# Question re: sailing downwind leg



## bshock (Dec 11, 2012)

Hello All,

This is, I'm sure, a noob question, but I still consider myself a noob particularly with racing. I crew on a friend's 1976 Ranger 26 (Gary Mull design I think) in the Wednesday Night beer can races, JAM fleet. None of us really has raced seriously before. Usually we just copy what the boats in front of us are doing. the past couple races though, we were in the previously unknown to us situation of first place.

so I have a question. On the downwind leg, how do you know when to put the genoa on port (with whisker pole) and the main on starboard, and vice versa? this past Wednesday we initially had the genoa on port and the main on starboard and the wind was pretty much right behind us. Since we were in front we couldn't copy anyone, but when the rest of fleet rounded the mark they all had their genoas whiskered out to starboard and their mains on port. We were pretty far ahead of them, and as it appeared they were gaining ground we switched our sails to match what they were doing. I think our speed improved and we ended up winning by maybe 3 minutes. It was a very light wind race too, we were doing maybe a knot.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

If you're going DDW with the boom over the port side technically you'd be considered to be on a starboard tack and therefore have rights. A boat sailing the same course on the opposite gybe would have to give way to you, since they were the 'port tacker'..

That might be enough of an advantage in close quarters to make a difference.. since you were well ahead it's a moot point. However in my experience it's happened more than once when sailing slowly (and perhaps struggling) downwind, gybing can cause an unexpected increase in boat speed, even with a spinnaker.

It's always tricky making the judgement call as to whether to go DDW or sail a bit higher, farther, and hopefully faster enough to make gains. In many cases (and perhaps esp in white sail fleets) DDW will end up getting there first.


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## albrazzi (Oct 15, 2014)

Take care also to not "Sail by the lee" google it, basically if the wind crosses the stern in the side the Main is set you could get an accidental gybe, probably the most dangerous thing on a Boat especially in higher winds. Protect by preventer and or mainsheet trimmer needs to center the boob very quickly and let it back out so it doesn't take your rig off. Basically protect the Main downwind at all costs. This also exposes the Genoa better to the wind, pole it out.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

Other than Faster's starboard point, I believe if I have a choice I'd have the boom on the correct side to round the leeward mark without jibing.


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## bshock (Dec 11, 2012)

Thanks guys! I think you may have answered my question. Thanks for the recommendation about sailing by the lee, Albrazzi. I'll looked into it and might talk to the rest of the "team" about it. It's supposed to be blowing at the upper limit of our boat's comfort level tonight, so we may not try sailing by the lee tonight, but we'll see.


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## BarryL (Aug 21, 2003)

Hey,

I don't have lots and lots of experience with the whisker pole but here are some of my thoughts:

If it's windy, it's a lot harder to jibe the main than the genoa. In that case, after rounding the top mark I will put the main on the side it will be on after rounding the lower mark. With the boat like that, when we approach the lower mark we stay wide on approach to the mark, drop the pole, jibe the genoa, round and harden up. 

If it's not windy I will start with the main on port. This puts me a starboard tack and makes dealing with other boats a LITTLE easier

Barry


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## albrazzi (Oct 15, 2014)

All good points on the boom, if that's where the speed is then you're good to go. There's probably 20 degrees you can steer safely and not blanketing the genoa DDW and if that's in the "safe "direction then go ahead. If not then the boom might be on the wrong side at the rounding mark. Use lots of vang to keep the strain off the spreaders.


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## StarwindMango (Oct 14, 2016)

This is always a topic of discussion when our crew sails beer can races in non-spin class. What we've found is that taking the shortest course to the mark (read dead downwind) almost always is the better solution than reaching back and forth. Two reasons: 1) Reaching back and forth causes you to jibe a lot, which can be a slowdown if you're having to move the whisker pole. 2) It's almost impossible to have enough boatspeed to catch those who sail the shorter course, and even if you did you're sailing extra distance that the others aren't. I race on one of the fastest boats in the fleet and if reaching across on the downwind leg, we can't catch up to boats that went dead downwind. 

