Page 46 - Folk Boat Year Book 2022

We tend not to move the mast step, unless nearing a gale or super light weather –
but we should!

Remember, this is what worked for us, with our crew weight and how we trim the
sails – once you have achieved your 8 cms forestay sag, play around from there as
every boat, crew weight and ideas about sail trim is different!

# 4 – Tides dear boy, Tides! Nuff said when added to clean mark rounding’s within
the rules!!

# 5 – Wind strategy and tactics, once we had worked our way through #1-4, it all
came down to our ability to read the wind shifts and adopt the right tactics for the
prevailing conditions (or not). There is no point having a fast boat and great team on
board if you sail in the wrong or less than optimum direction for each leg of the race!
A slow boat sailing the right direction will beat a fast boat sailing the sub-optimal
direction – calling the right wind shift is often worth 30secs to 180 secs.

The answer to your finishing position in a race or regatta is often built from your race
plan and start position and as the race unravels it is found in the clouds and patterns
on the water – not on your instrument read outs or Windex. The former allows you to
know when to tack or where to tack before the wind reaches you, making your
response proactive and getting you ahead: the latter tells you what has happened
after the wind has reached you, making your responses reactive and often resulting in
lost places.

If you are not sure if the wind is oscillating or persistent; which quadrant the gradient
wind is coming from; what this means for a sea breeze, offshore breeze or onshore
breeze; which side of an approaching cloud to sail; whether to sail under a cloud or in
blue sky; the effect of the land and obstacles on the wind heading or veering and the
tactics to apply for all of these variables – there is plenty of room for improvement in
your boats finishing position.

For example, an offshore breeze on the Lymington shore normally results in port tack
paying, there is a predictable and logical reason for this – so why do so many boats
approach this part of the leg to a windward mark on starboard closer to shore, only to

46