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Tasar Tune-up Seminar - page 2
Some Tasar Basics
Mast rake.
You should have close to the maximum mast rake.
This means the total length of the forestay plus fittings should be
4140 +/- 20 mm, measured from the bearing point of the hounds
to the deck. More rake (i.e.: a
longer forestay) will help speed; less
will help pointing (see note following Morgan Reeser’s article above).
The heavier you are the less rake you need, but you should always be
at least at the middle of the range.
Diamonds.
The basic starting point is to have the diamonds touch the mast just
below the whisker pole ring when squeezed with normal finger pressure.
Loose diamonds let the mast bend and flatten the sail more so heavier
crews can use tighter diamonds in heavy air if they are not overpowered.
The vang will be more effective in depowering the main with looser
diamonds.
Battens. The top
3 battens need to be tied so they have some tension. With tapered battens (used by the top 3 boats in the last
Worlds) you will see a lot of fullness forward when the battens are first
tensioned, but this will move back when the main is sheeted. The lower 2 battens should be loose so backwinding is limited
to the front of the sail in heavy air.
Jay doesn’t change the tension for different wind conditions but
some of the Aussies tighten their battens in heavy air so as to retain more
shape in the sail under heavy sheeting.
Cunningham.
Jay and Lisa sail with some luff wrinkles. Increasing the main luff tension primarily bends the mast
aft, by up to 150 mm (6") when it is really tight. It may be necessary to use more cunningham on an older sail
to bend the mast and flatten the sail.
Outhaul. Set it
“4 fingers” (no metric equivalent) away from the boom and don’t adjust
it except perhaps to flatten it a bit in light air and flat water.
Charlie McKee lets his outhaul off reaching; Jonathan lets it off
reaching and running but Jay and Lisa don’t touch it.
Shroud tension.
Changing shroud tension really adjusts forestay sag.
Allowing some sag (by letting the shroud sliders forward a bit) will
increase speed and doesn’t seem to hurt pointing.
The shrouds should be really loose in light air.
In Hayama Jay found that sailing with one shroud moved forward until
the leeward shroud was just loose going up wind allowed them to sail faster
and higher in 15 knots of wind.
Jib luff tension.
Unless the jib is blown out you should always have some little
wrinkles. This will help
pointing by making the jib entry flatter (see table above). As the jib gets older you may have to increase the luff
tension.
Jib clew board.
The leech should be shaped by jib sheet tension and position on the
clew board so that it is a constant distance from the main.
Sheeting too high on the clew board will help pointing but may bring
the leech of the jib too close to the main which is slow.
In strong wind, lowering the lead on the clew board depowers the jib
by allowing the top to twist off.
Fairlead position.
Jay and Lisa normally sail upwind with the fairlead all the way in.
In waves they might move it one hole out and in stronger wind 2 holes
out, but never more than that.
Main and jib sheets.
If you are going slowly let the jib out a bit. If you are going fast pull the main in - you should go higher
and you might also go even faster.
Vang. Above
about 8 to 10 knots the crew should be playing the vang, pulling it on in
the puffs to flatten the sail and doing this just before the puff
hits if possible. The vang is
the “speed switch” when it is windy.
Traveler.
Jay feels the main can be brought to windward of the centreline at
times. You can’t sail on the
traveler alone. If a wave slows
you down you have to let the main sheet out to regain speed.
Jay plays the main sheet 80% of the time.
Sheet out to put curvature and power in the sail and gain speed,
sheet in to go higher. Above 12
to 15 knots of wind sheet really hard and play the traveler. Once the traveler is right down and this still isn’t enough
it is prudent to cleat it at the centreline and go back to using the
mainsheet (and the vang).
Position in the boat.
In light air sit as far forward as possible. When both skipper and crew are both sitting on the deck stay
well forward and begin to move back as it gets windier. Sailing the boat slightly heeled to weather seems to be fast.
If you try this, pull the top of the centreboard back to cock the tip
forward maybe 4" to 6" in up to 10 knots of wind.
Tacking. Roll
tacks are overrated in the Tasar - sailing out of the tack is more important
than roll tacking. The skipper
begins the tack by heading up gradually.
Cleat the main and sail on the traveler for 10 seconds or so. Turn very slowly without heeling the boat, pulling the
traveler all the way up to windward to help turn the boat. Make sure the jib is not over trimmed as this makes it harder
to turn the boat. In light air
you can roll the boat to windward when it is head to wind. Accelerate out of the tack by sailing below close hauled
until you are up to speed. Bring
the traveler in, cleat it and go back to sailing on the mainsheet.
On Sunday Jay covered general racing topics including
percentage moves, communication and visualization.
Percentage moves.
Try and make high percentage moves all around the course.
Ask each other: “Will we do better if we tack or if we don’t?”
Try and start near - but not at - the favoured end of the starting
line. Usually only one person
can get a perfect start and it might not be you.
Low percentage moves at the start are to start to windward of Zig or
to leeward of Charlie. A high
percentage move is to know where the two ends of the start line and the
windward mark are and to know the course.
On short starting lines it is a high percentage move to be away from
other boats.
On beats it is a low percentage move to foul someone or to go
past the layline. Don’t try
to pass the whole fleet at once, pass one boat at a time but don’t focus
on one boat and forget the rest of the fleet.
It is a high percentage move to cut your losses right away when you
see a plan isn’t working, to sail on the tack that will take you closest
to the mark and to avoid other boats on the layline or at the mark. It is definitely low percentage to tack too close to
another boat at a mark.
On the downwind legs high percentage moves include knowing
where the next mark is, passing one boat at a time and trying to sail the
reaches and runs as if there were no other boats. On the final beat, make sure you know the course (this is
the final beat, right?), don’t sail past the layline, know where both ends
of the finish line are and finish at the favoured end (a good look at the
finish line when you sail past it downwind can often pay off here).
Communication.
This will help make sure you are both thinking about the same thing
at the same time (it is generally good to be thinking about sailing, but
there are other options). Look
for and discuss cues and signals, for example if you feel a warm puff at
Shishole it pays to go right. What
is it telling you if the waves are getting bigger?
The crew has the luxury of looking around and should keep the skipper
informed. This can be
especially helpful downwind when the crew can look behind the boat for
puffs. After the race it helps
to review either what worked or what didn’t.
Think about what you did and what the winners did.
Visualization. You have to believe you can beat anybody because in sailing anybody can do it. Dream about the way you want the race to go. This is the first step to making it happen.
Notes by Richard Spencer
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