Headers

D

David1st

New Member
I have been reading a book on sailing tactics. I am reading a section I don't undersand, in which he suggests always sail towards a header in shifty winds and other situations, is this so you can stay lifted towards the mark when you tack? Do winds have a timed pattern, so you can sail into the header, by the clock?
 
I really don't get your question, but with headers, some people can see them coming my reading the water. However this is really hard to do. Most the time what will happen is you will be sailing up wind, and all of the sudden, your sail will begin to luff, so naturally what you would do is pull your tiller towards you (or away from the sail) and you boat will come off the wind and fill. But when you are racing upwind and you get headed, it is a good idea to tack most of the time, because your wind angle has shifted, so that you will point closer to the mark then you would on the other tack. Going downwind (doesn't pertain to the sunfish as much because we tend to go directly downwind) its the opposite, if you get lifted you would want to gybe, and on the knock you would stay. Downwind you would be going closer to the mark if you get headed.

Hope that helped
 
To add you need to be on the water for some time before the race to track wind paterns. The lake I used to sail on could be counted to shift 15-20 degrees about every 20 minutes. So I'd check my heading a couple of times during the prerace period to see where the directinos were and what it was at the start so I'd know which tack (the lifted one) to be on. I was then "sailing toward the header" and when it cycles back I would tack and then be on the lifted tack again.

Another term "missing a shift" is somewhere around this. It means the sailer kept sailing on the same tack when he was "headed" or forced to sail father away from the mark on the same tack.
 
I think this means that if you are sailing toward a header (you have to be able to spot them/time the shifts), then you are likely in a lift (or at least near the median wind). If you sail toward the headers you will be able to tack in the header and be lifted toward the mark. Or he/she may just mean if you "see" a shift coming (more wind on the water, etc) then by all means go toward it.
 
thanks everyone for your imput!! It seems to me the right thing to do is to knock on a header, thats the advise I keep hearing from every one, so why sail towards a header?, if not to tact to thelifted side of the puff, or consistent energy and be the first to take advantage of the puff,in a lifted direction?
 
That is the idea, if I get what you are saying properly. But sometimes you can think the wind will do one thing and it will do another. So you sail into it to see what it is. Then sometimes at first it may seem like a header, but its just a quick shift and if you tack, you will get knocked right away again, and thats needless to say not fun. So what I will do for the most part, is if its a header, I will stick for 30 seconds about, and if its still a header I'll tack. I do that just to make sure its really a header.
 
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