Conference unifix::sailing

Sorry, this is in the replies, but somehow I lost my initial note (This is my
first time using NOTES)

I can't believe that no one out there sails dinghies.  It seems most of the 
notes are about keel boats around New England.

I started sailing 2 years ago in a used 505 (it's a hard boat to learn on, but
is more fun than anything else on the lake!).  I race in a mixed fleet using a
modified Portsmouth rating.  My boat is faster than the others in the fleet and
I can pull ahead when beating to windward and on reaches, but I can't seem to
pull further ahead of the albacores and lasers in the fleet on the dead runs
when the sails are not 'working'.  Does anyone know what techniques I should
be using;  I have the board up, vang tightened, and sometimes goose-wing the
jib (depending on the wind angle).


	PLEASE help me ;- I was given a bottle of champagne last Xmas for
when I win my 1st race and it's still in my refrigerator (only 2 races left
this year)


				- Neil P.

In certain conditions lasers have an advantage downwind since their light-
weight enables them to pick up onto a plane very early. However you should
really compete favourably against the Albacores. I owned a laser for several
years and often gained on the local Albacore fleet downwind (the fleet contained
such notable sailors as Mike Holmes and John Webb - from World championship
fame), but lost most of my ground upwind where in heavier weather the light
weight is a disadvantage and (of course, the jib-less laser being unable
to point so high). 

It seems that you are doing most of the 'correct' things, but are you really
sailing to your handicap by making full use of the spinaker? Also I think
weight distribution can be crucial in most (*all*) conditions. Try shifting weight
forward in light airs to lift the transom and reduce drag. In heavier weather
try to gradually move aft as the boat begins to plane. To INITIATE a plane
in marginal planing weather, 'pumping' the sails a bit may help. Also 
continually watch your course to steer clear out of other people's air and
even try to steal the wind of those ahead of you. Remember: In a large fleet
the longer (and clearer) route downwind may well be the quicker.
                  
I hope the above is of some help
Good luck with the future racing - You should be opening that bottle soon!!!!

Regards
	John Cooper     (Grimsby and Cleethorpes Sailing Club, England).

Thanks for your reply, John.

I wish I had known about pumping the sails and weight distribution last
Sunday because it was one of those marginal days - occasionally planing
on gusts.

I generally don't use my spinnaker this time of year because I quite often
capsize and the wind and water are starting to cool off.  But now that you've
brought it up...

The spinnaker is something I know little about.  I know some of the techinques
but I don't know when to use them:
	altering pole height
	angle of pole to boat
	dropping the halyard a few(??) inches
	trimming and easing sheet so that luff curls
	curl should be in upper 1/3 of sail
	tack and clew level (impossible to see from the boat)

It seems that sometimes I get the thing trimmed right, but it makes no
difference in boat speed.

I would appreciate any help on this.

			_ Neil 

Neil,
	Unfortunately, spinnakers aren't my strong point, having predominantly
sailed lasers and albacores. It's a shame my fellow Grimsby sailors aren't
on DECnet as Mike Holmes (past GP14 and Enterprise World Champ) has fairly
recently gone over to 470s and I believe he took part in the '84 Olympics
but I don't know how he did. I'm sure he'd have a wealth of knowledge regarding
the use of the spinnaker. But I'm afraid I've lost contact somewhat since
my University days and especially now that I'm in DecPark (Reading).

	I do however sympathise with your hesitation to use the spinnaker
as I agree it can greatly increase capsize risks, especially when you're
not too used to it and also the weather here in England does not provide
for a 'pleasant capsize'!           

Sorry I can't be of more help on this one,
Regards, 
	John.

             

Neil,

I have one additional suggestion beyond the good suggestions already offered
by John (.2). My suggestion is something that has helped my offwind sailing 
quite a bit. 

My dinghy is a Day Sailer I and more than anything else I think what has
helped improve my offwind sailing is to watch that I don't oversteer the boat.
Downwind and on broad reaches helm should be straight-ahead and neutral. This
should be maintained by shifting weight in and out, not by tiller movement.
You can best feel the helm by letting the tiller extension rest in your hand
versus clenching it. If your grip is too tight you can't feel when smaller
adjustments are required. Downwind you can assist boat balance by sitting to
windward while your crew sits to leeward. Remember, any movement of the rudder
out-of-line brakes the boat as well as steers it. This is the point of sailing
the boat flat with neutral helm. You don't say whether you are doing these 
things, but if not you might give them a try. 

Handicap systems are at best imperfect and that is why I much prefer fleet
racing to handicap fleets, but I much prefer racing to no racing and this year
I also found myself in a handicap fleet. Depending on sailing conditions and
depending on what Portsmouth numbers are used, your boat may or may not be
able to sail to its handicap. It is also possible to sail above a handicap. If
you could note where you sail, what the normal sailing conditions are
(planning conditions or light winds), and whether your club uses base
Portsmouth numbers or optional numbers that vary by wind speed, I may be able
to comment on this. Next week when I meet with my race committee (Massabesic
YC, Manchester, NH) I will try to get the 505 numbers and some other
representative numbers. 

Bob
        

Hi Bob,

	I sail on Lac des Chats (lake of the cats??), a widening of the Ottawa
River 2 miles wide by 4 miles long, at the small (6000) town of Arnprior,
Ontario, about 30 miles upriver from Ottawa.

	Wind conditions vary considerably from glassy surface with cat's
paws (??) meandering about, to high winds with 3 foot waves (rare). Most of
our races are in the less-than-whitecaps range of wind.

