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.

FJ Questions - once again!

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!)

Mark Roundings - by Brooke Thompson

Here are a few pull-out's from Brooke's article on SailGroove.

1. Mark Roundings are about boat handling and not boat speed
2. The crew has to steer the boat around the mark. It's all about weight placement and jib trim.
3. Three critical things to remember: (A) watch the skipper's shoulders and move in the same direction, (B) Anytime the crew moves up and trims jib, the bow will turn down, (C) Anytime the crew moves down and eases jib, the bow will turn up.
4. The last 1/3rd of the windward leg, start thinking about rounding the mark. Look for are other boats, the lay line, and any major wind shifts that could change your angle to the mark.
5. Don't hit other boats. Luff to stop if you have to.
6. Make sure you can accelerate after the rounding. That's when the focus really shifts back to boat speed.
7. Be aware of the angles of the boats around you.
   

More FJ Notes

These came from Matt Knowles:

1-the only time rig tension *needs* to be really tight is if you're
sailing in big waves. in big breeze and flat water people can be very
fast with either a medium or a very tight setting. in light air,
pretty much everything except super tight can work. i think the
deciding factors are these: 1) your sailing style; the groove is a
lot bigger with a loose rig, but you might loose a little in terms of
pointing. i think in team racing this is a good tradeoff. 2) mast
step position: look where the host has the mast step set; if it is
waaayyy back, then you really can't set the right that tight or
everything is going to be funky. MIT has their masts all the way
back, and consequently it seems like it is best to go very light on
the tension. If the step is in the middle or in the front, seems like
you've got a bit more freedom.

2-i would advocate having people try doing the wild thing when it is
windy (crew wings the jib, sitting on the windward rail, skipper sits
on the leeward rail and pumps the main.) i do this if either it is
marginal planning or surfing conditions, or if it is big breeze and I
am sailing with a less-experienced crew. the advantages are you can
get much bigger and better timed pumps on the main while winging, and
also (assuming the skipper is bigger, anyway) it is much easier to
prevent the death roll this way if you get pushed by the lee in a big
puff ( in FJs in huge breeze, i've had a few times (when sailing with
my heavy) that we've both found ourselves hiking to leeward for a
second or two in a huge puff to keep from death-rolling... and the
side effect is you go really fast.)

3-i agree with garth that bungee-ing up the straps is much less
important, since that huge thwart is great to roll off for both
skipper and crew (and the crew doesn't need to two foot the rolls in
FJs anyway. in FJs we tend to flatten on the thwart and pick up the
straps only once we're flat again.

Intro to FJs

The biggest thing to remember about FJs is that they are NOT 420s. An FJ has smaller blades, a bigger jib, and a narrower hull. it does NOT want to plane in breeze, yet loses nothing on a good tack. That said, there are lots of things to think about.

Boat Set-Up
When you go down to rig an FJ, there are a few things to remember.

1. Bowline - Tie the bowline to the mast, under the jib sheets. You want it tight enough so that the jib sheets can wrap around the halyard cleats during tacks. Just make sure that you don't put load on the line as it will then bend the mast.


2. Hiking Straps - Tie the hiking straps up for the cleat. On a lot of new boats, there is bungee holding the straps up to the bale for the vang. On older boats, you can jury-rig this with the end of the jib halyard or take some bungee with you. If you do not tie the straps up, then there is no guarantee that the crew can find them.
   
   To jury-rig with the jib halyard, (1) after you finish off your cleat, take a turn back around the horn. (2) Run the halyard through the eye on the port strap and make a knot - I use a bowline. (3) Go up through the bale of the vang and down to the eye on the starboard strap. (4) Tie it off to the starboard strap at the correct height - usually another bowline. Just make sure that you aren't loading up the bale on the vang with the strap. You want it still tied in to the bottom of the boat.


3. Jib Halyard Tension - Max it out in flat water. At the Mallory a few years ago, the California teams had their jib halyard cranked as tight as possible. The breeze was up and down, but the water really flat.


4. Main Halyard Tension - Just get the sail all the way up. A few speed wrinkles aren't always bad if they are running vertically down the sail.

Jib Trim
In an FJ, whatever you do, do NOT over-trim the jib upwind.

• Light Air - You have to make sure that you keep checking the slot. As soon as it closes off, you will start going sideways. Also, skippers, you cannot steer with the puffs. If you need to head up into a puff, tell your crew to ease out a click (ratchet blocks make trimming easy). To bear the boat off, just give a tiny trim in. It is also extremely critical to NOT over-trim the jib off the line or out of tacks. Again, it's a big sail with a small board so you'll just go sideways.
  
  In light air, that jib should never really stop moving. The whole way up-wind, the crew should be looking to see that all of the tell-tales are streaming evenly up the sail. As the pressure builds, the sail can come in. As it drops, you will have to ease.


• Medium Air - An FJ wants the rails weighted early. This means that you want to bring the crew up on the rail as soon as possible (even if you are both just pressing your backs to the tank). Once you are at this point, the jib can start to come in all the way, but still be ready to ease in a big lull. Crews, make sure you have a good grip on the jib sheet. As you move in and out of the boat, the sail has to stay trimmed. You don't really want to strap the foot of the sail in moderate conditions, but you should be able to point.


• Heavy Air - Once the skipper is easy-hike-trimming, so should the crew. Timing is everything in pulling this off, so you have to talk. In big puffs, the crew is going to have to ease the jib off about an inch to an inch+ as the skipper eases and then bring it back in at the same time. Be careful not to have the jib over-trimmed, this will cause the main to back and you will slide sideways.

Downwind, when sailing on a reach, the crews really need to trim the jib more like a spinnaker. Make sure that you have pressure in the sail, and that you are holding it way out. Again, you don't want it over-trimmed. If it starts to blow, make sure to keep playing the jib through the ratchet blocks on the rail.

You can wing the jib in an FJ. The only exception is that when it nukes, the crew has to play the wing from the leeward rail. Get in time with the skipper and pump the jib as they pump the main. Skippers, remember that one good pump off the main can keep you from Death Rolling.

Jib Cars
It's hard to explain, but your jib cars need to be adjusted so that the leech of the sail hooks in evenly. Imagine that there was a batten at the top seam of the jib. (Much like the top batten of a main). You want the top seam to be parallel to the clew, much like the top batten should be parallel to the boom.

If you move your cars forward, then you start trimming the top of the sail first. In light air, you will move the cars forward.

If you move the cars back, then you trim the foot first, bringing the sail in tighter at the bottom. This will allow the top of the sail to twist off and flatten the bottom. This is the goal when it gets heavy.

Main Trim
Upwind, once your crew is on the rail, it's hard to over-trim the main. You almost want to hear the mast break back. (It makes a kuh-kunk sound.) If it's light, same rules as a 420 applies. Once it nukes, your focus is on keeping the boat flat by easing WITH your crew.

Boat Handling
Once the crew is on the rail, then tack backwards. That's something that you have to work out for your self. However, the biggest issue is upwind sailing. Whatever happens, DON'T LET THE MAST MOVE. In an FJ, this is critical. You have to anticipate both the puffs and the lulls to just keep the boat flat.

The other thing to remember is to be SMOOTH and GENTLE. Any massive movements - particularly downwind - and the boat will capsize. Do not over-roll your jibes. This has to be smooth. You won't get the big loopy jibe like in a 420, no matter what you do, because the board is so small.