Continuation of Racing to Win by Steve Milby
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Dying From A Thousand Paper Cuts

In a yacht race, you need to maintain maximum boat speed for as high a percentage of time as you can throughout the race. When your speed drops momentarily because of poor sail trim or poor helmsmanship, it takes a long time to accelerate the boat back up to maximum speed. That lost time can’t be made up. The skipper has to concentrate intently on helmsmanship, and the sail trimmers have to concentrate intently on re-trimming the sails with every puff and veer of the wind. Put yarn tell tales on both sides of your jib and mainsail, about a foot back from the luff, and watch them constantly throughout the race, to make sure your sails are correctly trimmed and driving at all times. A lot of sailors lose a lot of time from lapses in their concentration, but they don’t realize how much it hurts them. It is like dying from a thousand paper cuts. One or two paper cuts won’t kill you, but a thousand might cause you to bleed to death.

A good way to win sailboat races is to make fewer mistakes than the other boats. Watch what the other boats are doing. As a general rule, when they are doing things that work, copy them. When they are making mistakes, do something else. I frequently see half of the fleet following the leader, even though the leader should have tacked on a header, and is sailing away from the next mark. You gain ground every time you avoid a mistake that your opponent made.

The Windward Leg

Good upwind pointing ability depends on several factors, the most important of which are boat speed and sail trim. 

Boat Preparation and Apparent Wind

Most sailors think that a light sanding and quick coat of paint is enough to make their boat competitive. If you are not putting as much or more effort into prepping your boat than your opponents, then you are allowing them an advantage over you. If you want to outperform them, you have to work harder and get dirtier than them. You cannot effectively race a boat that is not capable of attaining its maximum speed potential. As boat speed increases to windward, apparent windspeed also increases. When the apparent windspeed increases, the effect is the same as if the boat is sailing in stronger wind. The wind generates more power. A smooth bottom and keel enables your boat to attain its maximum speed potential and that enables it to make the most of the apparent wind.

Foot to Point

Although it might seem counterintuitive, you must foot (or bear off slightly) when you want to beat to windward and point as close to the wind as possible. Here’s how the principle works. As we have seen, the keel provides both lateral resistance and lift. (See “The Keel,” above.) Those forces enable your boat to sail to windward without side-slipping. A fast flow of water over the hull and keel generates more lift. That added lift enables a boat to point higher, with less slippage to leeward. By bearing off slightly, the boat increases its speed. Because of the increase in speed, the keel generates more lift, which enables the boat to point higher.

Acceleration

When a sailboat is moving at reduced speed, such as after tacking, the sails need power, to enable the boat to accelerate to its maximum speed. You should begin to accelerate by easing the sheets and steering slightly off the wind, and then coming up gradually, until the boat reaches its maximum speed. As the speed builds, continue to trim in the sails to maximize the boat’s pointing ability.

Scalloping To Windward

After a Catalina 25 has reached its maximum speed, its weight will allow it to coast for brief periods without a significant reduction in speed. You can take advantage of this ability to coast by steering the boat on a scalloping course to windward, alternately pinching to windward for a couple of seconds, and then falling back down to a close-hauled course to get the sails driving again and maintain boatspeed. By steering a scalloping course, you will be able to drive the boat slightly closer to windward than your opponents. If you are slightly ahead and to leeward of another boat, it will enable you to point higher than the other boat, and force it to tack. When steering a scalloping course, it is important that you use smooth, gradual movements of the rudder to steer the boat, because abrupt or large movements of the rudder will kill boatspeed during the coasting phase.

If you will re-read the paragraph on footing to point (above), you will realize that, when you steer a scalloping course to windward, you are applying the principle of footing to point. 

The Lee Bow Maneuver

In order to execute the lee bow maneuver, you must maneuver your boat into the “lee bow position”, while beating to windward. You are in the lee bow position when you are close alongside, and to leeward of another boat, and your bow is about a half boat-length ahead of the other boat. Your mainsheet traveler should be adjusted fully to windward, and the shape of your mainsail should be rather full. The object of the lee bow maneuver is to direct the disturbed, weakened air, that is spilling aft and to windward of your sails, toward the sails of your opponent, thereby slowing your opponent and forcing him to tack for clear air. 

