1. I watched the how not to gybe an FJ video....it looks like they flipped because they put weight on the tank in order to flatten. Do you want to put less weight on the tanks both when rolling and flattening, or just flattening. Today when the wind picked up I felt like I wasn't rolling enough at all and I was just pressing on each tank.
An FJ is really tippy and doesn't need a lot of roll in the gybes - particularly when it gets windy! Most boats go over because the skipper and crew over-flatten. Your description of pressing is a good one. In breeze, you are just trying to keep the boat stable. The rudder on an FJ is tiny, so the skipper needs the crew in order to steer through the gybe. However, unless it is light, you don't have to really whale on the tanks.
2. Is there a specific way to organize the jib sheets while you're fully hiked and sailing upwind - I try to pull the windward sheet taught so its ready when I tack, but it also sometimes gets tangled and hard to get a hold of.
Yes! As soon as you are hiked, pull the slack out of the windward sheet and drape the sheet over your back leg. This way, when you go to tack, it's right there and you can get your hand on the sheet, by the ratchet, as you go to roll & cross.
3. How should you be set in the boat before a start?
Pre-Start is pretty much the same, just keep trimming that jib! If it is totally nuking, you may even cleat the board up half-way before the start to stay more in control.
4. I know when going upwind you play the jib with the skipper, so when they let out you let out, etc. but how should I be playing the jib downwind while on a reach?
Trimming the jib is pretty much the same. Just watch your tell-tales. The thing with an FJ jib is that it is MUCH bigger than a 420 jib. If it is light enough to trim outside the shrouds, then you really need to make sure that you pull down to keep the top of the sail trimmed, but also ease enough for the bottom to be powered up. As it gets windier, you'll trim through the block and just do your best with shape. If it's a really long down-wind leg - and you don't forget for the upwind - you can move your cars to get a better shape. However, the trade-off is minimal if you forget to reset them for the upwind.
5. Should I be "popping" the jib over in front of the block while gybing like in a 420? I know I probably won't be able to in tomorrow's breeze anyway, but what about when its lighter?
If it is light enough, then yes. An important thing about wing-on-wing gybes in big breeze: you want to pop it through the block and not bring your weight to windward to hand it to the skipper. Just pull up hard through the block so that it is slightly over-trimmed for a second and the skipper can then reach forward to take the sheet. However, it it is psycho nuking, then you actually trim the jib on the wing by pulling through the block from the leeward side. This lets the skipper sit in a bit and just trim the main (one pump on the main could be the difference between upright and up-side-down!)
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Great Boat Handling Questions
Some of you have asked me some great questions lately. I decided to post them all here. Keep asking!
When you're wiggling, should you bother trimming the jib when turning down or is it slower to let it rag?
Depends on the goal and the speed of the boat behind you. If you are wiggling to slow down, then rag. If you are wiggling to try to hook the guy behind, use the jib to control your speed.
When flattening in light air with the bunny hop (and you have to get back down to leeward), should you flatten more on the side and keep one leg raised to hop down or something else?
In light air, I tend to hop up on both feet and then drop back down into the boat with one foot on each side of the centerboard trunk. On a day like yesterday, it's a definite just hop up and drop down.
On the R-R jibes I remember you saying something about weighting the rail, popping the jib, then rolling. Where does that main crossing and skipper flattening come in? It seemed like the later we flattened (or today, when my skipper flattened) the higher we were pointing and more speed we had, is that okay in a race or should our jibes be faster but with less power?
That's good in light air. You'll have to adjust depending on the conditions. The main should come across with the roll. In light air, you can even stay down after it comes all the way across. If it's nuking, then you would obviously come across sooner with no roll.
I was watching the gybing video Roy posted and I noticed that the crew never actually "sat" on the windward tank to roll the boat, she just rolled off the shroud. Do you want crews to roll off the tank or off the shroud?
I usually had you come to the rail and sit because it got your weight to windward sooner to help carve the boat through the gybe. Personally, I grab the hiking strap and pull to roll. When that video was filmed, kinetics was not as big of an issue. I wonder about the legality of gybing off the shrouds like that now. They are definitely effective gybes, and you could certainly give it a shot. I'm only curious about the kinetics question.
When you're wiggling, should you bother trimming the jib when turning down or is it slower to let it rag?
Depends on the goal and the speed of the boat behind you. If you are wiggling to slow down, then rag. If you are wiggling to try to hook the guy behind, use the jib to control your speed.
When flattening in light air with the bunny hop (and you have to get back down to leeward), should you flatten more on the side and keep one leg raised to hop down or something else?
In light air, I tend to hop up on both feet and then drop back down into the boat with one foot on each side of the centerboard trunk. On a day like yesterday, it's a definite just hop up and drop down.
On the R-R jibes I remember you saying something about weighting the rail, popping the jib, then rolling. Where does that main crossing and skipper flattening come in? It seemed like the later we flattened (or today, when my skipper flattened) the higher we were pointing and more speed we had, is that okay in a race or should our jibes be faster but with less power?
That's good in light air. You'll have to adjust depending on the conditions. The main should come across with the roll. In light air, you can even stay down after it comes all the way across. If it's nuking, then you would obviously come across sooner with no roll.
I was watching the gybing video Roy posted and I noticed that the crew never actually "sat" on the windward tank to roll the boat, she just rolled off the shroud. Do you want crews to roll off the tank or off the shroud?
I usually had you come to the rail and sit because it got your weight to windward sooner to help carve the boat through the gybe. Personally, I grab the hiking strap and pull to roll. When that video was filmed, kinetics was not as big of an issue. I wonder about the legality of gybing off the shrouds like that now. They are definitely effective gybes, and you could certainly give it a shot. I'm only curious about the kinetics question.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Back to Basics
It's a new season, and Polly told me that I hadn't written in a while. That said, here goes: time to get back to basics. As a team, we need to focus on boat-handling and boat speed. Skippers need to be better about locking into the boat and using less rudders. Crews need to start taking initiative: jib trim, weight placement, remembering that they are crucial to boat speed.
We also need to talk about tacking. Here are a few videos that may help you out. First, Patrick Rynne has a good camera angle from inside the boat. Skippers, watch the main trim, how little rudder he uses, and the exchange. My only comment would be that he could use more of an ease.
Sailing Videos on Sailgroove
As a credit to Clare, here is a great Technique Tuesday, from Hotchkiss, showing the hand exchange.
Crews, for great footage of roll tacking, go to Roy's site on Dragon and watch the footage of Garth/Sharky and Annika/crew. I know that it's on there. Make sure you drop someone a line if you have questions, or pose them as comments to this post.
We also need to talk about tacking. Here are a few videos that may help you out. First, Patrick Rynne has a good camera angle from inside the boat. Skippers, watch the main trim, how little rudder he uses, and the exchange. My only comment would be that he could use more of an ease.
Sailing Videos on Sailgroove
As a credit to Clare, here is a great Technique Tuesday, from Hotchkiss, showing the hand exchange.
Watch more video of Technique Tuesdays on sailgroove.org
Crews, for great footage of roll tacking, go to Roy's site on Dragon and watch the footage of Garth/Sharky and Annika/crew. I know that it's on there. Make sure you drop someone a line if you have questions, or pose them as comments to this post.
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