means that you are keeping good control
of your heel angle. In a keelboat you can
mainly use steering to achieve this, but
in dinghies you can combine this with
sail trim and bodyweight movements.
In extreme conditions heading up
over large waves also prevents you
from allowing a large wave to push
the side of your boat downwind. It
is much more efficient to show the
wave the side of your bow not your
beam; however be sure to accelerate
quickly over the top of the wave.
When you surge forward on swell
upwind or downwind your apparent
wind angle moves forward. Downwind,
sheet your sails on to keep them full. In
traditional boats use this to head deeper
downwind. In high performance boats
use this to increase your speed, therefore
apparent wind, and keep accelerating.
Upwind if you are surging forward
on a wave it means the swell is behind
you. You cannot sheet any harder so
simply allow the jib to luff a little and
keep your height. It’s free speed and
height; don’t worry if you feel under-powered because your boat will feel fully
powered again once the wave has gone.
To reach maximum speeds downwind
in fast boats aim for the flat spots in
waves and avoid ‘walls’ in front of
you. In slow boats find the biggest
downhills. It all depends on whether
you or the waves are going faster –
sometimes it can be a mixture.
The power of waves is most
noticeable in light winds. Don’t get
confused by them, and it’s most
important to harness their power for
your benefit in these conditions.
If you need to regain speed at any
stage, try to sail in a wide lane, especially
with a bit of space to leeward of you. It
is impossible to avoid some bad sets of
waves, even if you are being a pro and
trying to steer around the worst ones.
Give yourself some contingency to bear
off and get going again where possible.
Overall a mixture of constant
sail trim and steering will make
you fast in wavy conditions.T
he skill of wave sailing is
transferable across most
dimensions of our sport,
with many of the same
principles applying from
small keelboats to most dinghy classes.
Mastering the basic theories of wave
sailing enables you not just to stay
in control but also to sail fast. Think
about power: boats are affected by the
power of waves as well as the wind,
so fundamentally we want to use the
positive power of waves, and limit the
damage from their negative power.Using waves for speed
There are two types of waves: large
long wavelength ocean swell, and short
sharp chop. Compared with flat water,
both create the need to think more
about getting your boat to accelerate.
Swell can also affect the power you feel
in the boat, because surfing or merely
being pushed by a wave can increase
the apparent wind felt on your boat and
move the direction of the wind forward.
Most obviously, waves can be surfeddownwind. Working within the rules,
pump hard in order to catch these
waves to accelerate and then try to
stay on them for as long as possible.
In choppy conditions a pump can
help you to pop over the wave crests
in order to surf down the back.
Upwind in choppy water in a dinghy
or small keelboat, try moving your
weight aft a little in order to let the bow
skip over the waves. Sometimes helm and
crew can keep their body weight close
together to allow the boat to pitch easily
over the waves, but sometimes it’s best to
try and minimise pitching – spend some
time experimenting and work out what’s
most effective for your type of boat.
Upwind in swell, generally steer up the
wave when going uphill, and bear away
to accelerate down the back of wave.
Partly this helps to keep your boat flat
by pinching and then footing, as there is
more wind at the top of a wave and less at
the bottom. I often think about trying to
keep the mast still. It is vital to speed andUpwind in swell, steer up the wave
then bear away to accelerate
TECHNIQUE WAVES
IMAGE: DAVID HARDING/SAILING SCENES
April 2018 Yachts & Yachting 57