Steering into light winds, the basic rules for not slowing down
THE PERFECT GIFT!
Give or treat yourself to a subscription to the print + digital Journal of Sailing and for only 69 euros a year you get the magazine at home plus read it on your PC, smartphone and tablet. With a sea of advantages.
It is said, with good reason, that the best helmsmen are seen when the wind is really light, say under 8 knots. Indeed, in these conditions it takes sensitivity and technique to always keep the boat fast, and on the right angle to the wind especially upwind. So what are the tricks to try to steer the boat best in light winds?
We will not deal with adjustments this time, but focus on the role of the helmsman.
Light wind, how to best helm
A good helmsman when there is little wind tries to move the blade as little as possible and minimize course corrections. In fact, every touch on the rudder is a brake on speed, and when the boat is barely moving under these conditions, it becomes critical not to slow it down. For this reason, the helmsman can never lose sensitivity with the direction of the wind; the eyes of the leader must remain fixed on the jib threads and not be distracted with anything else.
Every second spent with the boat too “pointing” into the wind will be paid for dearly. In light winds, in fact, speed is lost immediately as soon as the boat holds too tight an upwind, and recovering it is instead a slower and more laborious process. In fact, in such cases, if we sail upwind, it will be better to prioritize boat speed rather than angle to the wind. Better to keep an upwind line just a little wider than necessary and not force the heave too much than to risk losing several tenths, or worse, of speed.
So watch out for the jib fillets, and the luff of the sail: avoid keeping the fillets “shot” upward, and pay close attention if the sail deflates close to the forestay, it is a sign that our angle to the wind is definitely too tight.
The crew will be arranged downwind, from the middle of the boat forward, to try to give a minimum of heel to the hull and reduce the wetted surface. The helmsman must “feel” this lurch, and adjust to it. Whenever this is reduced it means that the boat is too tight to the wind and the pressure on the sails is reducing further.
Mauro Giuffrè
Share:
Check out the latest issue
Are you already a subscriber?
Ultimi annunci
Our social
Sign up for our Newsletter
We give you a gift
Sailing, its stories, all boats, accessories. Sign up now for our free newsletter and receive the best news selected by the Sailing Newspaper editorial staff each week. Plus we give you one month of GdV digitally on PC, Tablet, Smartphone. Enter your email below, agree to the Privacy Policy and click the “sign me up” button. You will receive a code to activate your month of GdV for free!
You may also be interested in.
Garmin quatix 8 is the smartwatch to have on your wrist when you’re boating
Garmin has unveiled a new must-have companion for the wrist of anyone who goes boating. It is the quatix 8, the smartwatch designed for those who experience the sea at 360°. The initial “q” is lowercase, as per the brand’s
Jib adjustment: the perfect sail “trim” with sheet, carriage and Barber
Jib adjustment is critical to having a good upwind angle, as well as good boat speed for given wind conditions. The parameters on which to adjust the sail are mainly two: the intensity of the wind and the angle at
What are the doors used for in a sailboat?
Lele Panzeri, well-known advertising creative and inveterate sailor (by the way, he is organizing creative sailing courses for September and October on his boat), after explaining to you why, in his opinion, bow mooring is better than stern mooring, and
Practical guide for advanced boat owners: the guru’s tips for a long-sailing-proof boat
Sailor and nautical consultant Enrico Tettamanti explains how to optimize or choose your boat to make it safe, supremely comfortable, and seaworthy for long, very long voyages. He puts what he has learned in his 30 years of experience of
