MC Racing Tips
A collections of racing tips from a variety of sources. Want to contribute? E-mail me your comments and I'll add them to this page.
Compass use and the MC
1. I prefer the Tack-tic Micro compass using the tactics mode for effective compass use on the race course. It basically allows you to see the real wind direction. Unfortunately, I find this useless on the MC because it does not sail a consistent angle on a beat like a jib rigged boat might. Sailing a beat on the MC is faster to me when I foot off for speed and then nudge it up for direction. I do not find it very consistent at sailing ANY consistent angle. What I find myself doing is a version of dead reckoning. I sail as fast as I can and keep my eye on the most consistent fixed point on land. If I notice a substantial change in my ability to hold the basic direction of my land mark, I tack accordingly. I set my micro to compass and I do watch it for consistent changes in directions. For example, as I fall off for speed and nudge it back up, if I cannot get back to the original heading, I start thinking header. If I can now sail higher than the original angle, I'm thinking lift.
Ron Wright
2. I got my TacTic in July this year, and I've decided that I really like it. However, I don't use the tactics mode - I just let it tell me what direction I'm going. It's really just a sensitive and readable analog compass for me with starting clock included. When I'm sailing the course before the start I note my average and extreme headings on both tacks. Then I know at the start if I'm on a headed or lifted tack off the start. I check if the shifts have some regularity to them. Typically on the inland lakes we sail on the timing of shifts is pretty erratic. I'll also go head to wind to get the true wind direction frequently. If you know the true wind and you run the line on both tacks, you can also figure out the favored end. I don't use the tactics mode for exactly the reason you cited above, the tacking angle varies by up to 30 degrees in the MC, and depends a lot on wind strength and degree of chop. So a consistent angle won't hold up over even a single beat. Of course, no compass will tell you if a shift is persistent or not! Also, the first clue to a shift is the land bearings you see and the other boats on the course. I use the compass to reinforce the other evidence I see. It would be a bad thing to spend a lot of time looking at the compass and not at the race course.
Peter Toumanoff, 2006 CYC Fall Regatta Champion and 2006 Master's Champion.
Sailing with Consistent Heel
Maximum upwind heel should be 15 degrees. These boats need to be flatter than you think.
Andy Burdick, Touch of Class, Fall, 2006
You never want the boat to overheel. The worst thing you can do is trim hard, overheel, and then stuff your boat into the wind. ...Over-heeling is the biggest mistake made when it is windy. ...Ease your mainsheet as much as 2 feet may be needed in order to keep your boat on teh proper heel [15-25 mph wind].
Z-max tuning guide.
In my opinion, the answer depends on whose sail you are using.
If it's a North, put on some vang as soon as you find yourself having to depower, and the more you have to depower, the more vang you use.
If you are using a Quantum, snug the vang up (but don't add tension) when your mainsheet is fully tensioned, but no more. This way when you ease the sheet, the boom doesn't release too much pressure. I call this fully powered up. If you can deal with the occasional puff by quick eases of the traveler, then leave the vang alone and hike hard, sailing fully powered. Then if you find that you are easing the traveler all the time, pull on some vang, bring the traveler back up to the middle, and vang-sheet. But be careful, it's easy to over-vang a Quantum main. Then as the wind builds, more vang until just before you get inversion wrinkles, and at that point drop the traveler until you can maintain 15 degrees. Also, still with the Quantum, the bigger the waves, use less vang and more traveler to allow yourself power to punch through.
North sails respond much better to more vang, so just tighten everything as the wind builds and when still overpowered, then drop the traveler.
To your general question, it's better to de-power and sail at 15 degrees than to sail at 30. Over-heeled is slow, and you get too much helm.
Peter Toumanoff, 2006 CYC Fall Regatta Champion and 2006 Master's Champion.