Sailing by the Lee

N

Newbee

New Member
My first race is over and done with and it was sailed in about 2-3 knots of wind strength, flat seas.

Now, I have fully boned up on Ben Ainslie's book and he fully supports sailing by the lee to the bottom mark. - It didn't work... plus none of the sailers in our club seemed to bother (sailed str to mark conventionally).

Question: is this method of sailing more technical (and risky) than it appears in this breeze? Ben advocates that the lighter the conditions the more acute you want the apparent breeze dir, which seems logical to maintain speed. All my technique seemed to accomplish was unwanted gybes...

The boat was well heeled and nil vang. An idea is my mainsheet is too short (which I think it is, 10.0m)

Accompanying question is: if you aren't sailing by the lee do you still heel to windward, or should this situation never occur (re: above)
 
Stewart, your mainsheet is was short. The reccomended length is 46 ft or more like 14 meters.

When sailing by the lee, you want to see the leach of your sail flickering and remember to sail big angles. I usually sail by the lee way to the inside about half way down the course and gybe and sail by the lee back towards the mark.

The more you experiment and try it out, the more it will pay off. I have a similar situation at my local club where most people sail dead down wind. When I sail by the lee, sometimes it will pay of very well and I'll round the bottom first, and other times I will remain about the same. Keep practicing, and get a longer main!
 
My main sheet is 42' I believe, and I often find it a little too short. I find that the biggest problem with sailing by the lee is keeping the boat balacned (atleast in 15+ knots with consistant 4'+ waves, it's surely different for you though :p). By the sounds of things, you will need a longer mainsheet more than anything. If you can't sheet out enough, you will accidently gybe a lot, because the sail is in that area where it can't decide which way it should go. I notice sailing by the lee has very little effect in light winds, because your more worried about keeping the boat balanced than keeping your controls adjusted, since in light wind, it's the little changes that make the difference. Try practicing in heavier winds and report back to us :)
 
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