| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 662.1 | A description and some references | 19584::KENNEY | | Thu Oct 08 1987 22:27 | 22 |
| I am cheating and copying this explaination out of "The Racing Edge"
by Ted Turner & Gary Jobson. This one of thousands of texts on
racing and sailing.
1) Get boat up to full speed
2) Move helm to leeward and trim sail to harden up, Now hike out
to windward.
3) This should start the boat to roll through the tack and will
heel to leeward.
4) As sail fills move to the windward side.
5) Flatten boat and acclerate.
It really makes more sense with illustrations. A couple of other
good books.
"Race Your Boat ryght" by Arthur Knapp
"Thoughts on small boat racing" by Stanley Ogilivy
"Sailing Smart" by Buddy Melges & Charles Mason
Forrest
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| 662.2 | Move the sail through the air | EXPERT::SPENCER | | Fri Oct 09 1987 13:30 | 11 |
| Though I've only tried it a little myself, with limited success (at best),
the idea of roll-tacking is to have the boat heeling to leeward more than
normally just as you complete turning the boat and straighten out for your
intended new heading. At that point, theory says that by shifting your
weight to windward, you flatten the boat somewhat and pull the sail to
windward (i.e., make the mast more vertical.) In so doing, you move more
air over the sail, and are supposed to gain a bit more drive than if it's
already in that more-vertical position. It's a light-to-moderate air tactic.
J.
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| 662.3 | | ODIHAM::JORDAN | Chris Jordan, South UK Application Centre | Mon Oct 12 1987 06:00 | 6 |
| It also helps a lot to let the sail out a bit (6 - 9 inches) when
you first roll to windward, then when you complete your tack, let
the sail out further (1 - 2 feet), so that when you roll the boat
back upright, the sail is set correctly for a close reach. Then
pull it back in smartly when the boat comes upright.
|
| 662.5 | | MILVAX::HO | | Mon Oct 12 1987 16:43 | 45 |
|
Roll tacking is beneficial in both light and heavy air. In fact,
it's even more necessary in heavy air to prevent loss of speed and
sideslip. When first learning to do this, you'll find it's actually easier
to do on a breezy day. Doing it successfully in light air requires
a smoothness that can only come with practice.
To initiate the tack, start out close hauled with the sail full
and trimmed normally. Then lean inboard and let the tiller fall
away. As the boat starts turning, hike out hard (or at least stay
put on the weather side) until the boom passes over your head and
the sail fills on the new side. Then, and not before, go up to
the new weather side and hike as needed to flatten the boat.
The key things to remember are not to rush across at the start of
the tack as instinct tells you to but to stay on the low side until
the boom passes over and then to move over smoothly. Also, keep
the tiller over hard until you're up on the new side. Control the
amount of heel with the tiller until you've established where you
want to sit on the new side. In lighter air you'll want to keep
the tiller over longer than in a breeze.
Some people find it awkward to switch their tiller and sheet hands
during the tack with the result that their tacks lack the fluidity
necessary for maintainig speed. The answer is simple, don't switch
hands. Steer behind your back for a spell until you're on the new
tack and things have settled down.
Experienced dinghy sailors often conclude the roll tack with an
intimidating snap of the sail and an aggressive hike that actually
accelerates the boat. That won't happen for a while. Go for
smoothness first. The snap looks and sounds impressive but it really
doesn't do much for your boatspeed.
BTW if your bilge stays completely dry during the tack, you're probably
going over too soon. Learning roll tacking will also afford you
the oppurtunity to learn all about capsize recovery.
Have fun
Gene Ho
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