NewsFlash: Lake Lanier Sailing Club is Hiring! This is an exciting opportunity for a sailing professional, to help develop an up-and-coming club reach the next level…
Lake Lanier Sailing Club, Inc. is a private, family oriented club that is involved in all aspects of the sport of sailing with a special emphasis on racing. The Club is located on a beautiful lake-front compound near Flowery Branch, Georgia, with a large clubhouse, campground, beach, bathing facilities, 88 wet slips, and dry storage facilities that accommodate more than 200 trailered boats. Members compete in numerous One-Design, Portsmouth / Dinghy and Auxiliary / PHRF fleets at local, regional and national levels.
We also have a very active Junior Sailing program, organized as a 501(c)(3) corporation, and we are proud to host the Georgia Tech Sailing Club and the University of Georgia Sailing Club to promote the sport in college students. We are affiliated with US Sailing (USS), South Atlantic Yacht Racing Association (SAYRA) and Dixie Inland Yacht Racing Association (DIYRA).
The Club was founded in 1959, shortly after Lake Lanier was filled, and first occupied a parcel of land near Holiday Marina where members constructed a launching ramp and boat repair shed. The Club’s present location, near Flowery Branch, Georgia, was acquired in 1960, and is located on land which is partly owned by the Club and partly leased from the Army Corp of Engineers. Club members and their families cleared the land and constructed the initial facilities consisting of a boat storage area and ramp.
The Clubhouse or pavilion was constructed mainly by Club members between 1963 and 1967. Since then it and other facilities have gradually been improved. We have two paved boat ramps, paved boat storage and parking areas, five auxiliary sailboat docks, four for small boats launching, race committee shack, work area, camping area and swimming beach.
The Activities of Lake Lanier Sailing Club have traditionally been organized and carried out by the members and their families. The Club does not have a large staff, and in fact has only one full time employee. Successful operation of the Club therefore requires member participation. A new member of the Club should expect to be asked to assist with Club activities such as regatta management, race committee, social affairs and work parties.
For more information regarding membership, please visit the Membership Inquiries page. We’d love to hear from you!
NewsFlash: Lake Lanier Sailing Club is Hiring!
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Club Profile: Manhattan Sailing School
Have you ever DREAMED of SAILING? This is your opportunity. Don’t let your ship pass you by.
Manhattan Sailing School is HIRING!!
Sign up for Basic Sailing today! 
NEWS FLASH – Basic Sailing is being offered at the
SPECIAL LOW PRICE of $390 from our Jersey City location for a limited time only! (reduced from $590)
Gift certificates available at the special low price!
“Manhattan Sailing School is the largest and most respected such organization
operating in the New York Harbor.” — Time Out NY
Your sailing career starts here! Basic Sailing is the foundation for all your future sailing knowledge. The subjects you will learn in Basic Sailing are:
- Sailing Terminology
- Points of Sail
- Rigging & Derigging
- Hoisting & Trimming Sails
- Tacking & Jibing
- Sailing by the Lee
- Proper Commands
- Docking & Securing a Boat
- Important Knots
- Basic Navigation Rules
- Man Overboard
2016 ICSA Team Race Preview & Coaches Poll!
Brought to you by Dynamic Dollies, Sail1Design is pleased to present the official ICSA Team Race Rankings! Welcome to the 2016 ICSA Team Race Rankings Preview & Prognostication! Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines, college team racing’s championship season is upon us!
NEISA
By: Ken Legler(tufts) and Bill Healy(Yale)
Yale: Three time defending ICSA Team Race Champs will surely miss Graham Landy and Kate Gaumond but a deep roster with names like Belling, Doris, and Barrows, all current All Americans, the Bulldogs will be in the mix. Minus Landy and Gaumond, the rest of the team is intact plus some great freshman.
BC: Although only Rios returns from last year’s final-four squad, Charles Sinks is ready. Will former Opti world champ Sinclair Jones be their third skipper or will they rely on a more experienced but not quite as fast veteran.
