I sailed the Marblehead at Frensham this Tuesday. After the troubles of Sunday all fixed, it was good to sail in a 5 to 10 knot NNE wind which if you know Frensham is a perfect condition when standing on the southern side of the pond.
The joy of the day was being able to analyse the swing rig from behind and delighted to say it looked stunning. Sadly no photos. The leeward mark was only 20 yards away which might have been because I set the course.
So other than the rig, I was learning how to tack the boat. With the largest swing rig in 10 knots of breeze, the boat stops quite rapidly. As usual you luff slowly and accelerate the turn as you go through head to wind. The secret I think with a Starkers is to crack off with well eased sails so the boat can accelerate fast, crest laminar flows round the foils and then bring it up hard on the wind. Not dissimilar to sailing a yacht or any other boat as long as they don't have foils. Apart from that, sail upwind fast, hopefully in the right direction and tack as little as possible. What could be simpler than that. Just keep the other boats out of my way.
Enjoy your racing.
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