Mastering the Spinnaker: Part I

Whether you are new to Club 420 sailing or you have enjoyed the boats for a few years, learning to sail with a spinnaker is an art form that you can always improve on.  Sailing with a spinnaker adds new dimensions to sailing downwind that you don’t typically see in singlehanded dinghy sailing.  There are a lot of little adjustments that many sailors miss, that can make you a superstar off wind.

Basic Setup and Trim:

The basic setup for your spinnaker is to trim the guy until the pole is perpendicular to your apparent wind, and ease the sheet until the outer edge of the spinnaker’s luff start to fold over about two inches.  Trim in the sheet from there, and ease to this point again.  Continue to do this the entire downwind leg.

Remember, when your boat is moving fast, the sails see a different wind direction than where the wind is actually coming from.  This is known as apparent wind, and all of your sails need to adjust to that wind direction.  To match your pole to the apparent wind, it is helpful to put a tell-tale on the side stays, or on the pole itself.  The faster you go, the further forward you will have to set your pole to compensate for the apparent wind.  This will happen in both puffs and waves.  Apparent wind is always changing, so the crew should have both the sheet and the guy in his or her hands at all times downwind.

Setting Up the Other Sails:

Getting your other two sails in the proper position is often the most overlooked detail downwind amongst Club 420 sailors.  It is important that the flow off of all three sails does not interfere with the other sails, or you will move slowly.  The biggest mistake that most sailors make is letting the mainsail out too far.  Whenever the spinnaker is raised, a good general rule of thumb is to trim it to the point that the boom is parallel to the spinnaker pole.  In other words, the two should continuously make a straight line.  Once your main is trimmed to this point, control the leech of the sail with the vang, so that that top batten is parallel to the boom and spin pole (tell tale disappears 50% of the time, and flies 50% of the time).  To sum up the main’s trim downwind, the mainsheet controls the position of the sail to the wind, while the vang controls the tension on the leech.

The jib is often more difficult to figure out downwind.  When you sail most sloops or keelboats, the sailors will take down the jib when hoisting a spinnaker.  This is done to create more space between the main and spinnaker, so that the flow off of each does not interfere with another sail.  In a Club 420, this is not possible, as the tension on the jib keeps your mast from falling aft.  Since there is nothing else that you can do about this, it is important to get the spinnaker and mainsail into the perfect position, and then move the jib to where it is as far away as possible from interfering with either of the other sails.

Pole Height:

The pole height controls the shape of the spinnaker, and how much wind it is capable of allowing into it at once.  The higher you lift the pole, the deeper and fuller you are able to make the sail.  However, it takes more wind to fill the sail completely.  The lower your pole angle, the flatter you make the sail.  With a lower pole, it takes less wind to fill the sail.  In light air, you will want a lower pole height, making it easier to fill the spinnaker.  On the other hand, in heavy air, you will want a higher pole to increase the amount of breeze you can get into the sail.  A good way to ensure that your pole is at the correct height is to make sure that the two lower corners are even, when the sail is trimmed properly off wind.  If the tack is higher than the clew, you should lower the pole to even them out.  If the clew is higher than the tack, you need to raise the height of the pole.

Using a spinnaker is not an easy thing to do, and takes years to perfect.  Sailing downwind with a spinnaker adds depth, technique, teamwork, strategy, and tactics that are different than that seen in one-sail boats.  However, everything discussed above is always under your control, no matter what your sailing experience is.  Making sure all of these things are perfect is the first step to going fast downwind!

See you on the water,

Zim Coach

@jimmybeast - Syncing Your Sail Trim and Bridle Height

One of the most overlooked adjustments in Club 420 sailing is the bridle.  Admittedly, it is not as important, especially over short distance races, as your basic tuning adjustments (mast rake, vang, cunningham, etc.).  College sailing teams don’t even have the adjustment on the boat, in an attempt to simplify the boat for short distance racing.  However, knowing how to properly adjust the bridle on the Club 420 will not only give you a tuning advantage on longer courses, but will better prepare you for understanding sail shapes when you transition into other high performance classes down the road.

Overview:

Above all else, you must have the bridle set up so that it is center lined at all times.  Having it set even a few centimeters off, in one direction or another, will seriously jeopardize your ability to sail fast upwind.  Before you hoist your sails, pull the bridle forward along the centerboard.  Make sure, when pulled taught, that the block on the bridle is perfectly centered in the boat.

