Don Guillette
08-05-2002, 08:09 am
Mates: I'm getting ready for the Catalina 30 National Regatta, which will be held in Long Beach, Ca in a couple of weeks. Here's a little of what I have been thinking about as it pertains to my position of mainsheet / traveler trimmer. This is the 3rd National event I've participated in and the best we have been able to do is 2nd, which isn't all that bad but a 1st would make my day. Anyway, racing is no different than cruising to me. I agree you have to pay a little more attention to what your doing. While cruising, you may think you can "set it and forget it" and a lot of guys do, but what do you do when the wind speed increases or decreases, the wind direction changes or the seas get lumpy? Whether you are a racer or cruiser, you have to make a sail trim change. A cruiser may not want to make the sail trim change but it would be nice if he at least knew what change to make because one day there will come a situation where he has no choice and he better know what he is doing. We've all been in these situations, so you know what I'm talking about. One of those situations happened to me early in sailing and it scared the devil out of me. Hopefully, most sailors have an understanding of draft depth, draft position, twist or angle of attack. I call these items the "4 Elements Of sail Trim" and they are the only things you are adjusting with your mainsail and jib sail trim controls. You have to have an understanding of how your sail trim controls effect the "4 Elements Of Sail Trim". Without this knowledge, you are easing and trimming the controls in a chaotic manner and sometimes the adjustment you make can work against each other and negate the effect you are trying to achieve. Assume your sailing along (racing or cruising) and you encounter a small puff or lull or the seas change slightly. What do you do? Actually, not much. Just adjust your mainsheet, jib sheet and traveler. Now assume you encounter a persistent puff and larger seas. What do you adjust now? Simple, in addition to adjusting the mainsheet, jib sheets and traveler, you also adjust your fairleads, jib Cunningham (if you have one, jib halyard if you don't), outhaul, Cunningham and boom vang. The $64 question is when and which way do you adjust the controls and by how much? Without an understanding of what draft depth, draft position, twist and angle of attack involve plus an understanding how each of the sail trim controls for the main and jib interact with the "4 Element Of Sail Trim", sail trim will always be a mystery to you. If you were trying to take the mystery out of sail trim wouldn't you want your questions answered in plain, simple English? Take a look at my book "The Sail Trim Users Guide" plus my "Sail Trim Chart", which is sold on this web site. It will take the guess work out of you mainsail and jib adjustment.