Editor’s note: We’re doubling down on Dells for this edition, with more great photos from the 2024 Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta by Block Island Steve Cloutier.
When you’re picking a crew for your next regatta, it’s not easy to find someone who is the perfect weight for your boat. It’s difficult enough to find teammates who are skillful, eager and available, so how much they weigh is often a secondary consideration. As a result, many sailors end up racing with a total crew weight that’s higher or lower than what is considered ideal. Even if you’re lucky enough to find a “perfect” size crew, however, your weight will be optimal only in a certain wind range.
In light air you will always be too heavy, and in heavy air you will usually be too light. Because of this, every racing sailor needs to know how to use their crew weight most efficiently. By understanding the advantages and disadvantages of your particular weight, you will be better able to get around the racecourse quickly.
Here’s a list of strengths and weaknesses for lightweights and heavyweights, plus tips on how to take advantage of your weight (or lack of it) while you are racing.
Lightweights
©Stephen R. Cloutier
There are two times when your team can be considered a ‘lightweight.’ The first is when your crew weight is lower than the average in your fleet. The second is any time you are overpowered (since then you will have to use ‘lightweight techniques’ to keep your boat on its feet). Here are some of your strengths and weaknesses, plus some suggestions about sailing set-up and techniques when you don’t have too much beef on the rail.
Advantages of sailing light
There are many benefits you will get by sailing with a crew that’s lighter than your competition:
* Underpowered conditions (i.e. light to medium air). Unless you are fully hiked out and starting to depower, it is always faster to be lighter.
* Pointing. A lighter boat doesn’t need as much power to move it forward, so you can use flatter sails and point closer to the wind than heavier crews.
* Waves. In light to medium conditions, you’ll be faster in chop than heavy crews since you don’t have as much weight to push through the waves.
* Accelerating. When you’re trying to build speed (e.g. after starting, hitting waves, tacking), a light boat will accelerate to full speed more quickly.
* Reaching. A boat with a lighter crew will have less wetted surface, which seems to help more on reaches than runs (unless you’re overpowered).
* Planing and surfing. In waves, lighter crews will be able to surf sooner and stay on each wave longer. In breeze, you will be able to get up on a plane sooner (i.e. in less wind) and stay on it longer.
* Boathandling. In light air you may have an advantage because lighter people can often move around the boat more gently and efficiently.
Disadvantages of sailing light
I like the idea of sailing light, but lightweights do sacrifice a bit of performance at certain times:
* Heavy winds. With less weight on the rail, you’ll have to start depowering earlier, and you’ll have to do this more extensively.
* Wind with waves. Light crews often have to feather the boat upwind in a breeze, but this is not very fast when you have big waves and you need power to punch through them.
* Heavy-air reaching. This is the curse of a light crew’s race because you can’t depower the boat by pinching.
* Endurance. When you’re light you have to hike harder to keep your boat flat, and this is hard to do all the way around the course.
Tips for racing with a light crew
When you are lighter than the boats around you, or light for the existing wind strength, you should “play to your strengths” and figure out how to compensate for your weaknesses. Here are some ideas on how to do that:
A. In one-designs, a light crew needs to hike hard so make sure you are in good shape. Wear hiking pants and adjust your hiking straps so they’re perfect. If you can hike harder and longer than your competitors, you will realize the benefits of being light and minimize the disadvantages.
B. To improve your endurance, use two hiking styles. The first is “flat-out,” where all crewmembers are straight-leg hiking (or leaning through the lifelines) as far out as possible. Use this at critical times like after the start or when you’re right next to another boat. The second mode is a less-rigorous hiking style that should be used at non-critical times to conserve energy and strength for when you really need it.
C. Set up some training sessions in heavy air and test different tuning and sail trim set-ups to see what is fastest. If you want to beat (or at least keep up with) other boats, you must work harder on speed than they do.
D. Practice your boathandling skills in heavy air. The ability to maneuver your boat efficiently is very important and will help make up for the speed you lose (upwind) due to being lighter.
E. In heavy air, focus on strategy and tactics because this is where you can have an advantage. Don’t take tactical or strategic chances, because you won’t have the speed to make up for mistakes. Wind shadows don’t hurt so much in breeze, so sail in bad air if necessary to go the right way.
F. It will be easier for you to point than foot, so put yourself in situations that favor pointing. For example, when you’re fighting for a lane of clear air, it’s better to have another boat to leeward and ahead than to windward and rolling over you.
G. Sail with less powerful sail shapes. Use your sail controls to make the sails flatter overall and more draft-forward. If you have a centerboard, consider moving it aft in breeze to reduce helm.
H. On heavy-air reaches, delay your spinnaker set until you’re sure that you can fly it under con- trol and that it will make you faster. On some boats the jib is a good option. Sail high with the jib first so you are in the passing lane before hoisting.
