I know that all these graphics and on screen aids must have tripled the time it took to make this video but they are so, so helpful. Thanks for the sacrifice of time. I found this very interesting and educational.
Now this is what I call a perfect demonstration of a good instructional video . . . . no bullshit, full of info, clearly explained, and concise. Thanks, Nick. What a great teacher you are.
Better than sailing school! For those that didn't take notes: 1) Know your sail twist techniques upwind: mainsheet & traveller downwind: vang 2) Leech lines: know when to tighten to stop flutter, but not too much to create a curl at back of sail 3) Control Camber (or the curviness of the sail in my words) by knowing when to adjust luff tension and correctly setting the outhaul: loose in light winds, flat in heavier winds. But watch the whole video, lots of great gems!
Hi Guys. Agree with everything you said. Just a couple of things you may want to consider in the next video. (Constructively as an ex racer). Probably the most important thing is rudder position before trim. If the rudder is not central its a brake. Focus on keeping the rudder mid ships. If the sail (s) forces you to steer off centre your slowing the boat. Trim the jib first. even more important on high aspect ratio (newer boats) where the jib is 110 % or less, and 5/8th fractional or less. Three sets of tell-tails two deep on the sail. (or 3 + sails if your a real race freek.) Jib track position is key so make sure you can adjust them under load from the cockpit. Consider fitting a jib inhaul line to pull the luff to windward of the track set position (infucker lines) A huge benefit upwind. When the jib is set bring the main in as you described and maintain a balanced helm. The air will then accelerate off the jib leach and speed up over the main giving greater lift from the main. Which can then be curved higher up on a beat by back-stay adjustment, released as the AWA increases. Not trying to teach you to suck eggs. But, if you want to be first to the marina little things make a difference over distance 😊Like optimum (10 ) degree lean... Dont take this the wrong way, just observations; Ant, Cid and the pooch crew. xx
Great video - thanks for posting! All I can add is the advice from the guru who taught me to sail: "When in doubt, let it out". Fair winds, Capt. Blackheart Charlie Key West, Conch Republic
I’m an experienced sailor but every once in a while like to watch a basic description of Sail trim to enhance my teaching. This was the most concise easy to follow description of basic mainsail trim I’ve ever seen. Great job, keep it up.
Finally a you tuber actually talks about sailing. Now I have to watch the vid about three more times to understand it , so when I put my boat in the water for the first time I will know what I’m doing.
When I 1st saw this video I was baffled like what is he talking about, after a friend explained to me about this and that on the boat, now watching this video again it's making more sense on sail control and what lines to use, excellent video tutorial many thanks.
i've been racing for 3 years now and am struggling to get the boat to go faster so I'm checking the basics and this is a great explanation and easy to understand - I learnt something, now just have to put it into practice - thanks Nick
I like your explanation. Very simple to understand and follow. I've been sailing for about 5 years and this video is the first time I've had a good explanation on trimming the main using the Vang and the Traveller. Thankyou Thankyou. ⛵️
Thank-you for putting into words what I have been trying to explain to my wife. I sail by instinct and can’t always tell her (or me) why I am doing what I do! I also learned some. Very well done!
Excellent and simple explaining:-) I'm new to sailing and just lost when other starts explaining everything in too much detail and very advanced technology.
Thank you, I grasp some quiet important concept which mixed me up before. Well done, short and to the point but more over, very structured. Really apreciated ! Good sailing. Bernd
Fantastic stuff Nick! You have different ways of adjusting you main than I grew up with and it was great to see how they are used. We use telltails on the shrouds instead of a hawk at the top and on the luff of the sails. On the luff with 3 sets, one on each side, you can see how the wind is flowing. The easiest way to read them is to make sure both are flowing back together. If the outside tail is flapping but the inside is flowing back you need to let the sail out just until it starts flowing back. If the inside tail is flapping but the outside is flowing then you need to sheet in until they are both flowing back together. This way is not better than what Nick relayed it is just a different way and could easily be used together with what Nick taught. It is all just different ways of getting information you can use. The only electronics we had was our own senses, some bits of bright orange or red yarn and if we were lucky a knot meter. As Nick says you learn to feel how your boat is sailing and over time will learn its best points of sail and how to set everything to make it go best. Those of us who learned to sail on Sunfish, Optimists or other small boats like that learned by simple observable methods and feel. I don't know that I would even pay attention to the electronics for sail trim other than speed. But that is me. Thanks again Nick. I am looking forward to the next one to see if there is more I can learn.
