I have really enjoyed having the jib sheeted off the front beam, self-tacking appeared to be the next logical step. But really, the ultimate seems to be to get rid of the jib altogether. Especially after Greg Scace explained how to sail by telltales and forget the wind vane, I am very dependent on the jib telltales in light breezes. So how do you f18ht and other cat rigged sailors read the wind without a jib? I can't pick it up off the main. Also, doesn't the jib make your boat a little faster in light breezes? And since the jib puts the C of E forward, do you f16hp sailors find the COLR is off when cat rigged, or is it the other way round?

I've never paid much attention to the jib telltales. I've always focused on the main.

Now on the mono's where the jib is actually more powerful than the main, thats another story.

What I do, is trim the sail all the way in going upwind... point up until the top telltale begins to break, then back off about 5-10 degrees.

off the wind, well, it depends if you're running a chute or not.

You have a couple questions.

1) You can sail upwind by reading telltales on the most sensitive sail. The jib if you have one or the main, if that is all you have. Personally without a wind indicator, I usually over trim the sails.

2) The center of force. On most sloops the mast is raked aft. When you take the jib off, you normally have to rake the mast forward (not forward of straight up!). If the mast on the boat is far enough forward, this works fairly well, if not well....

I learned to sail on a lake in upstate NY where the wind direction that was in front of the boat was not always the same as at the sails. I was taught to look at the water to "see" the wind. And I still can see the wind on the water even if the tales are hanging limp. In a cat at full speed wind shifts that you are sailing into are very valuable to keep the pointy side up. you could also learn to feel the wind on your face and ears. You could always take up smoking as I am told that smoke from a cigarette is the best at telling wind direction. (I'd rather lose a race I'll assume you use the jib to tell wind direction in low wind as in high wind it is usually perpendicular to the waves.

Okay, I needed to be more specific. Generally reading the wind on the water isn't going to help you trim the main in light breezes. Also feeling the breeze isn't going to help you to know which way you need to trim/adjust course in light air when it can change a lot. I can trim and change course well off the jib telltales, but until the wind blows over about 8-10kts, I can't pick up reliable (to me) info off the main telltales. I appreciate your input, Carl, but I noticed when sailing with a friend who has the sail area of my main only, I found I needed to trim the main radically (I was way oversheeted) when I furled the jib, and I had to use him to read the wind in light air. What I mean by read the wind is how to trim the main/adjust course primarily going to weather. I have streamers on my bridle, but I'm inquiring about conditions when they barely flow. In those conditions I do just fine off the jib info, as soon as I furl, I can't get diddly off the main. I've been experimenting for several years on doing without the jib, but the jib seems just too wonderful in light air to give it up.

Steve,

I sail a cat rigged Taipan 4.9. I don't claim to be a great sailor but I am able to get upwind as quickly as the local Nacra 5.8's, Nacra F18's and Nacra 16sq. The only local boats that are noticeably quicker than me upwind are the Taipan 5.7's.

I usually have a couple of bits of cassette tape attached to my bridle but I use these as a rough guide only and mainly for going downwind (which by the way I still haven't quite come to grips with).

My sail has three main telltalles on each side. There are an additional couple on each side at the luff to help get the mast rotation right for the wing mast on the Taipan but the three main ones are for sail trim.

The bottom telltale on a sail is used to trim the traveller. When you are going upwind the traveller of course is centred, or just off centre depending on how you like it. You can therefore get a good indication of the direction you need to point the boat by pointing it in such a direction that the lower telltales on both sides of the main are flowing. If the leeward telltale is stalled head up, if the windward telltale is stalled head down. You can get away with the winward telltale stalling occasionally - you should, however, attempt to keep the leeward telltales flowing nicely all the time.

Once you get the boat going in the right direction by using the lower telltales you can then trim the upper telltales so that all the telltales on the sail are flowing nicely. If you have all the telltales flowing nicely and the traveller is centred you will find you are going to weather quite nicely.

You also need to have the sail trimmed to be as powerful as possible. Don't depower the sail (by flattening it with the downhaul) until you are fully trapezed and can't hold the boat down any more. Always sail at maximum power.

Having said the above I tend to sail by feel rather than using the lower telltales as I have described. You should always know when sailing where the true wind is coming from so you should therefore know where approximately fourty five degrees off the wind is. This is the direction I head off on when going to weather. I then trim my sails to a nice shape and adjust my heading so that there is the best balance between pointing high and going fast and keeping the windward hull just out of the water. Because the wind never comes continually from the same direction or at the same strength it is a continual job of trimming the main and changing direction to keep the boat moving along nicely and keeping the hull just skimming the waves.

