Title says most of it but to be a little more specific,
I know that I should be getting more speed downwind, I race with mostly Hobies (16,18's) there is a 18sq in the fleet but mostly hobie 16's. I'm losing all of the ground that I make up upwind on the downwind leg. I'm letting go of the down haul, opening up the mast rotation and sometimes playing with the out haul but I'm not sure if I should be going deep or reaching more. Just looking for input.
There is a good thread here http://www.thebeachcats.c…ms/viewtopic/topic/13349 but it never gets into race course management, which I where I need help.
Do I take the hot angles and gybe more or go deep? There's more to it than that I'm sure....

Thanks

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
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Don't run, broad reach. Here's a starting point for any cat.

Use tape or a wind fly on your bridle and get it flowing 90 degrees or a little bit aft of that.
Main traveler should be at the leeward hiking strap.
Adjust the main to get the tails flowing.
Set the jib to work with the main. This is where jib travelers like on a H16 should be out or a barberhauler is used to get the top and bottom of the jib working together.

Never let the leeward tails stall, if they do, head up.

Don't know what you mean by race management, that's left up to the Principle Race Officer (PRO).

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Ron
Nacra F18
Reservoir Sailing Assn.
Brandon, Mississippi
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Thanks Ron,
Great info that is what I was looking for, these barber-haulers are new to me so that advice helps a lot.

All that i mean by race course management is that I don't have a entire lake or body of water to sail on when I race vs just playing, I have navigate to marks/gates, which you are obviously familiar with, where a beam reach is fast it doesn't get me anywhere on a race course without a B mark (A and C only is typically what we race).
When I round the A mark I see boats going DEEP and I see boats reaching, I never have confidence in my decision so by the end of the leg I averaged out in the middle and not in a idea spot in the standings. Other than the guys that solicit advice from on here I don't personally know anyone that has or has had one of these, so this info helps me build confidence in my decisions on the water.

Any info on those barber-haulers is great and much appreciated, as well as anything else to help me in the standings,

Thanks again

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
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Cesar-

I had the same issues when sailing the H18 (and still do to some degree on the F18). Its really tough to know what gives the best VMG. I'd guess you'd want to mimic the H18 more than the H16.

In general, Ron is right. Start with the wind at 90° and as the boat speed picks up you'll need to arc downwind a bit to keep the apparent wind at 90°. The problem is that in light air where drag dominates, you don't get much apparent wind shift. In that case you gotta go deeper than you might feel comfortable.

As Ron said, keep an eye on the leach telltales toward the top. Sheet in until they just start to flip back behind then sail, and then sheet out again just a bit to get them flowing again. This would be a constant adjustment process as the boat speed and direction, and wind speed and direction all vary on the downwind leg.

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Jeff R
'88 H18 "Jolly Mon"
'10 C2 USA1193
NE IN / SE MI
cramsailing.com
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Thanks Jeff, see you at Higgins lake? That is the CRAM event that I get to squeeze in this year

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
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No Higgins for me this year. I got a biz trip that weekend. :(

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Jeff R
'88 H18 "Jolly Mon"
'10 C2 USA1193
NE IN / SE MI
cramsailing.com
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Cesar,

I have noticed a bit of a trend with our fleet. We have alot of people that pinch upwind and then run straight down wind. I am finding the most success from a boat speed perspective in not trying to mimic the fleet too much as they are completely different boats. I am finding though you are traveling further downwind reaching is far better off in most cases due to the much faster speeds....never run straight with the wind unless it is a very short distance. Try to stay in clean air (which in our fleet stay away from the dead downwind run) play your laylines if need be over stand the mark slightly and ride the lifts down. I read some where that due to the shape of a hobie 16 hull they can minimize the wetted surface and go really deep...our boats are really best driven by gybing downwind

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NACRA18SQ
FREESTYLE 474
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