Capsize prevention and skill improvement
Posted by RefrigeratorMain7921@reddit | sailing | View on Reddit | 12 comments
Lately I've been sailing and well capsizing surprisingly frequently. It's almost always when I'm about to tack. Yes l, that's right, tack and not gybe. Previously, I've sailed quite a lot on a Laser II with my wife as a crew and me at the helm. Never capsized once. Last year I sailed solo on the Laser I STD (ILCA7) and nada. This year I've managed to capsize while solo sailing on a Laser Pico and with a crew on a Laser Bahia. In all those scenarios winds were 13 kts and 17-18 kts gusting. I do hike well enough, depower before initiating a tack but still end up in the water somehow. I've not changed my technique that has worked all these years but can't identify why it's failing frequently as of this season. I'd appreciate pointers on how I can avoid this and improve my technique. Additionally, for single sail dinghies like the ILCA7 and Pico without the jib, I always get feedback from the boat that it's trying to luff up. To some extent I can understand why because of the lack of a jib to push it down wind or at least balance the luffing up tendency. It becomes quite strenuous to pull the rudder to bear away from a close hauled point of sail. What am I doing wrong and how can I improve on this area too? Thanks a lot for your advices in advance.
saywherefore@reddit
A Laser should only have significant weather helm (tendency to luff up) if you have it heeled. The boat should be dead flat at all times; if you can’t hike hard enough then pull the sail controls harder to flatten the sail.
In a Pico if you are on the larger side you may find that the boat isn’t really big enough for you which would affect stability; does it feel wobbly when you climb in? Again there should not be significant weather helm so keep the boat flat.
RefrigeratorMain7921@reddit (OP)
Yes, now that you mention it, the weather helm does get prominent with increasing heel angles. I think that's what where I might be in the wrong where I try to heel more than I should or can control. I'm about 175 cm tall and weigh about 70 kgs. I find the Pico not too small and certainly not too big either. I'll try now to keep the boat less heeled or flat.
saywherefore@reddit
You’re a good size for both of those boats then, nice to rule that issue out.
The Laser in particular has a very small rudder and sharp corners to the transom which will dig in when you heel, so it really does need to be sailed flat. It also has a low boom which can catch in the water if you heel as you are easing the sail when you bear away.
The Pico should be a bit more forgiving in all respects.
hat_eater@reddit
In addition to what was already said, when tacking fast on a dinghy, I've always felt that the momentum from the mast moving in an arc was contributing surprisingly strongly to the tilting forces.
RefrigeratorMain7921@reddit (OP)
Agree. I get that feeling as well. I can feel the masthead swing imminently swing before the capsize.
WhenWhyandWhere@reddit
Sounds like you’re experiencing some weather helm, the name for when a boat naturally wants to turn into the wind. ILCA 6 and 7 are pretty much always going to have a few degrees of weather helm in anything above glassy conditions (interestingly, the ILCA 4 should have a balanced helm because its sail has a shorter foot) but the boat being heeled over will definitely exacerbate it.
The way to overcome is this to make sure you’re steering with all 3 methods: the rudder, the sheet, and your body weight. Heading down without stalling the rudder means you’re going to have to ease the vang and sheet first, while keeping the boat flat (and stable). If you watch the Olympics or other really good laser sailors, you’ll see them pop their vangs about a boat length before the mark sometimes.
As for capsizing during a tack, it’s hard to give pointers without knowing more about exactly what’s going wrong, but I’d guess that the sail is beating you across the boat and powering up before you’re fully hiked on the new side. Maybe sheet out a little to give yourself some more breathing room? It’s also sometimes a good idea not to go immediately close hauled-to-close hauled and land a few extra degrees off the wind so that you can quickly recoup lost boatspeed from the maneuver. Then once you’re settled and powered up, trim sheet and get back on the breeze.
RefrigeratorMain7921@reddit (OP)
Hey thanks a lot for this! Yes, you're right, I'm experiencing weather helm. I didn't know about this term until reading your comment. The Pico is similar to the ILCA 4 and I've been sailing on it this season for the last couple of times and to go back to basics before going again to the ILCA 7 which is a bit more challenging to control than the Pico. Yes, I think I'm heeling the Pico more than I should.
I'll definitely look more into trying out the vang the next time around. I think I'm also getting too greedy with wanting higher speeds and therefore heeling more than I should. I'll try easing more and fall of a few more degrees during tacking.
dodafdude@reddit
If you're on a broad reach and trying to tack, maybe you really need to gybe onto your next point of sail.
RefrigeratorMain7921@reddit (OP)
I perform a gybe only in winds of 10 kts or lower when I need to change from one broad reach to the other. In faster winds I perform a 'chicken gybe' or a wearing manoeuvre where I basically go from one broad reach to the other through a tack.
sailingtroy@reddit
Maybe steer a little slower through the tack.
If you can't hold it, just sail a little lower and a little more eased. The rudder is a brake, anyhow, so using a lot of it isn't really faster. Every boat has a windspeed that is optimized for. Once you're outside of that, you need to compromise with eased sails and pointing a little lower.
You'll save some energy in gusty conditions with a ratchet block on your mainsheet. You can turn your hand 90 degrees and rest your fist in your lap to conserve energy holding the sheet. For the tiller, you hold it like a microphone and rest your wrist against your chest or lap, but you can't do much that way in big conditions upwind, so sailing lower is the thing.
RefrigeratorMain7921@reddit (OP)
Hey thanks! By sailing lower do you mean not close hauled but somewhere around close reach? For the hand positions I follow the dagger grip method. Mainsheet in one hand and tiller in the other and both hands around my chest level. But you're right, sailing slower and not getting too greedy feels safer. I was probably just trying unrealistic fast manoeuvres (to my skill level) after seeing how pros handle the same boats in even stronger winds. I think I'll practice more as you suggested.
sailingtroy@reddit
Yeah, I mean just less close to close hauled. It's amazing what a few degrees will do. If you bear away too much, you'll never get upwind.
Another thing you can do in a big gust is pinch. That takes some of the heeling out, and it points you more upwind instead of less. Only works for a few seconds at a time, generally.