I am not a sailor, but watch a lot of sailing vlogs. I'm a twin diesel man! But this was the BEST and most informative sailing video I have EVER seen on TH-cam. Congrats! Keep them coming. Technical information crosses all barriers.
We have only learned to sail on our 1st owned sailboat in March if this year. We have telltails on our main and genoa. However they are in the middle of the sail. After watching this, we are going to add some to the leech of the sails. Thanks for this.
When I was racing several decades ago, We got this fantastic book called "North U" put out by North Sails, We even copied a few key points onto sticky laminate and stuck them in the cockpit. It was really brilliant as it gave us a process for setting up the sails. The camber stripes are very important as are telltales and I would have several more than just on the leech. Keeping the leeward ones streaming is a great way to help you set up the sail.
Excellent mainsheet refresher for USS Basic Keelboat/ASA 101 (sorry, don't know the RYA equivalent)! I had a great first sailing instructor who beat into me "Flow. It's all about flow." She meant looking at ways to make the wind flow better and faster over the sails and the water around the hull(s). For those on larger boats with in-mast or in-boom furling mains, the controls are a bit different, but the ideas are the same. Looking forward to your next tutorial on headsails!
Thank you so much for this great instructional video ! I moved from a 470er to a Hobie 16 and now to a Dehler Sprinta Sport. Since i want to race with it i was surprised by the trimming options it offers - so happy i found your video ! Thanks again and all the best !
Wow Nick, great explanation! We already tried your tips from the whatsapp group and it made Sirius sail faster one knot. May not sound as a lot but doing 7.5+ knots on a 30ft (9m) boat is quite spectacular. Jouke and I will be watching this video again while sailing this winter to see if we can even go faster.
After 9 months or so of watching cruiser vids, I've been waiting for an in-depth instruction on how to trim the sails for best performance. My wait is over. But I'll have to watch this episode many more times to "slow down" you lessons. Telltales are aptly named. Leech, luff, foot, and the others will require some reinforcing repetition. Also, I'll have to find out more about the hawk. I presume that indicates the direction of the wind - like a wind vane on the top of a barn. Well done, Nick. Thanks. :¬) Webhead USA
I was just cruising through some old stuff and found this. Thanks for the tips! I'm on a lake in TX and very new to sailing. You made it seem easy. I'll try these out on my sail next weekend. Thanks for taking me along. Oh,,can't wait to see the new Cat!!
Top marks for this! Quick and straight to the point. I really liked the leech line, vang segment as well as camber segments. Am looking very much forward to your upcoming reefing episode. Especially: what is the fastest and safest way to reef once heavy weather sets in? How is RR rigged for reefing? Take us through it. Many thanks for this A+ episode. Keep' em coming!
I thought you should have mentioned that you can have tell tails all over the sails. They are always helpful.. Good Luck and fair winds. André in Sydney
Good video - I have a Hurricane (basically a smaller Tornado) and so all the settings tips apply 👍good to see the measurement techniques you need to use
Thanks Nick! This is very informational. My girlfriend and I recently completed our ASA 101-106 courses and twist was touched on very lightly if at all. I learned more about it from my readings. Hoping to join the sailing community ASAP. Need to sell my house first (reluctantly). Really enjoy your videos.
