up and trim the jib in from its
90 percent position.
Once up to speed, it’s traveler
up and jib in to final trim. This
technique was way faster than
immediately pulling it up to that
third-down spot, which resulted
in “flaps down,” too much load
on the boat, and lots of side-
ways sliding. This applies to
leeward mark roundings too.
If it’s windy and you trim the jib
or main in too hard, or traveler
up too high as you’re rounding,
you go sideways. This happens
especially when making a hard
turn around the mark. The
skipper will sense the boat is
sliding and will push the helm
even more to compensate. Like
every boat, leeward mark round-
ings require a soft jib and tighter
main. Death is trimming all the
way in before you’re close-
hauled. Again, that’s true in any
boat, but more so in a sportboat
because the keel is so skinny.
Ducking a boat upwind
requires the same consider-
ations. Again, the penalty you
pay for turning hard at the boat
you’re ducking is greater in a
sportboat than a fat-keeled
boat, for the same reasons.
You’ll gain more by bearing
away early, building speed,
and doing a small head-up
as you pass astern of the boat
you’re ducking.
Similarly, at starts, it’s more
important to hold straight and
have flow while you’re accel-
erating. With a fatter keel you
can be a little less precise and
get away with it, but with a
sportboat, it’s all about hav-
ing speed, not turning too hard,
and not overtrimming your sails.
All those errors seem to hurt a
little more.
If you end up with a boat to
leeward of you seemingly too
close, still try to go straight
while accelerating slightly lower
than their angle, to gain grip on
your keel. Even though you’re
getting closer to the leeward
boat, you’ll be generating bet-
ter speed and grip, which allows
you more height and speed
once you start the race.
Many skippers consider that
leeward boat a little too close
for comfort and push the til-
ler to leeward while trying
to accelerate—tiller toward
trouble, which actually stalls the
keel and disrupts the accelera-
tion. Understanding what your
sportboat needs to generate
speed and grip will give you the
confidence to close gauge while
sailing straight and accelerat-
ing. The result is a faster boat
that allows you to roll it to lee-
ward and emerge into a sweet
lane after the start. Finally, a
skinny keel plays a role in how
you steer the boat upwind.
If you’re a pincher, your VMG
will be worse with a skinny keel
because you’re close to stalling
all the time, and the boat needs
more flow to create lift. You
can’t get caught high, pinching
for some period of time. You’ll
pay the price. Instead, figure out
a way to add a couple of tenths
to your boatspeed and you will
almost always point as high as
everyone else because you have
way more flow over your blades.
Sometimes, it’s just a mat-
ter of pressing on the telltales a
fraction and getting the power
and heel angle right, often just
down a degree from where the
inside telltales are dancing. In
10 knots, we might do so and
our speed goes from around 5.7
to 5.9, and you think, “OK, we’re
clearly sailing a little lower.”
Then you ask the crew on the
rail, “How are we pointing?” and
they say, “Great, no dierence,
just going faster!” So, going fast
is the key. Sure, you can overdo
it and start reaching around the
course, but pinching on a skinny
keelboat is far worse.
I remember one time on my
Etchells when I was bubbling
the front of the jib because
we were overpowered, and my
main trimmer said, “Wow! We’re
crushing everyone!” I was like,
“Really? Look at the front of the
jib. We’ve got 3 inches of back-
wind, let’s try dropping traveler
and sailing more to the tell-
tales.” We put the bow down a
bit, got rid of the backwind, and
just sagged into people around
us for a loss. So, we went back
to the higher and slower mode
for a gain. That never happens
on a sportboat. The skinny keel
wants you to go fast, not only
upwind, but every time you
maneuver the boat. Q
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photo: Jorge Hernandez