Musings 1

by Pam

I was sailing with Tom Miller on a Scot over Memorial Day Weekend. The wind was light and there was chop. Tom said to reach up and grab the side stays when we hit the chop. We seemed to be the only boat doing this but it certainly helped keep the rig from pumping and cut through the chop and allowed us to continue pointing. It would seem this would work on a Butterfly too. At a Sunfish clinic last year, I was told it was important to vang in light winds to keep the rig from pumping and keep air flow attached to the sail. Same thing in the Laser. Doug vangs hard on a Laser in light wind so that the sail goes out over the leeward corner of the stern instead of up. Seems counter-intuitive to harded up in light wind but also seems to work.