Harvard: Mollerus, Zaleski, and Sertl will be tough. Nick DiGiovanni leads the B team and could sub in.
CGA: If you haven’t been paying attention lately, let me fill you in. The US Coast Guard Academy has a legit team. It’s clear they can succeed in fleet racing. They will be put to the test this Spring to see if they can translate that success into team racing. Avery Fanning and crew Robert Turley along with Nikki Barnes will be the backbone of this team. Crews on this squad look strong with Andrew Britton and Anna Morin along with Turley will only raise the bar for the Cadets.
Brown: The winners of the only team race inter conference regatta of the Fall season will lean heavily on Pearson Potts and teammate Marina Cano to get the most out of this team. 2/3 of this team finished 5th at the Hinman Trophy so they know how to do this, they just need to pull at all together when it counts.
RW: One of the best teams in the country last year lost 13 players to graduation. Returning starters Connor Corgard and All American Bre Baldino will have skippers Stuart Dreheim and Mack Bryan who saw some action at Nationals last year. They area very young team with exceptional crews so it will be interesting to see how they gel this Spring.
Boston University: NEISA’s most improved, perhaps, did not make NEISA’s top 12 last year but they have been terrific in dinghies starting right after TR champs last spring. Will that translate into a nationals berth? Probably not, but they are awfully fast.
Dartmouth: The early TR season hurts Dartmouth and their sailors lack big time TR experience. One skipper, however, has more match racing experience than anyone in NEISA. Look for Charles Lalumiere to lead a young group in New Englands.
Bowdoin: The polar Bears have never broken through in team racing but they have more talent this year than any in recent memory.
Tufts: Gone are all five skippers that made TR nationals last two years. Not only do have a high hill to climb but they might not have a consistent third boat.
MIT: MIT looks to build off their strong fleet race results and carry to momentum into the team racing season. They will rotate five skippers through the team race squad, but the strength of the team lies with the experienced crews. Junior standout crew Jordan Ladd, senior crew Christopher Ford, junior crew Paige Omura and senior crew Lisa Sukarev-Chuyan will give the Engineers solid boat-handling and team racing experience.The five skippers vying for a starting role at New Englands include seniors David Larson and Joe Paggi, junior Alec Stewart, but sophomores Cutter O’Connell and Ty Ingram are learning the game quickly and will be rotated through the A-squad.
URI: The Rams have one of the best women’s sailor in the county in Rachel Bryer who sails with Hannah Scanlon. IT’s not unusual to see the top women’s sailors in the team race mix and they often do quite well. But with URI’s limited TR schedule it will be hard to form a cohesive group. But senior Caleb Armstrong wants to prove that the Rams belong in the mix at the New England Champs. Bryer will be focusing on Womens events which will hurt their development as a team in the early Spring.
Conn: The Camels work really hard at the team racing discipline But this team is young and inexperienced at this level. i’m not saying they can’t succeed but it will be an uphill battle which Coach Bresnahan understands and he will get the most out of them at practice. Senior Bryce Kopp will lead this young group and just when you think that the Camels are out od top notch crews, more come out of the woodwork. Boat handling won’t be their problem.
MAISA
By: Johnny Norfleet(Fordham)
Georgetown: A perennial MAISA powerhouse and contender at nationals, Georgetown will once again be one of the favorites to come out of MAISA. With an army of immensely talented crews (including Isabelle Ruiz De Luzuriaga ’16, Bettina Redway ’16, and Meaghan MacRae ’18) and a mostly returning group of skippers (including CSOTY Nevin Snow ’16, Sean Golden ’16, and some combination of AJ Reiter ’17, High School Nationals Champ Campbell D’Eliscu ’19, and transfer Roger Dorr ’18), Georgetown will be the team to beat in all conditions.
St. Mary’s: Expect this extremely well coached and disciplined team race group to start off slow, qualify out of MAISA, and then outperform your expectations at nationals. Crews Mariah Leffingwell ’16, Shelby Jacobs ’17, and Kaitlyn Noreen ’16 and skippers Alex Curtiss ’16, Mackenzie Cooper ’17 and either Markus Edegran ’16 or Chase Quinn ’17 should round out this team.
