in any kind of breeze. For me the extra board provides better stability and more reactive helm offwind.
cbyc_radial_sailor
New Member
I like to sail reaches in heavy air... it gives me more of a sense of control...
and no VMG...
Really though, have the board around half way up, I have just enough vang on so that my leach is "swimming" and I am not spilling air. I will have my sheet out to around 95 degrees and tie a knot in the mainsheet at that point. I will head up and sheet in to get on a wave, heeling to leeward most of the time, then I will flatten the boat hard and heel the boat to windward and bear off to sailing by the lee, I want the boat to feel like I will deathroll, at which point I totally let the sheet go, slams against the knot, and then I slam down the rail that is in the air to repeat the whole process.
computeroman2
Member
If you're having trouble keeping up, I would try and make a couple of observations. Firstly, how loud are your movements- are you moving around/rocking the boat a lot, or is the boat very quiet? as an extension, how much rudder are you using?
Also, take a look at angles. Make sure that when you're by the lee you're a lot by the lee, and vice-versa. lasers are very slow exactly ddw.
Also, take a look at angles. Make sure that when you're by the lee you're a lot by the lee, and vice-versa. lasers are very slow exactly ddw.
laser170654
New Member
Practice ----- Practice!!!!!
shutterman0991
New Member
And also, when sailing anywhere, windward heel and no vang and cunningham are essential.
Windward heel is only important if you are going in a straight line in flat water. If there are any waves at all you need to be rolling the boat around and carving a lot.
There are a few things that set the really fast guys apart from the rest. Steering the boat with your body weight downwind is very, very fast. Try not so sail directly downwind, sail on a slight reach or by the lee to keep flow over the sail. Carve up or down to gain speed to hop onto waves. The angles that you sail will be much hotter in lighter air so that you can get enough power and speed to get onto waves. Being aggressive and catching a lot of waves is going to do a lot for your speed.
Another thing that is very important is staying on the waves. A lot of people will just get a little push from a wave and then fall off and wait for the next one. You really need to look at the waves like a surfer does. Try to get on a face and stay on it by sailing along the wave as long as you can.
The vang should be set so that the leech is always flicking a little bit. Too much bounce and you loose power, too little and the boat will not sail loose and you will probably round up and then eat it.
Owyn in Barnsley
New Member
If there is a lot of wind blowing then my tip would be to have bigger balls than anyone else on the race course, I've deathrolled more than any one I know so I don't care if I bin it any more, as a result I tend to be totally commited and scream past those slow coaches who sail with too much sheet on and daren't go by the lee!
knot_moving
Member
my VERY limited experience of this is sailing by the lee and having the rail on the same side as the boom is, raising up & usually everything comes flying over on top of me. Is this the condition you are talking about?
dyzzypyxxy
Member
You're getting lots of good, and varied advice here. I would agree with:
1. Practice, practice. You really need to get a friend to go out with you to practice, though. It's hard to tell if you're going fast or slow downwind if you're alone. If you can get somebody who is faster than you are to come out for a practice, you will learn just by watching them. Look at their control line settings, watch how they're steering and trimming their sail, and how they're moving their body.
2. The closer to "the edge" you can sail, (like TimClark) the faster you will be. But don't flip the boat - it's really slow and tiring, and getting wet and cold will definitely slow up your performance in succeeding races.
3. One thing I don't think anyone's mentioned yet is moving your body forward and back in the boat if the wind is puffy. The hull is really REALLY unstable if you let the V-shaped part dig into the water. i.e. as the wind gets heavier, or in puffs, the pressure on the sail forces the bow down. You need to slide back and keep the boat sailing on one of the flat sections aft or it will go squirly and you will probably deathroll.
4.By the lee is definitely faster and also more stable than either ddw or broad reaching. The goal is to actually get the wind flowing from leach to luff of the sail (backwards). Yes your idiot strings will be flowing forward, and if you have a wind vane on the mast below the boom, it will be going around in circles. But, as somebody else already said, this is only important if there aren't any waves. You need to carve and catch waves if there are any and this REALLY takes practice.
So . . . I sure hope you're coming to Florida this week to practice.
1. Practice, practice. You really need to get a friend to go out with you to practice, though. It's hard to tell if you're going fast or slow downwind if you're alone. If you can get somebody who is faster than you are to come out for a practice, you will learn just by watching them. Look at their control line settings, watch how they're steering and trimming their sail, and how they're moving their body.
2. The closer to "the edge" you can sail, (like TimClark) the faster you will be. But don't flip the boat - it's really slow and tiring, and getting wet and cold will definitely slow up your performance in succeeding races.
3. One thing I don't think anyone's mentioned yet is moving your body forward and back in the boat if the wind is puffy. The hull is really REALLY unstable if you let the V-shaped part dig into the water. i.e. as the wind gets heavier, or in puffs, the pressure on the sail forces the bow down. You need to slide back and keep the boat sailing on one of the flat sections aft or it will go squirly and you will probably deathroll.
4.By the lee is definitely faster and also more stable than either ddw or broad reaching. The goal is to actually get the wind flowing from leach to luff of the sail (backwards). Yes your idiot strings will be flowing forward, and if you have a wind vane on the mast below the boom, it will be going around in circles. But, as somebody else already said, this is only important if there aren't any waves. You need to carve and catch waves if there are any and this REALLY takes practice.
So . . . I sure hope you're coming to Florida this week to practice.