Champion sailor Ben Saxton explains to Andy Rice how to use an asymmetric spinnaker in light airs and keep a boat on the move Just as the best teams seem to find an extra high mode on the upwind legs, often they\u2019re also very good at eking out an extra-low mode on the downwind. Unlike symmetrical spinnakers, where you can square back the pole and sometimes sail directly down the rhumbline, with an asymmetric gennaker you\u2019re always having to work the angles.
\nIn light airs these angles can get pretty big as you work to keep the apparent wind flowing over the sails. If you can keep the flow AND gain a bit of extra depth compared with the boats around you, then you\u2019ve got the opportunity for some significant gains downwind. Here are Ben Saxton\u2019s five top tips for keeping the boat rumbling along in the low lane.
\nListen to the trimmer
\nKeeping up the speed is one of the most vital goals when you\u2019re pushing downwind in light airs and you need to let the spinnaker trimmer be your guide. Whatever size of boat you\u2019re sailing, the feel through the spinnaker sheet is one of your key indicators for how low you can afford to go. An early luff is way better than stopping completely and having to build from scratch again. The key relationship is between the spinnaker trimmer calling the pressure in the sheet and communicating with the helmsman so that the two are in sync.
\nOn bigger boats you can rely more on the target apparent wind angles which are really useful to steer to. In the smaller boats you simply don\u2019t have that kind of data, but going on feel is never a bad thing. Make sure you\u2019re always maintaining a good gap between the back of the spinnaker and the mainsail. If in doubt it\u2019s better to over-trim rather than under-trim the mainsail to maintain that healthy slot.
\nSailing the angles with an asymmetric. Photo: Kinetic Catamarans
\nHigh or low?
\nIt\u2019s one thing to work your best VMG with no other boats around you, but on a busy race course you\u2019re going to have to work out when to sail higher or lower than normal. There\u2019s no real rule of thumb, but generally if you\u2019re rounding the windward mark with lots of other boats you simply can\u2019t afford to be rolled by five or more of your rivals. So it\u2019s most likely worth sailing the extra distance and going higher than you normally would to keep the apparent wind forward and keep the clean air across your sails.
\nIf you\u2019re in danger of being rolled by just one boat and you\u2019re thinking about gybing away soon anyway, take the short-term pain of a bit of bad air knowing that you\u2019re still well placed for the bigger strategic picture. Sometimes it\u2019s okay to be rolled by one boat knowing that if you keep your leeward position then you\u2019re most likely to be able to dictate terms at the gybe, and maybe get your own back by rolling them out of the gybe.
\nArticle continues below\u2026<\/p>\n
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Trim the boat
\nMostly if it\u2019s really light winds then you\u2019ll go for some leeward heel to help the sails fill and to reduce the wetted surface area of the hull.
\nOn a narrower hull, once there\u2019s enough breeze to fill the sails without the need for gravity, you\u2019d pull the boat upright. But in a boat like the Cape 31 with a really wide transom you\u2019ll still keep the leeward heel in anything up to 8 knots of breeze because the gain of getting the kite round is less than having a big, wide transom in the water.
\nYou want to get weight further forwards in light airs to reduce wetted surface area of the transom, but don\u2019t trim so far that you\u2019re fully lifting the transom because then you\u2019re losing waterline length which is an important factor for boat speed.
\nKeep all movement smooth and gentle so as not to disturb the boat any more than you have to.
\nPhoto: Rolex
\nEase the tack line
\nIf the sea state is flat and you\u2019re aiming to get low in light winds, easing the tack line is an option for having a rounder, more powerful entry to the gennaker. Don\u2019t try this in really light airs where you\u2019re struggling to keep flow over the sails, because in these conditions flatter is faster. But once you\u2019re going relatively low and only gybing through small angles, you can sometimes ease the tack line which helps give the kite a bit more depth, as well as rotating the kite around to windward.
\nLook behind you
\nHave someone dedicated to looking behind for the breeze, spotting the best opportunities coming down the race course. Because everything tends to happen quite slowly in light airs, the tactician should have time to do this job. You want to be careful that you don\u2019t have too many cooks, but a two-way conversation can be good for bouncing ideas around \u2013 just make sure it\u2019s clear who has the final call for making the next move.<\/p>\n
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The post 5 expert tips: How to use an asymmetric spinnaker in light airs appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Champion sailor Ben Saxton explains to Andy Rice how to use an asymmetric spinnaker in light airs and keep a boat on the move Just as the best teams seem to find an extra high mode on the upwind legs, … <\/p>\n