Recently I had occasion to use the lee bow maneuver against a Hobie 33. I crossed the starting line about 1/2 boat length ahead and to leeward of the Hobie 33, and we both trimmed for a beat. About every 20-30 seconds I took a bite to windward (steered a scalloping course to windward), coming closer each time to the Hobie's bow. Each time I took a bite to windward, I told the skipper of the Hobie “I’m coming up.” Each time, the Hobie 33 was forced to pinch up to windward to keep clear of me. After taking three or four bites to windward, I pulled my mainsheet traveler all the way to windward, and the backwind from my mainsail spewed turbulent air onto his mainsail and jib. He finally had to tack off to get clear air.

The lee bow maneuver is especially useful after the start of a race, when you are ahead and slightly to leeward of an opponent. It is also useful on the windward leg of the racecourse, when you are crossing the tack of a starboard-tack boat, but you cannot cross ahead of it. If you can tack into the lee bow position, you can force your opponent to make a time-consuming tack to windward, to clear his air. 

The Slam Dunk

The slam dunk is another maneuver that is used to blanket the wind of an opponent. When you are beating to windward on starboard tack, and your opponent is beating to windward on port tack, and your opponent is obliged to cross under your stern, you can blanket his wind by tacking onto port tack as he crosses your stern.

If you are slam dunked, the best response is to tack back over onto the opposite tack. That will clear your air, unless the slam dunker follows suit by tacking onto the opposite tack, blanketing you again. If the slam dunker is persistent, your only response can be to engage in a tacking duel. If you get into a tacking duel, you might be able to break it off by using a “feint tack.” (See “Using Psychology as an Offensive Weapon,” below.)

Because this maneuver requires that you take otherwise unnecessary tacks, other competitors will gain time and distance on you while the two of you are dueling. Therefore, you should only use this tactic if the boat that you are slam dunking is capable of beating you, and if you have enough of a lead over the other boats to allow you to retain your lead over them. It is foolish to get so involved in a personal duel with one boat that you let the rest of the fleet beat you both.

Tacking Upwind of Opponent

When you are on port tack, and you cross ahead of a starboard tack boat, you can deprive your opponent of wind by tacking onto starboard tack upwind of your opponent, putting him in your wind shadow. In order to cross safely ahead of the starboard tacker, you need to cross about 1½ boat-lengths ahead of it.

If another boat tacks upwind of you and blocks your wind, the best response is to tack again, to clear your air. If the other boat also tacks, you might be forced into a tacking duel, as described under the heading of “The Slam Dunk,” above. A well-executed “feint tack” might help you escape the tacking duel.

When another boat uses these tactics to slow me down, or luffs me away from the rhumb line, I hail the other boat and ask, with a smile, “Are you racing me, or the rest of the fleet?” It reminds the other skipper that, in using these delaying tactics, he is not only holding me back, but he is also losing time with reference to the rest of the boats. 

Raising and Trimming Sails

Often, you see inexperienced sailors trying to beat to windward with full, billowing, scalloped jibs and flapping mainsails. They can’t sheet the jib in closely enough, because the boat is heeling too much, and it is heeling too much because they are carrying too much sail, and the sails are not raised properly. 

Look at the sails of a really good sailor when he beats to windward. The sails will be smooth and flat, and the boat will be sailing relatively upright.

In order to sail close to the wind, you must fly the correct sails for the wind strength. In light air, you usually fly your largest sails. In strong winds, you must fly a smaller jib and you might have to reef your mainsail. If you carry too much sail area, the boat will be overpowered in strong winds, and the boat will heel excessively when you try to trim the sails in for a beat to windward. When in doubt, a new sailor should raise smaller sails. It will help you gain confidence in the boat and in yourself.