Very useful video Nick. Just a few things to add having raced a lot and trimmed many sails. Top,tell tale should really be just stalling not flying like the rest of the tell tales. Looking up from under the boom and seeing how the top batten is lined up to the boom is a good way of seeing how much tension to put on the mainsheet. The top batten should not be cocked to windward. In very light winds, when most cruisers may be motoring, it is best to have a flatter sail as the light wind will stall on a sail with a deeper camber as it becomes detached as it flows over a fat sail. Flattening the foot of. Sail can almost be like a first reef, in fact some boats have a flattening reef just to take the belly out of the foot but more so on fractional rigs with big mains. If you have new Dacron sails it is important not to put much if any leech tension on as the sail will stretch as it is run in so to speak. If too much is put on too early it will induce a hooked leech and there is not much you can do about it then and it will reduce the efficiency of the sail long term. More modern sails with less stretch will act differently. As you said, halyard tension is very important but especially on the jib as the wind speed increases the same process of assessing where the camber is will determine the luff tension and will make a big difference to windward performance. A Cunningham is a good addition to a mainsail as it may be the sail can only be raised so far without causing damage to the halyard and the sheaves so a Cunningham overcomes this. Sailing off the wind, it is important to make sure the kicker is adjusted as it can induce large loads on the boom attachment to the mast so it must be let off and adjusted to give the right twist. Letting too much bang off on a dead run will make the top of the sail kick to windward and can induce more roll so tightening the kicker and heading up a few degrees makes for a safer and more comfortable ride. Hope you don’t mind me chipping in but hopefully this adds a bit to what you already explained so well. Andy UK
This is great. I was looking for a reply like this, as not to double up. Not a racer myself but have sailed with some great sailors and they will say the same thing you said.
Very interesting! For a non sailor subscriber understanding techniques adds to the value of your videos Thanks! Looking forward to more shared learnings
Thanks for doing this. I am new to sailing and will be taking my ASA 101, 103 and 104 in a week long course next month. I''ve been studying the books for the course and trying learn the terms (clue, boom vang, halyard, etc.). I've sailed a few times and already passed the ASA 101 course last year. I found it difficult to follow along with what you were saying. Maybe I just need more time on the water for this to help. I just really found it hard to follow along with the parts of the sail you were referring to in your descriptions. I realize you know this information really well and it has become a little second nature to you. I also realize I am such a newbie, that this might not have been directed at me. I do love your channel and hope you'll keep up the Technical Tuesday segments. They've help enlightened me on numerous subjects. Thanks for trying to help.
Hey mate, yes we had to run through stuff fairly quickly in the video. We do put annotations on the video, so feel free to pause it in places if you need more time To memorise parts of it.
congrats on getting into a terrific sport. Even very experienced sailors can't always reiterate all these details. Once you have the basics, which you may well by now, the rest is constant tweaking and testing to see what gives you speed as well as balance ( a light helm ). Enjoy!
Very informative and easy to grasp. I will be curious to see how and if your trim techniques differ much on a catamaran. It's one of the aspects of sailing that I need to work on, but it's like you said every boat is different and has its own sweet spot. And I didn't know the wind indicator was called a Hawk! I always just called it a wind indicator, but I like Hawk much better!
Marvelous, logical explanation of your thinking and decisions on the specs for RR2. I cannot recall the berthing arrangements in both hulls although I am certain you touched on this months ago…3 or 4 cabins?
Great video! I learned a lot from it; thanks. however one particular matter isn't still clear for me: what are the limitations to trimming according to leech telltales. I mean, until what degree of wind can we rely on the telltales?
Nope, I adjusted the sails on my tractor, and it didn't go any faster ;) It's great watching your vids, as this landlubber will never sail the 7 seas. Heck, I can't even swim. But if you ever need advice how to cross the Rocky Mountains, let me know :)
After hoisting the mainsail, do you still need the topping? Is the mainsail hoisted with the mainsail halyard sufficient to support the boom and not make it fall on deck or do you need other ropes?
As I was passing a sailboat today o the lake it was visible they had to much tension on the leach line. I didn't know what they we doing to get that curling on by the railing edge till now. They were in light winds 8 to 12 knots and had up their head sail and main while I in a boat almost half theirs in size just passed them by with only my main flying.
You guys need to remember that on the cat you will generally be going quicker and will have higher apparent wind hence can carry flatter sails than a mono. You also have the benefit of wider sheeting points. A couple of other things to keep in mind. The backstay can be used to increase twist as the wind increases and hence exhaust the sail in puffs. This can also induce bend in the mast (tighter luff), and/or a tighter forestay (depending on where your backstay terminates) Be careful with vang tension as the wind increases when you bear away. If it is too tight, it will pull the boom forward and stress the lower section of the mast. You should also release the pressure off the luff as you bear away.
