{"id":156483,"date":"2025-01-24T06:35:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T06:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?p=156483"},"modified":"2025-01-24T10:02:26","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T10:02:26","slug":"5-expert-tips-tidal-planning-and-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/5-tips\/5-expert-tips-tidal-planning-and-strategy-156483","title":{"rendered":"5 Expert Tips: Tidal planning and strategy"},"content":"The double-handed team of Deb Fish and Rob Craigie have got mainsail reefing down to a fine art. \u201cEven when we\u2019re really familiar with each other and we know our processes, we still talk everything through before we start. Good planning and communication are the most important ingredients for making sure things go well and avoiding the big mistakes,\u201d Fish explains.\r\n\r\nOn a double-handed<\/a> boat like their Bellino it\u2019s also about sharing out the workload as evenly as possible. Whatever works for a two-man team should work when sailing fully crewed where more hands make lighter work of the job. Deb says the overriding goal is to get from no reef to reefed in as short a time as possible to minimise the risk of damage to the sail.\r\n

Plan ahead<\/h2>\r\nOur reefing system is just normal slab reefing because we want to keep things simple with the minimum chance of things going wrong. A few items will make life so much easier for any reefing manoeuvre, eg constrictors on some lines. When you\u2019ve got a reef in, you need to have the main halyard, jib halyard and reefing line all in tension, ideally on winches<\/a>. But because we don\u2019t have three winches available, we put constrictors on the main halyard and the reefing lines.\r\n\r\nBefore you start a long offshore race you\u2019ll have looked at the forecast and you\u2019ll have a pretty good idea of what reefs you might need to use, if any. If we\u2019re looking at a really light airs race we won\u2019t have the reefing lines in. But if in doubt we\u2019ll be set up for having the first reef, or if there\u2019s the slightest chance of needing the second reef, we\u2019ll put it in.\r\n\r\nArticle continues below...\r\n\r\n[collection]\r\n\r\nThe other consideration is knowing which tack we\u2019re likely to be on when we\u2019re putting in the reef. The aim is to have the reefed part of the sail on the opposite side of the boom to the reefing line. You can control the sail from the mast if your boom is eased sufficiently for the sail to be flapping head to wind.\r\n

Steer to the best wind angle<\/h2>\r\nJust before reefing we\u2019ll change course if necessary to allow the mainsail to flap freely without pressing on the spreaders when the kicker and mainsheet are released. If we\u2019re beating we don\u2019t need to change course, but if we\u2019re deeper than about 70\u00b0 true wind angle we\u2019ll come onto the wind, and adjust the jib accordingly.\r\n

Be safe, sure and fast<\/h2>\r\nThe better you have talked through the manoeuvre, the better equipped you\u2019ll be to execute the reef safely, securely and quickly. Putting in a reef should take no more than a couple of minutes provided everything goes smoothly. We minimise time out of the cockpit by doing all the prep first. I then move to the mast where I clip my short tether to the base of the mast to allow me to brace securely and use both hands confidently.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nBe meticulous about doing things in the right order. For example, make sure you tension the mainsail luff before you put the reefing line in, otherwise it\u2019s easy to damage the luff of the sail.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s also important to have the reefing lines secured at the right position along the boom for your re-reefing points \u2013 if your boat doesn\u2019t have a fitting in the boom, you can use Dyneema line. I also control the sail to the desired side so that the reefing line runs straight from the reefing point to the boom, with the sail on the opposite side.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_145975\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Photo: Richard Langdon\/Pip Hare Ocean Racing[\/caption]\r\n

Work as a team<\/h2>\r\nMake sure your roles are well defined and know where the potential sticking points are in the process. For example, when you\u2019re shaking out a reef there can be a lot of friction in the reefing line, especially if you\u2019re using a constrictor.\r\n\r\nIf Rob is struggling to wind it up, I\u2019ll be pulling it through for him to make his life easier. The same for when I get back to the cockpit, I\u2019ll pull in the mainsheet as Rob has already been working hard on the winches for the past couple of minutes. It\u2019s about sharing the physical workload as much as possible.\r\n

Tidy up<\/h2>\r\nOnce you\u2019ve completed the reef, get back up to speed before tidying up. Lastly you\u2019ve got to decide whether you want to tie the base of the sail up with sail ties. If the reef will be in for any length of time it\u2019s worthwhile, not least because you have much better visibility.\r\n\r\nI find this the least secure part of the operation \u2013 at the mast you\u2019re very secure, the middle of the coachroof is less so. So depending on how long it\u2019s in for, we may not bother with any ties in the middle, we might just secure the front and the back. Just make sure you have your backup plans for anything that might go wrong. Plan for what you\u2019ll do if the reefing line breaks, because they do from time to time. They\u2019re under a lot of load. Replace often and keep an eye on them for wear and tear.\r\n\r\nIf you do tie the reef in, put the sail ties around the sail, not around the boom. If the reefing line did break, the clew would just go up in the air, whereas if the sail tie was tied around the boom then it would rip straight through the sail.\r\n\r\n
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“We\u2019re all tadpoles swimming in a stream,\u201d says Tom Dolan of single-handed offshore racing. With so many human, technical and environmental factors feeding into overall performance on the race course, Dolan is always looking at ways of simplifying any process that he can. One key area is understanding the complex tidal stream scenarios faced on every leg of the Solitaire du Figaro. With the scoreboard based on aggregate time, every moment matters. Dolan applies a few key rules of thumb to help analyse strategic and tactical situations \u2013 even in brutal sailing conditions where he is likely short on sleep and looking to manage his energy levels as efficiently as possible. In this extended \u20185 Tips\u2019, Tom shares his expert advice on how to think clearly in complex scenarios, and be the most efficient tadpole in the tide possible. Set priorities When you\u2019re sailing short-handed and short on sleep, you need to keep things as simple as possible. I have a pile of strategic priorities I keep uppermost in my mind. I list them here in no particular order, as it\u2019s always moving according to changing circumstances. If conditions change, the order changes. When we pass a mark, again the order may very well change. If we find ourselves defending a lead, the order might change again. They are: synoptic wind; local effects; sea breeze; tidal current or shift; your opponents; and race course geometry. Article continues below… Adjust for point of sail The position of tide in the pyramid of priorities depends on a number of factors including the strength of the tide, the strength of the wind and your point of sail. For example, the lighter the wind the more important the tide becomes, so the higher it moves up the list. The point of sail is also vital. When sailing upwind against the tide, the wind and the tide are in the same direction, so this decreases the apparent wind flowing over your sails. Not only are you sailing against the tide \u2013 which slows your ground speed \u2013 but you\u2019re also sailing in less wind which reduces your surface speed. So generally speaking, when sailing upwind, the tide gets bumped right up to the top of the pile. Sailing downwind is a little different, as wind and tide are opposed, and the apparent wind flowing over the sails increases. The Figaro 3 is a light boat and the polars take quite a steep jump when sailing downwind. So an increase or decrease in wind speed or a shift in wind direction can relegate the tide to second or third place on our pyramid. In both cases, wind and tide are together or opposed, so the zones of stronger or weaker flow are quite easily seen over the water in many cases, and can also be marked by long banks of seaweed. Just like looking at clouds in the sky to tell us what\u2019s going on with the wind, seaweed and waves can act a bit like …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":447,"featured_media":156501,"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\/156483"}],"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\/447"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156483"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156502,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156483\/revisions\/156502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156483"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=156483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}