John Forbes wrote:
Hi Mike, Great video and editing. Well done. I have never seen a Shark Cat before so it was very interesting to see them.
A few tips...
Wow, Thanks John! I very much appreciate the feedback! Given that I rarely race with other H18's, my technique is mostly based on what I've read and just plain sailing the boat, so it's great to have some feedback on what I could do differently.
John Forbes wrote:
when you are going upwind: you can sheet in a LOT more on the mainsail. This will provide more acceleration which will force you to sail a few degrees higher but the boat can sustain that. Also, both you and your crew should be trapezing a lot closer to the water, even in those wave conditions. The crew can also stand further aft, allowing the boat to drive more over the waves rather than though the waves. Also, try a LOT more mast rake. So much so that the mainsheet sheet system will be much closer block-to-block. By doing ALL of these things you will find the boat is not as tippy, is more controlled, and more pleasant to sail. When doing all of this, you can also pull more mainsail downhaul cunningham on to ensure all of the wrinkles are out of the main.
I could tell that my mainsail wanted to come in, that the windward telltales were lifting a lot and the luff of the main was fluttering, but I couldn't get the sail in any tighter. It was frustrating me, but I just decided to sail the best course I could with my sails trimmed as tight as I could get them. I don't play with mast rake very much, but I had actually raked it back further than usual. I suppose I must typically sail with a fairly forward mast rake, but I set it at the 106" recommended by the H18 Performance Manual. Good to know that I should be raking it much more in heavier wind. With regards to our weight, it seemed as though we had better speed when he moved a little further forward, I figured we were just dragging our sterns too much between the gusts.
John Forbes wrote:
When going downwind: you can run the traveller much further out, almost to the inner gunwale of the hull. Then pull the mainsheet in a little firmer, this will allow you more control to dump the mainsheet in the gusts. I think you already know this, but you can run much lower angle downwind. You were broad reaching, not going downwind, so your VMG would be not as good.
Whenever I've sailed downwind with my traveller further out, my boat speed always seems to suffer, even if my mainsheet was in tighter. I thought my course was pretty good, at about 90 degrees to the apparent wind, which I thought should've been pretty close to my best VMG downwind. My understanding of ideal downwind course for a broad reach was with the traveller in line with the hiking strap, about 6" inboard from the gunwale. I'll have to play around with traveller position and mainsheet position next time I'm out, and see if I can point any lower. Downwind especially, it seems like there's always a lot of room for improvement!
Again, I appreciate all the feedback from someone who races H18's regularly, I'll just have to play around with it some more! Still trying to get my local fleet more into racing, they have a number of H18's. Would be fun to have a fleet to race against!