Is there any advantage of not pulling the sail over and sailing with the wind on the inside of the sail? I have seen lasers in particular do not gybe when other boats do on the same leg
Hi, Yes, good question! If the wind is going the 'wrong way' across the sail, you're sailing by the lee. This can be unstable but it can also be quite quick. Because the wind is hitting the leach of the sail first, it is not disturbed by the mast so there's an arguement that it could be more efficient. Another benefit of sailing by the lee is that you could stay on starboard tack instead of gybing, which in some circumstances will mean you remain the right of way boat in a race (see my right of way video for more info) Hope this helps!
Thank you! Very well explained.
Thanks, hope it helped!
Very clear as usual Phil. my mainsheet often gets stuck as shown here, practice required ;)
Thanks, glad you found it useful! Yes it can happen on a range of boats that have quite a square transom corner
Is there any advantage of not pulling the sail over and sailing with the wind on the inside of the sail? I have seen lasers in particular do not gybe when other boats do on the same leg
Hi,
Yes, good question!
If the wind is going the 'wrong way' across the sail, you're sailing by the lee. This can be unstable but it can also be quite quick.
Because the wind is hitting the leach of the sail first, it is not disturbed by the mast so there's an arguement that it could be more efficient.
Another benefit of sailing by the lee is that you could stay on starboard tack instead of gybing, which in some circumstances will mean you remain the right of way boat in a race (see my right of way video for more info)
Hope this helps!