Monday Night Races 6/17
We had 14 knots of wind with gusts to 17 knots. The weather was sunny and the temperature on the water was 77 degrees. The Race Committee decided that an Olympic buoy course with its two reaching legs would be a unique challenge to the KeelBoat Club. During the the pre-sail lecture Ian urged the boats to have someone actively trimming the main sail. Some boats were more successful than others at accomplishing that. Indeed in the post race breakdown the two takeaways were to actively vang sheet/trim the mainsail to maintain a constant angle of heel. If the boat had too much heel she was both slow and hard to steer, if the boat was flat she was underpowered. Ian coached the sailors to use the mainsheet to keep the boat powered up, but not so overpowered that the helmsman needs to use a lot of rudder to control the boat.
The second was to quickly ease the mainsheet after a jibe. If the sheet does not get eased after a jibe the boat will become uncontrollable and round up into the wind. This is true of all sailboats in high winds, not just Rainbows. The helmsman can give the main trimmer a couple of extra seconds by holding the bow down on a run until the main gets eased out. If the boat goes from reach to reach before the main is eased the boat will round up into the wind.
You can view pictures and videos of the start here:
Brian Harrison’s awesome drone videos are here:
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