{"id":154214,"date":"2024-09-25T06:37:03","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T05:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?p=154214"},"modified":"2024-09-25T08:41:02","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T07:41:02","slug":"5-expert-tips-guide-to-asymmetric-spinnaker-handling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/5-tips\/5-expert-tips-guide-to-asymmetric-spinnaker-handling-154214","title":{"rendered":"5 expert tips: Guide to asymmetric spinnaker handling"},"content":"One of the most significant advantages of racing with asymmetric kites is the simplicity of asymmetric spinnaker handling compared with symmetrical spinnakers.\r\n\r\nBut the finer details of how to get the best out of the gennaker are quite subtle and take some practice and coordination between the whole crew, particularly the communications and understanding between kite trimmer, helmsman, mainsail trimmer and the foredeck crew.\r\n\r\nIn the tightly fought Cape 31 circuit, semi-pro teams are looking for every tiny advantage on the race track. Here are five great tips from Alain Sign for how to find that extra edge on the downwind, whether in marginal planing conditions or full-power.\r\n

Select your sails<\/h2>\r\nIn the Cape 31 we\u2019re limited to carrying two spinnakers during racing, but even if you have unlimited choice, make sure to check the weather forecast before you head out for racing. If it\u2019s a variable day, try to work out the gust-to-lull ratio. Set up the boat for the most likely choice based on the prevailing conditions, and have the next most likely choice within easy reach in case you need to make a rapid change.\r\n\r\nMake sure the other sail is ready to be plugged in and has a drop-line ready to go, so that you can get your bow person prepped to switch it over during the upwind leg if the conditions change significantly for the next downwind.\r\n\r\nArticle continues below...<\/em>\r\n\r\n[collection]\r\n

Downwind mode<\/h2>\r\nWhen you come around the windward mark you should know your polars well enough to gauge whether or not to promote planing. You\u2019ve got a target wind speed, boat speed and steering angle you\u2019re looking to achieve.\r\n\r\nBut as soon as you\u2019re around other boats, you\u2019re not necessarily able to sail to your ideal numbers. Instead, ask yourself what you want to achieve tactically. Do I want to try and soak inside them and stay low? Or do I want to go planing and try and push over and in front of them?\r\n\r\nOn the Cape 31<\/a> if we\u2019re going for a low soak mode, we get the jib down and use crew weight to heel the boat more to windward for better projected area from the spinnaker. If we\u2019re going for planing then we\u2019ll keep the jib up for the extra drive, and get ready to shift the crew weight aft once we\u2019re up on the plane.\r\n

Over- or undertake?<\/h2>\r\nTalking of overtaking or \u2018undertaking\u2019 the boats around you, it\u2019s important to understand the course axis of the downwind leg. If you\u2019ve got a downwind leg with a long starboard, for example in a round-the-cans race during Cowes Week, it\u2019s going to be beneficial to push high and work your way over the top of the opposition.\r\n\r\nBut if you\u2019re on a shorter windward-leeward course and not much time remaining on starboard, you want to try to work your way down to a lower line than the boat in front so you can control the gybe.\r\n\r\nOnce you\u2019ve gybed, you may want to change mode and aim to get planing, depending on how your tactical situation is developing. Getting an early grasp of the course axis in conjunction with the weather forecast will also help you make those critical choices about which kite to use for which leg of the course.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n

Plane early<\/h2>\r\nGetting yourself planing before everyone else is one of the key skills in marginal planing conditions. Making that early transition can give you a massive advantage, but trying and then not succeeding can end up being an expensive giveaway of time and distance. Block out some time in your training schedule to get the whole team working on how to get the boat on to the plane.\r\n\r\nWhile the general wisdom about trimming an asymmetric is to keep the luff constantly on the curl, it\u2019s not quite as straightforward as that. Hold on to the luff a bit more than normal, because every time you trim the kite sheet in or out, it\u2019s loading or unloading the rudder. So maintain a slight bit of oversheeting to keep the rudder load constant until the boat is successfully up on the plane.\r\n

Faster is better<\/h2>\r\nOnce it\u2019s a bit windier shift your \u2018default setting\u2019 from soaking to planing. There are certain conditions where it\u2019s safer to go faster, for example when it\u2019s blowing a constant 18 knots. At this point soaking can be more hazardous as the apparent wind is coming from further aft which makes the boat quite unstable and can really load up the rudder. Instead you want to bring the apparent wind further forward, over your shoulder at about one or two o\u2019clock so you\u2019ve got less to deal with when problems come up like a side wave hitting the boat.\r\n\r\n
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One of the most significant advantages of racing with asymmetric kites is the simplicity of asymmetric spinnaker handling compared with symmetrical spinnakers. But the finer details of how to get the best out of the gennaker are quite subtle and take some practice and coordination between the whole crew, particularly the communications and understanding between kite trimmer, helmsman, mainsail trimmer and the foredeck crew. In the tightly fought Cape 31 circuit, semi-pro teams are looking for every tiny advantage on the race track. Here are five great tips from Alain Sign for how to find that extra edge on the downwind, whether in marginal planing conditions or full-power. Select your sails In the Cape 31 we\u2019re limited to carrying two spinnakers during racing, but even if you have unlimited choice, make sure to check the weather forecast before you head out for racing. If it\u2019s a variable day, try to work out the gust-to-lull ratio. Set up the boat for the most likely choice based on the prevailing conditions, and have the next most likely choice within easy reach in case you need to make a rapid change. Make sure the other sail is ready to be plugged in and has a drop-line ready to go, so that you can get your bow person prepped to switch it over during the upwind leg if the conditions change significantly for the next downwind. Article continues below… Downwind mode When you come around the windward mark you should know your polars well enough to gauge whether or not to promote planing. You\u2019ve got a target wind speed, boat speed and steering angle you\u2019re looking to achieve. But as soon as you\u2019re around other boats, you\u2019re not necessarily able to sail to your ideal numbers. Instead, ask yourself what you want to achieve tactically. Do I want to try and soak inside them and stay low? Or do I want to go planing and try and push over and in front of them? On the Cape 31 if we\u2019re going for a low soak mode, we get the jib down and use crew weight to heel the boat more to windward for better projected area from the spinnaker. If we\u2019re going for planing then we\u2019ll keep the jib up for the extra drive, and get ready to shift the crew weight aft once we\u2019re up on the plane. Over- or undertake? Talking of overtaking or \u2018undertaking\u2019 the boats around you, it\u2019s important to understand the course axis of the downwind leg. If you\u2019ve got a downwind leg with a long starboard, for example in a round-the-cans race during Cowes Week, it\u2019s going to be beneficial to push high and work your way over the top of the opposition. But if you\u2019re on a shorter windward-leeward course and not much time remaining on starboard, you want to try to work your way down to a lower line than the boat in front so you can control the gybe. Once you\u2019ve gybed, you may want …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5203,"featured_media":154219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[846,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154214"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154214"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154221,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154214\/revisions\/154221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154214"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=154214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}