As you feel the hull start to drop into the water you can head a tad lower to keep the pressure on the sail and to keep the hull out. You may need to ease the mainsheet a little - look at the top telltale.

As you feel the hull start to rise you can head up a little to point higher and ease the pressure on the sail. You may need to trim the main a little tighter - look at the top telltale.

If you find you are having to head up often to keep the hull down and that by heading up the boat is slowing down it's time to start depowering by flattening the sail with the downhaul. The aim is to depower the sail to the point where you are able to be fully out on trapeze and that the changes in direction and sheeting you make to keep that windward hull skimming are at a minimum. Some days are really gusty - especially if the breeze is heated (eg. coming off the land on a hot day) - so you will still have to make some bigish changes in sheeting and heading to keep the boat in the groove.

If the wind is too light to fly a hull the same trimming process applies except that you are trying to point the boat in the direction that gives you the best balance between speed and pointing (best VMG, Velocity Made Good - this is the speed at which you are approaching the point to which you are trying to get). Always keep the telltales flowing. When the wind has laminar flow (below about 5 knots) you will probably find that you have some twist in your main as the higher up the mast you go the higher the wind speed.

When sailing off the wind the process is to point the boat in the direction you want to head then set the traveller using the lower telltales - pull the traveller in until the leeward telltale stalls then ease the traveller until it flows again. You then trim the upper telltales using the mainsheet. Once again keep maximum power all the time - if you flattened the main a little for close hauled you may need to power up again off the wind. You may need to move the traveller as the wind direction changes to keep optimum trim to your sails.

There are several more important points to consider when sailing in very light breezes but this post would end up being much too long. I recommend you read a book called "High Performance Sailing" by Frank Bethwaite. Most sailing shops that carry books will have this book or be able to get it for you.

I hope this is some help.

Rob.

Hi Steve

Here in Switzerland sometimes we have races in almost no wind. Telltales in the sail, in super light air don't work! They stick on the sailcloth. This can be reduced by using sail-lube for the telltales.

My solution for not over sheeting the main is, that I use a light air mark on the sheet. You have to practice, to figure out the right place for the mark on your sheet.
An other good indicator are the back-telltales on the leach of main, they shood fly about have of the time (in light air). Also good are long (3 feet) streamers of videotape (VCR) from the bridle wires. The position of them is so, that they point to the backside of the mast, when close to the wind.

Hope this helps...

The more wind the more fun!
Greetings from switzerland

It looks like I didn't understand your question.

Telltales a useful tool, but not the complete story. It's like when your calculator tell you, that you have $352.4599999999... in the bank.

First, you have to know what they are saying. For example, with the crew over sheeting the jib, the main about right and sailing at about the right angle, I know what they look like on my boat. To find out what they look like on your boat practice a little. Fall off a little, trim the sails and see what things look like. Pinch a little and do the same. Is there a difference that depends on the course and not how the sails are trimmed? Now with the sails fixed, fall off and head up. See what this does to the tell tales and the feel of the boat. Now do this in every possible wind speed (This might take a couple of years). Get in the habit of running through a short version between races so you will know what they are supposed to look like.

Flowing straight is not always fastest. My boat and sails go upwind best with the top telltales fluttering a little less than half the time. This is not uncommon.

Light air sailing is an art that requires experience. I learned fun sailing on a lake. If I couldn't sail back, I had to paddle. When the wind is really light I set the main using where the taper goes into the mainsheet and then use a feather wind indicator to steer the boat

A lot of this is experience. Try and remember what works and what doesn't and avoid what doesn't work.

Rob and Carl, thanks for your time. If there is enough wind to blow telltales on the main I don't have a problem. I frequently sail when there is enough breeze to activate the telltales on the jib but nothing on the main. I assume the mast, even though properly rotated disturbs the flow on both sides in light air. Next year I will pay more attention and get back with you.

How about a windvane at the top of the mast for light air?

One of the other posts was right -- in super light air the only thing that works is smoke. So I came up with an invention idea somebody needs to implement. Mount a punk holder up on the bridle to hold those tall, skinny incense sticks. Light the incense and stick it in the holder. It works great, but I only know because I did it by lying up on the bow and hand-holding the incense stick. Needs a holder thing. And you can pick your favorite scent!