| Author | Message | ||
     Mike Bergmann Unregistered guest Rating: N/A |
Hi Jeff Mostly I move exactly on a tack on days when I sit high, and move after pulling the traveler up on days when I sit low, but sometimes that does not work. For example, I may go down early on a heavy day to check a crossing boat, or go up on a light day to check a mark. I move the traveler during the tack whenever I can. I did have a traveler set up on another boat so I could adjust from both sides, and it worked well. It took me about 2 years to work out the control lines. Except on a "crash" tack, I generally steer very slowly through a tack. My rule of thumb is that the tiller never gets out of the footwell. Even though our boats can turn on a dime, I find that steering that slowly takes less speed off and allows the boat to accelerate faster out of a tack. It also allows the crew time to get the jib across smoothly. I don't try to snap the genoa inside the lifelines coming out of a tack, becasue I prefer to sheet loose while accelerating. On some light days (and we have a lot of them where I sail) I actually ask the crew to slow down on sheeting the jib. |
