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Reply to: How high can a Nacra 5.0 point?

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[quote=texastuma][quote=saltlife77][quote]Even 1 hole will move the upper part of the mast back significantly enough to where your sheet lead for your jib will have to be changed. If the 5.0's jib blocks are on a track, they might have to go forward a small amount to compensate for the different angle.[/quote]
So...this boat is new to me and I have been struggling to break the jib blocks while on the wire in the crew position..so maybe it needs to be raked back a bit. It's not a 5.0 it's a 500 and the blocks are on a track on the front beam.  Thoughts?Edited by saltlife77 on Oct 04, 2023 - 11:05 AM. [/quote]

500 rather than a 5.0 changes some things. The jib becomes less important, but you can tighten the lead angle by slightly tightening the windward sheet. This will bring the clew to windward. You want to make sure you don't choke the slot.

Another thing to consider is if you don't have the board depth (boardless boats and boats with short boards: i.e Prindle, Tornado, etc...), it is more beneficial (better VMG) to foot a few degrees and gain speed. 25+ years ago when I was racing Tornadoes class, there were a few of them that had perfected footing off in breeze and greatly benefiting upwind. It was only a few degrees, but their boat speed would overcome the distance sailed. Now days, you can easily set a point and you can watch and monitor VMG. You can run something like RaceQs that will calculate VMG and run the different angles and evaluate it when you get off the water. Some programs will give you instant VMG towards a mark.

I did a race on a 40-ish foot shoal keel monohull with an experienced racer on another identical boat. I kept it high and he footed more and beat me on the first beat. We did talk back and forth after the beat and compared notes to improve. Remember, it's water over the foils that get the boat to windward. As mentioned by another, speed is king. It's a tough balance to get speed, bleed it off, and then back down for more speed... and not stop.[/quote]

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