The purpose of the bridle is to enable sailors to obtain the ideal mainsail shape, while keeping the boom in the center of the boat, as you sail upwind.  As you pull in the mainsail, you not only move the boom towards the center of the boat, but you also pull downward on the boom.  The further down you pull the boom, the more tension and power you put into the leech of the sail.  Thus, the higher your bridle is, the earlier the blocks all come together, the less you pull down on the boom, and the less tension you are able to apply to the leech.  In other words, a higher bridle will yield a center lined boom with less leech tension (more twist) on the main, and a lower traveler will yield a center lined boom with more leech tension (less twist) on the main.

Light Air:

In light air, you want the ability to center line the boom, keeping the flow off of the jib from interfering with the mainsail.  At the same time, you want to avoid putting tension on the leech that will stall the main and slow you down.  Thus, you want to raise your bridle to the point where, when the boom is center lined, your leech tell tail is streaming back 50% of the time and disappearing 50% of the time.  Leave about two inches of trim between the blocks on the bridle and boom so that you can add a bit more leech tension in puffs around the course.

Medium Air:

Tuning the bridle in medium air is dependent on how you define medium air.  In a Club 420, you have the ability to trapeze, which considerably increases the wind ranges that you are able to sail in.  For the purposes of this article, medium air is defined as any wind speed, other than light air speeds,  where you do not have to dump the main, or you seldom have to dump the main, in order to keep the boat flat.  This range can cover anywhere from 8-15+ knots, depending on the size of the sailors in the boat.

The point is, as the wind increases, up to the point where you start to get overpowered, you will want to increase the power and pointing ability in your boat.  This is accomplished by trimming the main in harder, which will apply more tension to the leech of the main, the bend in the mast, and the luff of the jib.  If your bridle is set too high, you will end up block to block too early, and won’t have the ability to get the desired amount of leech tension when your boom is center lined.

Ultimately, the same concept applies in both medium and light air.  Your goal is to get the boom as close to center lined as possible, while applying the desired amount of tension on the leech of the main (50/50 rule on the top batten tell tale).  Always leave a couple of extra inches, just in case you need a touch more trim in puffs.  There is the widest range of adjustments to the bridal in this wind range.

Heavy air:

As you start to get to the point where you are overpowered, you will want to start raising the bridle again.  As you start getting overpowered, you will need to apply more vang, and dump the main to keep the boat flat.  The more you dump the main, the more it will affect the slot (the gap between the main and jib).  While easing is necessary, you want to ease while having as small an impact as possible on the flow over the jib.  Thus, by raising the bridle, when the sail is trimmed to centerline, you will not have the ability to apply much tension to the leech.  In other words, your sail will reach the centerline with more twist in it, spilling excess breeze out of it, allowing you to depower more with the boom in the ideal position.  With the right amount of vang on, the boom will just go outboard from there when you ease.

Summary:

How you use the bridle will depend significantly on your weight range, and the conditions.  The important thing to understand is that you ideally want your boom in the center of the boat at all times, when sailing upwind.  Depending on where you set the bridle, when the boom is center lined, the main will have more or less tension on the leach.  The more you want the leech to twist off (i.e. windy or light winds), the higher you will need your bridle.  Likewise, the more you want to take the twist out of your sail (i.e. medium winds), the lower you will want to set your bridle.

See you on the water,

Zim Coach

Building Better Sailors: Races With a Twist

When you’re coaching, running races is always part of the agenda at some point during your program.  Unfortunately, unless you consistently have at least ten or fifteen boats at your practices, it is hard to keep races interesting and tactical.  Races with small groups of boats tend to get spread out, and the final result is almost completely determined by boat speed.  Starts, tactics, and boat handling are all still part of the deal, but none are pronounced in ways that will challenge sailors enough to take these skills to the next level.  Young sailors in particular are more reticent to do things that are comfortable in traditional races, as the outcome of a race is not determined by a bad tack, a poor mark rounding, or starting at the favored end.  To make races more exciting, interesting, and effective, present simple and unique twists in races that force sailors to utilize more diverse skills in order to win the race.  Speed will still play a large role in races, but you will have started on the road to building a stronger and more technically diverse group of sailors.