Next, your sails must be set properly. In order to beat to windward efficiently, you must be able to flatten your jib and mainsail. If your jib is scalloped, you cannot flatten it properly. Scalloping results when the jib and mainsail are not raised with the correct amount of halyard tension. The amount of tension you use depends on how hard the wind is blowing at the time. Therefore, when you raise a sail in light air, you should put a very minimal amount of tension on the halyard or downhaul. The harder the wind is blowing, the more tension you should put on the halyard or downhaul. In stronger winds, you generally should put enough tension on the halyard or downhaul to cause the leading edge of the sail to curl slightly when the sail is luffing. (When the sails are trimmed and the wind blows on the sail, it will cause the curl to smooth out. If it does not smooth out, you have put too much tension on the halyard or downhaul.) 

Finally, when beating to windward, a slight lapse from good sail trim can make a big difference in boat speed and pointing ability. On my C-25, I trim my 110% jib until it is about one inch from the spreader. I trim my 150% genoa until it is about 8-9 inches from the spreader. In strong puffs, Dacron sailcloth stretches, and the distance from the spreader increases. When that happens, I put more tension on the jibsheet, to maintain those same distances from the spreader. When the puff subsides, I ease the tension on the jibsheet, to maintain those same distances. You cannot sail to windward efficiently if you do not keep the jib sheeted in to approximately those distances.

Remember that it's actually the leech and the back half of your mainsail that gives you pointing ability, so it's important to make sure that those parts of the sail are trimmed properly. The best indication is if you have telltales attached to the leech of your mainsail, and if they are streaming. That tells you that your sail shape and sail trim are on target.

Shifting Gears

When you are beating to windward, you will generally encounter one of two conditions. (1) slight, short-lived changes in wind velocity (i.e., periodic wind puffs), or (2) a major, persistent change in wind velocity. 

When you encounter only short-lived puffs and minor changes in wind velocity (Condition #1), you can respond to those conditions by trimming the sheets, easing the traveler and tensioning the backstay.

When you encounter a major, persistent change in wind velocity (Condition #2), you must use a different set of adjustments. In that case you should move the jib leads aft slightly, and increase the tension on the jib halyard or cunningham, outhaul and boom vang. After you start using the second level of adjustments, you should continue using the first level of adjustments to respond to any brief lulls.
When the boat continues to labor despite the use of all the above adjustments, then it is time to reduce your sail area.

For convenience, racing sailors refer to a change from the first to the second level of adjustment as “shifting gears.” If you teach these principles to your crew, then all you have to do is tell them, “Power up,” or “Power down,” and they will know which adjustments to make. 

When the windspeed is highly variable, you can maximize the boat’s speed by powering up and down with every puff and lull. 

Heeling Moment

As between the mainsail and the jib, the mainsail generates most of the heeling moment. If the boat is heeling excessively, tighten the boom vang. In mild puffs, feather the boat slightly to windward, using the tiller. In stronger puffs, ease the mainsheet traveler to leeward. If the boat is still heeling excessively, ease the mainsheet. If the boat is grossly over powered, I will even luff the mainsail almost completely until I am able to reduce the sail area.

In the Tech Tips section of this forum, Bill Holcomb posted an excellent article entitled “Pointing.” That article exhaustively discusses the various devices and techniques that can be used to shape your sails and maximize the pointing ability of your boat, and I highly recommend it to any sailor, whether you are a racer or cruiser. 

Winch Handles

I keep two inexpensive, non-locking, plastic, floating winch handles on my boat. They are stowed in the oval cockpit pockets on either side of the cockpit. As a result, I never have to hunt for a winch handle when I need one, and I always have a spare ready-at-hand if one goes over the side. After completing a tack on the windward leg, and after the jib has been sheeted in as far as can be done by hand, the jib handler inserts the winch handle into the winch and trims the sheet appropriately to the course. The winch handle is then left in the winch until the skipper calls “Ready about,” in preparation for the next tack. The winch handle makes it easy to trim the jib in and out with each puff and lull. Of course, if the wind is light, the winch handles are unnecessary.