By the Lee on flat water?

N

Nicko

New Member
Our frostbite series starts next week which I would like to compete in.
I am brushing up on my sailing skills and am tempted to have a go at perfecting sailing by the lee.
All I have read so far seems to be explaining how helpful it can be in waves.
Can it be used to good effect in flat water?
I sail on an inland reservoir where the chop never gets more that a foot or so.
Will I be wasting my time learning by the lee and should I concentrate on starting and mark rounding, or will I be missing an essential sailing skill which might push me up the places?
Any advice gratefully recieved.

Nicko
 
By the lee i think is useful, but starts and mark rounding will definetely gain you the most ground and can win you a few places.
 
Nicko,

Sailing by-the-lee is faster than sailing dead downwind because, to put it simply, by-the-lee involves wind flowing across the sail rather than hitting the sail and getting congested when dead downwind. Anything is faster than dead downwind - and more stable! This applies whether you are on the sea or inland.

The ground gained by a good start will be wasted if you go slowly round the course and a bad start will mean that your speed will be used in catching up! Don't try to learn one thing to the exclusion of another. Be useless everywhere - like me!
 
Alistair426 said:
Nicko,

Sailing by-the-lee is faster than sailing dead downwind because, to put it simply, by-the-lee involves wind flowing across the sail rather than hitting the sail and getting congested when dead downwind. Anything is faster than dead downwind - and more stable! This applies whether you are on the sea or inland.

The ground gained by a good start will be wasted if you go slowly round the course and a bad start will mean that your speed will be used in catching up! Don't try to learn one thing to the exclusion of another. Be useless everywhere - like me!
Click to expand...


Ditto.
 
Nicko

It's well worth learning to sail by the lee on flat water. You need to learn it there before using it in the waves anyway and it will allow you to chase gusts going down wind with out constantly gybing.

This allows to follow an S course going from broad reach to bye the lee keeping the wind flowing over the sail. As said earlier this is faster than going directly down wind and sometimes bye the lee seems faster than a broad reach.

I know I'm doing it right when my mast wind indicator points directly at the sail and the one on the bow eye goes round and round.
 
Yes, learn to apply by the lee sailing in all conditions it can be the fastest point sail on a run. And, TACTICALLY, much can be gained when you stay on starboard and other boats jibe to port!
 
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