Navy: Always a contender and one of the teams coming out of MAISA last year, Navy will be one of the teams you need to beat at the Prosser Trophy if you want to get to the big dance. Though they lose speed demon Mary Hall, veteran team racers Patrick Snow ’17, and Michael Popp ’16 will whip their younger teammates into shape. They will have plenty of time to hone their skills as they will have to sail out of the Team Race Challenge and the Prosser Trophy to get to Nationals.
Fordham: Rounding out the group of MAISA teams to make it to nationals last spring, this team will have their work cut out for them as they also have to sail out of the uncharacteristically competitive Team Race Challenge this season. Returning all three skippers from last season (Connor Godfrey ’16, Alec Tayler ’17, and Will Holz ’17), with a strong group of young alternate skippers, and a group of talented crews (Connor Murphy ’16, JJ Monro ’16, Madeline Sims ’16, Evan Morgan ’18, and Katherine Jones ’18), Fordham will 
be one of the teams vying for a spot at nationals if they can work hard and make it through the Team Race Challenge.
Old Dominion: This team has been on both the winning and losing side of a tiebreaker to make it to nationals the past two years. Another team that will have to compete with Navy and Fordham for one of the two spots out of the Team Race Challenge, expect ODU to be a competitor and a team to beat if they can make it to the Prosser Trophy. Esteban Forrer ’16 and All-American crew Gabe Smith ’17 will lead a team of returning skippers Joe David ’16 and Augie Dale ’18 and crews Grace Mason ’16 and Kaylie Gallagher ’16.
George Washington: This young team that played spoiler at last year’s MAISA Champs will likely rise as a contender for one of the final spots to nationals. Though they lost their team race specialist Roger Dorr to transfer, they added a number of talented sailors to their roster that seems to grow significantly deeper and stronger each year. Expect to see Kai Friesecke ’18 and Brendan Shanahan ’17 lead a team likely rounded out by Andrew Sheerin ’18 and crews Mercedes McPhee ’19, Belle Strachan ’18, Henry Young ’16, and all-star skipper/crew Miranda Bakos ’18 when she isn’t competing on the women’s circuit.
Cornell: Though they did not compete in the MAISA Team Race Champs last spring, they are coming off a successful fall fleet race reason. With the weather looking to be on their side for an early practice start and a strong team race schedule set for this season, this well coached team could very well turn some heads. Expect to see Alex Woloshyn ’17, Shawn Kelter ’18, and Clark Uhl ’19 lead this young team race squad.
Hobart and William Smith: A longtime great in MAISA, this team just barely missed out on a spot to nationals last year. Expect this team led by Greiner Hobbs ’18, Eddie Cox ’16, and a group of talented crews to be a contender by the end of the team race season.
New York Maritime: Though they have not yet had much team race success, NY Maritime has emerged as a MAISA fleet racing powerhouse in the past two years with two podium finishes in the last three conference championships. Expect this team led by Zach Hill ’18, Nick Valente ’16 and crew Caitlin Cummings ’18 to use speed to their advantage and they could emerge as a dark horse contender.
With one of these top nine teams missing out on the Prosser Trophy this season, expect this to be the most competitive MAISA Team Race Championship in conference history.
UPenn: This team led by Mac Agnese ’17 and Drew Gallagher ’18 will be fast but will have their work cut out getting past two of Navy, Old Dominion, and UPenn at the Team Race Challenge.
KP: Like UPenn, this team led by Charlie Lomax ’18 will have their work cut out for them to get through the team race challenge. However, given their strong fleet race results the last two seasons and their emergence as a match racing contender, this team might just surprise you.
SAISA
By: Ward Cromwell(Charleston)
University of Miami: After a few years hiatus from Team Racing the Hurricanes will compete at both the Mendelblatt and the SAISA Champs. U. Miami is getting back up to speed, fueled by an energetic freshman class!
