Tips from the Winter Concluded

I have been milking this content from my winter training sessions for all its worth in these blogs, but to be fair it has elevated my game significantly.  In the first three regattas of the BC Circuit I have finnished 4th, 3rd and 2nd for an overall 2nd place current ranking on the circuit one point behind my RVicYC training partner (and formerly my athlete) Max Gallant.  At Kitten Cup I lost to him on a tie breaker after he moved up by one point upon winning a protest and at COSA I beat him on a quadruple tie breaker, so we are pretty well matched.  His strong performances have qualified him to represent BC this summer in Sherbrooke, Quebec at the Canada Summer Games.  On a segue, I would like to plug his campeign for the under 21 world championships.  He and Nick Smith have been selling 50/50 tickets, baking lemon loaf and trying their hardest to pay for their trip to Balatonfured, Hungary.  In a strange twist, I randomly traveled right by where there regatta venue will be when I was journeying from Slovenia to Finland after I graduated from U of A.  I have dug up a couple pictures of the area near where they will be sailing.  If you look closely you can tell how windy it was!
 

Have a look at Max and Nick's funding websites:

Max Gallant Laser Sailing

Nick Smith Laser Sailing 

 

While I am promoting my training partners I should mention Matt Turner who just won an Amazing Kids award (click here to see why).  Matt has been sailing very well this season as well.  He won both of the BC Circuit events at which Max and I tied but with an unfortunate Spring Dinghies result he is trailing Max and I by a few points.  Good job Royal Vic!
 

Mark Rounding Tips

Sheeting speed: sheet out faster at the windward mark roundings and sheet in faster at the leeward mark roundings.  Don’t sheet in so much that you luff or stall (respectively) but enough to make sure that you are not fighting your centre of effort.  That is to say when you are heading up the power in your sail should be just behind your centreboard causing your boat to pivot into the wind and when you bear off the power should be just in front of the centreboard to help the boat pivot off the wind.

Don’t overdo the heel on your mark roundings.  In fact try overdoing your heel on the mark roundings and pay attention to the flow over your boat and foils and to your speed at the mark and out of the mark.  Then try again and reduce your heel in your roundings until they feel smooth and fast.  

What I think a lot of racers do is to heel the boat a long way for an impressive pivot at the mark without the need of the rudder, and it feels good because you are not using the rudder, but the sharpness of the turn itself is killing the speed out of the mark.  If you start with heel and flatten out the boat slightly as you turn with a wider radius you can feel the extra apparent wind on the sail.   

The gunwale should only barely touch the water and you should be at full speed much faster.  Doing the mark rounding properly will likely mean that you don’t turn as sharply as you may have been so you have to think more tactically about your entry and path around the mark.

Have your controls set before the mark: Cunningham, outhaul and coarse vang adjustment.  This is also done by marking your control lines.

In the past I have commented that marking your control lines is not a good way of learning, because when you focus on your marks rather than on how the sail shape looks you don't develop as good of an idea of how the sail works.  Also, if you change equipement it can be confusing (an older sail or a bent spar will throw off your settings).  However I have slowly come around to appreciate sail markings.  They don't let you fine tune, that is done by feel and visually, but marking your control lines allows you to set your course adjustments before you are actually on the new point of sail that you are anticipating.


Controls

Outhaul

Upwind we have chronically tight outhauls in Alberta.  Loosen the outhaul until it feels wrong, not just feels different, but feels so wrong that it slows you down.  Only then snug it back up until the problem is fixed.  You can often loosen the outhaul until you see the bag in the sail being visibly pulled backwards or until you start feeling weather helm from the outhaul.  At this point, tighten the outhaul slightly to get rid of the problem.  Try it out, speed tune with it, see what works, how much outhaul is actually too much outhaul.

The theory behind having a tighter outhaul in light wind is that if a foil is too curved at low velocities the fluid will not be able to follow the sharp curve and will stall out (go turbulent).  What we have been doing wrong in Alberta is anticipating that effect and tightening the outhaul too early (as the wind starts to die) and too much overall.  I am fighting the urge to write a number here, but I think that is the problem.  Don't memorize what depth your outhaul should be, try different things and try to figure out how it changes the feel of the boat and then what feels the best (or what works best while speed tuning or fun racing).

