Racing tips

st louis sailer

New Member
I race my capri 14.2 in a small club with other types of boats, sunfish, FJ, etc. They all seem to be able to point higher then me giving them a clear advantage when sailing up wind. Any tips out there to enable me to point higher? Shift my weight, sail adjustment etc. Note, I sail sometimes with crew and sometimes sole but the results are always the same.
 
I noticed the boat slows down significantly when you try to squeeze out a few more degrees of point. So, unless you have more wind than you need and are trying to de-power the jib by flattening it, I leave the jib on a curve similar to the bow of the boat. Not a great point, but VMG and handling will be better.
There is more you can do tweaking the main. Since it is a fractional rig, the top portion of the main is a working sail you should try to trim it for pointing. To get it to help with pointing, the main sheet needs to be tight enough to pull that top batten in to a good angle to point. There have been a few discussions about how best to do that on this forum. So, I will be interested to hear more as other people chime in, as you figure things out.
 

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