I. On reaches, especially in light or medium air, look ahead so you will avoid getting stuck be- hind heavier crews. If you see a problem coming, head up into the passing lane early.
J. You’ll be able to surf and plane sooner than heavier boats, which means the rules allow you to pump your sails sooner (i.e. in less wind pressure than heavier crews) to promote surfing and plan- ing. It also means you need to find passing lanes in these conditions.
Heavyweights
You don’t need to be a Finn sailor or a Star crew to be considered a ‘heavyweight.’ Any time you have a greater-than-average crew weight you will realize certain advantages and disadvantages while sailing around the race course. In addition, in light air all sailors are heavyweights and need to find good techniques for keeping their boats moving. Here are a bunch of ideas on how to do this.
Advantages of sailing heavy
There are also many benefits you’ll get by sailing with a crew that’s heavier than your competition:
* Overpowered conditions (i.e. heavy air). When you are fully hiked and still need to depower, extra weight will definitely be faster because you can keep the boat flatter without flattening or dumping your sails so much.
* Footing. When sailing upwind, a heavy crew will be relatively better at sailing lower and faster, especially when it’s windy.
* Wind and waves. When you have lots of breeze and bad chop, you must sail low to keep the boat powering through the waves. This is difficult for light crews who usually need to pinch to keep the boat flat in heavy air, but heavyweights will be very fast in these conditions.
* Roll tacking and jibing. When you need to turn the boat in light air, your extra weight will help you roll the boat hard, which is fast.
* Power reaching. This is where you may have the biggest advantage of all because you can keep the chute and main full and sail high if necessary.
* Boathandling. Big people are often stronger, and this will help your heavy-air maneuvers.
Disadvantages of sailing heavy
There is a certain security in sailing with a heavy crew, but more weight can also be costly:
* Light to medium air. Let’s face it – in most conditions, lighter is faster. That’s why sailors try so hard to remove extra weight from their boats.
* Chop. Heavyweights will be especially slow in chop (unless there’s a lot of wind) because the boat is constantly accelerating, which is harder when you’re heavy.
* Pointing. The higher you point, the less power you have, which is not good when you’re trying to push a heavier boat through the water.
* Underpowered reaching. More weight = more wetted surface = more slow.
* Surfing and planing. The heavier you are, the harder it will be to surf on waves and get up on a plane. If other boats start surfing at 10 knots of wind, you might not surf until 12 knots.
* Acceleration. It will be hard to get going again after you go slow. A light-air tacking duel, for example, might not be a great idea.
Tips for racing with a heavy crew
When your crew weight is on the heavy side, how can you minimize your disadvantages and take advantage of your strengths? Here are a bunch of ideas for competing with the lightweights:
A. Before leaving the dock, get rid of all extra, non-essential weight. This applies to all crews, but it’s especially important for heavyweights. Also, make sure you keep your bilge as dry as possible since a little water can weigh a lot!
B. Position your heaviest crew at “max beam” (usually in the middle of the boat fore and aft), and center the rest of your crew weight around this spot. In light air and chop, keep your crew weight as low in the boat as you can (sit on the cockpit floor if possible or, on bigger boats, go with “dogs in the house”).
C. When a crewmember has to balance the boat or perform a task, make it your lightest crew.
D. Try to minimize maneuvers that slow you down and then require acceleration. For example, you probably don’t want to make a lot of tacks unless it’s really windy or really light (when your extra weight is good for rolling).
E. Don’t put yourself in tactical positions where you have to point with the lightweights. Try to find lanes where you can sail fast toward the next shift, and avoid having light crews on your lee bow.
F. Power up your sail plan. You want your sails to be relatively deep and twisted, so keep every- thing pretty loose, at least until you start to get over-powered. Ask your sailmaker for tuning and trimming tips on how to go fast with a heavy crew.
G. On reaches, it’s often good to go high early. In lots of breeze, this will allow you to roll over the slower boats ahead. In light air, it will keep the slower boats from rolling you (at least for a while).
H. On runs and reaches, use all the legal kinetic techniques available (like pumping) because your boat will need all the help it can get to start surfing and planing.
I. Work out to get in better shape and lose weight. Go on a diet. Sail regattas in windy places. Get faster by speed-testing in light air. ■
This article originally appeared in David Dellenbaugh’s Speed & Smarts, The newsletter of how-to tips for racing sailors. If you want to sail faster and smarter, log onto SpeedandSmarts.com.
A resident of Easton, CT, Dellenbaugh was tactician and starting helmsman for America3’s successful defense of the America’s Cup in 1992. He’s a Lightning World Champion, two-time Congressional Cup winner, seven-time Thistle National Champion, two-time winner of the Canada’s Cup, three-time Prince of Wales U.S. Match Racing Champion, and a winner of the U.S. Team Racing Championships for the Hinman Trophy.
