Technique for penalty turns
- Thread starter 135630
- Start date
Kratos
Member
I usually drop my tiller after I initiate the spin.
This helps me focus on my sheeting and body movement without having to worry about the tiller. Once it's jammed over, it'll stay there. No need to hold it.
Light wind: You really have to make sure you keep your speed up while going through the movement. This is when your sheeting and body movement/placement will be key. Getting a good roll/flatten out of the tack(s) and gybe(s) is key to completing the turn fast.
Medium wind: Pretty much the same as light, but you will have a little bit more leeway to make mistakes, as they will be absorbed by the increase wind strength. Still, the better you are, the faster you spin.
Heavy air: Yeah, these can suck. You want to make sure you are able to complete a bear away. Flat boat, sheet off enough, use your body in combination with your tiller to drive the boat down. Keep the boat upright. Sure, turning a bit slower isn't the greatest, but capsizing sucks even more. Just take your time (relatively speaking) and get through the spin(s). You'll have a lot more momentum to work with. If it's really wavy, you can use this to your advantage. Get surfing on a wave and it will make gybing a hell of a lot easier.
In all cases, you want to make sure you are adjusting your controls. For all of them, you will need to loosen your vang. This is more important for the heavy air than the light and medium because, of course, you will (should) have your vang pretty tight. If you don't loosen it, you're not bearing off and if you are, you're going upside down. In heavy air, you will also want to loosen the cunningham some. Again, not such a great detail in the lighter stuff.
Every day when you go out, you should start the day with some tacks, gybes, 360s and 720s. This will not only help you get used to the conditions of the day, but also help when it comes time (hopefully not) to do them in a race.
Hope this helps. Let me know if I missed anything.
This helps me focus on my sheeting and body movement without having to worry about the tiller. Once it's jammed over, it'll stay there. No need to hold it.
Light wind: You really have to make sure you keep your speed up while going through the movement. This is when your sheeting and body movement/placement will be key. Getting a good roll/flatten out of the tack(s) and gybe(s) is key to completing the turn fast.
Medium wind: Pretty much the same as light, but you will have a little bit more leeway to make mistakes, as they will be absorbed by the increase wind strength. Still, the better you are, the faster you spin.
Heavy air: Yeah, these can suck. You want to make sure you are able to complete a bear away. Flat boat, sheet off enough, use your body in combination with your tiller to drive the boat down. Keep the boat upright. Sure, turning a bit slower isn't the greatest, but capsizing sucks even more. Just take your time (relatively speaking) and get through the spin(s). You'll have a lot more momentum to work with. If it's really wavy, you can use this to your advantage. Get surfing on a wave and it will make gybing a hell of a lot easier.
In all cases, you want to make sure you are adjusting your controls. For all of them, you will need to loosen your vang. This is more important for the heavy air than the light and medium because, of course, you will (should) have your vang pretty tight. If you don't loosen it, you're not bearing off and if you are, you're going upside down. In heavy air, you will also want to loosen the cunningham some. Again, not such a great detail in the lighter stuff.
Every day when you go out, you should start the day with some tacks, gybes, 360s and 720s. This will not only help you get used to the conditions of the day, but also help when it comes time (hopefully not) to do them in a race.
Hope this helps. Let me know if I missed anything.
I tried this yesterday with low wind. And realy it is the fastest, drop tiller and turn with roll tacking and gybing. The roll gives enough power to turn fast and an extra when returning to normal course.
Thank you.