Upwind Sailing

Upwind Sailing with Dave & Betsy Perry

Upwind Sailing

Sailing upwind is a skill every sailor can continue to work on throughout their sailing career.  Sailing as close to the wind while still maintaining top boat speed is a dynamic process that requires continual work and refinement.  Here are some key concepts to consider as you work on your upwind sailing.

How close to sail to the wind

When sailing upwind the boat heels over due to pressure in the sails.  The more the boat heels, the more the boat will want to "round up" into the wind.  To keep it on course the skipper will need to pull the tiller to windward to keep the boat on course.  However, turning the rudder off centerline causes the rudder to drag through the water and slow the boat down.  To avoid this, it's important to sail as flat as possible upwind, using body weight to keep the boat flat.  Some dinghies like to sail perfectly flat.  Keel boats, like the Ideal 18, like to sail upwind with 5 to 10 degrees of heel.  Once the boat is heeling more than that, use body weight on the rail to keep the boat as flat as possible.

When it is windy (12+ knots)...

If body weight alone cannot keep the boat flat and tracking straight without using lots of rudder, then the skipper needs to use steering and main trim to keep the boat balanced.  The crew should trim the jib all the way and leave it cleated.  Then the skipper should focus on steering a high angle.  The skipper does this by steering a course where the leeward tellltales on the jib are driving straight back, and the windward telltales are jumping up to 45 degrees regularly.  This indicates that there is still power in the jib, but the boat is so close to the wind that it is on he verge of luffing.  This will keep the boat from getting too powered up and heeling too much.

As stronger puffs come through, simply steering a high angle may not be enough to keep the boat balanced.  The crew should be looking into the apparent wind angle (the wind you are feeling) for spots on the water that are particularly dark, indicating stronger patches of wind.  When one of those patches comes towards you, the crew should call out to the skipper that a puff is coming.  As the puff intersects the boat the skipper should ensure they are sailing a high angle (windward telltales on the jib luffing).  In addition, the skipper should ease the mainsail to balance the boat.  It is okay to let the forward part of the mainsail luff, or even the entire sail if necessary, in order to keep the boat from heeling over more than it already is.  The skipper doesn't need to look at the mainsail while doing this.  Instead, focus on the jib to make sure the boat is sailing upwind at a high angle.  If the skipper feels the boat heeling, then ease.  If the boat is flattening, then trim to regain power in the main.

A useful mantra here is to remember that the jib is your power and the main is your balance.  Despite being the smaller sail, the jib is the upwind engine.  Without it, the boat will make little progress upwind.  The mainsail, on the other hand, is primarily a balancing tool.  While it has power in it too, and should be harnessed when the boat is flat, too much main trim will cause the boat to heel over, which will reduce the depth that the keel is reaching down into the water, and which will require more rudder turning to keep the boat going straight.  The reduced depth of keel in the water will cause slip to leeward, and the increased rudder turn will cause drag.  The net result will be a loss of boat speed and progress to windward.  Instead, ease the mainsail in strong puffsto keep positive flow on your water foils, and then retrim the sail as the puff passes.  This example illustrates one more important point about upwind sailing, which is that the skipper should never cleat the mainsail.  The mainsail should be continually adjusted in an effort to keep the boat balanced, and to continually search for boat speed via optimum sail trim.

When it is light air (2-7 knots)...

When it is light air, the upwind game changes significantly from when it is windy.  When it is light air the skipper and crew will have to be careful to make sure the boat is not too flat, or heeling back towards the wind.  The crew will sit to leeward.  The skipper may also need to sit to leeward if it is very light air (2-4 knots).  The crew should trim the jib fully, but be sure not to over trim.  In the video below Dave Perry discusses having some "twist" in the jib, so that the leech falls off to leeward some by the spreaders.  With the jib cleated, the skipper should then drive the boat on a low angle to the wind.  The skipper is sailing a low angle when the windward telltales are driving all the time, and the leeward tell tales are driving, or occasionally stalling (dropping).  When it is light air, it is incredibly important to preserve boat speed.  Any time spent "pinching" (sailing a high angle in light air), will cause the boat to slow down, and it will take valuable time to recover.  It is much better to sail a bit too low and bring the boat up to the correct angle, than it is to sail too high, lose speed, and need to spend 20-40 seconds regaining the speed you lost.

