DOWNWIND TECHNIQUE A discussion ensued in the parking lot during the 2004 Turkey Bowl whilst waiting for wind. Dan Falk and Andy Vance spoke on their technique for going downwind.
I asked Andy to write it down so it could be studied. Here is his response:_____________________________________________________________Subject: RE: TURKEY BOWL REPORTDate: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 11:18:12 -0800From: "Andrew Vance" To: <seattle-laser_at_SailPix.com>
To those who were not privy
to the downwind 101 discussion held in the parking lot.........................
In order of importance
1) Have fun
2) Sit as far forward as possible. Especially in light
air. Should have butt at least at cleats if not on or forward.
3) Both feet on cockpit sole - To aid with heel angle to steer boat. Boat is steered
by a combination of moving upper body in or out and pressing with feet, not by
steering with tiller (very slow). Kicking the boat flat while sheeting in
will really power up your bottom turns.
4) Sit in over your feet so that the boat is free to heel
around you.
5) Vang tension - Loose always!!! I have to
bend my mast a little to put the vang tang in the
boom on the dock. When sailing I have about 4" of line hanging out
of the cleat. The leech should always be elastic/springy,
the only time the vang comes on is when there is
bumpy chop and you need to stabilize things abit.
This is the setting for downwind sailing in 0-30 knots. NO VANG NO VANG
6) Mainsheet tension - Adjust sheet so that mid leech is about perpendicular to
boat centerline or slightly aft in all conditions, this is constantly changing
with pressure and boat speed. This will mean that in 5-15 the boom is out 75-85
degrees, in more wind it will be in further (I never have it out to 90 unless I
am trying to get to a favored side of the run). This is important as you
are doing a lot of driving around and you cannot trim as fast as you can steer.
If the sail is out to far and you head up onto a reach all power is lost,
if however half the sail was over sheeted to start with then half the sail is
now at trim. There should be load on the mainsheet at all times, this is a function of attached flow over the sail,
either from leech to luff or luff
to leech. If you have no attached flow go left or right until you feel
more load on the sheet.
7) With the sail over sheeted when a puff hits, the boat will have much less
tendency to roll to windward as the net drive force will be parallel to
centerline i.e. the direction you are wanting to go, rather than cross boat
(read - swimming) if you are under sheeted.
8) Head either up or down to your desired course (attached flow), then when the
puff hits sheet in and turn down-puff so that you are now moving fast in the
direction of the puff, thus staying in the puff as long as possible and maximizing
your downwind VMG.
9) Always turn up for your next S-turn before speed bleeds off too much as the
power required to keep the boat going fast is much lower than the power
required to re-accelerate the boat.
10) Never be content to sit there and feel like your
going slow. Turn either up or down hard (30-45 degrees from course if
required) until you feel the boat accelerate with solid speed...............do
not bear away to soon. Once you have speed drive off downwind and sheet
out, as speed bleeds off head up again while sheeting in to maintain speed
ready for next bear away.............repeat,repeat,repeat
11) In heavy air do as above but over sheet some more, if you find yourself
rolling to windward turn very hard by the lee and the leech will de-power
allowing the boat to stabilize.
ANNV