MacGregorSailors.com

Ok, so here I was, foolishly thinking I had learned perhaps 60 - 70% of what I needed to know to be a good sailor, and that what remained before I attained that title was simply a few years of practice and experience... until I bought a book from West Marine a few days ago, called "Illustrated Sail and Rig Tuning" (or something like that).

It's a relatively small book, but I am blown away by all the stuff that needs to be done to make a sailboat operate as efficiently as possible. I thought "sail trim" basically involved letting the sheets out until the sails began to luff, then pulling them in a bit. But this book goes into great detail about attaining the proper sail shape... using the various controls (many of which my 26x doesn't have) to flatten or deepen sails, or to create or remove twist, etc.

So, I think it's safe to say that I know about 5% of what I need to know... I've got a lot of work to do!

Learning how to sail only took a day or so... learning how to sail WELL is going to take a lot longer. But in the meantime, I can still enjoy sailing at my level, which I guess is the real beauty of sailing. I'm now thinking about adding an adjustable backstay, a better outhaul setup, and maybe a cunningham.

Anyway, I now fully understand that saying, "sailing takes a day to learn and a lifetime to master."

--Mike

The most important controls IMHO for sail shape and sail power on my 26x are the vang on the main and the genoa cars. I have not found maneuvers to flatten the sail (such as tightening the outhaul, main halyard, or adjustable backstay) to do very much. To depower the sail, adding twist to the main by loosening the vang is about as much depower as I can get short of reducing sail. I rather doubt a cunningham will add much. A traveler would be nice...

The best device for aiding in trimming the sail is to install telltails. The ones on the gib will be streaming straight back along the curve of the jib when properly trimmed. Similarly the ones on the main should also be streaming straight back when properly trimmed.

Doug

My humbling came with the book called "A MANUAL OF SAIL TRIM" by STUART H. WALKER. it is a 250 page book that out lines how speed, pointing, Hydrodyamic Force, Balance, Leeway make you a better sailer. I tell you, I've tried to read it a couple of times ( the emphasis on tied). It made me feel like I should be in grade school.

God Speed
Dave

Another MUST READ book is "Looking at Sails" by Dick Kenny. It is particularly good for those with roller/furling head sails.