Lee bow defense – when a boat tacks in front of us the best defense we can use is to point higher when they cross and then go down for speed. To make it work the trimmers had to over trim and then trim for power. Then we would about every 15 seconds go up half a boat lane and then power off for speed. Most of the time if the trimmers were in form we could backwind their sails.
Mark roundings - in general when rounding marks try to approach wide and then cut it close. This will make it more difficult for the boat behind to sneak into the inside and give you problems.
At the leeward mark on windward / leeward courses try to come in on starboard to do a Mexican takedown. Usually we can sneak forward a number of boat lengths on our competition because we can keep the spinnaker right up to the mark.
Try to be on the left side of the starters on the committee boat side. By doing so we usually can bottle up and then stall the boats to the right of us.
Hang on the starting line when necessary to keep the position you want to start at. When we wanted to just hang on the line we would keep the main trimmed and let the headsail go to drop speed. In heavier air the main should also be eased so the boat can turn down when needed. When we wanted to accelerate again we would trim the headsail and head down. Also on a crowded line you can hold your position longer while normally the boat to leeward would skid down the line leaving you a clear lane after the gun.
On windward / leeward courses bias towards the left side of the course. By doing so we could very often avoid the traffic ahead of us thus disturbed air. It is always gutsy because it is required to get to the top mark on port but usually pays off.
In moderate air always turn up to a hot angle after a jibe. In order to sail low effectively the boat must be sailing its targets as soon as possible.
In heavy air the crew must jibe differently than in moderate air. The sheet must be pulled down instead of back when jibing in heavy air. It is also important the trimmer let the sheet go super fast after the spinnaker fills.
Shroud tension is very important. We would have the top of the mast fall off in conditions of 7 knots or less. Anything above that we would adjust it to keep it straight.
To save on slowing the boat down for spinnaker changes we would try to perform a jibe peel under the right conditions. This was done by raising the new spinnaker at the same time taking down the old spinnaker when jibing. We have found that peels have slowed the boat down to 4 knots so this is a great move.
Helmsman position in heavy to moderate air. We would as soon as possible after a tack have the helmsman sit on the high side of the boat behind the mainsail winch and the mainsail trimmer just in front of it. This way we would constantly work together on boat speed, trim and point. We could talk to each other without the crew talking over us.
In light air overtrim the main. By doing this the boat will register a little bit of weather helm. Otherwise the steering gets really squirrelly and to compensate the helmsman has to move the wheel around a lot to keep the boat straight.
If you hit a dead air hole with the spinnaker it is better to dump the spinnaker before you do anything. This will prevent the sail from collapsing into the shrouds to slow down the boat like an air brake. By just going bareheaded for a short time the boat can coast for a longer distance.
Put together a written sail selection guide and modify it as lessons are learned to what is faster. This is done by the intersection of apparent wind angle and wind speed and showing which is the best sail.
On a downwind leg spinnaker pressure is most important. We would have a constant dialog between the trimmer and helmsman regarding boat speed and pressure. By doing so we could point lower and as fast as any J/120 out there.
If in the lead cover, cover, and cover the closest competition. It does not matter if you win by 1 minute or 10 minutes. If you stay between the other boat and the mark or finish line it reduces the chances of getting rolled.
Subject: Still Learning...
Hey there - I know I have only been on the boat a few times, but the hours add up on two Macs and the Chimo Race!
Weight placement sensitivity is something that I've learned over the past few years... and racing on Carinthia and being on a chase boat for Friday of Harbor I have witnessed VERY different approaches to weight placement in the J120s. I have a decent amount of video that the class could actually analyze this winter if you're interested... It really seems as if the 'slower' boats were generally stern-heavy.
First hand, this year when the air got somewhat light in the PH-Mac, Hot Ticket was probably a good 1.5 miles away with their jib up, I was driving, we put up the Code 0, shifted some weight low, and some dogs-in-the-house...and we reeled them in.
When in doubt - test it out...move some folks around while watching the boat speed. Obviously if its super-duper light you don't want to be pouncing all over the place, but...stay in the game. People on the rail should always be engaged w/r/t where they should be sitting. They should know what "move the rack aft (or forward)" means...
:-) Lynn
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