Words of Wisdom

Words of Wisdom – 12-18-05 - Kathleen Tocke

Obviously, weighing just 130 lbs., I was inherently faster than most people in the light air on Sunday. However, I think that light air sailing is more “in your head” or mental sailing than any other type of breeze, particularly downwind. It requires patience. Most people dislike lighter conditions, and this negative attitude affects how they sail – it becomes self-fulfilling prophecy. I used to stink in light air, so I was determined to get better at it. I spent my first summer in Newport going out and practicing in light air, and gained confidence, which is always fast.

Heavier sailors, do not despair - you can roll and rock the boat harder and you have momentum in a dying breeze (like the last race) – these are positive things to think about if you don’t like the lighter conditions.

Light weight sailors, these are days where you get your vengeance. Look for the heavier sailors and set up next to them. I tended to start at the pin most of the day. Usually, I was the first or second boat at the pin. I can point pretty high in the light stuff, but there are plenty of bigger sailors out there that can hold their own above me (like Scott Milnes and Dave Gray in a couple of the races). At the pin, I don’t have to worry about a heavier sailor driving down on me. Later in the day, as the breeze was getting lighter is was very important to stay near the line while waiting for the sequence to start. It was a long line and with only a two minute sequence, it was sometimes difficult to get to where I wanted if I was I was at the opposite end of the line at two minutes.

In general, I tended to sail for a while on starboard tack after the start. I had good speed and was pointing well, so I waited for shifts and sailed toward the breeze. It’s fairly easy to see and read the breeze on lighter flat water days, but the shifts come more slowly, so you have to sail to and into them. The far left side of the course never seemed to pay. I think there was slightly more breeze in the middle/right side of the course. I was usually in the middle playing shifts and always seemed to be on the right tack for the last shift near the windward mark.

Downwind was tough. I tried to stay to the edges and watched behind me to see that there wasn’t a wall of boats blocking what little air was out there. In the couple downwind legs where there was more breeze, I sailed far by the lee, with a little tighter vang (which made for more effective pumps) and was often on a different tack than the rest of the fleet. In light conditions I sit very far forward, am very still and I steer almost completely with my weight and sheeting, so I have almost no tiller movement. I leverage my weight with my butt and my hand on the daggerboard. I usually don’t rock that much and can hold my own sailing still and fast. Downwind sailing in light air is patience and getting frustrated in the light stuff causes boat movement and makes you go slower. The best thing is to chill and stay out of the middle.

A wind indicator is crucial for me downwind in the light air, it allows me to see subtle shifts that can’t be seen on the water and can be difficult to feel. I watch it vigilantly and can make sheet adjustments accordingly, which gives me little bursts of speed and advantage over other boats that don’t have one. It was particularly helpful in the last leg of the last race when we were reaching in to the finish.

A quick word on boat set up. I saw a lot of people with their outhauls eased too much. When the water is flat the way it was on Sunday, you can have your outhaul tighter than you might think. Too much ease causes you to lose power, particularly when pumping your sail, sheeting in, and roll tacking - there’s no resistance to a puff or pump if your outhaul is out too far, it will just wallow and you won’t accelerate. If your sail is older and stretched, you may still need to keep bit more cunningham, in order to keep an optimal sail shape upwind.