Jacksonville University: The Dolphins will be competing in the Mendelblatt, John Jackson, and the SAISA Champs. JU will make its first push in Team Racing this spring with junior skippers Danny Lawless and Peter Hidley. Julia Wiesner (ODU ’14) joined the Dolphins coaching squad last year bringing a wealth of knowledge and a fun perspective to this teams development.
University of South Florida: The Bulls are slated to compete in the Mendelblatt, Bob Bavier, Graham Hall, and the SAISA Champs. Under the new leadership of Allan Caplain the team will look to find a cohesive game plan which will likely be leed by the senior team of Fernando Monllor and Rebecca Campbell.
Eckerd College: The Tritons have an aggressive Team Race schedule planed competing in the Mendelblatt, the Bob Bavier, the Graham Hall, the Admiral Moor, & SAISA Champs. Senior skipper Tim Siemers along with Junior Skipper Jason D’Agostino will lead this squad along with an impressive list of Senior crews. Overall this team has progressed tremendously under the guidance of their head coach, Kevin Reali. This team is very excited for some high level team racing and eager to clinch a berth to the Nationals.
The College of Charleston: The Cougars are excited to compete in the Mendelblatt, Bob Bavier, St. Mary’s, Graham Hall, Szambecki, and the SAISA Champs.Several team members will be returning from last year’s final four appearance in Newport. Senior skipper Jake Reynold will pair with junior crew Chloe Dapp to lead off a very impressive list of sailors. Look for this squad to be on the podium early and often this team race season.
PCCSC
By: Clinton Hayes(Stanford)
Stanford: Coming off 2 consecutive 3rd place finishes at Nationals Stanford will once again lead the team racing charge from the west coast. They suffered some key loses to graduation but will return key drivers from last season Antoine Screve ’16 and Will Ladow ’18. Look for senior Sammy Steele along juniors Nikki Obel and JP Cannistraro to make big contributions. The Cardinal’s biggest question this season will come with their 3rd boat. If they can build strength in that position they can be a final 4 team in San Diego.
Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara is enjoying solid team depth and is working hard to break thru this year in team racing. They have used the warm California winter to develop strategy and discipline in team race clinics with local rock-star sailors Willie McBride and Allie Blecher. The team will travel to the Mendleblatt team race in Florida in addition to sailing the McIntyre at Stanford. UCSB is filled with good sailors so if they can get their team race game together they will take wins off the best. They are the favorite for taking the 2nd PCCSC birth at Nationals.
Hawaii: Hawaii is coming off a strong fall of great west coast fleet race results. They can sail the FJ fast but might struggle to get 3 cohesive drivers together for team racing. Chuck Eaton will likely lead the team after good results in A-division and Match Racing.
USC: Like Hawaii, the Trojans had some really strong fleet racing results but aren’t quite deep enough to put together 3 really strong boats. They look to play the spoiler at qualifiers and steal that 2nd birth to Nationals. Senior Matthew Hecht looks like their strongest driver to lead the team.
MCSA
By: Clinton Hayes(Stanford)
U Wisconsin: WISCO suffered some large loses to graduation and only retain driver Lauran Wefer ’16 and crew Jennifer Burke ’16 from their starting team at last year’s Nationals. Despite that, they are one of the only teams in the Midwest with a full time coach and will certainly make big improvements as they travel to compete against the countries best at the Marchiando and Szambecki team races later in the season. It’s also noteworthy that they picked up another sailor from the talented Kutschenreuter family so we’ll see how he continues to progress as a freshmen.
U Michigan: The Wolverines may very well have another solid year. They look to retain 5 out of 6 starters from last year and showed some decent results this fall when they sailed their top players. Michigan will attend the Mendleblatt Team Race this year and may be in line to pick up an invite birth to another. I would count them as a favorite to make a trip to San Diego.
Minnesota: The Gophers have put up some good results in conference this fall and bring what might be the midwest’s best women’s team to also start in team racing. With coach Cappy leading the way and a group of junior and senior drivers they will certainly challenge for a spot at Nationals.
Northwestern: Don’t count out this super organized team from the big city. They work hard in team racing and, once again, are making the trip out to Stanford for the McIntyre Team Race.