When it is light air it is important for the skipper to be careful not to over-trim the mainsail.  Just as the jib wants some twist in the leech, so too does the mainsail.  When using the mainsheet to trim the mainsail the mainsheet pulls the boom towards centerline.  Once the boom is close to centerline, however, any additional pulling on the main sheet will pull the boom down, which will flatten out the leech of the sail (remove twist).  If the leech is too flat, then the air flow on the mainsail stalls because the aft end of the sail is hooking back towards the wind.  It is not unusual for skippers, while sailing upwind in light air, to be anxious for boat speed and pull hard on the mainsheet to get it.  In doing so, the skipper inadvertently flattens the leech, causing the air flow to stall, which in fact hurts the boat speed.  A good mantra to remember here is when in doubt, let it out.  This is true for light air sailing because if you're feeling slow, it well may be that you are overtrimmed.  This works in windy conditions, too, because if you are heeling a lot and feeling unsure, then easing the mainsail is the right thing to do to balance the boat, as described in the section above.

Fine Tuning the Jib - the clew board

The Ideal 18 jib is a self-tacking jib.  This may be different from what sailors are used to in other dinghies or keel boats.  With the Ideal 18 jib, the jib sheets on the port and starboard side do not need to be adjusted to tack.  The jib will move from port to starboard on the track without the crew doing anything.  The port and starboard jib sheets are actually one continual line, designed that way so that the crew can fine tune the jib from either side of the boat.  The jib sheet is also rigged on a 4:1 purchase system under the bow deck of the boat.  Take a look under the bow to see how the jib sheet is rigged.  The 4:1 purchase makes it easier for the crew to pull the jib tight while under load.

Since the Ideal 18 jib is on a track, there is no jib car to move forward and aft to fine tune the jib sheet's angle of departure from the sail.  With a jib car you would move the car forward if you wanted a foot that was more round, and a leech that was more closed (such as for light air and/or wavy days), or you would move the car aft if you wanted a foot that was more flat, and a leach that had more twist (such as for windy and/or flat water days).  The Ideal 18 can make this adjustment too, but instead of using a jib car to do it, you use the holes on the clew board of the sail itself.  Attaching the shackle lower on the clew board is equivalent to moving the jib car after.  It changes the sheeting angle so that the foot of the sail is more flat and the leech has more twist.  Conversely, attaching the shackle higher up the clew board is the equivalent to moving the jib car forward.  It changes the sheeting angle so that the foot of the sail is more round and the leech has less twist.

As soon as the boat gets out to the race course, the team should go sailing upwind.  Then the skipper and crew should have a conversation about the conditions.  Are they working hard to keep the boat flat?  Are they sailing a high or low angle?  Is it wavy of flat water?  Then the team makes a decision about how they want to set up the jib.  If it is flat water and windy, the team is probably sailing a high mode.  In order to faciliate pointing and depowering, then the sheet should be attached low on the clew board to keep the foot flat and allow for twist in the leech.  If it is light air and lumpy, the team is probably sailing in a low mode.  In order to allow for power while sailing a low angle the sheet should be attached up high on the clew board.  This way the crew can ease the jib slightly to make it more powerful while continuing to keep trim from top to bottom in the sail.  To familiarize yourself with the jib trim, spend some time sailing upwind in the crew position while sitting on the leeward seat.  Look up the leech of the sail.  Pull the jib in and let it out slightly.  Watch how the shape of the leech changes.  Try doing this with the sheet in different positions on the clew board.  With time you'll develop your eye for twist in the leech, and how it should look in different condition.

Fine Tuning the Jib - the Tack Line

On the tack of the jib (forward, bottom corner), there is a line that attaches the sail to the base of the headstay.  This is called the tack line.  This line must be attached or the tack of the sail will be lose and you will have no luff tension in the sail.  Sometimes, however, the tack line is too tight and has excessive luff tension.  The tack lines on the PYC Ideal 18s are set to be easily adjustable.  While sailing upwind, look at the luff of the jib.  If there is a vertical crease in the jib just aft of the headstay, then the tack line is probably too tight.  This will make for a disruptive entry point as air attempts to attach to your jib foil.  Have the crew go forward an ease the tack line until the vertical crease goes away and you are seeing slight horizontal wrinkles in the jib.