Vang

We tend to use too much vang upwind in light wind.  Keep a completely loose vang.  It should not be drooping but almost all the tension should be taken by the mainsheet (having a newer sail and straightening your spars will also help power up your boat).  This helps you avoid depowering unnecessarily.

Since I wrote this point in my log book a few months ago I have refined it.  I think that it is true that unnecessarily tightening the vang upwind in light wind, say 6 knots and flat water, costs you power and so gives you a lower top speed.  However I believe that what I used to do: flattening the sail slightly with the vang or mainsheet upwind, lets you point slightly higher (as long as you don't pinch).  So the velocity made good to the windward mark is better with the fuller sail (speed mode).  But if you need to hold your lane above someone or keep your height on a persistant lift, or cross someone or make a layline etcetera, it is nice to know how to sacrifice a bit of velocity made good for a tactical gain.

I think that this speaks to a larger point as you keep learning more and more in sailing.  Often when one technique or style comes into fashion it is best to remember the old technique or style and then if you know their relative merits and drawbacks you can use them tactically!  For example years ago in Alberta, everyone was excited about the wide radius tacks because of how much ground there was to gain upwind.  Gradually it went out of style because we remebered that it is also important to keep a bit of forward momentum instead of converting it all to height.  But if you have undershot the windward mark by a boatlength and need a double tack, there is nothing like an old wide radius tack to climb to windward becaus you don't want to come out of the tack with blistering speed as you are going right back into a second tack.

Check out how David Wright Rigs his boat!!


 

Summary of Winter Training Tips

In typical Alberta conditions: 3-12 knots and flat water, sail with a dead flat boat, a baggy outhaul and a loose vang.  It’s powerful stuff.

... Tips From the Winter part three

Unrelated to this blog, here is a photo that I found from one of this 'winter's' training camps.  It is an example of the super-flat technique that I talked about two blog entries ago.  The boat on the left probably feels flat but is definitley not.  This is very common.  The boat on the right is dead flat (maybe even a hair to windward?  The mast is definitely not heeled to windward.  Also the picture is not quite level).  These subtleties in heel make a world of difference in boatspeed and pointing especially if you can keep the heel steady and consistent.

Downspeed

Ready Position: your go-to position while on the start

It is super important to have good form in ready position to minimize side slipping and hold your spot.  Never heel to windward: keep the boat flat for the full use of the centreboard.  Always sit across the boat squatting on your toes (as opposed to facing the bow).  Putting the weight on your toes is related to keeping the boat flat because if you sit back on your butt the boat heels to windward.

Vision 

Keep an eye out for changing situations, people coming to steel your hole, an opportunity to double tack, line sag etc.  Know where the line is and how it is changing (this can also inform your strategy for the first upwind).  Recognize bad situations as they develop and bail out or take advantage.

Reverse to Windward

I don’t know what else to call it, but it is a brilliant move that we were introduced to.  It relies on the fact that foils can produce lift or at least engage nicely moving forwards OR backwards.  Foils only don’t work when you are sitting static on the line like we mostly tend to do gradually drifting to leeward through the start sequence.  Let me describe reversing to windward.

1     -Turn up straight into irons and wait until you have no forward motion

2     - Leaning to leeward, press the sail way out of the boat: 90 degrees to centre line.  Get a lot of backwards speed.  Hold your tiller tight.

You heel to leeward because the power that comes from pushing the boom out often wants to put you onto port tack but you want to stay on starboard throughout the maneuvre.

3     - As you accelerate backwards push your tiller gently away from you and you will coast backwards and to windward in an arc gradually making it to a backwards beam reach.

4     - On a beam reach coast to a stop with the sail flapping.  You need a long mainsheet for the sail not to keep pushing you forward.  If your mainsheet isn't long enough you might need to reverse at a lower angle.

