Breaking Down Conditions

When organizing your notes, or deciding on settings, a very useful technique is to break things into categories based on boat performance characteristics in different conditions.  Instead of using knot ranges such as "0-4 knots" or "5-8 knots" - which can sometimes be difficult to determine on the water, or interpreted differently by different sailors - try speaking in terms of "light," "side force," "driving force," and "windy."  This should make for a more universal, and consistent language, and will allow you to simplify your tuning charts.  Below are descriptions of each of these conditions in the 29er.

Light:
"Light" is just how it sounds; the laser sailors are banging their tillers on the deck, the kiters are stuck on the beach, and crews are either lounging in the spin bag, or trapping with one foot on the jib car.  The goal in light wind is just to get the boat to move, so flow is key.




Side Force:
"Side force" conditions range from crews squatting on the rail, to full extension with the skipper up on the rail, but the commonality is that the boat is still in displacement mode, so the bow is deep in the water, and when the main sheet is eased, it's probably to prevent the tell-tales from stalling rather than flattening the boat.  In this condition, gains are typically made by sailing high, without stalling or slowing down too much.

Driving Force:
"Driving force" begins when crews start easing the main sheet to keep the boat flat because hiking harder just isn't enough anymore.  At this point, vang is used to depower, and teams start sliding back in the boat to get the planing surface working.  In this condition, focus shifts to keeping the boat on step and ripping.





Windy:

There's not much need for explanation here; this is when the ride gets wet.  Surviving is all you can hope for, and at the top end, you just have to be sure to throw your gybes hard enough to be pointed the other direction after you flip.