NWICSA
By: Clinton Hayes(Stanford)
Oregon State, U Washington, and Western Washington all have a reasonable chance of grabbing the Northwest’s lone spot at nationals. Oregon State qualified for births at both Singles and Match Racing this fall and had the conferences best result as Rose Bowl. They also return 2 out of 3 starters from last years Nationals appearance.
SEISA
By: Clinton Hayes(Stanford)
Texas A&M Galveston has owned the Southeast birth at Nationals for a number of years. After winning much of their inconference events this fall they look likely to return.
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About Sail1Design
Sail1Design is a grassroots organization, by sailors for sailors, dedicated to the one-design, youth, high school, college, and one-design sailing communities. Born in 2007, Sail1Design has grown considerably, and reaches out to all sailors wishing to enjoy and learn more about our sport. We have three main areas of business:
SAILING/MARINE INDUSTRY CAREER CENTER & JOB BOARD
We offer sailing’s #1 Career Center and Job Board, always chock full of incredible sailing job opportunities. Our comprehensive career center also offers job seekers the ability to create their own web page, highlighting their experience and posting their resume. Likewise, employers can search our resume database to find the right match for that open position. Sail1Design is proud also to be the official job board of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA), and the US High School Sailing Association (ISSA).
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Unique to the industry, Sail1Design hosts and manages an active private, by-owner marketplace, focusing on performance and one-design sailboats & gear. For all boats under 25′, our ads are free. What makes us different is that we also provide, side-by-side, professional brokerage services as well. We have had great success helping our sailing clients market and sell their boats, using our powerful client base, social media, and the brokerage industries multiple listing service to ensure your boat gets noticed.
AIRWAVES NEWS & CALENDAR
S1D also hosts Airwaves, an interactive, user fed Sailing Calendar and informative Sailing News, Articles, tips, & more. Airwaves has developed a great niche in the sailing publication world, and now boasts a seven-member staff of dedicated sailors, all contributing to our varied content.
2016 Club 420 Midwinters Championship Report and Results
Warm and Windy Conditions for Top Youth Sailors
The Club 420 Association held its Midwinters Championships at the US Sailing Center of Martin County in Jensen Beach Florida February 13-15 and the 208 sailors were provided an assortment of conditions all leading to 22 exciting races. Wiley Rogers and Jack Parkin led the event from wire to wire posting 12 points in 11 races to the second place team of Ivan Shestopalov & Mario Gonzalez.
For full results CLICK HERE
104 boats competed with the 208 sailors representing Mexico, Canada and 18 US states.. Conditions on Saturday and Sunday were clear and consistent with 12-14 kts breeze. Monday started with 20kt wind and proved to be challenging for many competitors.
The top women’s team of Julia Reynolds & Anne Sidamon-Eristoff`finished in 20th place and the top junior (16 and under) team of Clay Snyder & Isabella Farina finished 10th.
Racing continues for the class at regional events across the US, Canadian and US National Championships in July and North American Championships at Coranado Yacht Club in August.
About the Club 420 Association – The Club 420 Association was established in 1980 to promote, foster, encourage and sponsor one-design sailing for youth sailors. The Association annually sponsors a North American Championship, US and Canadian National Championships as well as regional and team racing championships across North America while promoting the class to all ability and experience levels of youth sailing.
For additional information please contact the C420 class at www.C420.org or John Vandemoer, Class Executive Director, [email protected]
Staying Fit While Traveling
By Airwaves writer Rachel Bennung
Staying fit while traveling, & working out while traveling is something a lot of people struggle with. Whether you are traveling for work or on a vacation you somehow find a reason you can’t workout; They don’t have a gym, I don’t have enough space, I’m on vacation. We all have been there with the excuses. However, I am here to tell you can stay fit and have fun doing it while traveling!
