THOUGHTS ON THE NEW HULL AND SAIL

by Pam

Photos from Sandy's Blackberry

As you can see from the picture, Doug appears to be sailing Sandy’s Butterfly more like a Laser. It was impressive to watch but I don’t think many of the old girls can be sailed like this. Getting Doug’s thoughts about sailing Sandy’s boat felt a little like pulling teeth. He doesn’t claim to be an expert and can only compare it to a Laser. He goes by what feels right and what feels fast or slow. Overall, he was very impressed and really liked the boat. Said it felt like a thoroughbred. This was the first time he’d been able to sail a Butterfly like he wanted to in wind and it felt solid and fast.

Drawing comparisons to the Laser, he indicated that he felt the difference in a well sailed Laser versus a very well sailed Laser would be less than the difference in a well sailed Butterfly versus a very well sailed Butterfly. I took that to mean that he believes there is almost always room for improvement. In listening to his various scenarios, I came away believing that if he owned a new Butterfly, he’d be constantly experimenting until he’d tried every combination in every condition against various competitors until he knew exactly how the boat performed (or could perform) in every circumstance.

All that said, here are a few things that he observed yesterday in the wind we had:

Gear Change

He talked about various settings for various conditions. He’s been promoting the over rotating rig by not putting on the vang but there is a point where a gear change is necessary and the vang needs to go from the “off” position to the “on” position. As you become overpowered, the vang should go “on.” Having the vang off and over rotating the mast and adding sailing area when you are overpowered isn’t beneficial. Yesterday, he had the vang on hard and would have had it on harder except that the vang was block to block and he couldn’t get anymore. Nevertheless, he observed that there were probably several gear changes that needed to take place in just one leg yesterday. For example, Frank and Bruce would probably want a little vang and Luigi and I would want alot and Sandy wouldn’t want any at all. However, if there are waves, all of us will want vang so that we can ease the main sheet and the boom will go out (instead of up) and we can foot through the waves.

Heeling

When Doug gave Sandy his boat back there was a couple of inches of water in the cockpit. He learned quickly that the boat stops instantly when you hit a wave and the water comes over the bow and hits the splashguard. He started to ease the main and foot and let the boat heel in order to get through the waves. A Laser will go right through the waves we had yesterday with the boat flat but the Butterfly won’t do that so he had to constantly be aware of when there was a wave and immediately adjust accordingly.

Main Sheet

When observing the news sails, Doug has been saying that the sail appears to be falling off at the top and there wasn’t enough main sheet tension. Yesterday, when trailing Bruce and Sandy, we noticed that with the boom about twelve inches from the deck, the sail trim appeared to be correct. However, when Doug got on Sandy’s boat, he pulled in the main and looked at the sail and it didn’t look or feel right and he pulled on more. There was about 3 inches from the boom to the deck. Doug noted that getting the main on as hard as what felt right was actually quite a bit of pressure. Long before he had to apply that much tension to a Laser, he would have been block to block. We’d have to see Doug race one of the newer boats against Sandy or Bruce to see if his thoughts actually translate into a faster boat (or a broken boat).

No Breaks

I disagree with one of the most interesting things that he said. He believes that the boat’s steering is so sensitive that you simply can’t take a break. He feels that the boat stalls, accelerates and goes sideways at the drop of a hat and therefore you can’t take a break and have to keep the boat on its feet at all times. I’ve taken breaks on this boat and yes, I’ve gone sideways and stalled but I’ve also sailed this boat rather lazily and done just fine. I think my idea of racing and his idea are two different things and if he’s not at optimum speed and positioning at all times, then something is wrong.

Downwind

Another observation that Doug had is that most people were sailing with the vang too loose on the reaches and runs. He noticed that there was too much twist at the top of the sail at the beginning of the day but were getting better by the end of the day. Mainly, I think he is suggesting enough vang on the reach and run to level the boom. I believe Jim Young has this same tuning tip on his website. I usually remember this one because it the opposite from most boats. Doug’s explanation of this is a sail catching wind (full) versus the wind going across a sail (flat) and going across the sail is faster than catching it.

Lightweights

In listening to Doug’s comments, it concerns me that lightweights will be at a disadvantage which is something I’ve run into in every class except the Butterfly. I think Doug might be correct about the Butterfly’s sensitive steering which means a lightweight that masters the feathering technique can turn the disadvantage into an advantage by sailing higher and flatter in high winds. Also, even though I’ll never have the strength to pull the sail in as tight as Doug, if I’ve learned to steer well, I can still sail higher and negate the difference. Plus I’ll be tightening my vang sooner which will depower me and the vang will reduce the tension on the main which allows me to trim in more. In essence, the Butterfly offers options for a lightweight that can counter their disadvantage but the lightweight needs to focus on a different set of skills.