Wing and Wing

[Robert Dean]

Don,When I race I usually do so with a whisker pole wing/wing setup going downwild.If I had the ability to put an unlimited amount of teltales on the luff/leech on the 155 headsail and on the leech of the main sail, what type of flow pattern would I see with the relative wind at about 7mph and 160 degrees relative ??The Forspar people included a few word of guidance when I purchase my whisker pole. The provided that the length of the adjustable whisker pole was determined by wind speed.Racing rules here on the Gulf allow me to set the pole at 160% of "j". That amounts to an almost full extension of about 19 feet or so. Or I can bring it in to its shortest at about 12'.As I understand it: in light winds, I would not use the full 19' with the 155 headsail to provide a barndoor effect but I should bring the pole into 14 to 16 feet or so to create a capture bag of sorts.As such, when do I use the full 19' - in heavy winds ??When do I use just the 12' extension of the pole - with a 110% genoa ??While in a W/W sail, how do I trim for the optium pole length ??Do I look at teltales or do I try and chase the water speed wheel ??I like the whisker pole and W/W, but need more info so as to be comfortable with its usage.BD

[Don Guillette]

Bob: I race the same way (non spin) you do in Long Beach, Ca. I'm going to answer a couple of your questions and then refer you to an 11 page article I wrote on downwind sailing tactics. The Forespar brochure is excellent but I've gon into more detail with my article.On the jib telltales - they won't help much on the downwind leg because there really isn't any flow pattern. Your masthead fly and a telltale attached to your backstay would be more effective in reading the wind. on the pole length - most guys I know extend it out as far as the rule allows and I've rarely seen guys shorten it up but that may be for reasons I'm about to expamnd on. Try it in various conditions and see what happens.I like the downwind leg as that is when I really go to work because a good number of racers out here belong to what I call the "dead down wind crowd". That is how they sail that leg. Aditionally, they always then break out the sandwiches and beer and kick back. That always bugged me as I felt I could gain ground but I never could get the skippers to try my method. Actually, it isn't my method but a collection of all the material, and there isn't a lot of it, that I've been able to uncover on the subject. Finally, I found a skipper who was willing to give it a try and we invariable pick off two or three boats ahead of us.To review my article, go to http;//kindred-spirit.net and see "Don Guillette's article(11 pages) on downwind sailing tactics. I hope you get some ideas from it.