Not true. It's quite possible to just feel if the boat is acting better or worse.The only way to really gauge and fine tune your speed is to sail with one to a few other boats This can be during practice sessions (ideal) or during a race.
... digital speed read out mounted on their mast. I suspect it was GPS linked or something of that nature.
What physical indications do you use to tell you that this is the fastest that I can make this rig go and there aint any more?
I understand the "feel" and being a pilot understand how the feeling can be deceptive and unreliable. What I am trying to establish is; if I am training alone and "feel" that I am in the groove when I am not, that I will be learning the wrong technique. So I am looking for indicators that tell me that I am either doing what I should be, or not.
I am not denying that you can get sensations that tell you what the boat is doing. I just want to correlate that with the proper indications.
if I am training alone and "feel" that I am in the groove when I am not, that I will be learning the wrong technique. So I am looking for indicators that tell me that I am either doing what I should be, or not.
refer to this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=15dRC54G7Vk
I agree with mister 49208... i was going to say that you really just need to enter a regatta and try different things... you'll see quickly that since the last time you crossed someone they're now 5 boatlegnths behind you, you did something right...
Sorry to be a boring engineer in all this discussion about "feel", but if you're out on your own and REALLY want to learn what gives you the best speed, why not go hi tech like the Vuiton cup boats and get a Velocitek S10 GPS Speedometer. Gives you VMG every second or so and designed for mounting on a dinghy + data download and display of your entire training session on a PC.
No I'm not a rep for them but seriously considered getting one myself as I find it hard to get others to come out practising with me and having started sailing at 48, am having trouble getting the "feel", "groove", "force" or whatever.
Regardless of direction that I choose to sail I want to know that I am going as fast as I possibly can. Some thing like the Velocitek device can tell me that the configuration I am using is the most efficient. Whether I make progress towards a specific destination is a matter of tactics. As long as I sail on a straight course I want to sail that course as fast as possible. Once I have established technique and configuration with regard to wind direction, I will apply that to tactics.
I guess watching for signs on the boat or using a GPS or something might work if you have perfect seabreeze conditions or something to practice in.
I don't, I sail mostly on a reasonably small lake with quite dodgy winds, using something like that wouldn't give any usefull readout at all as the wind changes so much.
Need to eather go by feel or have another boat really close to you.