US Sabot Sail Trim Guide
Author: Duncan Shea email: atlantis@hotpop.com

This is meant as a guide for US Sabots, but the same principles apply, for the most part, in Sea Shells.

We will talk about the 4 control lines: mainsheet, boom vang, outhaul, and downhaul, or cunningham (the clever pig).

We are assuming 4 different wind conditions...light (0-5 knots), medium (5-10 knots), heavy (10-15 knots), and super-heavy (15+ knots)...and 2 different sailing directions: upwind and downwind.

When you are going UPWIND:
Mainsheet:

The mainsheet is very simple in a Sabot or Sea Shell. In light to medium air, keep the end of the boom above the leeward aft corner of the boat. Try not to pull it in too much. The main thing to do in these conditions is to keep your boatspeed up, and not worry to much about pointing(Pointing: the direction of your boat relative to the direction of the wind (on an upwind leg)). The more you point, the more towards the wind you are going.

Quick tip: to make it easier on yourself to keep the end of the boom over the corner, put a piece of duct tape around your mainsheet where it comes out of the rachet block, or cleat, at the position I said. That way, you don't have to keep looking at the stern of the boat to make sure the sail is well positioned.

In heavier air, you can pull it in a little more. The golden rule is to not pull it in so much that it TOUCHES the boat. That's bad!

Boom vang:

In light-medium air, NO vang is necessary when going upwind. Your mainsheet acts as one.

In heavier air, pull your mainsheet in a little past normal, then just SNUG the vang. In really heavy air, you might need a tiny bit more, just to keep the boom down when you ease the sail.

Outhaul:

(We measure the outhaul as the distance from the middle of the boom to the foot of the sail.)

In light air, you want to keep the sail streamlined when you are going upwind. If it is too baggy, it acts like a brake. Therefore, pull the sail in so that there are only 3-4 inches between the boom and the sail.

In medium air, let it out a bit...4-5 inches here.

In heavy and super-heavy air, crank it on, really pull it in hard. You never want it to be completely flat (with horizontal wrinkles along the foot), but you only want about 2 inches between the sail and the boom.

Quick tip: the smaller you are, the more you want to pull on the outhaul.

Downhaul:

In light air, you just want enough to smooth the biggest wrinkles that are along the mast. The biggest mistake you can make here is putting on to much: you only need a little, if any.

In medium air, a little more is necessary. Again, just to smooth out the biggest wrinkles.

In heavy and super-heavy air, crank it. Try to smooth all the wrinkles. However, you should never, ever have a vertical wrinkle running down the mast. That is a sign that you have too much downhaul.

When you are going DOWNWIND:

Mainsheet:

As a general rule, let the mainsheet out so that the boom is at 90 degrees to the boat (perpendicular). Again, you can mark your mainsheet the same way you did for going upwind.

If you let the sail out too much when you are going straight downwind, you "spill" the wind, and go slow (however, you want to spill a little air...see below ). If you don't let sail out enough, you can't "catch" enough wind...and you go slow.

Boom vang:

In light air, no vang is necessary on downwind legs.

In medium air, pull it a little bit; you want to have the top batten parrallell to the boom. The reason for this is to "spill" a little wind, and keep the airflow moving over the sail.

In heavy air, you need to pull in the boom vang a little more, and in super heavy air, really crank it. Keep the boom from moving up and forming a "V" with the mast. In heavy air, the more vang you have, the more stable your boat becomes. You will go a tad bit slower if you really crank it going downwind in heavy air, but the added stability counts. Think about it: which is better, going a 1/8 knot slower by playing it safe, or flipping your boat by trying to go too fast...?

It mostly depends on your skill level: if you are just starting out, play it safe until you get a better feel for the boat.

Outhaul:

As a general rule, let your outhaul out almost as far is it will go when you are going downwind, no matter what the wind conditions. Keep about 12 inches at the most between the boom and the deepest part of the sail. In heavier air, pull it in a little more.

Downhaul:

As a general rule, let it out, just like the outhaul, in all wind conditions, going downwind.

Other thoughts:

· It helps to have all your control lines lead to your thwart, so you can adjust them more easily (see the boat tuning manual). If you need help finding out how to do this, ask an older sailor at your club, or a coach. They will be glad to help. ·

· At marine supply shops, you can buy little plastic balls to put on the ends of your control lines, so you can pull them more easily. It also helps to color-code them, so its easier to tell what control you are pulling.