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Aim to keep the boat upright by bearing away (sometimes quite briskly) as the boat heels with a gust and then luffing as it starts coming over on top of you as the boat catches up with the wind, or the gust passes.
As I understand it, the exact angle of heel is not critical but the flow of water over the foils is different when heeled to leeward v to windward and you don't want to keep changing it.
Ps Marc J is much more famous than me, and I am sure much better!. So I won't be upset or surprised if he comes vack and corrects me.
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If you are sailing in very light air it can be difficult.
In general - use your speed advantage don't get into dog fights. Try to keep your air clear and on the beat don't get into a pointing battle.
Brian
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Hi Marc
Great tips, thanks.
What's the reason for 5 degree heel on a reach, rather than flat?
Simon
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Hey there,
Do give yourself a bit of a break - the ILCA has been around for 5 decades, and people know well how to sail it in all conditions.
That said, a well-sailed Aero 7 should have no problem with an ILCA 7 in almost any condition, especially reaching. How much practice, away from racing, have you done? I'd especially suggest working on the areas that are weakest. In addition, practice your boathandling, and accelerating from a stop - this will serve you well off the line. Remember: you cannot expect to do well against others if you haven't put in the practice!
While reaching, do everything you can to maintain a very slight (5 degrees) angle of heel to leeward, and don't let that change NO MATTER WHAT the wind, sea state or heading! That will make you very aware of body position in and out, and the blades (daggerboard and rudder) will be their most efficient. In light air keep the weight forward to get the transom out of the water, and as one starts planing scoot aft to keep the bow up. Long boat in light air (weight forward), short boat when planing (weight aft)!
When passing other boats downwind/reaching, if at all possible get a few boatlengths off to the side so as to not be affected by their wakes. Often one can be fooled into surfing other boats' wakes (which means you'll never pass!) instead of getting off to a side and blasting off. So much depends on the length of course - the longer, the easier to get off to a side and work your magic.
On runs, go either by-the-lee or broad reaching to build speed in light spots, and steer the boat dead downwind when the puffs come through. This keeps you in the puffs longer, and saves the ups/downs of BTL or reaching for lighter air, when they're really needed.
Now, get out there and PRACTICE! :)
Marc Jacobi
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I am not a very good Aero sailor, but think that if I could put more time on the water I would be able to improve by 3%. I hope so... currently I am being beaten by a Mirror sailor and his 8 year old son - he might be 6 actually.
Aero's have many advantages over Lasers for the pilot - over time the pilot should be able to build those into a sustainable advantage over ILCAs.
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I recently bought an Aero 7 as my first proper racing boat to use at my club in our race series and I have been really struggling to gain any standing against the Lasers in the club and the 1065 PY handicap seems to make it impossible for me. I have had a read through many of the other posts and not many gave tips on racing against lasers and how to beat them on the downwind legs on our courses or upwind, I find I often suddenly slow when passing any boat downwind to windward and struggle to catch them on the reaches to the wing marks. Is there anything I should be doing differently to gain ground against lasers and I was wondering if there are different race course designs for aeros?
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