EXPERTS' FORUM This month
Advice this month includes... - Leaving your mooring in style - Dylan Fletcher on new crews - Crossing the Channel safely - Finding the start line sweet spot
Keelboat masterclass
How to reduce drag Just about any time when we’re racing our mission is to go faster than the competition, and if we are cruising, the sooner we can make it to our destination, the better. British Keelboat Academy Head Coach, Niall Myant, shares a secret
Look to the waterline for a speed boost
reduce our drag, it would have the same effect as sailing into more wind. Upwind we’d go faster, higher or both. To put it bluntly, there is little point worrying about the condition of your sails if you sail with sheets dragging in the water. There’s also another thing to consider. As sailors we’ve all stressed about a small piece of tape that’s peeling off in the wind, or a crew member standing in the jib slot, or slight crease in a sail. But instead we should be looking lower, at what is happening in the water. Why? Well, water is much thicker than air, approaching 1000 times the density, so equipment dragging in the water has a far more serious impact than something of a similar size dragging in the air. I don’t wish to get deep into the science, because there is no need to. We want to go fast, and we can do that by finding more power or by making the boat slip through the water more efficiently. Sometimes that means sanding and smoothing the bottom, sometimes shifting crew weight, and very often, simply checking over the side. Remember, lifting a sheet out of the water is like finding more wind.
PHOTO PAUL WYETH/RYA
Understanding how to get the best sail shape for your boat, for all conditions and situations can feel exhausting – and most people brave enough to dive into the neverending spiral that is long articles on aerodynamic science quickly run out of enthusiasm. So, let me suggest that we take a moment to improve our speed from the other side of the equation: drag. All boats produce drag, and as we get faster we produce even more. At higher speeds the bow wave gets bigger and, combined with other effects, the total amount of drag ramps up. Once the drag – which is trying to stop us – equals the same as the power from the wind pulling forward, the boat stops accelerating and stays at that speed. In other words, if we increase the power we will go faster, but if we increase the drag we will go slower. A huge part of sailing – and racing in particular – is about getting in the strongest wind, and having more power as a result. Race teams might have one person whose sole job is to look for wind on the course, perhaps even climbing the rig to get the best view. If we put the same energy into finding ways to
The America’s Cup has been forefront of conversation this month. It’s universally acknowledged as the pinnacle of our sport, and the trickle-down of both trends and tech reaches many levels. But the interesting thing about this cycle is that the AC75s will make their appearance for the second time. Sure, there are tweaks to the design, most visibly represented perhaps in the reduction of crew numbers and the disappearance of the code zero. But that fact there’s no new boat makes this iteration of the Cup no less interesting; rather it’s where the nitty gritty of performance moves forwards. Five years ago, no-one was even sure if an AC75 could be sailed, let alone sailed well. Now that has been proven, this cycle is when the intensity steps up as systems, crew work and everything that goes with that gets tweaked, refined, perfected. It’s like anything with sport, and sailing is no exception: after any big leap follows a cycle of continuous improvement. The steps are smaller, progress may be less obvious, but incremental gains can make all the difference to performance - and enjoyment. No matter what sort of sailing we do, it’s a process worth bearing in mind. Email your thoughts to Georgie. Corlett-Pitt@chelseamagazines.com
Inspiration Can't get enough... This month we are loving 49er helm Dylan Fletcher's honesty when it comes to campaigning for another Olympic gold: “It is a tough decision coming back having already won a gold medal, because that’s there, and you may come back and you may miss it by miles the next time, but I was keen that I gave it a shot - if I look back in five years’ time I may regret it if I don’t push myself and go again.” Read more from Dylan on page 83. Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JUNE 2022
81
