Roll Tacking...

[khiemtran]

Roll tacking is a fun technique for getting around a tack faster (and, more importantly, coming out at speed).




You start off by heeling (tilting) the boat away from the direction you wish to turn. This makes the boat start turning all by itself (boats generally turn by themselves away from the heel). Then, you throw your weight onto the other side, so the boat is leaning sharply into the turn.



This feels (and looks) almost exactly like you're going to capsize. But it's actually surprisingly stable. As the boom swings over to your side, you need to be ready to spring back to the high side of the boat.



Like a loaded spring, the boat will flip back, and the sail will fill with air as it comes up.



Powered up and ready to go...



Meanwhile, a boy in an Optimist shows the big "kids" how to beat towards the windward mark.



Here's the same boy earlier, with two Dragons (elegant racing keelboats) in the background.



And here's me catching a lift home after the wind has died...

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Those dragons are pretty-looking boats.

The roll tacking gives me the impression of pumping bellows somehow--you're sort of generating wind for your sail, yes?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, in the very last phase, as the boat swings upright again, the sails will fill and give you a boost. But the extreme rolling also helps your boat to pivot quickly, as long as you do it assertively (read "courageously") enough. It feels very wrong when you're lying on your back and the boat seems to be about to come over on top of you, but I found that in most cases I really needed to lean back even more to get the boat to pivot fast enough. You just have to make sure you have a good hand hold on something so you can get your weight back on the other side when you need to...