There are many fun scenarios that will make races more fun, interesting, and effective in your race program.  For example, the most common twist coaches add to races is putting a small gate in the middle of the upwind leg.  This gets sailors, who will typically sail hard and fast to a corner, to engage other boats in a way that they typically would not.  It also gets sailors to make tactical decisions much more early, making them more comfortable sailing near other boats, as opposed to separating from the group before making any real tactical decisions.  While this is one way to add an interesting twist to a race, there are an unlimited range of setups you can use to get the desired skill set across to your sailors.

Boat vs. Boat

Set up a mark that is upwind, and relatively close to the line.  Force sailors to leave it to port before sailing upwind.  This will get port end starters to pinch off others early to tack, and will force starboard end starters to hold their lane, using starboard tack to their advantage.  You can further twist this setup by using the short mark as a first windward mark, and sail a short windward leeward before doing a long windward leeward.

Quick Hitch:

Set up a mark that sailors must leave to port before going to the upwind mark.  Set it up so that sailors must tack off to port within a boat length or two of the start line, if not immediately.  Sailors will learn to use starboard advantage, and will compete to win the boat end of the line.  This will also teach sailors strong boat handling skills in tough, competitive situations.

Early Lanes:

Set up a mark much further off the line, and have it set up so that a sailor starting at the boat end is laying it right off the line.  Sailors must leave this mark to starboard before sailing to the windward mark. This way, sailors will not have the ability to tack out early, and are forced to hold their lane, or eat the bad air early on in a race.  This will put an emphasis on holding lanes, winning the pin end, etc.

Winning Sides:

As opposed to the traditional gate, where sailors sail through a small line in the middle of the course before proceeding upwind, make a much larger gate that sailors are not allowed to sail through on the upwind leg.  This forces sailors to choose a side early, win it, and approach the windward mark from a side of the course.  This will keep sailors from sailing across the middle of the course, and to think a few steps ahead of their competitors.

Risky Business (Editor's Choice): 

Set up two marks in carefully selected places upwind.  Make sure they are separate, and that one mark is considerably more favored than the other.  When you start a race, have your sailors round one of these marks to port, and then round the pin end of the line to port, before sailing around the regular windward leeward.  To make this interesting, you put a rounding cap around each of the two short marks.  For example, with four boats on the course, I will usually say that only one boat is allowed to round the favored mark, and three boats have to round the other mark.  This is done on a first come, first serve basis, and any boat that fouls to get around first must go to the other mark.

This is really interesting because it forces sailors to choose between sailing aggressively or consistently.  It puts a lot of pressure on great starts, and will teach others to cut their losses early if they realize they won’t be the first to round the favored mark.  I will typically only allow ONE boat to round the favored mark, in order to implement a more extreme risk/reward structure to the drill.

There are an infinite amount of ways that you can modify and tweak this drill.  As long as you are creative, you can set it up to stress whatever skill set you want your sailors to get a better understanding of.  Either way, this drill is guaranteed to pique the curiosity and creativity of your sailors.  Get out on the water and start practicing!

See you on the water,

Zim Coach

Regatta Dieting

Sailing is a physically demanding sport, where you will expend a lot of energy throughout a day of racing.  Not only do you have to have the strength to do basic physical movements such as hiking, trimming, rolling, etc, but you must also have the energy to think tactically and make decisions during a race.  The instant your body starts to run low on fuel, you will start to break down mentally, prior to losing your physical strength.

Every person’s dietary needs are different, but one thing is true for every person: You need more food, when you are sailing, than you typically eat in a single day!  This is true in all wind conditions, but especially true if it is windy.  Furthermore, how you eat when you are on the water at a regatta is different than how you eat when you are off the water at a regatta.

When you are on the water, you should eat many smaller meals every 2-3 hours, or in between races.  These meals should primarily consist of dietary products, such as energy bars, gels, shakes, as well as other small high energy snacks such as fruits and nuts.  The main reason for this is digestion.  It is well documented that your body uses about 10% of its energy simply digesting the food you eat.  Dietary products, like energy bars, shakes, gels, etc. digest much more quickly than normal food, using up less of your energy on the water.  Also, by spreading out the meals 2-3 hours apart, or between races, not only will your food digest faster, but you will sustain your energy levels throughout the day. In other words, you won't run out of energy in the middle of a race.