                You are now stopped in a position astern and to windward of your original position.

5     - Heel to leeward, sheet in and steer to windward.  Turn sharply and flatten powerfully steering up to head to wind (or even shooting up briefly beyond head to wind).   

                You are now bow-even with your initial position but you have climbed to windward!

Downspeed Control Settings

Lots of people go sailing upwind before the start to get their settings just right and then they leave their controls for the start sequence.  Or they leave their cunningham and outhaul on and let their vang off completely.  This means that you don't need to make any adjustments during the tense seconds leading up to GO except possibly your vang.  Unfortnatly it also means that your sails are set in a way that limits the effectiveness of the downspeed manoeuvring.  What you can do is put markers on your outhaul, Cunningham and vang for various settings.  You should still sail upwind before the start, but instead of leaving the controls make a note of your setting.  Then when you are double tacking, reversing and spinning on a dime to get set up your perfect start you can change your settings to downspeed settings that will help you execute the maneuvres.  With 15 seconds left, pull on your lines back on to the settings that you noted for upwind by using the markers and your memory (or your notes written in grease pencil on the deck) and go to accelerate. 

The idea of leaving your controls at their upwind settings at the start is outdated because we are starting to understand how critical the start is and downspeed maneuvers at the start can be performed more effectively with appropriate downspeed control settings.  Play around with how much vang you need to power you through a 360 or to keep your bow from falling off the wind (more vang tightens your leach bringing the effort in your sail back and helping pivot your bow up.  Less vang will make it easier to get out of irons if it is windy).  We were finding that an effective vang setting for downspeed (at least in 6 knots) is for the boom to be pulled down to 90 degrees.  This gives the boat a much different feeling and handling than having it completely loose.  Also, don’t stand for wrinkles up the front of the sail from a tight upwind-setting Cunningham.  You want your sail to be working properly to help power through the various downspeed boathandling maneuvres.  Don't put up with awkward sail adjustments before the start.  Many races are won or lost at the start because of how well you were able to execute your downspeed skills to get to the right place at the right time.

...tips from winter Pro D continue

Roll Tacks

Footwork

The national team coach would not let us put our back foot over the hiking strap before the tack.  You were to jump across the boat and catch the hiking strap with both feet/toes.  It is difficult to break this habit but once you do, you realize that your legs and feet are more powerful working as a unit.

Roll Tacks

I have put together videos about light air roll tacks, and I stand by what I have said in those videos for light winds when the boat needs to be powered through the middle of the tack with a shoulder throw.  However in increasing (light) wind, 5+ knots let’s say, there is a simplified tack that can be quite effective.  This tack is initiated with a very slight leeward heel just to match the rate of turn and a gentle push of the tiller to the inner edge of the cockpit (the slight heel to leeward is worth pointing out because it is assumed that you are now typically sailing so flat that you otherwise have more or less neutral helm).  Continue to head up gently and sheet in until you start to lose speed.  As you lose speed, punch the tiller quickly to complete the turn.  As you do this the sail starts to fill from the opposite side.  In 5+ knots this will be a bit of a shock and the boat will quickly start tipping over top of you.  This is your cue to spring to the other side of the boat, catching the hiking strap with your toes and aggressively flattening the boat all the way down to dead flat where you keep it.  The exit of the tack is the same as I described in the Youtube Video.  Steer to windward as you flatten avoiding turbulence off the rudder.  The main differences in this style of tack are in not putting your foot over beforehand and in not throwing the shoulders in the middle of the tack, instead steering smoothly, waiting until it is pretty much too late then rocketing across and saving the tack for a nice flatten.