I was recently on vacation in the British Virgin Islands chartering a sailboat. Even though I was on vacation the workouts didn’t stop! I wasn’t able to do everything I normally do, but I still was able to get a good sweat on and have fun doing it! Check out my video from down there where you will hear from me on what exercises you can do while traveling and having little space, as well as how to use your environment to get a fun workout in. There is also a list of my favorite exercises to work your arms, legs, and core using just your bodyweight. Check out the video below.
Also below is a great traveling workout you can do just using your bodyweight. Check it out and take it with you on your next trip!
Traveling Workout:
Do each exercise for 1 minute, take a 1 minute break, then repeat for 30 seconds
- High Knees
- Mountain Climbers
- Speed Skaters
Do listed exercises in order then repeat for 3 rounds
- 12 Pushups
- 15 Squat jumps
- 20 Shoulder Taps
- 25 Russian Twists
Do each exercise for 1 minute, take a 1 minute break, then repeat for 30 seconds
- Ski Abs
- Burpees
- Switch Kicks
Do listed exercises in order then repeat for 3 rounds
- 15 Tricep Dips
- 20 Spider Planks
- 15 each side Front Kick with Side Lunge
- 15 Plank Jacks
For more information on fitness for sailing contact [email protected]. Also check out Sailorcise on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily tips on fitness, nutrition, and sailing.
Windward Spinnaker Takedowns, Revisited
By Airwaves writer Andrew Kerr
Ah, spinnaker takedowns; either they go really well, or really bad. Your team is approaching the leeward mark on port tack getting ready for a port rounding , the mainsail controls are preset for upwind trim, the headsail is hoisted and the halyard is set to the conditions , the spinnaker pole is taken down and stored and then the spinnaker smoothly douse’s on the weather side .
Your team executes a tactical rounding around the mark and looks for the next opportunity going upwind.
Let’s look at the key ingredients that went in to that windward takedown working so well as part of your team’s boat handling repertoire for both symmetric and asymmetric spinnakers ( A Sails) and also a check list for both sails on the takedown.
The approach, steering & trimming:
An effective approach when there is enough wind to fill the spinnaker consistently ( above 7 knots) is to sail a little higher of the leeward mark so that you can bear off and make it easier for the crew to get the sail around the forestay.
If you find yourself reaching into the mark, either as a result of a wind shift or over standing the lay line approach then try to sail as high as you can in the lulls so that you can ultimately bear away and help facilitate the douse, this is particularly important on boats with large spinnakers and when the breeze is up.
With a symmetric spinnaker the skipper should bear off as the pole is stripped (taken down) and the guy is brought back as the spinnaker will have a tendency to oscillate behind the mainsail and collapse.
It is common to see teams struggle to fly the spinnaker when the pole is stripped; the spinnaker oscillates forward behind the main and headsail and collapses whilst the trimmer saws the sheet and guy back and forth, this can be avoided!
Bearing off and pulling the guy back will help the spinnaker get away from the blanketing effect of the mainsail enable the trimmer to free fly the sail effectively.
Heel the boat to windward with crew weight (if enough wind):
This key element on a windward takedown on both the Symmetric and the A sail is If there is enough wind to fill the spinnaker fully and keep the mainsail fully filled – then moving weight to windward as the pole is stripped or when the A sail is close to dousing but you still want the sail flying is the way to go.
On a lot of boats it’s just a matter of the trimmer and another crew member leaning out to windward or the skipper helping heel the boat to windward. How much wind will dictate how much weight is required but all that is needed is enough to heel the boat to weather about 10 degrees.
What this does is counteract the head of the spinnakers natural tendency (especially with weight to leeward) of oscillating behind the mainsail and collapsing.
How much time do we need for the takedown?
Practice is everything here with lots of repetition using an old spinnaker so that a multitude of mistakes can be made without the risk of ruining a racing sail.
I remember during one practice prior to a J24 North American championship we made numerous uncharacteristic basic errors on the takedowns.
After a full day of practice we were able to get it out of our system and go ahead and execute high level takedowns during the regatta, it’s really crucial to go through that process, especially if you have any new crew aboard or have not sailed together a great deal or it has been a long time since you did sail together.