I understood ll your points, but only becausem I've read extensively and seen many diagrams illustrating issues like camber and leech tension. Your video would benefit from some also.
Very new sailor here... my traveller seems awfully small (Sun Odyssey 37...) compared to others. What's the relationship between mainsheet and traveller in terms of boom position versus twist? Do I adjust point of sail to compensate if I simply don't have enough traveller?
HeIlo: Thanks for the nice insructions. I have Beneteau Oceanis 45 from 2016. My mainsail is an in mast furling one. I have a leech line on it but it’s impossible to reach there to make it tighter. Therefore my mainsail’s always flutters. Is there any advice for me please? Thanks a let…
So if the main sheet and traveller are for adjusting twist, how do i adjust boom angle? Shouldnt there be two main sheets to pull to port or starboard the boom or just one main sheet to centre it?
FORE SAIL TRIM! Part 2 of this series deals with fore sail trim, and can be found here:
th-cam.com/video/5bHzn-cizxM/w-d-xo.html
I know that all these graphics and on screen aids must have tripled the time it took to make this video but they are so, so helpful. Thanks for the sacrifice of time. I found this very interesting and educational.
Thanks Jennifer
Now this is what I call a perfect demonstration of a good instructional video . . . . no bullshit, full of info, clearly explained, and concise. Thanks, Nick. What a great teacher you are.
A pleasure mate. Glad
You found it useful
So if I understood your instructions correctly, my first step is to get a sailboat... :) Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Like they said on a kids program. Build your own nuclear bomb in 5 easy steps. Step one: Get a degree in nuclear physics.
So did you get one?
Next up: techniques to trim your t-shirt so it is evenly tensioned all over with no creases!
I did
@@coppertonewater I couldn't sneak my man card out of my wife's purse yet... 🤥
Better than sailing school! For those that didn't take notes: 1) Know your sail twist techniques upwind: mainsheet & traveller downwind: vang 2) Leech lines: know when to tighten to stop flutter, but not too much to create a curl at back of sail 3) Control Camber (or the curviness of the sail in my words) by knowing when to adjust luff tension and correctly setting the outhaul: loose in light winds, flat in heavier winds. But watch the whole video, lots of great gems!
definitely! took me years of racing with different crews to learn these. Thanks for the summary
Hi Guys. Agree with everything you said. Just a couple of things you may want to consider in the next video. (Constructively as an ex racer). Probably the most important thing is rudder position before trim. If the rudder is not central its a brake. Focus on keeping the rudder mid ships. If the sail (s) forces you to steer off centre your slowing the boat. Trim the jib first. even more important on high aspect ratio (newer boats) where the jib is 110 % or less, and 5/8th fractional or less. Three sets of tell-tails two deep on the sail. (or 3 + sails if your a real race freek.) Jib track position is key so make sure you can adjust them under load from the cockpit. Consider fitting a jib inhaul line to pull the luff to windward of the track set position (infucker lines) A huge benefit upwind. When the jib is set bring the main in as you described and maintain a balanced helm. The air will then accelerate off the jib leach and speed up over the main giving greater lift from the main. Which can then be curved higher up on a beat by back-stay adjustment, released as the AWA increases. Not trying to teach you to suck eggs. But, if you want to be first to the marina little things make a difference over distance 😊Like optimum (10 ) degree lean... Dont take this the wrong way, just observations; Ant, Cid and the pooch crew. xx
You forgot trimming the swing keel😎
Great video - thanks for posting! All I can add is the advice from the guru who taught me to sail: "When in doubt, let it out".
Fair winds,
Capt. Blackheart Charlie
Key West, Conch Republic
I’m an experienced sailor but every once in a while like to watch a basic description of Sail trim to enhance my teaching. This was the most concise easy to follow description of basic mainsail trim I’ve ever seen. Great job, keep it up.
Glad it was helpful!
Finally a you tuber actually talks about sailing. Now I have to watch the vid about three more times to understand it , so when I put my boat in the water for the first time I will know what I’m doing.
glad you found it useful mate.
When I 1st saw this video I was baffled like what is he talking about, after a friend explained to me about this and that on the boat, now watching this video again it's making more sense on sail control and what lines to use, excellent video tutorial many thanks.
