Blue Water Sailing — June-July 2017

(^14) BLUE WATER SAILING • June / July 2017
{ BILLBIEWENGA }
@Laurie Warner

W

aves of rising

heat seem to

distort visions

of the distance,

and the sounds

of insects seem

to increase as everything else grows

more silent. The surface of the water

has assumed a flat, patchy appear-

ance. Wind speed has dropped below

5 knots and appears to be headed

through the floor! It’s time to dig deep

into the bag of tricks if you’re going to

win this one. Whether you’re cruising

with the family and trying to coax a

few knots and miles out of a passage

or you’re racing against friends, sum-

moning up a few light air racing tricks

will help to increase your spectrum

of options.

If you know that the race is going

to be run in light air or you’re going

to be crossing through a high pressure

ridgeline, you may already be further

up the learning curve. Set the boat

up accordingly, and only take neces-

sary equipment and a minimum of

backups. One design boats will want

to set up their rigs for the expected

light weather. Keeping your boat light

will pay big dividends, and the longer

the passage, the greater the payback.

Kenny Read, now President of North

Sails and former World Champion

J-24 sailor, suggests easing the upper

shroud tension to 500 lbs. and the

lowers to 250 lbs. on a Loos Gauge

for expected wind speeds of three

to four knots on those smaller One

Designs. The resulting six to eight

inch of headstay sag will add shape to

the 150% genoa, add prebend to the

lower part of the mast and flatten the

bottom of the main. Shroud tensioning

on One Designs acts much the same

How to coax out more

speed and miles when

the wind goes light

3DFH2Q

:KHQ7KH

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