Seven tips for sailing a Dragon upwind in a short chop, conditions its round, blunt bow sections and weight make difficult but in which big VMG gains are possible. Keep speed on rather than pinching, and set the sails to the angle the helmsman can hold while still going. Twist both sails, with more twist on starboard than port because the wind is usually veered higher up, ease the genoa barber-hauler and kicker, and open the leech with the backstay if needed. Roll tack hard, ease the mainsheet through the tack and do not sheet in too soon, pass pinching boats to leeward, and keep still with minimum helm. […]
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How to approach the first part of the second beat, which sets the tone for the rest of the leg. Dellenbaugh says your approach should depend on two questions: how satisfied you are with your position in the race and series, and how confident you are in your strategic plan, then explains how to balance the two (for example, a leader who is 99% sure the right will pay should still stay with the fleet and loose-cover rather than sail into the corner alone). A diagram shows the “No-Go Zone” of bad air behind the leeward mark, and a sidebar describes a rotating-order practice drill for three or more boats. […]
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Simon Brien (Kin, IRL 182) explains how to keep a 1.8-ton, long-keeled Dragon with its ‘Mickey Mouse Ear’ rudder moving upwind in light, shifty breezes. In a lift, ease the genoa and main marginally first, build speed, then come up smoothly while trimming back on over five to ten seconds – aggressive tiller movements act as a brake. In chop, ease sheets and runners just before a new wave pattern; in a really lumpy sea, put on the inner barber and ease the sheet for a deeper headsail. Trim pointers include the genoa leech 4-5 cm off the spreaders and just touching or 1-2 cm off the shrouds at deck level. […]
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A set of fourteen boatspeed tips for the first beat, where the fleet is closest together and a small speed edge gives clear air and the chance to play the shifts. Tips include keeping your air clear, shifting gears in bad air, copying and gauging yourself against other boats, using reference marks on controls, setting up for a “wider groove”, communicating, tacking well, clearing weed and water, and steering with weight and sails rather than the rudder. A diagram explains the trade-off between pointing and speed and how to find the “target” that maximises VMG to windward. […]
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Strategy for the first beat in an oscillating breeze, where the key is to catch the first shift after the start and stay “in phase” to the windward mark. Dellenbaugh covers finding and updating the median wind direction and your median headings on each tack, tacking when you reach the median rather than at the lowest heading, treating the last shift before the mark as persistent, playing the middle, not chasing other boats’ shifts or trying to cover, and sailing slightly lower and faster on lifts. Three diagrams explain when to tack on a header, why to sail fast on a lift (the polar curve and “target”), and why boats in the middle gain over boats that reach the laylines. […]
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What to do differently upwind when you know the wind will shift persistently in one direction, rather than oscillate (the default when the pattern is unknown). Dellenbaugh’s ingredients are: head for the shift, sail fast to the next shift, fight to go the right way, watch out for the layline, and use other boats to read the wind. He then lists oscillating-breeze rules to forget in a persistent shift: staying in the middle, tacking on headers, sailing the longer tack first and not letting boats cross you. Diagrams show boats A–D heading for the favoured side, when to “bite the bullet” and pass behind a boat, and why to foot rather than pinch toward the shift. […]
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Why wind shifts are usually the biggest strategic factor in a race, and how to anticipate them. Dellenbaugh stresses local knowledge and your own pre-start observations over large-scale forecasts, the basic principle of sailing toward the next shift, deciding whether the wind is oscillating or persistent, and not mistaking a “velocity shift” for a real one (wait about 30 seconds). A table shows how much two boats a distance x apart gain or lose: about 5% of x for a 2° shift, 12% for 5°, 25% for 10° and 37% for 15°; sidebars cover geographic effects near land, clouds and the typical sea-breeze pattern. […]
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How to find and use better wind pressure on the beat, since more velocity lets you sail faster and point higher. Dellenbaugh lists the signs of more wind on the water (bigger, tighter ripples, whitecaps, darker colour) and other indicators such as the heel and pointing angle of other boats, flags, smoke and clouds, and notes that a real “puff” may bring only one extra knot. His strategies include lining up your masthead fly with the puffs, sailing toward clouds and the sides of the course in a large light-air fleet, tacking in puffs, watching for “velocity shifts”, and a “connect-the-dots” approach in puffy conditions. […]
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Twenty short tips from Dave Dellenbaugh’s Speed & Smarts, chosen by Graham Bailey for Dragon sailors, mostly on wind-shift strategy. Key ideas: establish a median heading for each tack and tack when knocked to it, decide whether shifts are oscillating or persistent, sail slightly faster on lifts, and use the ‘10-25’ rule (a 10° shift gains or loses about 25% of lateral separation, 5° about 12%). Other tips cover trimming the main so the top batten is parallel to the boom, rounding marks with the mark at the bottom of the arc, gybing on the lifts downwind, and the fact that a boat’s wind shadow reaches about 10 lengths in light air but only about 5 in heavy air. […]
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