Mainsail Trimming: An Illustrated Guide


It was obvious right then and there just how sensitive jib trim is. As I filmed, the trimmer set the jib to her normal setting and observed the jib leech telltale flowing percent of the time. She then trimmed in slowly, one click at a time, and it continued to flow until 10 clicks or so later, when it stalled.

Balancing Jib Sail Trim and Flow

It happened instantly, as if the sound of the click itself caused the stall. The mainsail leech telltale starts to stall inconsistently, from percent flying to 90 percent, then 80 percent, and so on as I trim in slowly. In contrast, this jib telltale seemed impossibly abrupt. To find this more forgiving sheeting, we click in until it stalls just past max , then ease again until it flows again. Then, to make it stall again it takes six clicks in and so on.

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Normal trim is our default setting. It will flow percent at normal trim and will continue to do so as we let it out.

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Trimmers who desire "racing trim" pay constant attention to the telltales, draft position, luff tension, wind strength and shifts, boat speed, etc. Accept Read our Privacy Policy. What do you do? Contact Us Advertise Sailnet. When wind moves aft and the sheet is eased, the lead must go forward to compensate and close the upper leech.

The other problem in defining where this eased setting is that it may vary on how much we have to accelerate. If we are stopped, it will be more than if we just need to a small speed build, after a few small waves, for example. Either way, it really is not eased much.

On a dinghy, the upper jib leech might be an inch further out. On a small one-design keelboat it might another 2 inches further outboard. Acceleration trim is more of a feel; we ease a little and feel the boat accelerate, then bring it back in slowly to normal trim as we get up to speed.

Reference points are extremely helpful, so during training and pre-race, we observe from leeward, watching the telltale and learning the range. We find a reference to recreate that trim without having to keep track of the leech telltale. Our trimmer likes a mark on the jib sheet for a very rough first pass. Thus, for fine tune, we look for a reference close to the upper leech where we care the most.

On our Thistle we tape a zip tie on the middle spreader so the end is The trimmer can see this easily through a trim window in the main and trim by pulling the jib in to a repeatable distance from the end of the zip tie. Marked measurement references are also useful.

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For whatever boat we sail, we find and mark something near the upper leech that our eye can immediately and accurately repeat. Every condition that varies from ideal usually requires an ease of the mainsheet, and therefore also requires a corresponding ease of the jib sheet.

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For example, when we are overpowered, we ease the main or drop the traveler to depower. In the opposite condition, light air, we ease the mainsheet and raise the traveler to open the leech of the main. No matter what the reason, as soon as the mainsail starts to ease, the jib needs to match that ease to maintain flow.

In each case, the same rules of thumb apply and we still do the same thing we do in ideal conditions; over trim the jib and then ease until the telltale flows. It will be more eased than flat water, but we still call this sweet spot normal trim for that condition.

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