by GreenLake » Sun Nov 10, 2019 3:35 pm
Heeling at very light winds: done that and seems to work. ~2-3 knots (or ~3mph) seems a good ball-park figure for the upper end of the wind speed range. But how much heel? Almost any amount of heel would work to get the boom to the downwind side and to help sail shape. But to get wetted area reduction would seem to ask for more than minimal heel. And then there's the question of direction:
Lasers would heel to windward, because it raises more sail area into higher distances above the water (with laminar flow at these low velocities, the higher up you go, the faster the wind blows). The more you heel a laser the higher the sail goes and the lower the wetted area and with it the skin friction; both effects seem to go in the same direction.
On the DS, I've only ever induced heel to leeward. That lowers the sail area, so not something you'd want to overdo. On the other hand, minimal heel isn't going to change the wetted area very much, so you wouldn't get the reduction in skin friction. Anybody have a ball-park figure? (Heeling to windward doesn't work with a jib, because in lighter winds it would backwind; the Lasers, with a single sail, rely on the boom to keep the mainsail on the leeward side - I've seen that maneuver mainly downwind, whereas I would heel the DS to leeward on all points of sail to reduce skin friction).
At the upper end of moderate, to strong winds, I often find that a slight heel gives me a better feel for the boat. Now, is that beneficial, or am I sacrificing boat speed here? I've seen other (more) experienced sailors do the same, not quite sailing their boats flat (or mine, when asked to helm).
Subjectively, I would say, it doesn't feel like too much weather helm (not until we get close to being overpowered in a gust). Are you guys saying that this is deceptive?
~ green ~ lake ~ ~