If I’m overpowered I have to change down straight away.

FALSE!

Jamie Hancock and Marco Wedele explain why…

Jamie Hancock

“I think it is always good to try get the best out of your sail.

“By trimming the sail well you can really change its feel to adapt to the conditions. I find when I’m on smaller sails it is good just to stick it out, when you are on the larger sizes in your quiver and the wind gets quite strong it is harder to control.

“But it is a judgement call, some people like the full power and some people prefer smaller sails with less downhaul / outhaul.”

Marco Wedele

“If there is one problem with a big nice equipped centre, it’s that there are all different sail sizes and as a customer you get tempted to change down as soon as you feel a little bit powered up, only then to find out that the next sail you take is too small so you have to change again and in the end spending more time coming in and going out then on the water!

You can tune your kit according to the conditions – small change, big difference!

“A big one is the position of the harness lines, it makes a massive change if you move your harness lines back an inch!

“Another one is the boom height, if you move it down it will encourage you to get lower but it also flattens of the sail as it automatically tightens up the outhaul. If you are underpowered you can move it up to encourage you to stand up a bit more and it will give the sail a deeper profile, as there is less outhaul and therefore more power!

“As an intermediate you can benefit from being slightly overpowered to a certain extent, because it’s more forgiving, especially when it comes to getting going or using the footstraps etc.”