Master Class training weekend 28-29 May 2022

Conducted at McCrae by Adrian Finglass, Allan Riley, and Murray O’Brien

A few pointers and ideas I took away from the two days.

Sailing Equation

1.       Boat + Rig + Sail = $ and medium gain

a.       All 3 have to be in excellent condition and set up correctly

2.       Self + Fitness + Skills = Time and BIG gains

a.       Correct Mind set for Tactics and Strategy

b.       Fitness for hiking and stamina

c.       Skills in boat handling; tacking, gybing and balance, etc

Centre of effort (COE)

In a Sabre sail the COE is about 2/3 down and approx. 40% back from the mast. The Centre board and rudder COE is approx. 1/3 to 1/2 down. Taking this into account you can adjust your centre board rake and sitting position to get the boat balanced with a hint of weather helm for feel.

Mast

Mast Step as far back as possible 2.638m from stern to front of Mast. This allows the boom to go out further before hitting the stays.

Mast Rake 5.710 +- from bottom of black band to transom, the boom needs to be horizontal with the boat deck. If you have it raked too far backwards then it will create weather helm and make the boat harder to handle especially when it’s windy.

Side stays should be loose so that the mast rakes forward going down wind. This allows the sail to go out further before hitting the stays. A piece of shock cord attached to the front stay will help keep the mast forward down wind.

Setup

Take the guess work out of setting up the sail. Do this by having all control lines with markings and GOTO reference settings to quickly replicate Fast mode, High mode, Low mode, Reaching and Running

Mainsheet system should be 5:1 as it is much easier to hold and control sail shape. Blocks must be close together over the thwart so that the force is Downward. If it is back then there is forwards pressure causing the mast to bend and flatten the sail. You want the mainsheet to be pulling the boom and sail downwards and upwards only. The vang is used to flatten the sail. The centre board should also be marked for reaching and running positions. Changes coming into effect on 1 July 2022 will allow for the vang purchase of 16:1, currently it is 8:1. This will make the vang much easier to make small adjustments. The downhaul will also increase from 4:1 to 6:1 although I don’t see this to be as important as the Vang.

Vang

Adjustable positioning so you can move it forward in <10 knots so you can get tension on the leech without flattening the sail.

5 to 12 knots little or no Vang then progressively pull it on.

Windy conditions you pull it on VERY hard. (harder than you think)

Need to work it on the run for puffs and lulls. Pull on before a gust hits so that you tighten the leech and capture the power of the wind. Conversely the leech should be softer in the lighter wind.

Out haul

Set it for the conditions and you only need to change it when on the run.

Cunningham

Leave it off or just take out the wrinkles until you need to depower.

Centre board & Rudder blade

In light winds the centre board can be tilled backwards at the top (so the bottom of the foil is angled forward) to balance the boat, as you will be sitting further forward.

When you are wanting to depower you can be tilt it forwards at the top (so the bottom of the foil is angled backwards) which changes the COE and allows you to balance the boat. Otherwise keep the centre board down flat.  

When Windy with sail FLAT then sit 23 – 30 cm further back

These two foils just like the sail are effected by the Water passing over both sides. If the boat is constantly healing then being flattened then healing again this will upset the even flow across the foils and create drag hence slowing the boat. It is therefore important to keep the boat on a constant angle to reduce this drag.

Hull

Light/Medium air you need to be sitting on thwart and have to boat 6 Degrees to windward to lift leeward chime out of water. Windward chime should be kissing the water near the chain plate. Boat can become unstable, so be wary of lulls. In Very light air then lean the boat to leeward so that the sail retains shape. As there is little force in the wind the rounding up effect is less important than keeping the air flowing correctly over the sail foil.

When the boat is healing the COE is no longer in line. The leeward hull shape and chime are now forced into the water creating a longer wetted surface compared to the windward side which only has small area under the boat. This in turn forces the boat to want to round up into the wind. I you don’t let the main out, the only way to stop this is to pull the tiller towards you. This causes a lot of drag at the back of the boat and effectively puts the breaks on.

Tacking

“A slow tack is a good tack”

Practice tacking especially roll tacks. A good tack can gain you 1 to 2 boat lengths each time so over a race that potentially is 24 boat lengths ((6 tacks a beat x 2 beats) x 2 boat lengths)) and at 3.7m in length that equates to a whopping 88 meters and many positions. 

Gybing

There are also gains to be made here as well, although not as much. But a bad gybe can easily put you in the drink, causing you to loose a lot of places needless to say getting wet and cold and puffed out.

Reaching

Make sure the sail is as far out as it can go to the point that the front of the sail is just starting to bubble.

Running

Light to Medium conditions the centre board should be up high and sit forward to get the transom out of the water so you have less drag. You should also heal the boat approx. 25 degrees to windward. However, when it is windy you can keep the centre board down to give extra stability and sit further back IN the boat with one knee in the middle and the other leg bent. This way you can balance the boat better. Also, you can now cut the tiller back to the tiller extension which will give you a bit of extra room when moving from side to side.