#Sail into the waves meaning free

When the waves are not regular there are always high and low spots. ‘When seas are really confused, and there are no obvious regular peaks and troughs, how should I sail through this?’Īgain, it’s a damage limitation exercise.

#Sail into the waves meaning free

Now you can simply steer to make the most of the flatter patches of water sheeting on and sailing higher, and minimise the effect of the really bumpy bits by easing the jib a touch and steering slightly free as they approach, until you are through. Twist your sails even more, and sail as free as is necessary to keep the boat moving forward, with rig and foils working. So, move further apart (in the fore/aft direction), to try to reduce the bouncing. Whereas in moderate winds the crew should concentrate weight together as much as possible, to reduce the amount of power needed to lift the bow over each wave, in light winds the power lost through a bouncing, stalled rig is far more significant. The waves just shake the boat and rig around the rig stalls and the boat bounces up and down going nowhere. ‘In light winds, the waves come too quickly to use this technique: I can’t turn the boat fast enough.’ĭepending on the speed of the waves, your boat, and its manoeuvrability, there is always a lower limit where it is simply not possible to steer around the waves in the way described above. That is the basis of sailing upwind in regular waves: take every opportunity you can to watch the fast sailors in the conditions of the day, and practice getting ‘in phase’. The bigger the waves, the more extreme the motion needs to be. Luff as you climb the face of the wave so that you spend as little time as possible in the peak: bear off as you cross the peak onto the back of the wave. The water in the waves is moving in a circular motion: downwind at the top, upwind at the bottom. In typical regular waves, in moderate conditions, the waves are travelling directly downwind. This should give you a powerful rig but one which will cope with the constant change, and be kinder to steer to.

The depth could come from an extra chock, more strut or lowers, spreaders forward, or a very slight outhaul ease.Ī deeper jib will also give a nice big ‘groove’: allowing you to steer the boat around the waves as much as possible without a stall. To avoid this, sail with deeper, more twisted sails than you would in flat water: the boom as close as possible to the centreline, but top telltale streaming most of the time: jib twisted to match with a nice parallel slot. This, rather than bad steering, may be the cause of your height problem.

The waves affect your apparent wind direction as well as its speed. Powering up by pulling extra hard on the leeches will not work when the rig is bouncing around: the sails will just stall. Therefore, set the rake, rig controls, etc for the minimums, not the maximums, and work harder to keep the boat flat through the peaks. It’s easier to keep the boat flat by working extra hard or easing sheets momentarily in the apparent puffs, than to find extra power when the rig is depowered for the peaks. However, the power available from the wind will vary depending on which part of the wave you are on, and which way the rig is moving at the time. To drive the boat upwind through the waves you need extra power. Before we deal with your actual steering question, just a point about rig set up. To accelerate the bear away, ‘bounce’ the boat to windward which will momentarily flick the leech open, helping the turn.īut read Rule 42 carefully before getting too enthusiastic about using kinetics in waves. To bear away, hike harder and if necessary, ease a click of main. To luff, sheet on and allow the boat to heel slightly to leeward. Literally: with trim! Inevitably when steering in waves you have to use some rudder to get the boat to turn quickly, but the more you can instigate the steering with weight and trim, the less drag you will induce through the rudder, and the faster you will go (this principle applies to all the ‘steering’ advice in this feature). But as soon as we are sailing in waves, I struggle for height upwind. ‘Inland, or on the sea in flat water, I am as fast as anyone. Sailing in waves can be some of the most fun you can have afloat, and with the big breezes we’ve been enjoying this summer chances are most sea venues - and even some inland ones - will have kicked up a good chop.īut handling waves also requires some specific techniques, we get some top tips… For inland sailors, the annual pilgrimage to the class championships usually means more than just sand, salt water, and ice creams - it can also bring big seas! Mark Rushall solves some common problems that racing in waves pose.