	I went down to the sailing club last night and copied down the
handicaps we use: (these numbers do not change from wind condition to wind 
condition)

		tornado		 .73
		hobie 18	 .79
		tanzer 16	1.239
		laser II	1.1
		sandpiper	1.353
		enterprise	1.18
		lightning	1.114
		laser		1.14
		albacore	1.13
		505		 .97
		cl14		1.301
		hobie 16	 .853
		trac 14		 .889
		tazar		1.04
		paceship	1.227

	These numbers are divided into our actual time to get corrected time.
	You can see that we have a nice variety of boats, one of each except
for albacore (2), laser (3), and enterprise (2).
	In June we invited some 505's to come up from Ottawa for a day and they
had no trouble finishing 10% ahead of the next boat (the laser that
consistently beats me by 10%).  These guys were good sailors, the kind that
go to the U.S. east coast championships and mid-winter championships in
Florida.

	When the wind picks up on our lake (whitecaps), the cats finish in the
top half of the fleet, otherwise they finish last.  When the winds are lighter
any of the lasers, enterprises, albacores and tanzer16 can win.  I finish
10 - 12% behind winner (corrected time).

			_ Neil P.

Neil, uou didn't mention it re;down-wind sailing, so have you tried to sail
a point or so (10-12degs) to either side of the course? It doesn't take 
too awfully much added boat speed to make up the slightly added distance 
sailed. Your sails are 'working' and you can bias tacks towards the 
best wind shift.
Good luck, Ed

Neil,

I was able to borrow a table of USYRU Portsmouth numbers at a sailing club 
meeting last night. 

The following table reproduces the Canadian Portsmouth numbers from reply -.6
(under column heading CYA as I am guessing they are from the Canadian Yachting
Association) and also provides U.S. Portsmouth numbers: base number and wind
varying numbers. There is also a table of multiplicative adjustments for 
spinnaker and trapeze. 

Note that I was able to borrow only the 1984 Update and do not have the
full Portsmouth rating manual so I am unsure of some details. For example,
D-PN is the average U.S. Portsmouth Number but don't ask me what the "D"
stands for (Datum?). Also I know the ()'s and []'s around numbers mean low
confidence from low reporting but I don't know how low. Finally I'm not sure 
how wind speeds line up with Beaufort numbers but I believe the groupings 
can be interpreted as light and variable, medium (for fair weather sailors 
like myself), and heavy.

				 --- USYRU - 1984 Update ---
					    Beaufort No.
			CYA	D-PN     0-1	 2-3	 4-9

505			 .970	 80.8	 82.1	 81.6	 79.3
Albacore		1.113	 91.0	 94.5	 91.5	 86.3
CL14			1.301	104.9	na	106.1	101.5
Day Sailer		na	 99.9	103.3	101.3	 96.5
Enterprise		1.180	 93.9	 94.2	 93.9	 93.1
Laser			1.14	 92.7	 94.2	 93.1	 90.8
Laser II		1.10	 90.2	 92.1	 91.1	 86.5
Lightning		1.114	 89.7	 95.0	 90.6	 85.5
Paceship		1.227	 na	 na	 na	 na
Sandpiper		1.353	 na	 na	 na	 na
Tanzer 16		1.239	 99.6	101.4	 98.9	 96.2
Taser			1.04	 89.4	 93.5	 90.5	(85.4)

Hobie 16		 .853	 77.7	 84.2	 79.6	 71.2
Hobie 18		 .79	 72.2	 78.4	 74.3	 66.3
Tornado			 .73	 64.2	 69.6	 66.6	 60.8
Trac 14			 .889	 71.0	(76.2)	(73.0)	[64.3]


				USYRU Adjustment Factors

Spinnaker Class, not equipped	1.028	1.014	1.028	1.014
Nontrapeze Class, with trapeze	 .981	1.000	 .9877	 .9625

You can fool with these numbers in all different ways. Your main concern seemed
to be with a Laser so I divided the Laser and 505 numbers across all
wind classes and found the ratio holding pretty constant so I infer that wind
velocity, on average, should not affect your finishing position relative to
Lasers. This is not true for other classes, consider my Day Sailer (which will
plane only in heavy air) and, much more so, look at the Catamaran Classes.

USYRU also publishes all sorts of adjustment factors, but I have selected 2
that might be especially interesting to you. Together they say that if you are
not using a spinnaker and not using the trapeze, then you are giving up an
average 5% at the dock. 

I still want to see you enjoy the champagne and a second year sailor shouldn't
feel a need to win a race to celebrate. I don't recall winning a race in my
second year, or my third, or my ... To deservedly enjoy the champagne, all I
suggest you do is identify where you improved this year and pop the cork. 

Enjoy, Bob         

I AM SAILING FOR MY FIRST YEAR ON HOBIE 16s AND THE REGIONAL RACES ARE LARGE
AFFAIRS WITH LOTS OF COMPETITION. I'VE LEARNED A BUNCH OF THINGS THIS YEAR.
THE MOST IMPORTANT IS THAT GOING DOWNWIND IN LIGHT AIRS, DON'T TACK DOWNWIND
AS YOU WILL NEVER GET THERE AS FAST AS GETTING INTO THE BOW OF THE BOAT THE
LYING LOW, HOLD YOUR COURSE, AND FEEL FOR WIND SHIFTS.

THIS HAS REALLY IMPROVED OUR STANDINGS.
JOHN