It is extremely important to drink a great deal of water when you are sailing as well.  This is true no matter how you eat on the water, but is especially true when eating sport supplements or dietetic products.  The reason for this is that they tend to contain a great deal of sugar, which will soak up a lot of the water you have in your system.  Sugar isn't necessarily a bad thing when you are racing, as it will get into your system to provide energy much faster than normal food.  However, you need to compensate for the negative effects it has with much more water than you typically drink.

Off the water, you should eat much larger meals that consist of “real food” packed with lots of nutrients.  Dietary products and sport supplements are missing a lot of the important nutrients that your body needs during the day, so it is important to make up for what you are missing during a day of sailing.  Usually, you will have one large meal before you start the day, and one or two larger meals at the end of the day.
 
Carbohydrates:

Carbohydrates are essential for energy, focus, and protecting your energy stores.  When exercising, carbohydrates are the first energy source your body burns off.  Thus, you need A LOT of them.  Your larger meals should consist of complex carbohydrates with lots of nutrients and fiber.  This includes whole wheat pastas, grainy breads (bagels tend to have the most energy), some cereals, brown rice, beans etc.  Your smaller meals will include more simple carbohydrates that break down quickly.  This will include energy bars, gels, sport drinks, bananas, orange juice, etc.

Proteins:

Proteins help muscles recover, improve muscle function, and sustain the release of energy to your muscles.  Protein should be consumed throughout the day, not just at night.  Your body will only take in about 40-50 grams of protein in a single meal, and you need MUCH more than that to recover during a regatta.  Thus, you should have plenty throughout the day.  I personally like to include a lot of protein in every meal.  The best proteins come from fish, chicken, flank steak, protein shakes, Greek Yogurt, nuts, etc.

Fats:

Many people have huge misconceptions about fats throughout the fitness world.  They are the greatest source of energy, and not including them in your diet will leave you far short of what you need to maximize your performance on the water.  For example one gram of carbohydrates or proteins has four calories.  One gram of fat has nine calories.  Thus, not having them will likely leave you well short of your needed caloric intake, and you will break down much more quickly on the water.

Instead of avoiding fats, eat plenty of the healthy fats that your body can use.  Thus, you want to eat a lot of unsaturated fats (Polyunsaturated Fat and Monounsaturated Fat), and not eat a lot of Saturated or Trans Saturated Fat.  Unsaturated fats are much easier for your body to break down to use for energy.  The saturated and trans saturated fats are much stronger and harder to break down for energy use.  Thus, it is harder for your body to actually use them.  The best sources of the good fats are nuts, seeds, oils, and fish.  The bad fats are found in most red meat, ANYTHING with chocolate or candy coating (seen on some energy bars), butter, and peanut butter that uses hydrogenated oil (solid at room temperature).

Sample diet for four hour long races with short breaks:

Breakfast 
- 12-16 oz. of Greek Yogurt (Protein)
- Whole wheat bagel (Carb) smothered in NATURAL peanut butter (Fat/Protein)
- Grapefruit or Orange Juice (Carb)

Meal 2 (Prior to Race 1)
- Energy Bar or Protein Bar (Carb/Protein & Carb)
- 16 oz. Water

Meal 3 (Prior to Race 2)
- Energy Bar or Protein Bar (Carb/Protein & Carb)
- Energy Gel (Carb)
- 16 oz. Water

Meal 4 (Prior to Race 3)
- Nuts or Banana (Fat & Protein/Carb)
- Ready to Drink Protein Shake (Protein)
- Sport Drink (Carb)
- 16 oz. Water

Meal 5 (Prior to Race 4)
- Two Energy Bars (Carb)
- 16 oz. Water

Meal 6 (Just off the water)
- Protein Shake
- 16 oz. Water

Dinner
- Salmon (Protein/Fat)
- Broccoli (Carb)
- Black Beans (Carb/Protein)
- Whole Wheat Pasta with Pesto (Carb/Fat)

EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT!  What works for one person may not work for another person.  The important thing to take away from this article is to eat plenty and often when you are sailing!  The amount of races you sail in a day, the length of each race, the wind strength, etc. is always changing.  There are also many substitutes for any of the foods on this list.  Experiment with different things, and find out what works best for you!

