In The Zone by Jerry Freeman

Lets take a seat alongside a top solo helm as they drive to windward in 20 knots of breeze through a channel chop and see if we can pick up some useful tips.

The first thing you notice is how the eyes switch continually and rhythmically from the luff of the jib to the breaking wave crest and back to the wool tell-tails.  The bar-taut leading edge of the headsail is blindingly white in the bright sunshine, the breaking crest of the next wave is threatening but inevitable just like the hundreds before it. The nose dips into the trough then rises rapidly to the crest as white water breaks over the bow, the spray forming a momentary mini rainbow, and cascades along the side deck toward the helm position.  Balanced and braced like a jockey on a racehorse, the sailor’s head turns away to avoid the fine spray as it blows back from the impact and then the hunched body rises imperceptibly to allow the wave to pass beneath the seat and deluge into the cockpit.

The bow is already dipping into the next trough allowing a second or two in which to accelerate the boat back up to target speed; a large digital speedo on the mast displays the boat speed to two decimal places. On this boat 6.37 knots is too slow, 6.85 knots is too fast. Check the speed, check the luff woollies, feel the pressure and ease the boat over the next wave looking for a soft landing. In 20 knots of breeze this process is repeated every 3 or 4 seconds, minute by minute, hour by hour, concentration is total.

Steering to windward in big waves is the true test of the skill and talent of the racing sailor. In a well-balanced boat it is a delight to sense and control all that power and momentum in the finger tips of the one hand on the tiller extension. Gyrating around all three axes the boat is pitching to the wave frequency. At the same time it is rolling and heeling to variations in wind pressure and yawing as the hull shoulders the body of each successive wave. The expert helm ignores all this apparently chaotic motion, steering with fingertip pressure and imperceptible inputs, more a squeeze than a pull, more a relaxation of pressure than a push, giving the appearance of guiding the boat by the force of their willpower alone. These subtle instructions are superimposed on a tiller that is kicking and twitching randomly as the rudder blade aligns itself to the turbulent flow of solid water beneath the hull. The task is to obstruct this flow as little as possible, minimising the braking effect of the slender rudder by making only one or two-degree adjustments that in turn keep the aerofoil leading edge of the jib at the optimum angle of attack to the ever changing breeze.

Once mastered it is not as difficult a job as it sounds but for how long can this effort be maintained? Concentrating on the sails and the waves and the speed, drenched by sea water, wind chill creeps into the bones, sharp crystals of salt cake on the sunglasses and in the corners of the eyes, cramp attacks the legs and the neck begins to stiffen from being turned forward all the time.  Inevitably the temperature will begin to drop when the sun goes down and so might the wind speed, but when the tide turns against the breeze the waves will become shorter and more aggressive, the extra slamming will steal momentum and speed from three tonnes of boat. Should an inconvenient and malevolent sequence of waves knock the boat speed back excessively it is vital to ease the traveller down a few inches and foot off five degrees to get the speed back up, silently cursing the distance lost to weather in the process.

Now may be a good time to check the sail trim before it gets dark - are all the woollies breaking together? This can be controlled with the sheet car tackle. Alternatively, if the boat is a bit over pressed the single-hander can deliberately spill wind from the top of the jib by taking the sheet car aft a few inches to de-power the head of the sail without easing the sheet.
Is the draft well forward? The blue draft stripe shows the sail well hooked in the front: that is the best setting for power and pointing in waves as it makes the leading edge more forgiving to the wild variations of wind angle. Halyard tension is the control for draft position if the sail maker has done his job - check the halyard tension is on the mark for 20 knots? The Solent jib is extremely powerful in these conditions and doing all the work.

The mainsail is balancing the helm and keeping the bow into the breeze; don’t sheet on too much weather helm or you will loose half a knot easily, maybe more. Check the main sail, is it back winding for one third and top tell tails flying, leach well twisted off at the top? Is it flat as a witch’s tit along the foot or does it need more out haul tension?

The ‘gyroscope’ in the sailor’s brain is responding to multiple sensory inputs and accelerations, not just the visual cues; heel angle is sensed through the seat of the pants and through the back muscles straining to keep the torso erect in the maelstrom of waves, thus giving a very good indication of wind pressure and pointing angle. The heel decreases as the boat points too high and increases as the boat bears away. A good helm can steer with eyes closed for several seconds in a regular wave pattern, indeed they may find themselves doing so on long solo legs.

The wind is steady now and it looks like a long night ahead, time we left her to it? I don’t think she even noticed we were there!