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Trimming – Teresa Schultz
If you’re keen to race your sailing dinghy, but find it difficult to get out of that part of the fleet that makes the top half possible, there may be a few reasons.
For novice skippers it is mostly sail trimming that keeps them bringing up the rear. Concentrate on fore and aft and lateral trim, then pay some attention to your sail trim.
This discussion is not about the theory that makes a dinghy move through the water as a consequence of air movement across the sails; rather, it is a practical guide to effective sail trim on a small sailing dinghy. Please bear in mind that this is a general discussion, and will therefore not be equally suitable for all sailing dinghies.
Dinghy sail trimming starts on land, when you are rigging your dinghy.
Hoist your mainsail and jib.
When tensioning the sails, remember that the harder the wind is blowing, the harder you can apply tension to the sails. In light winds, apply very little pressure, to make your sails as full as possible. Light tension will also allow the sails to react to puffs quicker and easier.
Many, but not all mainsails have a luff lock position, some have more than one, to allow for different wind conditions, but most have no locking position. If your dinghy has a luff lock, and it is required to use it, do so. If not, read on.
The luff on a dinghy is elastic, and depending on how much tension is applied, will extend by as much as six inches, sometimes more. For light winds apply tension to the halyard, sufficient to increase the luff length by approximately two inches. A light fold should be seen in the sail, running parallel to the mast. Now go to the clew of the main, at the end of the boom. Apply pressure to remove the vertical luff fold. When the vertical fold has disappeared, watch the sail along the boom. Apply tension until you see a fold starting in the sail just above the boom. Now slowly release the clew to a point midway between the two extremes.
As the wind force accelerates, tighten your luff, then the foot of the sail, always maintaining the midway point. Apply pressure to remove the vertical fold. Stop, and mark the position. Now apply more pressure until a horizontal fold starts forming. Stop, and make a mark. The position you want is between the two marks. Experience with your dinghy will help you determine optimum settings.
Out on the water a common mistake made by novices is over-sheeting. This is pulling the sails in too tight. Nothing will slow a sailing dinghy down more than over-sheeting.
With your dinghy rigged, stand behind the dinghy and sheet in until the outside tip of the boom is above the outside corner of the transom. Use a permanent marker to mark the sheet at a point that you will be able to monitor easily. It is suggested that you use the boom block as a reference, as a deck block will divert your attention from what is happening around you. This will be your light weather setting. Now sheet in a bit more, until the tip of the boom is half way between the transom and the centerline. Mark this point with a permanent marker, and use it as a reference for maximum sheeting in strong winds.
Adjust your kicking strap, or boom vang. In light wind conditions the kicking strap must have very little tension, just sufficient to keep the boom from lifting up. In heavier conditions, you can apply tension that will drop the level of the boom below its actual rest position.
Jib luff tension is achieved by applying halyard tension until just before a vertical luff fold starts appearing.
Out on the water, launch your dinghy and get clear of land. Make sure your weight is correctly positioned, and steer a course to windward. Sheet in your mainsail, ensuring that it is between the marks you made earlier. Now adjust your course, so that the leech of the mainsail is just fluttering. Sheet the jib in to stop it flapping. Have a look at the leech of your mainsail. If it is opening excessively along the top third, you need to tighten your kicking strap. With time and practice you will be able to feel the difference this makes.
Now sheet the jib in some more, until it starts back-winding the main. You will see this happen when the beautiful aerofoil shape of the main starts making a bubble just behind the mast. Let the jib out until the bubble goes away.
These are the basics, and will make a difference to your position. By fine-tuning these settings you will notice if your ability to catch up is improving or not. Fine-tuning and practice will take you closer to the front of the fleet.
Check your mate Random Photos
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Enough of the Quotes
“The ocean has always been a salve to my soul…the best thing for a cut or abrasion was to go swimming in salt water. Later down the road of life, I made the discovery that salt water was also good for the mental abrasions one inevitably acquires on land.”
- Jimmy Buffett
Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Give him a fishing lesson and he’ll sit in a boat drinking beer every weekend.
- Alex Blackwell
A sailor’s joys are as simple as a child’s.
- Bernard Moitessier
A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind.
- Webb Chiles
“Only the guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat.”
- Jean-Paul Sartre
Most important requirement in a tool kit
“Duct tape is like the force: It has a dark side and a light side, and it holds the universe together.”
“One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop.”
Some more wise words
A tourist remains an outsider throughout his visit; but a sailor is part of the local scene from the monent he arrives.
- Anne Davison
“Sailors, with their built in sense of order, service and discipline, should really be running the world.”
- Nicholas Monsarrat
If you know of some to add please use the comments section below.
Owen
Some Tips
A few items that make sailing easier and consequently more enjoyable:
Let’s start with footwear. Although possible, it is not advisable to sail barefoot. Banging a cold wet foot against a deck block won’t be noticed until your foot starts throbbing, or worse, until you notice your foot is bleeding. Protect your feet, and wear either tennis shoes or neoprene bootees. If you decide to use tennis shoes, they do need to have laces, as wet tennis shoes do fall off for little or no reason. Tuck the protruding laces away into the inside of your shoe so they don’t hook or snag on anything.
Toe straps have a way of not being there when you need them. Use lengths of shock-cord from one side of the dinghy cockpit to the other, passing it under the toe-straps. This will keep the toe straps firmly open, and dead simple to find and use. If your dinghy has a flat deck, use lengths of two-inch polypropylene tubing pop riveted to the toe straps, to keep them off the deck. Position them at the ends of the toe straps or the polypropylene tubing will be a nuisance.
Forgetting to lift your dagger board when bearing off to a reach or a run is common. Although a lift line won’t do it for you, it will make your life easier. If your class rules permit it, pass a line from one side of your dinghy to the other, passing through a hole in the dagger board. It will take some experimenting to find the exact position of the hole, and you will need to insert a bush of sorts to protect the line. Also necessary will be a channel for the line to run in, routed into the dagger board. Utilizing a lift line means you will be able to lift the dagger board from anywhere on the boat, taking away the need to move inboard, or the need to remember to do it when crossing the centerline of the dinghy. Always lift your dagger board before gybing.
Use a lightweight burgee to tell where the wind is. Remember that a burgee indicates relative wind direction, not true wind direction.
Tufts of wool taped to the sail at one third and two thirds of the height and at a third and two thirds of the width of the sail at that height will tell you immediately how your sail is drawing. Tie tufts of wool to the outside ends of your battens to monitor what the airflow over your sail is like. These tufts are invaluable when tuning for racing.
A simple bridle traveler for dinghies without a traveler is easy to fit. Look at the Laser Class dinghy traveler. It is simple, unobtrusive, infinitely adjustable, light in weight, inexpensive, very effective, easy to use, and easy to install.
Conclusion: To make your dinghy sailing easier, look at other dinghies, and see what is installed and fitted. Very often similar gadgets can be fitted at lower cost, through ingenuity.
Some wise words
When you spend so much time pushing, caring for, cajoling and maintaining a beautiful racing machine like this, you get very close. She’s looked after me well, and I look after her. I haven’t been lonely at all.
Ellen MacArthur
“To the question, “When were your spirits at the lowest ebb?” the obvious answer seemed to be, “When the gin gave out.” – Sir Francis Chichester
“To young men contemplating a voyage I would say go.” – Joshua Slocum