Whether you're on port or starboard going downwind is very dependent on wind conditions, but I definitely agree with Capta that a jibe rounding of the leeward mark is not preferable! Is your leeward mark typically a gate or just one mark? Performing a jibe rounding when all boats are going around the same leeward mark can get hairy quickly in high winds. A gate helps


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## sailordave (Jun 26, 2001)

IF you're careful and it's not too windy... I find I can sail by the lee for the main and that keeps the jib full without being poled out. There are times that for a given wind situation this is easier than rigging the pole. Basically if you keep the Windex inside of the tabs on the masthead fly you can get away with it. That said, I'd rather be on a stbd tack if in a crowd, otherwise, whatever tack will set you up for the next leg.


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## FreeAgent (Apr 19, 2017)

sailordave said:


> IF you're careful and it's not too windy... I find I can sail by the lee for the main and that keeps the jib full without being poled out. There are times that for a given wind situation this is easier than rigging the pole. Basically if you keep the Windex inside of the tabs on the masthead fly you can get away with it. That said, I'd rather be on a stbd tack if in a crowd, otherwise, whatever tack will set you up for the next leg.


I would agree with sailordave. But only sail by the lee if it takes you in correct direction! I would sail with sails set so that they work together efficiently and don't collapse. If that doesn't take you direct to next mark, be prepared to jibe at least once. Using a preventer/vang or even a crew member to hold the boom out in light to medium winds, can help. At same time position crew so that boat heels to windward. Thls causes boom to tilt upwards and the centre of effort of the sails becomes higher which gives you more speed. At same time jib is less likely to collapse and it hangs out further and away from the disturbance from the main. Heeling boat can also reduced wetted surface of hull and maybe lengthen waterline. All good things!

B the way, I recall racing against Ranger 26s back in the day - quite a fast 26 footer!

No jibs, but this picture of racing Finns shows how heeling boat can help:


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## Hudsonian (Apr 3, 2008)

Ddw is generally your slowest point of sail. When sailing a course that is dead downwind always sail 20 degrees above ddw. Find a polar plot for the Ranger 26 and you'll see that your velocity made good is greater when you sail 20 degrees above ddw than if you had sailed ddw. Your greater extra speed more than compensates for distance that you will travel.

So how do decide which gybe to sail on? Upwind you sail on the lifted tack; downwind you sail on the headed gybe.

So how do you decide which gybe is headed? When you round the windward mark bear off until you're 20 degrees above ddw. At this point look at your bearing. If it is less than 20 degrees above the rhumb line, you are on the headed gybe. Stay on the headed gybe. If it is more than than 20 degrees above the rhumb line , you are on the lifted gybe. therefore, you should gybe through 40 degrees so that your heading is within 20 degrees of the rhumb line.


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## bshock (Dec 11, 2012)

Thanks guys!!! you are all awesome and this is turning on light bulbs for me. I still have to process all this and make sure I completely understand all the minutia about which you speak, as a lot of it I don't have a firm grasp of. I'll print out this thread and review it with my team.


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## FreeAgent (Apr 19, 2017)

Hudsonian said:


> Ddw is generally your slowest point of sail. When sailing a course that is dead downwind always sail 20 degrees above ddw. Find a polar plot for the Ranger 26 and you'll see that your velocity made good is greater when you sail 20 degrees above ddw than if you had sailed ddw. Your greater extra speed more than compensates for distance that you will travel.


Most polar diagrams assume that a spinnaker will be used. Main and jib polar diagrams may be available for some boats, but where would you find those?

This is an excellent article on subject by an excellent sailor that I raced against a long time ago! Probably covers everything a JAM sailor needs to know about downwind sailing 

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=...sg=AFQjCNECIdQaeA0nDmG4NR98VPhJFTrHng&cad=rja


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## RichH (Jul 10, 2000)

Hudsonian is *spot on*. 
What you have to do for 'consistency' is to 'profile and record' which heading down wind and by which method (impact sailing or aerodynamic sailing) works best vs. VMG. For 'consistency' you really need a well developed historical data log of which angle under varying wind strengths and wave heights vs. sail shape vs. which method (drag v. aero) will work best. .... and then practice, practice, practice etc. ... to 'optimize' by building your OWN set of polar diagrams.


