Windy Sailing

[Kevin Moss]

Could someone help me out with this please?. I’ve just got off the lake from sailing in average 25mph wind. I have my outhaul pulled as tight as I can, my cunningham on as hard as possible also and no kicker. I am sitting a long way back in the boat on a very broad reach, almost a run on starboard tack when in a strong gust the boat, with a slight pitching makes an uncontrollable left turn to port and gybes. Just what am I doing or not doing to get this happening?.

Best wishes ( and belated happy new year)

Kevin

[davecooper]

Hi Kevin,
I think the really telling bit is

and no kicker

Once it gets windy you need some kicker and some centerboard to keep it all under control. You’ve just got to remember to let the kicker off before you get to the gybe mark !
I think maybe I’d have the board about halfway down, or as much as you need to feel safe! I know less is quicker but I also know swimming is slower.
The other thing I can tell you from direct personal experience is that O’Donells like 1918 are pretty fine in the bow and when a gust strikes downwind she likes to stick her nose down for a hard-to-control moment before getting up and accelerating, so sitting at the back is definitely good from that point of view!
I don’t know whether getting ruthless with the cunnigham and outhaul will make much difference once the wind’s far enough aft that you aren’t struggling to hold the boat upright any more.
Dave

[Kevin Moss]

Thanks Dave, I think I’ve got the centre board about right but I’ll certainly give the kicker a try next week, it looks like its going to be windy all week again.

best wishes

Kevin.

[Jon Fish]

if you’re on a windy broad reach / run, there’s no need to have your cunningham on.

might be wrong, but cunningham normally has the effect of opening the leech further, not what you really want if you’re pulling the kicker back on…

[Mike Edwards]

Hi Kevin,

Just to add to Dave’s advice if I may.

I practically always have some kicker on off wind, even in light airs.
In light airs this keeps a little leach tension, so when any breaze hits the sail the boom doesn’t rise so much. Having a little kicker on stops the boom from rising and the sail twisting so you don’t loose the power from the breaze.

In more wind you need a little more kicker on (particularly on a run) for the same reasons as above. You are more likely to be hit by bigger gusts (especially on a pond) so having kicker on will help stabilise the boat. If you allow the boom to rise in gusts your sail will twist which causes the boat to pitch and has a tendency to put you in to windward or cause you to jib (as you discribed).
You need to practice this and watch the leach towards the top of your sail and if its twisting too much, put a bit more kicker on. You should feel more stable! If you put too much on your leach will close up and you will not go as fast, so its all down to feel and practice really.

Centre board – As Dave says, the more board you have up the faster you go. But the less stable you become! So, if you feel a little shakey put a bit more board down.

Off wind you should try and let your outhaul and cunningham off a bit. You want the sail to be fuller! If you feel overpowered then yes put some on. Let your traveller out as well.

There is an OK training DVD available from Neil Goodhead that would be well worth you getting hold of.

Give it a try and let us know how you get on!

Cheers

Mike

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