Key Takeaways and Points

• Crews drive the boat with their weight
• The rudders are tiny, the centerboards deep, so if they boat is not flat, the skipper cannot steer
  • The boat powers up very easily, so weight on the rail early is crucial
• Tension is very loose, more so upwind than wing-on
• Tacks scoop water unless done in a particular way
• Mains are much larger than jibs, play the main, not so much the jib.

Rigging

• The jib halyard is rigged to an adjustable system that is fed back to the skipper
• Tension in general should be slack, pull it on a little more for wing-on in not-heavy breeze, but must ease it to correct place before going back upwind
  • Leeward shroud should be dangling loose when sailing close-hauled
• The normal, nominal Sta-Master setting on the shrouds is 4.5
• Pull the main up all the way before you rig the outhaul, otherwise the main will not go all the way up
• Make sure both plugs are in (one in cockpit, one on transom)
• The standard jib block setting is 7.5 holes showing from the back. Make sure the block is in a hole, and not static in a screw hole
• The vang is fed back towards the skipper
• Mainsheet is 1 to 1, rigged with a transom bridle

Boathandling

• Tacks
  • The gunwales are lower by the mainsheet block, so typical tacks scoop lots of water → Crews should roll more than skippers, and skippers try to roll as far forward as possible. Try to see how hard you can roll w/o scooping
  • Because of the deep centerboard and large main, both skipper and crew flatten hard, and skipper ease main a lot throughout the tack.
  • In heavy air, fireflies are pretty slow to tack, just as a tactical thought
  • Narrow boats, so can be quick to cross
  • Crews watch out for the tiller extension, it’s really long and often is where your head is
• Gybes
  • Pretty standard
  • Flick the mainsheet in so that the slack at stern does not hook on rudder (think Lasers)
• Transitions from wing to reach
  • Ease tension before going up to reach
• Leeward mark roundings
  • Need weight up on the rail early if any sort of breeze because the boat powers up so quickly

Upwind

• The jib is relatively static
• The mains are so big in comparison, play it all the time
• Ease main first to keep flat

Downwind

• Wing-on: the boats can get very unstable in heavy wind, weight back
• Pull on some jib tension