Skip to main content

BBBS Sailing Reflections (SB20 10)

Varying wind conditions of 3 knots to 11 knots. 
Strong winds >= 10 knots

Main sheet out of cleat more often and need more active trimming to maintain constant boat heel. 

Will be unable to keep top batten parallel with boat, it's okay to let it open up a bit. 

Boom try your best to be on centreline, and play with the other lines, eg backstay, outha, down haul, vang. 

Deepest point of sail should be one fist width away from boom. Under strong winds, sails can afford to be tighter. 

Experienced luff of sail back winding today, even though rest of sail was okay and the boat was overpowered. This is normal and okay, for strong winds especially.




In light winds, objective is to maximise the power in the sails. Available wind power is little, less than the boat's max power limit, so your goal is to harness as much of it as possible. 

In strong winds, power is more or less guaranteed. Objective is to maintain optimum heel of the boat. Available wind power is high, more than the boat's max power limit, so your goal is to drive the boat right at its limit, but not go beyond to overpower the boat, for that would be counterproductive. 





When reading the wind vane top mast, remember to compensate for boat's movement. When boat bow dips and angles downward, that action will result in the top of the mast moving forward in a circular arc. This will cause the top of the mast to be experiencing increased "apparent wind" and point forward more. Likewise when the bow rises, the top of the mast will move rear in a circular arc and the vane will swing slightly aft of the actual apparent wind. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

BBBS Sailing Reflections (Byte 6 and SB20 4) (12 Sep 2020)

Byte Pre-Sailing Reflections  Targets to achieve: Internal Affairs - Intra-Boat Management Execute smooth hand over hand sheeting in with improved rope positioning. Also tidy up ropes before doing a tack/gybe (make sure you are ready for tack/gybe before performing one) Practice main sheet tricks - stretch out length of rope and lay on knee prior to tack or gybe Hike out with thighs on boat gunwale Manage outhaul, downhaul and vang consciously to maintain good sail shape. Lift and lower daggerboard for different points of sail Manoeuvring Around Wind - Tacking & Gybing Turn by correct amount during tacking (slightly over-turn then head back to wind is fine). (Also do so by visualising current heading and new desired heading.) Tacking technique to be improved - changing hands and moving the tiller extension around forward. Keeping hands on main sheet instead of letting go.  When the wind shifts aft, point into the wind more rather than letting out the sail. Likewise when th...

BBBS Keelboat Regatta Training Session 1 (22 Aug 2020) (SB20)

Item 1: Rigging Observation: Rigging boat was slow. Reflection: Unfamiliar with the procedures and the specific parts of the keelboat.  Sub Points: new parts of the boat for me: outstay (line at the back to control curve of mast for depowering the top of the sail) Head of mainsail connected to main halyard via shackle.  Item 2: Main Sail Control Sub points: - Learnt traveller tuning to keep boom centred. (traveller used as fine tuning after sheeting in on the main sheet)  - Keeping top leech telltale streaming out straight (unable to do that even after loosening outstay and sheeting out. Next thing to try: tuning the vang)  - Main sheet, outstay and traveller controlled by the same guy usually. Need to get accustomed to the ergonomics and movement within the cockpit. Sometimes might need to manage spinnaker also. Item 3: Spinnaker Observation:  I am very unfamiliar with the spinnaker as I have never used one before. I am also unfamiliar with the SB20...

BBBS 10 Sailing Cycle 1 Session 3 Reflections (Byte)

Conditions: Gusty storm winds, but approx 7-8 knots.  Wind shifts sometimes, so need to ascertain new direction accurately. Still a little unsure about whether I am reading the wind correctly. Maybe might put a wind indicating device that is within the field of view of the camera and review footage afterwards to assess quality of sail trim. Sailed in my first storm today.  Hiking out a lot more today. But the problem encountered was that sometimes right when I hiked out, the boat "un-heeled", and continued rolling the other way. So I'll have to immediately sit up and in. Two possible reasons: maybe I hiked out too much, or when I hiked out, I unknowingly/accidentally slightly pointed the boat, which reduced the side force pressure and resulted in the rolling back towards me, past the neutral point. Need to find a way to solve the twitchy controlling and keep the rudder centered even as I move around the cockpit. Going downwind presented another challenge.  Boat felt diffi...