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BBBS 10 Sailing Cycle 1 Session 2 Reflection



Pre-Sailing

Pro tips:
Try standing up if you can't feel the wind too well. Stand up to feel the wind then sit back down. (Wind shouldn't change too much for the following half hour after your standing-up wind check.) 
Train your sensitivity to the wind by using a fan at home to simulate the wind, and then try to mentally understand how to sense the wind and get a sense of how various winds at different directions feel like. 



Post Sailing Reflections:

Conditions: Wind was stronger and more stable today when we went out. 

Today I was monitoring my sail a lot more closely and constantly checking the telltales. I'm still a bit unsure of how to use BOTH telltales. I'm going by the rule of thumb that both telltales have to be pointing straight out to have proper trim, but what to do when the inner/windward telltale keeps drooping and what does it mean? (I think I was on beam reach.) 
A: Means that side is not catching enough airflow and you need to turn the boat a bit to let that side of the sail catch the wind too. 

Sometimes I'm a bit unsure of the actual wind direction, and thus the point of sail I'm on and the appropriate sail trim to use. Today I more actively let out my sail gradually to watch for the luff, and once I see the sail stop "catching wind", I will know to sheet in. This was the way which I was trying to solve this problem. I think it might work, so next session I will figure out how to fine-tune this technique. 

Today I felt better able to close-haul also, and ride quite close to the close hauling envelope limit. At that limit, the wind feels like it's almost blowing straight onto my face when I am looking forward, but perhaps just a little slightly more on one cheek. This detection of the "slightly more wind on one cheek" requires a level of sensitivity that can be acquired by more exposure and experience. I think Lionel's suggestion to train up one's "face sensitivity to wind" by doing it in front of a fan and keeping one's eyes closed is a good one and I will continue to do it.


For port rounding, I am still cutting it a little close and at times I will touch the buoy. I find that the boat's actual trajectory does not go along the line that I had originally hoped it will. I don't know how to solve this. Perhaps will be more conscious about this next session.


I think one thing I can improve on is my letting out of my sail to test for luffing to improve sail trim. Currently I am still jerkily letting out a lot of sail. I need to do so more gradually. 
Lionel mentioned that for wind shifts, especially if the wind shifts aft, you can point into the wind more, rather than letting out your sail. 


Additionally, I feel that when I'm tacking, my boat's rotation is a little slow, so I actually spend longer than I would like to, in the no-go zone. Still figuring out how to minimise the duration spent in the no-go zone. 

I think I also need to get better at the tacking technique, specifically the managing of the main sheet. I want to learn how to do the stretching the sheet out when done changing sides on the boat, and then switching hands. And also about how to manage the ropes before the tack so that I wouldn't get my feet tangled in it. 


Additional thing to work on next session: simulate lifting and lowering the daggerboard for different points of sail. As well as learning how to adjust the finer controls such as the vang, the outhaul and the downhaul.

Other things to learn a bit later on: How to roll-tack.



So in summary, things to work on:
  1. Use the telltales better - the side that has the telltale drooping means that that side does not have strong airflow over it. Solution: position the sail in a manner that will expose it to the wind to ensure good airflow over both sides of the sail (only applicable from close-haul to broad reach, when below broad reach, drag force dominates as thrust force and telltales will be useless).
  2. Practice port-rounding and more consciously gain the estimate of the boat's turning line.
  3. When the wind shifts aft, point into the wind more rather than letting out the sail. Likewise when the wind shifts up, the sail will start to luff, at that moment, bear away a little.
  4. Get better familiarity with tacking procedure in cockpit. Also learn rope management tricks.
  5. Simulate lifting and lowering daggerboard for different points of sail (even though the daggerboard is stuck hard in its slot).
  6. Practise aiming at a distant point (especially when/after tacking or gybing). 
  7. Learn to adjust the fine controls such as the vang, the outhaul and the downhaul.
  8. Learn how to roll-tack.



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