Click the image above to review 360 Videos from the day.

The focus on this day was on straight line boat speed. We experimented with various camera angles and reference marks on the main to be able to accurately quantify sail shapes. The first question that we want to answer is: What cap shroud tension maximizes depth in the main at various wind speeds.

Matching Conditions With Technique

This was a main focus on the water, and will continue to be one of our main discussions throughout the “year of speed”. The idea here is that we need to be able to adjust for and articulate changes in technique due to sea state and varying conditions. Often this means modifying the ratio of steering to sail trim and weight movement.

The question that helps to start this discussion is: How is port different than starboard today?

On this day specifically, you felt is was easier to pinch on port, which potentially meant that more steering on port and less mainsheet ease in the puffs was a good idea. The challenge in this case though was that you often crashed at the top, so being quick to ease main again in the bear away was important.

One thing that we focused on was ensuring that in the “press” moments (where we want the bow to come back down"), the main eased in conjunction with the steering. Often steering was leading main ease here, causing the boat to load up, and then Grant would over compensate with main ease. It’s kind of a trust exercise where “press” needs to lead to both people trusting that the other person is going to do their job right away, and not waiting to feel it.

Listen to the comms in the 360 video and see if we can optimize communications to improve this.