As you can tell by our blog category, “Helpful Hints,” we’ve been passionate about teaching the sport of sailing for a long time. While we’re sometimes too busy to post, we’re currently making a push in an effort to get as much information as we can out there to you. We sometimes slam blogs and videos out there with an emphasis on getting the point across. Actually, Carrie is an excellent editor, and we do try to make our articles as nice as possible. We have a great one coming out soon, on keeping the boat upright, along with some great videos. So, stay tuned.

Lying awake last night I realized that I’ve always sailed best when my intent was not to win, but to have fun and learn. The best events, for me, are the ones where I get better as the regatta goes on, because I’m learning so much. Such was the case at North Cape for Nationals, July 8-14, on Lake Erie. It was lots of fun with a decent amount of sailing. My crew, Jacob Feisley, had great composure and perseverance.

The 1st race on the last day of racing, Jeff Linton was 1-point in front of us in the standings. We needed a good race, but alas, Jeff smoked us off of the line. Absolutely ran us over. My first instinct was to get upset and credit Jeff’s light weight. However, we got back in the fight and salvaged 3rd, right behind Jeff to stay in the game. More importantly I realized that my anchor was tied to starboard, right below where the skipper sits. We all love a little heal in the FS, so I figured, since it was light air, that anchor was not giving us anything to press against. We moved it to port, so it would be to Leeward at the start, and we shot of the line like a bat out of hell.

We knew the wind had already gone right, and that the left seemed to provide the most puffs. We almost banged it and got launched. However, we let a few boats left of us at the last ¼ mile of the windward leg. The good news was that Jeff was not one of them, and we moved up in the standings.
As for the regatta winners, David Ames and PJ Buhler, we’re confident that we will drag them down one of these days, knowing now how they were tuning for the advantage the first day, and downwind in the light stuff. Had we known then, what we know now, we would have won the regatta. I don’t say that with arrogance; I’d be more successful at a lot of stuff if I had a Crystal Ball. The point is that you can learn your own lessons, or steal ours. With all of the information and a bit of time on the water, it’s anybody’s ball game.

Lessons from my Note Book:
Note: There are too many lessons to memorize in one sitting here.
• Anchor and Cooler weight aft and to port in light air, way aft in breeze, and forward for pointing in moderate winds.
• Tension rig to 160 – 180 lbs when blowing over 16 consistently. Otherwise 100 lbs and always raked back at 28’ 5” or less for pointing, unless over 400 pounds of crew weight, and wanting to foot into waves or current.
o Don’t get stuck on these numbers. Dave and I don’t actually measure our rake, we guess at it based on the gap at the bottom of the mast. The point is that we know roughly where our rake and tension is, and we know how we want to sail the boat for that day. In either point mode, or bow down mode. You have to figure out where you like your rake in different conditions based on how you sail the boat, and what sails you use.
o In regards to tuning different in different conditions, Dave has shown that it helps. Although, Jeff and Zeke sail the same in tension in all conditions. Dave just adds or reduces tension using our 5 hole forestay adjuster plate. However, he could just as easily drop and add holes on the shrouds, with the help of a crew holding the spinnaker halyard. Just be careful and have extra pins handy.
• If blowing dogs off of chains, then drop main and pull-on Cunningham for Mad sails. Note: This depowers the boat so much that we can actually sail comfortably in higher winds. At least after reading our next post on keeping the boat upright.
• That being said, don’t leave yourself underpowered if the breeze is not consistently on. A little bit of Cunningham is good for letting on and off when you’re just a little bit over powered. (I hope that I remember this one.)
• Heel boat before waves for lift off of the bow. Thank you Jeff!
• Pull on lots of outhaul, even in light air, when sails are new and leach won’t open. Thanks again Jeff!!
• In a drifter, don’t tack, just put bow down for favored side.
• Roll the board back for bow down mode, and leave it at the bottom of the hump for point mode.
• Protect your winning side when you’ve crossed in front, even if you’re slightly lifted, but probably not if you’re super lifted.
• Drop board enough that boat does not crab sideways downwind, when reaching in light air.
So, there you have it. Those are all of our best lessons from NACs. We’re confident that by simply making these things habit, then we’ll have what it takes to win a NACs one of these days. Of course, now all of our competition has our lessons, but as you can see, they share with us too. At the end of the day, it’s not about getting there, it’s about enjoying the ride.