Another example of simple things, which are easy to make difficult, are tacking and gybing. So let’s look at it from it’s most basic view point: An object (sailboat plus crew) which is moving as fast as possible tries to change it’s direction of movement, therefore it will have lost energy (in this case: speed). Even though a very smart guys sitting underneath a tree and looking at apples falling down has clearly proven this point, this is to me, dear reader, unacceptable!! (and yes, I know I’m unreasonable here!)

Yes, there are some dinghies, which in certain conditions, by using heel change induced by body movement (roll) are capable to actually have higher speed out of the tack than before tacking, but losing speed in general is, once the starting signal has been heard, not something which I can take easy. So let’s start at tacking.

“general training approach”
Before we look deeper, first a little side track; Even though some techniques (rolling, ooching crabbing etc.) are illegal by the racing rules, they still need learning. Please don’t use rules as an excuse to accept anything less than perfect when you’re actually practicing a roll tack. Any decent Olympic hopeful needs to have boat control beyond belief and rules.

This simply because the boat has to be an integrated part of one’s body before one can actually play the game of sailing, which is: “adapting to the continuous changing conditions/circumstances, and that better than your opponents”. That you also need to be able to decide when situations need holding back and “proper” execution becomes than another option and not a involuntary action about which you have no control. To find out what actually “proper” is, you’ll need some discussions with judges, but by than we’re talking top world ranking sailors.

So let’s start this article to have a quick look at the tack. The next blog can be about gybing (even though in many things it’s the same but just opposite).

Tacking has basically 3 phases: 1-luffing, 2-getting through head to wind, and 3- bearing away. Where these phases actually change is probably a bit grey area and changes per condition per class etc. For now we can suffice by saying that working with these 3 phases will help to get a big improvement for most sailors that are working towards “something Olympic” or differently “performance wise orientated” (have you seen Alinghi’s tack in race 1!!!)
 

1. luffing
During “luffing”, most of the time it’s essential to control the heel of the boat (to leeward or flat!!) and the pace of the chance of course (=curve). Again (see blog 1!) the primary means of the luff should come from sail trim and body movement, and only when necessary, helped by the rudder! So move a bit in and back, close the main and don’t turn too fast. (some boats at the end of the luff a 1st roll can be made, when the “backwind bubble” in the sail has passed the 33% of the sailchorde).

3. Bearing away
During the bearing off to the right angle to accelerate, the roll tack dinghies can give the 2nd pump (sometimes it’s even an option to only give the 2nd pump!!). This will help the acceleration a lot, but very often the windward heel resulting from overdoing the pump, causes to boat to slip sideways. So again; pump; but check what the boat and rudder are doing while you jump through the boat!!

Bigger issues than the pump are hitting the right angle with the right amount of heel in order to get maximum acceleration after the tack. Of course are these two aspects connected: if the sheet is too tight too early the boat will not bear off on to its right angle. But also if the sheet is too open too late, no flow will attach, no force is developed, boat will heel to windward (sailors are on the new windward side by now) but not accelerate…

How to quantify this? Most helmsmen in two sail dinghies/boats are helped with looking at the jib clew, or traveller during phase 2 where they are already able to estimate/reproduce how fast the boat is turning and when they need to orientate on the new angle. For single-handers the groove is actually a bit wider and they can mostly orientate on their winddex on the mast

Please take your time to have a look at your wake after the tack is completed, it could give you a good idea on the angle out of the tack, before and after accelerating.

Another issue to be aware of is to start and finish your tack in full speed. Some coaches think it’s a nice exercise to clock/time the tacking manoeuvre from the moment they see the rudderstock moving to leeward and end it when the crew is in the windward position and the boat upright. Not a bad exercise, but it leaves out a lot of the critical stuff like “not slowing down” before you start your tack, or even worse, giving signals that you opponent can see and anticipate their positioning upon.

When practicing tacking and gybing, the handling of the body is interesting, but it’s not the body, which has to through the finish first, it’s the bow of the boat! Please keep your eye on how the boat actually behaves, even when you do something things that feels shitty and after a little slip; FIGHT to get it going again!! This a frame of mind essential for racing!

I already mentioned that going slow into a tack or gybe doesn’t help, but ending the manoeuvre directly after the sails are filled on the new tack without accelerating to full speed, is also an easy trap to fall. Sailors that have practiced that too much can easy be identified because they need too long after every tack too get going again, even though the manoeuvres looks nice. Take them to a duel and within two or three tacks you rule them!

Resistamces
The last one is to practice tacks in different “resistances”.

The 1st resistance is you and the boat, which basically means check what you and your body needs to do to make an easy tack whenever it fits you.

The 2nd resistance is to tack when the strategic situation (wave, lay line, shift or whistle from the coach) needs you to (already a lot harder), it’s basically you, the boat and the course.

The 3rd resistance is to tack so that you end up in the best position to the other boat within the given strategic situation. So that’s you, the boat, the course and the opponent!

Almost every technique, or reinvestigation of a technique needs proper choice of these resistances before the sailor will be able to perform this without thinking during a regatta.

Whenever you feel that tacking needs improving keep asking yourself whether it’s a “body-boat thing”, or a “boat-conditions thing” or a “boat-boat” thing that keeps going wrong.

But maybe I’m already making something quite simple very difficult! Enjoy this picture!

Good winds,

Rigo de Nijs