Hobie Cat Forums

What are some tips for improving my ability to point higher in low to medium wind? I have a newer jib, my main is fair but not very crisp. I wonder if that hurts me or if there is something else I can do.

For example, I have sailed with a guy with a square top and he can sail several degrees higher than I can. Rake? Weight more forward?

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1984 Hobie 18

Mast rake can really help pointing ability. Also making sure the daggers are all the way down and sheets are tight.

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ALLEY CAT 1984 RED LINE HOBIE 18 MAGNUM
Sail # 10505 or 277

Time on the water and practice. Not the answer most people want to hear, but squeezing the last degree or two of angle or anther tenth of a knot is mostly technique. Knowing by feel when the boat is moving well or when you need to make a small adjustment mostly comes from experience. Practicing or racing with others that are going well is the quickest way to get up to speed.

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Weight placement on the boat is also big on pointing. the further forward you are the higher you can point once the boat is moving. Get the boat going before you try to start pointing. Go fast then gradually point up. If you start to stall foot back off.

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Rich Vilvens
F-18 5150
R.Vilvens@yahoo.com
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/f-185150sailing/

Weight together, forward, slight leward heel. Waterline on the leward bow should be no more than 3/4 up the bow .... getting windward sterns out of the water...
Be careful on sheeting too hard in light airs... its easy to do... on both main and jib. sometimes cracking the sheets off 1/2" makes a big difference. \you have to allow the sail to have some shape if there is not enough wind to create it.
gentle movements around the boat.. don't be bouncing about like a herd of elephants... easy on the steering... soft movements.
and as rich says, keep the boat moving... hull speed.... practice...
It's actually harder sailing light airs than heavy airs...

Use your tell-tails! Also, you need some sort of a wind indicator. I just use a piece of cassette tape on my shroud wires.

I have 18 tell-tails on my main and watch and make adjustments every 30 seconds or so. If you have a good number of these, you will be surprised how sensitive your sails are to your adjustments.

Here is a good guide on tell-tails:

http://www.thebeachcats.com/news/66/catamaran-sailing-understanding-your-telltales?Article66.html

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H17

Learning to read the sail tell tales over bridle tell tales is huge. If you don't have your sails set right, you could be pointing the boat in the right direction, but not getting any power to the sails to move you. Like everyone else is saying... practice is king.