Very often teams do not have time to practice, modern life demands seemingly take away that time, so the practice douse prior to the start is the time to make and identify any mistakes and correct them.
It can be something like the Jib halyard tail (for want of a loose flake and a toss away from the turning blocks) making its way into a Jib sheet ratchet block, the Jib furler line turning into a monkeys fist as the Jib is unrolled or the port spinnaker sheet dragging behind the boat as the boat rounds and exits the leeward mark – one messing up the Jib trim, the other providing distraction, all easily avoided.
A knowledge of times and distance is an important element here – if we are on a 40 foot boat travelling 6 knots we travel a boat length in approx. 4 seconds, if we are on a 24 foot boat doing 5 knots we will take approx.. 2. 5 seconds to travel a boat length. This where having a speed and distance chart is really useful for gauging how much time the crew needs – the mark is 10 boat lengths away, we are going 5 knots on a 24 foot boat –then we have about 25 seconds to douse the sail prior to the rounding plus the added fudge factor if some element of the boat handling takes longer – sometimes referred to as budgeting “screw up distance”!
Let’s look at a check list for each sail on the douse, please add your own for your own particular boat with its crew requirements.
Check list for a Symmetric windward spinnaker takedown (we will assume there is enough wind to fill the spinnaker):
- Preset Mainsails controls for the anticipated needed upwind settings.
- Raise or unroll the headsail and set the halyard to the fast setting for the next upwind leg’s conditions – budget time to communicate where the setting should be and be sure to keep the headsail eased so as to not collapse the spinnaker.
- Take the pole down, at the same time pull the guy aft and heel the boat to weather.
- Bear away to help the spinnaker free fly, the person free flying the spinnaker should try to hold the guy down to stop the sail elevating too much and becoming unstable.
- The trimmer dumps the loaded sheet and if necessary overhauls the sheet forward to defeat the friction in the system. Very often even with ratchamatic blocks there is still a lot of friction in the system that the forward crew are wrestling against as they pull the sail around the forestay , watch for this on your own boat . Be careful not to blow the sheet prematurely before the forward crew is ready however, as then very often the sheet will go under the bow, unload it slowly initially and then make sure it goes out without any fouls and overhaul it if needed.
- The spinnaker foot is gathered in around the forestay and once it is under control on the windward side , the halyard is doused commensurate with how the forward crew is doing with the sail , the leech tape is pulled down to deck level and the sail is stored .
- Team rounds the mark with all the weight on the rail and only the absolutely necessary cleanup is performed, otherwise it is hiking and boat speed.
Check List for an A sail windward takedown:
Note – steps 1 And 2 from Symmetric spinnaker checklist applies.
3) Skipper bears off; trimmer unloads the spinnaker sheet, boat heels to windward with some crew weight.
4) Tack line is blown – this collapses the spinnaker
5) Trimmer pulls in the lazy spinnaker sheet to help get the spinnaker around the forestay; this also takes the slack out of this sheet to stop it dragging in the water after the rounding.
6) The forward crew gathers in the foot and then once that is under control and the sail is all on the windward side the halyard is let down commensurate with how the takedown is going as the leech tape is pulled down to deck level , the pole is retracted as soon as possible. Some teams retract the pole immediately on the takedown to help collapse the spinnaker.
7) The team rounds the mark with only absolutely necessary clean up performed – the spinnaker is doused and under control. Boat speed and hiking is key right now.
Late takedown:
Very often the takedown is late – for tactical reasons or because of mis timing issues or lack of practice or new team members in training.
In this instance the key thing is to get the spinnaker on the windward side to stop it shrimping and down to deck level to prevent it from blowing back into the foretraingle and ultimately off the back of the boat.
Getting the foot around the forestay and then pulling down the leech tape to get the sail to deck level will enable the skipper to make the turn upwind. I have even seen forward crew lay on the sail to keep it down so the turn upwind can be made – whatever it takes!
Conclusion:
Taking every opportunity to practice takedowns grows a confidence in the team to be able to execute the douse at the leeward mark in a wide variety of wind and sea conditions.
