Sailing too fast upwind in a non trapeze dinghy means you lose a lot of pointing angle. So what is the correct compromise between high and slow and low and fast. Explanation involves the increase of drag around hullspeed.
Racing shows that what you know is what you know. It doesn’t matter if the boat is less than perfect. So where is it best to put in the effort to improve results. Boat setup, knowing how to adjust for different wind conditions, practicing skills until they become automatic, sailing as much as possible … and teaching others.
Three times in my life I have gone sailing in small boats without a lifejacket. Two times the boat sank. One time I capsized and found that swimming and trying to get back on the boat is very difficult in FRESH water. Also a hint about how to get kids to wear their lifejackets … wear YOURS!
How to reef a Balance Lugsail. A neat trick of using shock cord (bungee) for the intermediate ties makes it much faster to tie in a reef as well as remove the reef after. it also minimises the risk of damaging the sail if something major breaks elsewhere.
So how does a lug rig boat go in club racing? My designs won’t be outclassed in club racing. I’m really keen to find out how the yardstick (handicap) changes as George and crew get used to the realities of course racing making the boat sail faster. We end up with an estimate of PY – Portsmouth Yardstick for the Goat Island Skiff.
In general I don’t like most sailing books and most sailing lessons.
I think that a learner doesn’t need to learn many new words. Also because they don’t explain the correct principles in the beginning their explanations become really complicated.
If you understand how to use a sail to get power – when it is at maximum power and when it isn’t it all becomes very logical.
Capsize recovery for home built boats. Particularly the popular Oz Goose and Oz Racer sailboats. The tips and tricks to righting a sailboat