Speed Secrets from Oz - How We Did It - Part 1 of  2

This article is reprinted from the March 1997 edition of Tasar Australia, compliments of editor and Tasar World Council Past President Rob Gilpin. Rob interviewed four of the top finishers at the Australian National Championships held in December 1996 at Hervey Bay, Queensland, who generously revealed their secrets for making a Tasar go fast on all points of sail. Two of those interviews are reprinted here.

1st Place: Alistair Cook & Janelle Perrin

Alistair and Janelle have been consistent performers at the front of the fleet at many major regattas over the years. This Christmas they finally achieved that elusive goal of an Australian Championship Title. I believe that their sailing style is quite different to many of the others at the front of the fleet. I understand that Alistair's background includes quite a bit of Laser sailing - this may in part account for Alistair's preferred sheeting method. Whatever the reason, it works and may give some food for thought for those who are adherents of the more "classical" styles.

Upwind

Most important things done by the skipper?
- avoiding major mistakes
- keeping the boat moving fast
- working the shifts
Most important things done by the crew?
- keeping the skipper informed of the position of the fleet
- calling shifts and gusts
- reminding the skipper to consolidate
Rig Tension?
- sidestays all the way back - high tension
Diamond Tension?
- relatively tight (you can strum them like a guitar)
Tina Thornton photo (courtesy of Cybergraphic Systems)
Gust Response?
- in anything except light air, the traveller is not used and so the boat is being vang sheeted all the time and the mainsheet played accordingly. (The mainsheet has an extra purchase on it with two double blocks instead of one). The crew eases the jib for strong gusts.
- in planing conditions (20 knots plus) we go for speed by easing the jib and playing the mainsheet to keep the boat flat. Otherwise we go for high pointing by keeping the leech tight with the mainsheet and pinching with the gusts (once again, to keep the boat flat).
Other Comments?
- centreboard is always completely down (being careful not to let it slant aft).
- cunningham is tight as necessary to depower the sail and stop the two bottom battens from S-bending (I always tie these two bottom battens very loosely so that this effect is minimised when a large amount of vang is pulled on).
- outhaul is on tight
- in anything other than light air the traveller is not used. The jib is tracked out by two notches so that the jib and main are "in sync". In very strong breezes the jib is tracked out two more notches so that the slot remains open.
- the jib sheet is connected to the second hole from the bottom on the clew. The jib is pulled on quite tightly.
- hike really hard.

Reaching

The settings below cover all wind conditions and angles of reaching:
- leeward sidestay forward, windward sidestay all the way back.
- lever in full rotation (The new rotation lever has not yet been installed).
- centreboard up about 14"
- cunningham all the way off.
- Outhaul off quite loose (8" depth in the centre)
- vang on sufficiently to maintain leech tension and airflow off the leech.

This is changed continuously with the differences in wind pressure directed by the skipper (the crew is not in as good a position to see the leech). In heavy air the vang is on very tight to maintain leech pressure.

- In heavy air it is critical to have the crew weight as far back as possible (e.g. the crew behind the thwart hiking off both the skippers hiking straps and the thwart itself).
- the key to speed on reaches is for the skipper and crew to fully concentrate on keeping the boat flat by anticipating every gust and lull. It is faster to dump and luff the main and keep the boat flat than it is to retain full power in the main and let the boat heel. Having said this, it is faster even still to keep the power in the main and keep the boat flat. Body weight should be used to steer the boat as much as possible as the rudder is a brake (if you angle the rudder back 5 degrees you will fell more strongly the affects of an unbalanced boat and it will help you to use less rudder). Heading up and down to keep the boat planing is another factor.