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## bshock (Dec 11, 2012)

Thanks again Rich and Free Agent! I just downloaded and printed the article.


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## Hudsonian (Apr 3, 2008)

I searched Ranger 26 cursorily. The group on facebook seemed promising. 

On one boat that I raced we developed polars for each of the four spinnakers that we carried. It certainly required systematic data collection but we enjoyed big gains sailing to the polars. Technology is making it easier. None-the-less, I doubt many beer can racers are so committed that they'd develop a set of polars.


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## chip (Oct 23, 2008)

StarwindMango said:


> This is always a topic of discussion when our crew sails beer can races in non-spin class. What we've found is that taking the shortest course to the mark (read dead downwind) almost always is the better solution than reaching back and forth. Two reasons: 1) Reaching back and forth causes you to jibe a lot, which can be a slowdown if you're having to move the whisker pole. 2) It's almost impossible to have enough boatspeed to catch those who sail the shorter course, and even if you did you're sailing extra distance that the others aren't. I race on one of the fastest boats in the fleet and if reaching across on the downwind leg, we can't catch up to boats that went dead downwind.


This is also my experience. I understand the theory of going the long way and jibing, and understand how it's the obvious choice for semi-planing hulls and well-trained crews and stuff, but when flying white sails with most regular displacement hull boats in regular conditions with regular cobbled-together crews, just going wing and wing DDW is a winner.


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

All the points about wanting to be on starboard tack and (or) not having to gybe around the leeward mark are great, but what matters in a race is getting there first. As you said originally, the boats on the other gybe were gaining on you. In a race you need to do what's fastest. Starboard tack isn't going to help you if you can't keep up with the guy who's on port. Not having to gybe at the leeward mark isn't going to help you if you're in last place. Think fast, all the time.


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## FreeAgent (Apr 19, 2017)

chip said:


> This is also my experience. I understand the theory of going the long way and jibing, and understand how it's the obvious choice for semi-planing hulls and well-trained crews and stuff, but when flying white sails with most regular displacement hull boats in regular conditions with regular cobbled-together crews, just going wing and wing DDW is a winner.


You are right on. The OP was talking about a Ranger 26. Faster than many boats of that size, but still a displacement hull with, in this case, just a main and jib. However, DDW doesn't always apply. There are many different types of boats. For example, I don't think you would want to sail a Hobie cat dead downwind!


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## chip (Oct 23, 2008)

FreeAgent said:


> You are right on. The OP was talking about a Ranger 26. Faster than many boats of that size, but still a displacement hull with, in this case, just a main and jib. However, DDW doesn't always apply. There are many different types of boats. For example, I don't think you would want to sail a Hobie cat dead downwind!


Totally. Nor a Volvo Ocean 65.


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## albrazzi (Oct 15, 2014)

FreeAgent said:


> You are right on. The OP was talking about a Ranger 26. Faster than many boats of that size, but still a displacement hull with, in this case, just a main and jib. However, DDW doesn't always apply. There are many different types of boats. For example, I don't think you would want to sail a Hobie cat dead downwind!


True, J-Boats with sprits and big asym spins are faster Gybing but thats a rare case.


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## Hudsonian (Apr 3, 2008)

If the rhumb line is ddw, heading up will increase the distance traveled to get to a ddw point. The higher you sail, the greater the added distance. For example, if you sail 20 degrees above the the ddw rhumb line you increase the distance sailed by six percent but if you sail 45 degrees above the the ddw rhumb line you increase the distance sailed by 41 percent.

Typically sailboats sailing ddw will go faster when they head up. When you head up from ddw the change VMG results of the greater speed and greater distance to be traveled. If the distance traveled increases faster then the increase in velocity the VMG decreases. If the velocity increases faster then the distance traveled the VMG increases. Based upon my experience racing on a Ranger 26, sailing about 20 degrees above DDW is the sweet spot.

The Ranger is old enough design that it is likely that no polar diagram has been published. Do any of you have access to polar plot for the Ranger 26 under cruising canvass? If you can't find a polar plot, it's not hard to develop one it you have a compass and an accurate way of measuring your speed. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that sailing DDW not only decreases your speed but also decreases your VMG.


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