420 Basics - follow up from week #1

After three days of boat handling, here are some observations and notes for all of you.

1. Boat Control


Both skippers and crews need to watch this video. Pay attention to what they are talking about with using the sails to trim the boat.

• Skippers, watch the guys in yellow life jackets (NOT the guy in Red) with regard to their foot placement and how they use the sails to steer rather than their rudders. 
• Crews, take a look at jib trim as well as how they are rolling the boats aggressively.

2. Roll Tacks

This video has tacks from some of the best college boats in the country. The footage was shot during the Trux - one of the more competitive intersectionals. There is some Laser footage as well. SKIPPERS pay attention to the hand exchange in those clips as well as to how aggressively they flatten out the boat. There is also some great FJ tacks in the last part of the video. 

3. Wing to Wing Jibes

EVERYONE should watch this again: Technique Tuesday - wing to wing jibes. It will open in a new windows. Here's what you need to pay attention to.

• Skippers, watch the exchange as well as how Ben (skipper) keeps the boat headed down wind without over steering.
• Crews, the only thing that I disagree with is that the crew does not first grab the sheet through the lead before taking it from the skipper. However, watch how she snaps the jib through the wing. Shorter crews, if you want to try having a foot forward of the partners when sailing wing on wing, that's fine. If you are over 5'6", bad idea! You'll have too much weight forward. 
• Jib Trim - At about 1:58 in the video, watch the timing of the jib snap. You will see it again at 2:26.
• Tiller Exchange - There is a great example at 2:36. Watch how the skipper drills the boat flat off of the traveler bar. 
• Steering & Weight - At 3:45, watch the full sequence to see how the boat goes from a wing to a wing. Look at the timing, the heel, the control that the skipper maintains with the main, and how the boat stays sailing down wind the entire time.

Dean's Downwind Notes

REMEMBER this is all very situational and the diagram and below words are for you to have in your head to use when the situation seems to fit.


As you approach the weather mark:

• If you were Lifted on stbd tack, upwind, and in a puff, then just bear away and ride it out downwind.
  


• If you were Knocked on stbd tack, upwind, in a puff, then consider jibing around the mark.

STEADY BREEZE

• Always keep your downwind lane clear. The best way to do this is to make sure that no one is on your breeze. If you have tell-tales, look at the direction that they are flowing and then trace that behind you to see if the other boat is on your breeze. A quick luff of your jib can also tell you this.


• Rule of thumb - I would keep the boat behind just off of my port corner if on stbd jibe, and the other corner if on port jibe.


• As you approach the leeward mark, make sure that you are on the inside. This means that you need to work towards the inside, and think about over-laps the entire way down the course. Don't be afraid to hit the brakes at the 2-boat-length circle so that you don't get caught outside of boats. It's better to slow early and get a good rounding, than to sail around the outside of several boats.
  
  NOTE: this strategy does not apply to busting mark traps.

PUFFS FROM THE LEFT

• If you are already in the puff, then jibe onto port to ride it out, and then jibe back to connect with the next puff.


• As you approach the leeward mark, stbd jibe is the faster jibe and gives you inside advantage. This is because the stbd jibe will be a reach with left puffs.

PUFFS FROM THE RIGHT

• If in the puff, stay on stbd and ride it out then jibe to connect with the next puff.


• As you approach the leeward mark, there are potential gains on port jibe because it is the faster jibe in the puff. This is because the others are sailing dead downwind on stbd into mark. However, this is a little more risky because as you move down the course you have to assess the line up (ladder rungs).

**The right puff is what you took advantage of on Monday practice near the leeward mark.

THE DIAGRAM
The black line shows the course in the different puffs. When the line bends, that is a jibe to connect back to the puff

Tactical Tip #2

Hannah sent these questions from yesterday, so here are the Tip(s) of the Day.

First, downwind, you do want a little bit of vang, right? so that the top batten is parallel with the boom, which would be more vang that in lighter conditions.

Vang gets tricky. You want enough on so that the top batten is parallel, but not so much that it actually makes you capsize. To bear off huge, you want to be able to ease the vang. This means that at the windward mark, you want the vang off. You can then re-set it for down wind. You will see a happy sailing around with absolutely no vang when it is nuking and they will stay up for a while. This is because with no vang on, the sail is totally de-powered. However, with no vang on, it also means that you don't accelerate in the puffs. That said, have the vang on to keep you in control. This means that if you are wing-on-wing, have enough vang so that the boat isn't rocking like mad. On the reaches, when you pump, the whole sail (top & bottom) should come in together. Basically, you are going to have to adjust as you sail. You can't just set it and forget it.

Also, is it better to sail hotter angles and gybe a few times downwind than to sail low or wing on wing?

If you are good, you will be able to hold the wing. Cookie passed 5 boats in the last 50 yards to the leeward mark yesterday because he had the guts to blow the vang and sail low. You can plane a 420 while on a wing. It's scary, but it's fast. An FJ, however, in major breeze is a different beast. You sail angles more in light air than when it blows.

And, when sailing angles how do you know you are sailing too high an angle and losing?

Think about it this way: you always want to feel like you can bear off to the mark. Which gybe will give you the best angle on the breeze and to the mark? If you were sailing up-wind, you'd know that you can't point directly at the mark until you are on the lay-line. It's the same thing down-wind. Yesterday, a group of you all reached on starboard way to the right (down-wind right) of the mark, and then gybed back at a hot angle. If you cannot bear off and point at the mark, then you need to gybe.