Wet Pants Sailing Association Sunfish Fleet 568 Blog

Last Tuesday had awesome conditions at Wet Pants, if you could hold on! The wind was from the SW blowing at a cool 15-20mph. Joey Huberman didn’t slow down as he put a Jens Rig on his sail and kept up and led some races. For some goofy reason I decided to capsize before the second race as the wind just blew me over, i guess I wasnt paying attention. Joe’s parents, Debbie and Charlie ran four races from their Race Committee boat.

Certain equipment is necessary on days like tuesday, for one a hiking strap! Richard Smith rigged one up right before he went out… good thing. Joe had the Jens, as it helped keep the boat depowered enough to enjoy the surfing conditions. A SPONGE is great to get all the water out of the cockpit as the waves splahed over the side. Gloves are nice so the 1/4 inch main sheet doesn’t fell like razor blades. (1/4 inch is fast so if you can take it, use it). Hiking Pants are a nice thing to make your hiking that more comfortable and effecient (and therefore faster.) You can contact Jim Koehler at the Dinghy Shop in Amityville, he has all the stuff you would want to sail comfortably and fast…

A few things that I found that may be helpful… to tack in a bigger breeze… if you find yourself getting into irons a lot… first make sure you are as trimmed in as much as possible before the tack. This may mean the boom should not be more than a foot or two off the transom of the boat. Second, Over tack to a close reach, this may take a little bit more room, but it is definitely faster than getting into irons. As you get on the other side, get your sail filled, get sailing forward then trim in smoothly. Third, Start your tack while your boat is going up a wave, so that it is then turning on top of the wave. I find this keeps the bow from digging into the wave, which is slow… whatever you do, find the timing so you do not dig into the wave, (submarine). Lastly, you have to get over in your mind that it is too windy. It is like skiing… the easy hills are easy only when you ski the harder hills… you won’t be able to do it until you go out there and try. If you capsize, so what, get back in the boat and keep sailing. (if you find yourself above your level, go when it is a little easier, but always keep pushing yourself…next time will seem mcuh easier!)

Now that you know how to tack in heavier wind, you get to the windward mark, and now the real fun begins!!! Brian McGinnins and I had one surfing duel that had both of us hiking hard sitting past the aft corner of the cockpit , boards up, spray flying all over the place. We exchanged positions as we raced for the inside of the jibe mark. (This battle I won, but he won the day.) I found out that once you got into a groove, pumping the sail wasn’t necessary. The power in the sail, the steep chop and a hard hike made the boat sail down a wave like a kid on a slide in the playground. One key is to not sail too high, but when you do feel your boat power up you should head low… [Like the saying, sail high in the lulls and low in the puffs]… things to do: before rounding the mark::: loosen the out haul…rounding: ease sail, get board up a bit, find mark, get power up and sail as fast as possible, surf if possible, hike… you are allowed one pump of the sail per wave top get the boat moving… have FUN!!!