Gary wrote :
When winds are high it is very unstable to keep main pinned right in , no problem when kite is flying but as Hakan said a problem when pulling kite up, I also drop traveller and sheet when dousing, otherwise as you slow down and round up main starts working and over you go. Gybes are still a un resolved problem in high winds, currently I am trying to keep main in tight and gybe then correct back as soon as main flips over. It seems that main carries apparent as you bear away in gybe so you are actualy past dead downwind before main flips, which means if you gybe as usual you will be to high on new gybe and main pinned in tight will tip you over.
Scooby wrote :
Yes, when it's very windy I find you need to do an "S" curve when gybing so that as the main goes off onto the new gybe you then need to head back down wind (on the new gybe) to keep the wind out of it until you are ready to power up again. I've found than having the traveller out makes this worse as you ....
In reply I'll write :
Guys, I've actually got a quite simply (if not crude) technique when flying a spinnaker solo. My theory is that the spi is providing 80 % or more of the drive anyway. The main is just there to act as a trim tab and to provide the final 15 % of drive that you'll need to win the race. This means that during hoists, sets and gybes I pretty much try to sail as if the boat only has a spinnaker. The spinnaker gets my first and whole attention during these manouvres, When the spi is over than I power it up immediately and accellerate away under that. The main will fall in line on its own later. I always keep the spi driving. While I bear down to initiate the gybe I continue to keep the spi driving. At this particular instant that means that I DON'T sheet out and DON'T let if flap. The spi will stall a bit and loose some drive but sheeting out will make the spi gybe very late in the turn. At a time the spi will try to invert (move to the other side) and I'm moving to the other side (or have just done that) while I pull the new sheet and give some resistant on the old sheet. The spi sail stays relatively tight and doesn't flap much at all (if it does flap). I then pull on the new sheet and set myself properly on the windward hull (or trapeze). By this time I'm still sailing relatively low and the spi is still a bit overtrimmed and not at its full drive. When I'm ready, I go looking for power (drive) by either heading up or letting out some spi sheet (or both simultaniously). I try to learn myself to automatically come out of the gybe (and stay there till I'm ready to power-up) a little below the optimal (power) heading. Depending on the conditions I head up, speed up, bear down and not sheet in or out with the spi OR I sheet out, power up and adjust my heading. But I seem to make these decisions unconsiously, I don't know why.
So I often summarize this as :
-1- never flap the kite
-2- Kite is priority 1, 2 and 3 with all else coming next
-3- follow that kite where-ever IT wants to go, not where you want to go, You are only priority 4 !
-4- The faster you hoist, douce and gybe the better it goes.
-5- Maintain speed during a gybe.
Wouter
