footing, pinching, tiller feedback

bjmoose

bjmoose

Member
At the Masters PCCs over the weekend, I was unbelievably slow upwind.

Now, I already know that pinching is one of my weaknesses, so I'm always trying to think at least about "foot for speed."

But I'm trying to develop a wiser view of what, exactly, "foot for speed" really means in a laser.

Even when footing, "fast" in J/24 sailing takes a pretty light hand on the tiller - sort of a pencil "thumb and forefingers" grip - and if you're grabbing the tiller extension hard/tightly, you're using the rudder as a brake and slowing down.

But the laser seems to have more weather helm than the J/24. How tightly are you guys gripping the tiller extension when going upwind? How much feedback do you get from the tiller? What does "fast" upwind in full hiking conditions in waves/chop feel like via the tiller?

In a more general sense, what are some of the other clues the boat gives you about what "fast" feels like? How do you know you're in the groove and going fast?
 
The full rig has a lot more weather helm then most any other boat. It's mainly an issue with the sail design (center of effort vs center of lat. resistance)

The flatter you can hike, the less the weather helm, as the heeled hull shape also adds more windward helm. That's why pinching can seem like it's the right thing to do, as pinching helps reduce heel, which reduces helm, which can "feel right" if you are used to sailing other well balanced boats, but the Laser full rig is a different animal and needs to have the bow forced down.

To help keep the bow down, when you just can't keep it flat anymore, you need to work thru the sail controls, flattening the sail and finally easing mainsheet (with the vang on hard)

Even at that point, you'll still have a firm grip on the tiller and still need to be using forearm and bicep strength to keep the boat from wanting to head up.
 
I often find the key is to put some more cunningham on when the boat is not feeling balanced in bigger air.
 
The Masters' PCC's certainly saw some breeze on saturday! For reference, here is a picture of Steve about to round the leeward mark (see all the pictures that Chris Ray took that day at his website):
 

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I believe that pinching in breeze and waves is very slow. I've sailed against some that seem to be able to pull it off, I don't know how. What works for me in that sort of breeze (besides hiking really hard with weight aft of normal position) is to work on keeping the boat flat while driving into the sail. For me, when over 18-20 knots (that's what weight gets you), I need to be easing the main to keep it flat (and sheeting back in the moment the boat starts to stand up), and this means max vang so the boom won't lift when I do that.

In a Radial I'm guessing its close to the same technique. While the article has not been updated in some time, you can look at Ryan Minth's Radial tuning guide on the Laser Class website to get some set up tips.

One other thing... on sunday I was watching boats sailing downwind and I think several boats had their boards raised way too high. While it was lighter on sunday, we still were in the 12-15 knots range and I think you should not raise the board more than 25-30%. IMHO, the boat needs the directional stability that having the board down gives you. When you raise it too much the boat feels squirrelly and hard to control. I think the stability far outweighs the extra drag.
 
Your technique in waves will vary depending upon the size of the waves and the distance between them. In general in waves you need more vang and more cunningham, assuming there is pressure to keep you hiking.

For large chop or swells where distances between waves is short it's critical not to let any wave hit the bow of the boat that stops you dead in the water. To achieve this, you need to head low most of the time, coming up when you meet a flat section of water, you need to steer around each wave as each is different. In addition I tend to sit further back in the cockpit to raise the bow out of the water (up to 12" / 30cm behind where the cleats would be). Body dynamics also help steering the boat and keeping the bow clear of waves that may stop the boat. Basically you aim to punch the boat through each wave, avoiding slowing the boat down and forgetting about height except when the opportunity rises.

In larger swells, where the distance between waves is significantly greater, punching throuh each wave isn't important as you have time to steer the boat more carefully. There has been a change in technique amongst the top sailors in recent years and I've yet to master it, but they seem to be bearing off as the climb the wave and pointing up and surfing down the back of the wave. If speed is gained it permits you to point higher as you go up the next wave.
 
I have seen sailors in heavy air who go upwind with the vang maxed on and ease and trim the mainsheet from almost two-blocked to as much as a foot or so out (while also bearing off when easing and coming back to closehauled when trimming), which is called vang sheeting and is pretty fast in breeze and chop when steering through waves. if anyone wanted to elaborate more please do since i'm not the best at describing it.
 
Your description is fine, it's the extension of what I was mentioned earlier with going low through chop. Lot's of vang and cunningham, just play the mainsheet so that the boat remains flat with the aim of maintaining boat speed at all times. The boom can be any where from block to block, to eased out what ever is required to keep the boat flat. As the wind pressure decreases you can pull the main on, if the water flattens you can point out. In survival conditions (30+knots) you may well find that the bulk of your sail is flapping, with only a small area actually working.
 
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