{"id":69231,"date":"2016-01-12T11:09:13","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T11:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?p=69231"},"modified":"2020-06-10T16:20:19","modified_gmt":"2020-06-10T15:20:19","slug":"video-catamaran-sailing-techniques-part-4-sailing-upwind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/catamaran-sailing\/video-catamaran-sailing-techniques-part-4-sailing-upwind-69231","title":{"rendered":"Catamaran Sailing Techniques Part 4: Sailing a cat upwind \u2013 with Nigel Irens"},"content":"\"YWIf you were a visitor to Earth and found yourself sailing a run-of-the-mill cruising catamaran for the first time it would be easy to conclude that sailing upwind is not something these boats do well. But then you wouldn\u2019t have had the extraordinary experience of witnessing that 2013 America\u2019s Cup face-off between the 72ft catamarans Oracle Team USA and Team New Zealand in which upwind boat speeds of up to 30 knots were achieved with an apparent wind angle of as little as 16\u00b0!\r\n\r\nThe trouble is that here on Earth the laws of physics are absolute and wondering why your average cruising catamaran doesn\u2019t thrill you with its upwind pace is like wondering why your family\u2019s modest car doesn\u2019t give you a Lewis Hamilton buzz as it cruises down the M5 at a barely legal speed against a stiff south-westerly.\r\n\r\nThe answer, of course, is that although there are performance cruising catamarans that do sail very well \u2013 even upwind \u2013 many cruising cats are under-powered floating homes, impeded by plenty of windage.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/eQv1k3CE6hI\r\n\r\nSo how do you get the most out of a typical cruising cat? Your satisfaction will come from the seamanship involved in getting your crew safely upwind from A to B without frightening them or making them ill.\r\n

Assessing your VMG<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nThe most important single objective must be to develop an understanding of your velocity made good (VMG) in different conditions and sea states.\r\n\r\nIf the boat you are sailing is equipped with high-quality wind instruments the task is obviously easy because the VMG is constantly being monitored. If you don\u2019t have that luxury then you can get the information by studying the boat\u2019s progress on the chart plotter.\r\n\r\nYour experience and instincts will allow you to set sails and course to yield what you feel is the best VMG, so try to keep your course and true wind angle (TWA) constant for long enough to allow the plotter to produce a meaningful track on the chart.\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re in open water you might choose to put in a tack just to see how it feels on the other tack.\r\n\r\nThe wave direction may be different from the wind direction \u2013 perhaps because of a recent windshift or the influence of nearby land topography. You may find that the different rate of encounter of waves from one tack to the other makes quite a difference in terms of both performance and ride comfort.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_78208\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\"]\"Changing Changing the performance and helm balance can be achieved simply by adjusting the sheeting positions of the genoa and main[\/caption]\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nSometimes it\u2019s quite hard to know why things are going better on one tack than the other, but if you\u2019re aware of the difference you\u2019ll probably devise a strategy that makes the most of it.\r\n\r\nAs you cover the ground you\u2019ll begin to see what the course made good (CMG) is looking like by watching the track and trying to check the tacking angle on the plotter.\r\n

Course made good<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nIf your plotter doesn\u2019t allow you to obtain that information then holding a school protractor up to the screen works pretty well and will give you an idea of how things are panning out.\r\n\r\nThe chances are you\u2019ll notice that cracking off a bit and footing a bit faster will improve the VMG, and that trying to point higher doesn\u2019t usually pay. That may be because you get more lift from the centreboard as you sail a bit faster, but also because the apparent wind speed (AWS) will be higher. The boat may also be handling energy-sapping waves better (so the crew will be happier too).\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re on a charter boat you\u2019ve only got a week or two to make sense of it all, but if you regularly sail the same boat all the information will have entered your subconscious memory after a while so you know pretty much what works best both in choosing your course and trimming your sails for windward work.\r\n

Trimming sails<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nCorrect trimming is, again, very much a matter of trial and error, but as a general rule keeping the mainsheet somewhere near the centre of the track is a good starting point. Most cruising catamarans are not equipped with very powerful winches so sheeting in upwind will require a good deal of grunt on the winch handle.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_78213\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\"]\"Looking Looking up the genoa with the car set aft shows how the upper leech is open to help prevent the sail from stalling[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn lighter airs you\u2019ll probably do best to allow a bit more twist in the main than in stronger wind, but unfortunately taking the right amount of twist out of the mainsail in stronger winds may prove impossible because the deck gear (and\/or the crew) probably won\u2019t be up to it.\r\n\r\nThat said, trimming a catamaran\u2019s mainsail is no different from trimming that of a monohull\u2019s in that a common mistake in lighter winds is to over-sheet to the point where upwind progress (VMG) is compromised. Trial and error \u2013 during which the boat will often sail at sub-optimal VMG values for a while \u2013 is nonetheless a great way to develop a \u2018feel\u2019 for what works best.\r\n\r\nSome cruising catamarans save the cost of a mainsheet traveller and control the main with a pair of tackles \u2013 each attached to a deck eye somewhere near the rear beam\/hull intersection. The two tackles share the mainsheet load when sailing reasonably close to the wind and the mainsail clew position can be trimmed by proportion of load on each one. This arrangement can work well \u2013 especially if the boom is very high, which it certainly will be by the time a flybridge has been added.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_78212\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\"]\"Moving Moving the genoa sheet car aft flattens the bottom of the sail, opens the leech and helps to open the slot between the genoa and main[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe same is true of headsail sheeting, where you have options to open or close the leech by moving the car forward or aft in the track. You almost certainly won\u2019t have deck gear capable of trimming for optimal twist while the sail is loaded, so you\u2019ll probably need to adjust the car position on the windward side track and tack onto it next time a tack is called for.\r\n

Motor sailing upwind<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nIn Part 2<\/a> we briefly touched on the idea of motor sailing upwind. Unless you are sailing a reasonably high-performance catamaran you\u2019ll soon find that getting the engine cranked up is a very practical way to get you to your upwind destination comfortably.\r\n\r\nDoing this is not some kind of admission of defeat. Your job as skipper is to sense when your crew\u2019s enthusiasm for a long beat in a boat that doesn\u2019t go to windward well is about to decline. They\u2019ll be reassured rather than put out when they hear that you\u2019re playing the \u2018get me out of here\u2019 card, although it might be good to make sure there\u2019s something near a consensus before hitting the starter button.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_78207\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\"]\"Motor Motor sailing under jib alone can be an efficient means of getting upwind[\/caption]\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nWe tested this strategy during our sailing trials and rediscovered how well it works. With just the leeward engine running at about 60 per cent power output, we took the boat speed from four knots to six and, more importantly, we gained at least a 20\u00b0 course improvement.\r\n\r\nEven the motion seemed to improve.\r\n

Do\u2019s and don\u2019ts<\/strong><\/h1>\r\n