@MaddogKernan a pleasure mate. There is also a sister video on foresail trim
i've been racing for 3 years now and am struggling to get the boat to go faster so I'm checking the basics and this is a great explanation and easy to understand - I learnt something, now just have to put it into practice - thanks Nick
Glad to be of help mate. There is another video on fore sail trim as well
I like your explanation. Very simple to understand and follow.
I've been sailing for about 5 years and this video is the first time I've had a good explanation on trimming the main using the Vang and the Traveller. Thankyou Thankyou. ⛵️
Glad it was helpful!
new sailor and new to this channel, I'll be back. this was super pro and super easy to follow. thanks
Ah thanks mate
Wow! I sure learned a lot from this video. The concept of Twist and all the ways to adjust it was great information.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank-you for putting into words what I have been trying to explain to my wife. I sail by instinct and can’t always tell her (or me) why I am doing what I do! I also learned some. Very well done!
A pleasure my friend
Excellent and simple explaining:-) I'm new to sailing and just lost when other starts explaining everything in too much detail and very advanced technology.
Absolute pleasure. Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you, I grasp some quiet important concept which mixed me up before. Well done, short and to the point but more over, very structured. Really apreciated ! Good sailing. Bernd
As a rookie, this video was a huge help! As an engineer, I grok the 'why' of things faster than the 'do' of things. Cheers!
Pleasure mate.
Fantastic stuff Nick! You have different ways of adjusting you main than I grew up with and it was great to see how they are used. We use telltails on the shrouds instead of a hawk at the top and on the luff of the sails. On the luff with 3 sets, one on each side, you can see how the wind is flowing. The easiest way to read them is to make sure both are flowing back together. If the outside tail is flapping but the inside is flowing back you need to let the sail out just until it starts flowing back. If the inside tail is flapping but the outside is flowing then you need to sheet in until they are both flowing back together. This way is not better than what Nick relayed it is just a different way and could easily be used together with what Nick taught. It is all just different ways of getting information you can use. The only electronics we had was our own senses, some bits of bright orange or red yarn and if we were lucky a knot meter. As Nick says you learn to feel how your boat is sailing and over time will learn its best points of sail and how to set everything to make it go best. Those of us who learned to sail on Sunfish, Optimists or other small boats like that learned by simple observable methods and feel. I don't know that I would even pay attention to the electronics for sail trim other than speed. But that is me. Thanks again Nick. I am looking forward to the next one to see if there is more I can learn.
Cheers my friend
I’m a degreed Aerospace Engineer, so this is really cool finding out the methods to adjust the ‘wing.’ Flutter = Stall.
I am not a sailor, but watch a lot of sailing vlogs. I'm a twin diesel man! But this was the BEST and most informative sailing video I have EVER seen on TH-cam. Congrats! Keep them coming. Technical information crosses all barriers.
Cheers mate
Excellent video. The only one that explains it thoroughly and simply. Thank you.
A pleasure mate
Thanks, just great briefed about Trimming the Main Sail, even the Jib as well,
Thank you for this week’s technical Tuesday. Best instructional video I’ve seen on this.
Thanks mate. Glad
You enjoyed it
Love the technical content. Quickly becoming my favourite sailing channel on TH-cam!
Glad to hear that Paul- thanks so much!!
I've been hunting for this exact explanation of these finer points of sail trim. Thank you!!
Absolute pleasure
Am I the only one watching this because I’ve just bought a radio controlled racing yacht? Great vid. Got to attend to the vang now! Thank you
We have only learned to sail on our 1st owned sailboat in March if this year. We have telltails on our main and genoa. However they are in the middle of the sail. After watching this, we are going to add some to the leech of the sails. Thanks for this.
A pleasure. Glad it helped. Our old sails had the tell tales ripped off too.
When I was racing several decades ago, We got this fantastic book called "North U" put out by North Sails, We even copied a few key points onto sticky laminate and stuck them in the cockpit.
It was really brilliant as it gave us a process for setting up the sails. The camber stripes are very important as are telltales and I would have several more than just on the leech. Keeping the leeward ones streaming is a great way to help you set up the sail.