Roll Gybes

 
The light wind overhand gybes were designed, I thought, to have a conservative gybe that would lose no speed but gain no speed, they would be perfectly legal under rule 42 but they don't need the same recovery time as the old powerful roll gybes needed to get the flow reattached on the sails.  My label for this type of gybe is the Light Air Laser Overhand Gybes and Hanny Buitenwerf does a great example of this in the clip above and to the left.  When I was first coaching these gybes I discouraged athletes from rolling when they were using this style, because if they were going to roll they might as well do a big aggressive roll gybe (take a look at the pics from 2008 when I was working on perfecting the ultra-aggressive roll gybe... and when I had less hair).  But innovation continued and a slight roll to regain lost speed in the overhand gybe turned into a bigger and bigger smooth motion that now gains an incredible amount of speed outright.  I'll refer to it as an Overhand Roll Gybe.  In my opinion, everyone should learn these in training, but the gybes must be toned down while racing.  Juries (acting under Appendix P) have been slow to pick up on the incredible gains that athletes are getting out off their gybes, from my experience.  I have pointed this out on occasions, and have heard the reply several times that sailing is self-enforced, so we are encouraged to protest one another when we break a rule like rule 42 rather than depending on the Jury.  I just bring up Juries and Appendix P because the overhand gybes that we have been practising over the winter are gargantuan.  My team mate can gain over 2 boat lengths on me in one gybe travelling parallel in the right conditions and I am getting there as well.  My take on enforcing Rule 42 is that we should enforce it rigorously and consistently and then when we find that the current rule is oppressive, we should have a conversation about modifying it somehow, possibly in the Laser Class Rules to reflect the current practices.  It could be something like what the Fins and 470s do or it could be something more subtle.  Maybe it could be a system for self-enforcement that sailors would be more comfortable engaging with: a 360 penalty or a DPI penalty of less than fleet score that could be taken if a certain number of sailors file a grievance against an aggressive sailor.   My concern is that Laser sailing is building a culture that is tolerant to breaking Rule 42 instead of making a better rule.  

At any rate the answer is not censure the gybe, so here is the gybe that I am so excited about described in point form.  I hope to get it on film in the not too distant future: 

1-      Start by the lee

2-      Extend your tiller extension out towards the mainsheet that spans from the boom to the traveller so far out that you turns the tiller slightly to leeward.  To match this turn roll the boat gently to leeward and lean out towards the span of mainsheet ready to grab it. 

3-      Hook the span of mainsheet on the end of your extended tiller extension.

4-      In one movement let go of the mainsheet from the mainsheet block and grab both sheets of the span of mainsheet as far up towards the boom as possible.  Help yourself by bringing the sheet hooked on the tiller extension towards your forward hand.

5-      With the mainsheet from the boom in your hand and keeping your arm straight, lean back across the boat rolling it from leeward heel to windward heel thereby causing your course to be an arc.  Allow the arc, following it with the rudder.  This leaning back also starts to pull the sail in.

6-      At the end of the roll flick the sail the rest of the way across the boat by pulling it over with your arm (without letting go of the sheets).

7-      Pause and let the sail fill on the new side keeping heel on the new leeward side.  As the sail fills you will feel a bit of pressure on your hand.  At this point drop the mainsheet from the boom and pick it back up from the mainsheet block.  As you do this, sit down on the new windward side of the boat shifting the heel now to the new windward side and curving the boat’s course towards the new by the lee angle. 

8-      Adjust the sail as necessary for the new by the lee angle

9-      Complete the hand exchange

There are a couple of major changes between what I have called the Light Air Overhand Gybe and the Overhand Roll Gybe.  In the Overhand Roll Gybe you pull the sail mostly with your body rather than mostly with your arm (tricep).  Also in the Overhand Roll Gybe you follow a slightly curved course matching the roll of the boat instead of keeping the boat straight through the pullover.

At the end here are some pictures from 2008 of the ridiculously aggressive roll gybes that we used to practice.  Again this is not for racing, but when you learn to propel the boat with extreme kinetics you get to know the feel of the dynamics of the boat and that gives you more versatility to do all sorts of different manoeuvres.

 

Thanks to the Calgary Yacht Club for letting me use their camera while coaching Hanny.
Thanks to Hanny Buitenwerf for letting me use her clip.
Thanks to the Able family in Victoria for letting me take part in the on-water professional photo shoot that they organized back in 2008.