Running

Do you prefer to go deep or wider?
- in heavy and light air it usually pays to go wider. In heavy air it allows you to plane and in light air it maintains your speed. In moderate breezes it is usually best to go deep but never sail by the lee (the boat always moves faster if you gybe to a new course).
Settings?
- the rotation lever usually over rotated except in light air (This prevents the leech from "blowing out").
- centreboard up about halfway (down further in waves or stronger breezes).
- both sidestays forward
- jib pole all the way back so that the jib leech is tight.
How do you judge angles downwind?
- generally by looking towards the wind and feeling its direction, looking at the gusts on the water and the telltales on the main.
Other Comments?
- body weight is used to keep the boat flat and steer the boat.
- the tiller extension is placed on the deck so that the rudder is always kept straight (except that it is moved when turning).
- the vang is adjusted with the gusts to maintain leech pressure and not stall the airflow.

Overall

What was your best area of performance (starting, beating, reaching, running, stamina/fitness, cool head/tactics)?
- the key strategy for this regatta was the avoidance of major mistakes, which we achieved and to this end were never placed worse than fourth. Even though we did not have more wins than our main competitors, by sailing conservatively we were able to have more consistent results. I would therefore say that tactics were probably our best area of performance.
Other comments?
- our starting was generally conservative (i.e. closer to the middle of the line than out competitors) and although this meant that we lost ground initially, we always had clear air and never had a bad start. Because we race at both Balmoral Sailing Club on Saturdays and Woollahra Sailing Club on Sundays our starting techniques have become quite well honed.

Speed Secrets from Oz - How We Did It - Part 2 of 2

This article is reprinted from the March 1997 edition of Tasar Australia, compliments of editor and Tasar World Council Past President Rob Gilpin. Rob interviewed four of the top finishers at the Australian National Championships held in December 1996 at Hervey Bay, Queensland, who generously revealed their secrets for making a Tasar go fast on all points of sail. Two of those interviews are reprinted here.

2nd Place: Glenn & Vanessa Collings

As a lead up to this regatta, Glenn and Vanessa had to find babysitters for about four weekends in November and December so they could come and race with the Tasar fleets at Chelsea and Rye. Even with an old borrowed mainsail, they soon found that their speed was as good as the best of those fleets and improving. Thanks to Vanessa's father, Geoff Dawson, and friends Lynda and Natalie Katers, they were assured of baby sitting resources to be able to compete in Hervey Bay. (answers by Vanessa Collings)

Upwind

Most important things done by the skipper?
- skipper needs to determine the settings of the outhaul, main-sheet etc
- keeping the boat "in the groove" and as flat as possible at all times
- Glenn plays the mainsheet all the time (especially in heavy air) and keeps his head "out of the boat" to look for pressure
Most important things done by the crew?
- keeping hiking until the toes go numb, then hike some more
- constantly check the compass, fleet movements
- play the vang and jib sheet, and to a lesser extent, the outhaul and cunningham
Rig Tension?
- in heavy air, the rig is set so that with both shrouds forward, it is easy to get the forestay onto the furler.
Diamond Tension?
- we use loose diamonds. It is possible for them both to touch the mast just above the gooseneck. (Note: our all up weight is 143 kg and we are vertically challenged.)
Gust Response?
- generally, was to play the mainsheet and vang and hike really hard.
Other Comments?
- during the regatta, we weren't pointing high but we had good speed. We felt that we need to develop better pointing ability, especially for short course racing.

Reaching

- we had good speed on shy reaches, using our normal settings
(which have been described in many previous Tasar articles).
(Vanessa only gets half marks for this, I reckon she's fudging-
Ed)
- in heavy conditions, very few adjustments were made - adjustments were restricted to rotation lever, centreboard, vang and jib fairleads.
- we noted that "Didjabringabir" were VERY fast on broad reaches and we'd like to hear from them!!

Running

Do you prefer to go deep or wider?
- we usually try to sail as deep as possible but are constantly looking for pressure and adjusting sailing angles for this.
Settings?
- the rotation lever usually over rotated
- centreboard up about 2 feet
- rig forward except when Glenn was sitting on the stern

Overall
- after a 4 year break from sailing, we found that our starting ability and tactics were very rusty but they improved during the series. Our fitness and reaching speeds needed some work -especially in the heavy winds (the sports massage was great!!). We seemed to be able to set the boat up for heavy air beating quickly and were fast in this mode