See you on the water,

Zim Coach

Play 2 vs. Play 45

One of the most challenging and complicated matchups in team racing occurs when Play 2 faces off against Play 45 (also known as Play 4, etc.).  Play 2 is any combination, where your team’s top boat has the 2nd and 3rd spots, and any other position behind that, with the end goal being to finish in a 2-3-4, even though a 2-3-5 will still win a race.  Play 45 is any situation where your team has the 1 spot, and the remaining boats are in 4th and/or worse positions.  The end goal is to finish in a 1-4-5.  In other words, your team has a 1st place, and is not in a play 1.

Play 2:

2-3-4, 2-3-5, 2-3-6

Play 45:

1-4-5, 1-4-6, 1-5-6

Play 2 Overview:

As mentioned previously, the goal of Play 2 is to finish in a 2-3-4.  2-3-5 will still win, but mostly occurs as a fluke in high level team racing.  The reason for this, is that if the other team is in a 1-4-6, the 4th place boat in a will never finish before trying to boost the 6th place boat past the 5th place boat.  In other words, a 2-3-5 is a very unstable combination.  Thus, in a Play 2, you should never stop executing pass backs until you are in a 2-3-4.

A 2-3-4 is one of the strongest combinations in team racing, assuming that your team can stay balanced with the 5th and 6th place boats on the other team.  Play 2 is vulnerable, both upwind and downwind, when the other team is able to move towards two sides of the course, and the pairs are not able to come back together while remaining balanced.

Generally speaking, in a 2-3-4, two boats will gain control of the 5th and 6th place boats on the opposing team, with the third member of the team helping to maintain balance between the pairs, or rescuing a teammate if they lose control of an opposing boat.

Play 45 Overview

Play 45 is less stable than Play 2, but is much less intricate in terms of balance.  The biggest mistake made by most teams in Play 45 is the 1st boat running away with the 1, leaving 3 boats vs. 2 boats behind them.  It is important that boat 1 retains 1st place.  However, they should remain close enough to keep one boat occupied, and should also remain poised to spring a Play 1, if the opportunity arises.

There exception to this is initially around the first offset leg, and early in the downwind leg.  If the 1st place boat lingers too close to the competition on those legs, that leaves the opportunity for the 2-3 to swallow him or her up downwind, and lose the 1 spot in the process.  Instead, on off wind legs, boat 1 should stay in a spot where she is just far enough to protect the 1, relying on her teammates to do their jobs.  She should set a mark trap at the leeward mark to bring the race together or to prevent 3 boats from ganging up on 2 boats behind her.  Her job moves back to normal following the leeward mark trap.

While the 1st place boat’s role is crucial, the most important dynamic of Play 45 occurs between the other two boats.  While the exact roles will change slightly depending on the precise combination, the ultimate goal is to put one boat on the other team in last.  Once this happens, have one boat (Boat 5) gap this boat separating her as far as possible from the rest of the race, while the other boat (Boat 4) pushes boats 2 and 3 up the course.

1-4-5 vs. 2-3-6

These are far and away the most interesting combinations to pair against each other in team racing.  In each of these combinations, each boat has a specific role, and the winner of the race is determined by which team executes their roles most efficiently.

Boat 1:

Hold onto the 1 spot, but stay close and connected, keeping boat 2 as uninvolved as possible from the play behind them.  Wait to spring a Play 1 if the situation presents itself.  On upwind legs, look for opportunities to pin boat 2, to keep them from helping the team balancing.

Boat 4:

Push boats 2 and 3 up the course.  Your job is to get as far ahead of boats 5 and 6 as possible, making it more difficult for boats 2 and 3 to boost boat 6 without leaving open a Play 1 opportunity.  If you are far enough separated, and boats 2 and 3 split to free up boat 6, move immediately to Play 1.

Boat 5: Your job is simple.  Gap boat 6, taking them as far away from the rest of the fleet as possible.  There are several reasons to do this.  The biggest reason is to keep boats 2 and 3 from having the ability to rescue boat 6.  If one of them goes back to help, they will leave a 1-3 in the front of the fleet, which is easy to convert to a 1-2.  Another reason you do this, is to act as an insurance policy if your team loses the 1 spot.  If this happens, you will automatically have an opportunity to move into a Play 2.

