{"id":159205,"date":"2025-07-22T06:22:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T05:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?p=159205"},"modified":"2025-07-22T08:55:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T07:55:22","slug":"5-expert-tips-to-help-you-better-understand-sailing-heel-angles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/5-tips\/5-expert-tips-to-help-you-better-understand-sailing-heel-angles-159205","title":{"rendered":"5 expert tips to help you better understand sailing heel angles"},"content":"Learning to live in a thin lane is one of the key skills that separate the great from the good. As Henry Wetherell explains, having boats tight to windward and to leeward of you requires everyone in the crew to work in synchronisation.\r\n\r\nAlthough Wetherell has sailed for a number of seasons with helmsman John Pollard, Australian sailor David Chapman was a new addition to Team Xcellent for the SB20 Worlds in Singapore. \u201cWe put in as much time as possible before sailing the Worlds together, a winter series event in Cascais, and some good training time in Singapore including the Pre-Worlds,\u201d says Henry.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou can\u2019t really just turn up and win, you\u2019ve got to put the time in together, and living in a thin lane is one of those areas that really tests your teamwork and coordination.\u201d Here are Henry\u2019s five best tips for surviving and thriving in a tight spot.\r\n

Focus on the trim<\/h2>\r\nOf course you want to be focused on accurate sail trim at all times, but living in a thin lane is where the small details become absolutely critical. One false move and you could get spat out of the front row.\r\n\r\nIf your main threat is to leeward then you need to be trimming as tight as you possibly can without stalling the sails or the foils. On the other hand if your chief threat is from windward and you\u2019re at risk of getting rolled then you need to be able to foot off and trim for maximum speed.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n

Watch the jib leech<\/h2>\r\nThere\u2019s a window halfway up the SB20 mainsail luff which allows us to see the top of the jib leech. I spend a lot of my time looking up at the jib leech telltale, checking in with the other guys and squeezing in the jib sheet as hard as it will go. When you\u2019re looking for maximum pointing you\u2019re taking that leech telltale to the edge of stalling without it ever actually reaching that point. If it\u2019s flowing freely all the time you can probably afford to sheet in harder.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile the helmsman is focusing on the luff telltale towards the bottom of the jib and I\u2019m glancing at that too, to make sure we\u2019re properly on the breeze. If a big lift hits us and the leeward telltales are lifting, I need to make sure I\u2019m easing the jib until we\u2019ve luffed up to the new course. So it\u2019s not just looking up all the time, it\u2019s being constantly aware of the wider situation around you.\r\n

Work the mainsail<\/h2>\r\nThe way we work the team on the SB20, the mainsail trimmer has overall control of the boat. Dave [Chapman] monitors the changing tactical situation, and we adjust the trim and the steering to what he says is the current priority for any given moment. Dave\u2019s primary controls are the mainsheet and traveller but he\u2019s also calling for vang on\/off depending on how much power is needed at the time.\r\n\r\nIn Singapore when we were getting off the start line with people pinching high to hold their lane, we\u2019d be maxed-up on the traveller and easing the vang to keep the power in the mainsail. The backstay is mostly eased too, and you\u2019re trying to keep everyone\u2019s weight out as long as possible without dumping any power.\r\n\r\nOnce we\u2019re getting overpowered we\u2019ll pull on the backstay first, then the vang, then the outhaul, all with the traveller still high up the track.\r\n\r\nArticle continues below...<\/em>\r\n\r\n[collection]\r\n

Backstay and vang<\/h2>\r\nEvery boat is different in terms of how to vary the power in changing conditions. If you ever get a chance to look from behind at your boat you\u2019ll see how much backstay adjustment affects the leech profiles of both sails. The backstay bends the mast from the top, which opens the mainsail and jib leeches at the same time. So every time the backstay moves, the trim needs to change on the sails.\r\n\r\nIn the SB20 fleet on Team Xcellent we\u2019re quite vang-heavy. We leave the traveller quite high and then vang-sheet the mainsail. The vang is a good tool to flatten the bottom of the mainsail while also increasing forestay tension, which flattens the entry to the jib.\r\n\r\nWhile the vang is a useful upwind tool on the SB20, for the J\/70 and other bigger keelboats like the Cape 31 they\u2019re much more reliant on a combination of backstay and traveller. Whatever class you\u2019re sailing in, you need to know how to make these changes instinctively and that only comes from time in the boat.\r\n

Know when to bail<\/h2>\r\nNine times out of 10, once you\u2019ve lost the line of the boat in front and you\u2019ve fallen to leeward of them, you don\u2019t want to be in their gas any longer. It\u2019s time to bail out and get back into clear air. There are exceptions to the rule, such as when there\u2019s a really strong tidal gain on one side of the course. That\u2019s one of those rare occasions when the lesser of two evils is to suck up the bad air for a bit longer.\r\n\r\n
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Keelboat sailors obsess about maintaining the optimum angle of heel. According to Chris ‘Twiggy\u2019 Grube, it\u2019s a good obsession to have, and keeping consistently to that ideal heel is a vital goal for success on the race course. \u201cIt\u2019s about getting the right amount of angle on the rudder and making sure you\u2019ve got good flow over both foils,\u201d says Twiggy. Every class has a known optimum heel angle, although this will probably vary across different wind and wave conditions. \u201cIn the J\/70 we\u2019re aiming at 8\u00b0 of heel in super-light conditions, but once we\u2019re up to full power conditions we\u2019re aiming for 12\u00b0, and an absolute max of 14\u00b0. The J\/70 has a short keel so any more than that and you\u2019re slipping sideways and losing grip in the water. \u201cThe J\/70 also runs a very neutral helm, there\u2019s not much feel in the rudder so it\u2019s tempting to let the boat heel a bit more to leeward, just to get a bit more weather helm and a bit more bite,\u201d he explains. Twiggy warns against this temptation, but admits there are few shortcuts to getting comfortable with such a neutral helm other than more time in the boat. Whatever the wind and wave conditions, accurate setup of the rig will make it a lot easier to achieve consistent heel angle. So assuming you\u2019ve got the static rig settings in the right place, here are Twiggy\u2019s best tips for achieving that optimum angle of attack on an ever-changing race course. Have a heel monitor Make sure one person on the boat is tasked with keeping an eye on heel angle \u2013 your \u2018heel angle monitor\u2019. In a Cape 31 it would probably be someone on the foredeck crew, while in the J\/70 it\u2019s normally my role as jib trimmer. It\u2019s also important to have feedback from the helmsman about what they\u2019re feeling through the rudder, and if they\u2019re struggling with too much load on the helm. Build your own mental gauge and spatial awareness of what the right amount of heel feels like. Of course you can \u2013 and should \u2013 use the electronics to keep you informed about heel angle too, but there\u2019s always a bit of time lag in what they\u2019re telling you, so using instinct and feel is always your most useful and up-to-the-moment gauge of optimum heel. Body weight is key When you\u2019re sailing in anything less than full-power conditions, then body weight is your main tool for maintaining constant heel angle. As jib trimmer on the J\/70 I\u2019m the first to swing my legs inboard and go down to leeward. You\u2019re always on your toes, never sitting down for too long, ready to move up or down as required. There\u2019s a lot you can do together as a crew if you all move in unison, leaning out for a gust or inboard for a lull. You can put additional power into the boat by bringing the traveller up, but be careful not to bring …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5203,"featured_media":159207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[846,934,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159205"}],"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\/5203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159205"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159208,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159205\/revisions\/159208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159205"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=159205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}