Thanks Nick. Just learning but understood 60-70%. Think I’ll watch it a few more times.
Pleasure my friend. Hope it’s useful for you
Excellent mainsheet refresher for USS Basic Keelboat/ASA 101 (sorry, don't know the RYA equivalent)! I had a great first sailing instructor who beat into me "Flow. It's all about flow." She meant looking at ways to make the wind flow better and faster over the sails and the water around the hull(s). For those on larger boats with in-mast or in-boom furling mains, the controls are a bit different, but the ideas are the same. Looking forward to your next tutorial on headsails!
Cheers mate. I like that. “Flow”
Thank you so much for this great instructional video ! I moved from a 470er to a Hobie 16 and now to a Dehler Sprinta Sport. Since i want to race with it i was surprised by the trimming options it offers - so happy i found your video ! Thanks again and all the best !
Thanks for a wonderful video and explanation. These small steps have now put me up with the leading boats.
Jib trim video coming out very soon!
Wow Nick, great explanation! We already tried your tips from the whatsapp group and it made Sirius sail faster one knot. May not sound as a lot but doing 7.5+ knots on a 30ft (9m) boat is quite spectacular. Jouke and I will be watching this video again while sailing this winter to see if we can even go faster.
Awesome mate! Glad it helped.
what part of this video added 1 knot?
@@lucasspaniard8430 Sail and boat trim is usually multiple factors working together.
@@LoanwordEggcorn I concur, how about hull speed? Like I said what tip in this video helped him gain a knot in speed?
@@lucasspaniard8430 Probably more than one thing.
Well, the theory is right!!! Very well explained. And as a beginner, I just need to put it into practice
After 9 months or so of watching cruiser vids, I've been waiting for an in-depth instruction on how to trim the sails for best performance. My wait is over. But I'll have to watch this episode many more times to "slow down" you lessons. Telltales are aptly named. Leech, luff, foot, and the others will require some reinforcing repetition. Also, I'll have to find out more about the hawk. I presume that indicates the direction of the wind - like a wind vane on the top of a barn. Well done, Nick. Thanks. :¬) Webhead USA
a pleasure mate.
I was just cruising through some old stuff and found this. Thanks for the tips! I'm on a lake in TX and very new to sailing. You made it seem easy. I'll try these out on my sail next weekend. Thanks for taking me along. Oh,,can't wait to see the new Cat!!
I will give all of that a try. I may have to watch your video 5 more times.
Gracias!
Buenisima información.
Un abrazo desde Borikén!
Thank you. Hope you found it useful
Just getting into sailing thanks so much for the information seems all very useful I’ll try it next time I’m out
Hope it works for you mate
Thx Nick great explanation and often I find myself ignoring these principles and overlooking the traveller as an important tool.
cheers mate
Top marks for this! Quick and straight to the point. I really liked the leech line, vang segment as well as camber segments. Am looking very much forward to your upcoming reefing episode. Especially: what is the fastest and safest way to reef once heavy weather sets in? How is RR rigged for reefing? Take us through it. Many thanks for this A+ episode. Keep' em coming!
Thanks mate. All boats
Reef differently, so it will be difficult
To do a universal episode
I thought you should have mentioned that you can have tell tails all over the sails. They are always helpful.. Good Luck and fair winds. André in Sydney
Good video - I have a Hurricane (basically a smaller Tornado) and so all the settings tips apply 👍good to see the measurement techniques you need to use
Thanks so much for this informative video. 👍👍👍
Looking forward to applying this.
Oklahoma USA ❤️
Thanks Nick! This is very informational. My girlfriend and I recently completed our ASA 101-106 courses and twist was touched on very lightly if at all. I learned more about it from my readings. Hoping to join the sailing community ASAP. Need to sell my house first (reluctantly). Really enjoy your videos.