4-5 Wins:

--
Boat 2: 

You need to work with boat 3 to significantly slow boat 4 moving her as close to boats 5 and 6 as possible.  If the boats are all about even with each other, boat 2 and boat 3 will each be able to gain control of boats 4 and 5 without giving up their respective positions.  From here you will run the necessary pass backs to move into a 2-3-4.  Typically, you will want to move boat 6 into 2nd place.

As boat 5 will typically attempt to gap boat 6, boats 2 and 3 will need to double team boat 4, making her go much slower than boat 5 is capable of slowing boat 6.  Upwind, this will consist mostly of one boat ragging, while the other is pinning.  Downwind, this will consist of a lot of teamwork, hooking boat 4 whenever possible.  If she breaks overlap with one of the boats and forces her downwind, the other boat should take over while the other reestablishes overlap with a couple of jibes, etc.

Boat 3: 

See Boat 2; the jobs are identical, as the two boats work as a unit.

Boat 6: 

You need to get to your help.  Boat 5 will try to gap you, and your job is to make this as difficult as possible.  Break overlap quickly downwind and force the gapping boat to sail forward.  Do not get hooked if you can help it, and do not let them take you out as a starboard boat.  When sailing upwind, avoid getting pinned, unless you are sailing toward your help.  Avoid a significant amount of tacking.  In desperate situations, you may have to jibe out of a pin to keep moving the race forward, but you should avoid this as much as possible.  Rely on your teammates to do their jobs, and they will spring you if you are able to keep pushing up the course.

2-3 Wins:

2-3-4 vs. 1-5-6

When these two combinations square off, there is a constant struggle between 2-3-4 remaining balanced, and boats 5 and 6 unbalancing the 2-3-4, gaining control of one opposing boat, and putting them in last.

Boat 2: 

For the majority of the race, you are in a position where you are helping maintain balance between the pairs behind you, breaking ties whenever your teammates lose control of a boat, etc.

If you are in the 2 spot immediately around the mark, your role will change slightly.  In order to keep the race moving forward, you are in charge of protecting boat 4 from the trailing boats.

Boat 3: 

For the majority of the race, your job is to gain control of and balance boat 5.  Bring boat 5 towards boat 6 as often as possible by ragging on boat 5 whenever they sail away from boat 6, and pinning her at full speed when you sail towards boat 6.

If you are in the 3 spot immediately around the mark, your role will change slightly.  In order to keep the race moving forward, you are in charge of protecting boat 4 from the trailing boats.

Boat 4:

For the majority of the race, your job is to gain control of and balance boat 6.  Bring boat 6 towards boat 5 as often as possible by ragging on boat 6 whenever they sail away from boat 5, and pinning her at full speed when you sail towards boat 5.

If you are in the 4 spot immediately around the mark, your role will change slightly.  You will sail dead downwind, pushing the race forward much more quickly, forcing boats 5 and 6 into the control of your teammates.  When you eventually move into the 2 spot, you will assume that role.

2-3-4 Sailing Downwind

--
Boat 1:

You mostly have to remain patient, staying relatively close on upwind legs, preventing boat 2 from helping her teammates whenever possible. Set leeward mark traps to bring the group together, and possibly break up the 2-3-4.  If you try to do too much, particularly downwind, you will risk losing the 1st, and will leave an opportunity for the other team to move to an easy Play 1.

Ultimately, your largest priority is holding onto the 1st, while staying close enough to occupy boat 2, and keep them from doing their job whenever possible.

Boat 5:

You are working with boat 6 to catch one boat from the other team, quickly putting them in last.  Look for any and all opportunities to get the other team unbalanced.  Split with your teammate whenever possible, forcing them to work to stay in a 2-3-4.  On downwind legs, you will sail high to force an opponent to sail a lot of distance to control you.  This will give your teammate an opportunity to go low and pass one of the boats on the other team.

Boat 6:

Your job is similar to boat 5’s.  You will be the low boat in a high/low downwind.  Upwind, when you split up, force the boat that covers you to do a bunch of tacks, or anything else you can do to slow them down.  This will give your teammate an opportunity to pass the boat covering you, and you will have a chance to run a pass back from there.

See you on the water,

Zim Coach