How to find height in light winds
British Keelboat Academy Head Coach, Niall Myant explains how teamwork between the jib trimmer and the helm can help you stay on course without sacrificing speed…
When sailing an upwind leg in light, shifty winds any helm will be wondering if they could point higher, particularly when racing.
Chances are, the tell-tales will be unhelpfully limp in the light winds, and if the boat is underpowered the feel on the tiller won’t be giving much away.
You could gently head up and see if the wind will let you gain a few degrees. The danger here is that, if you are wrong, you’ll be losing speed; and hurriedly swinging the boat back down with the rudder will only slow you further.
Another, far more e cient method is to let the jib trimmer run the show. In light winds the crew will be down on the leeward side; if there is only one person down it should be the jib trimmer. Once on the leeward side they can help the helm steer by ‘testing’ where the jib is happiest.
Rather than the helm heading up half a degree to see if the jib will stay flowing, the trimmer can ease the jib a few millimetres or more. If the load in the sheet drops, the tell-tales die, you notice any other signs of losing power, bring the jib back in. You will have lost far far less than a wiggling a heavy boat up and down.
If the jib is indeed happier, then the trimmer tells the helm to come up 2, 3, or 5 degrees, at the same time trimming the jib on. This way, even if you do find you are o the wind, by easing the jib to check, you will gain you speed - a double win. More speed and more height!
To make this trick work, it takes team work, and practice. The trimmer needs to talk, constantly, about the signals coming from the jib. Please don’t use a tone of voice that makes the helm feel you are just barking orders – helms need to feel like they are in control, they are funny that way.
You’ll also likely start by easing too much jib sheet, reacting with too much rudder when heading back, or find the trimmer is out of sync with the helm’s movements. So remember, it’s small adjustments, small gains and the whole point is to keep momentum and look for the shifts. Remember, practice makes perfect!