A pleasure my friend
Very useful video Nick. Just a few things to add having raced a lot and trimmed many sails. Top,tell tale should really be just stalling not flying like the rest of the tell tales. Looking up from under the boom and seeing how the top batten is lined up to the boom is a good way of seeing how much tension to put on the mainsheet. The top batten should not be cocked to windward. In very light winds, when most cruisers may be motoring, it is best to have a flatter sail as the light wind will stall on a sail with a deeper camber as it becomes detached as it flows over a fat sail. Flattening the foot of. Sail can almost be like a first reef, in fact some boats have a flattening reef just to take the belly out of the foot but more so on fractional rigs with big mains. If you have new Dacron sails it is important not to put much if any leech tension on as the sail will stretch as it is run in so to speak. If too much is put on too early it will induce a hooked leech and there is not much you can do about it then and it will reduce the efficiency of the sail long term. More modern sails with less stretch will act differently. As you said, halyard tension is very important but especially on the jib as the wind speed increases the same process of assessing where the camber is will determine the luff tension and will make a big difference to windward performance. A Cunningham is a good addition to a mainsail as it may be the sail can only be raised so far without causing damage to the halyard and the sheaves so a Cunningham overcomes this. Sailing off the wind, it is important to make sure the kicker is adjusted as it can induce large loads on the boom attachment to the mast so it must be let off and adjusted to give the right twist. Letting too much bang off on a dead run will make the top of the sail kick to windward and can induce more roll so tightening the kicker and heading up a few degrees makes for a safer and more comfortable ride. Hope you don’t mind me chipping in but hopefully this adds a bit to what you already explained so well. Andy UK
This is great. I was looking for a reply like this, as not to double up. Not a racer myself but have sailed with some great sailors and they will say the same thing you said.
Very interesting! For a non sailor subscriber understanding techniques adds to the value of your videos
Thanks! Looking forward to more shared learnings
Thanks mate
Well done N, clear and simple, great instruction!
,
Good knowledge , thanks for sharing. The editing is getting better!
thank you my friend
Thank you! So much great info and presented perfectly! Great job!
Just caught this video. Wanted to say thank you for taking the time to do this it helped me a lot! Cheers
Cheers! And excellent channel name 😉
Sailing Ruby Rose Thanks! Like subscribe and ring the bell! And don’t get bitten. Lol
nice technical demo....well done mate!
Excellent video, thank you for sharing your knowledge
A pleasure mate
Thanks for doing this. I am new to sailing and will be taking my ASA 101, 103 and 104 in a week long course next month. I''ve been studying the books for the course and trying learn the terms (clue, boom vang, halyard, etc.). I've sailed a few times and already passed the ASA 101 course last year. I found it difficult to follow along with what you were saying. Maybe I just need more time on the water for this to help. I just really found it hard to follow along with the parts of the sail you were referring to in your descriptions. I realize you know this information really well and it has become a little second nature to you. I also realize I am such a newbie, that this might not have been directed at me. I do love your channel and hope you'll keep up the Technical Tuesday segments. They've help enlightened me on numerous subjects. Thanks for trying to help.
Hey mate, yes we had to run through stuff fairly quickly in the video. We do put annotations on the video, so feel free to pause it in places if you need more time To memorise parts of it.
congrats on getting into a terrific sport. Even very experienced sailors can't always reiterate all these details. Once you have the basics, which you may well by now, the rest is constant tweaking and testing to see what gives you speed as well as balance ( a light helm ). Enjoy!
Very informative and easy to grasp. I will be curious to see how and if your trim techniques differ much on a catamaran. It's one of the aspects of sailing that I need to work on, but it's like you said every boat is different and has its own sweet spot. And I didn't know the wind indicator was called a Hawk! I always just called it a wind indicator, but I like Hawk much better!
Glad you enjoyed it. We love our Hawk
Thanks Nick this was very helpful and one of my favorite episodes along with the rigging doctor and Zingaro dynema episodes !!!!!
cheers. glad you enjoyed it.
Enjoyed this - highly informative.
Thanks Nick. Greetings from
Switzerland.
Would love to see videos where these concepts are actually demonstrated with effect
thank you! ; really appreciate the direct clear teaching on this .. all info there .. i'll test it next week in the solent ;)
Nick.... next up.... 'Sail Faster! FORESAIL Trim Techniques'.... Please!! Brilliant presentation.
Marvelous, logical explanation of your thinking and decisions on the specs for RR2. I cannot recall the berthing arrangements in both hulls although I am certain you touched on this months ago…3 or 4 cabins?
I like your videos because you're a yacht racer with good sail trim.
Great explanation! Well done. Thank you
Very informative and HELPFUL! Thanks so much for sharing!
Wonderful and helpful explanation
Cheers. Hope it helps
Great video! I learned a lot from it; thanks. however one particular matter isn't still clear for me: what are the limitations to trimming according to leech telltales. I mean, until what degree of wind can we rely on the telltales?
Nope, I adjusted the sails on my tractor, and it didn't go any faster ;) It's great watching your vids, as this landlubber will never sail the 7 seas. Heck, I can't even swim. But if you ever need advice how to cross the Rocky Mountains, let me know :)
Really good simple video. Well done.
Thanks mate
Thanks for the input, i am waiting for my new sails from Precision sail.
After hoisting the mainsail, do you still need the topping? Is the mainsail hoisted with the mainsail halyard sufficient to support the boom and not make it fall on deck or do you need other ropes?
Thanks Nick very informative love your channel keep them coming
Hi guys. Enjoying your work, thanks.
As I was passing a sailboat today o the lake it was visible they had to much tension on the leach line. I didn't know what they we doing to get that curling on by the railing edge till now. They were in light winds 8 to 12 knots and had up their head sail and main while I in a boat almost half theirs in size just passed them by with only my main flying.
Excellent Teaching Video
Many many thanks
great job on the video Nick.
Ah thanks mate
PERFECT 🙌More of this please!!! :-)
Thanks you two! 🙏
You guys need to remember that on the cat you will generally be going quicker and will have higher apparent wind hence can carry flatter sails than a mono. You also have the benefit of wider sheeting points.
A couple of other things to keep in mind. The backstay can be used to increase twist as the wind increases and hence exhaust the sail in puffs. This can also induce bend in the mast (tighter luff), and/or a tighter forestay (depending on where your backstay terminates)
Be careful with vang tension as the wind increases when you bear away. If it is too tight, it will pull the boom forward and stress the lower section of the mast.
You should also release the pressure off the luff as you bear away.
Great Video on Sail Trim, best on TH-cam
Will they still honor that discount here in the states? I think I need to get a new sail and move any where but here.
Do you reset your leech lines and out haul at the end of the day or do you leave them set?
Very informative. Great vid!
Cheers mate
Thank you. Now I can sail faster in my daydreams. =)
This just got me into arguments with club members who wanted everything the opposite to what you said.
I hope to race them soon :)
Tony & Susan here, We got it! , thx
I understood ll your points, but only becausem I've read extensively and seen many diagrams illustrating issues like camber and leech tension. Your video would benefit from some also.
Very cool video !!! Very intresting info !!!
Very new sailor here... my traveller seems awfully small (Sun Odyssey 37...) compared to others. What's the relationship between mainsheet and traveller in terms of boom position versus twist? Do I adjust point of sail to compensate if I simply don't have enough traveller?
Awesome channel! Loved your video! 👍😁👍
HeIlo: Thanks for the nice insructions. I have Beneteau Oceanis 45 from 2016. My mainsail is an in mast furling one. I have a leech line on it but it’s impossible to reach there to make it tighter. Therefore my mainsail’s always flutters. Is there any advice for me please? Thanks a let…
if you dont have a traveller do you then use kicking strap to control the twist up wind still?
Yes
Enjoyed that - thanks!
A pleasure mate
Awesome video, thanks for the tips!
Great Tutural !! Thank you so much
You're welcome!
A tiny bit fast, but great. A propos, does outhaul tension impact on the lower or higher part of the sailcurve?
Great teaching skills Nick!!
a pleasure mate
great content would be nice if you addressed the backstay tension and how it affects the mainsail shape
Maybe in a further video mate. Wanted to try and keep this stuff in digestible bites
Thank you for the tips I appreciate your love and knowledge of sailing!
How do you know if your outhaul or luff tension is set wrong? Is it just trial and error on speed? Or is there a way to know it isn't right?
So if the main sheet and traveller are for adjusting twist, how do i adjust boom angle? Shouldnt there be two main sheets to pull to port or starboard the boom or just one main sheet to centre it?
That is the Best I have heard it Explained...!! ✅
What technique do you use to mark your main halyard lines?
A sharpie of all things