{"id":75843,"date":"2023-07-11T12:41:22","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T16:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=75843"},"modified":"2023-07-17T10:20:50","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T14:20:50","slug":"sportboat-wing-on-wing-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/how-to\/sportboat-wing-on-wing-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Sportboat Wing-on-Wing Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"J\/70 <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Winging has become a powerful tactical tool in J\/70 racing, but there\u2019s a time and place.<\/span>\n Hannah Lee Noll<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

if conditions warrant, some boats, like J\/70s, FJs, Collegiate 420s and Snipes, successfully wing for the entire run. And for other boats that carry asymmetric spinnakers, such as J\/105s and Melges 20s, brief moments of winging can present gains, such as when jibing, (a late-main jibe), coming into a leeward mark gaining an overlap, or shooting the downwind finish line. It\u2019s a powerful technique to have in your toolbox these days, so let\u2019s dive deeper into the art of the wing, how to do it and when to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s usually no \u00adquestion when in the middle wind ranges\u2014from 8 to 14 knots\u2014where the wing technique works well. By doing so, you\u2019ll sail less distance without sacrificing much speed, getting you to the leeward mark sooner than someone who reaches back and forth. But in light air, it\u2019s often too slow to wing, and the jib or kite doesn\u2019t have enough pressure to fly well. Also, when the wind is light, the main falls into the middle of the boat, causing an unintentional jibe. You need enough pressure to hold the sails firmly in the winging \u00adconfiguration to make it work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the crossover zone, when you are unsure if winging will work, it can pay to give it a shot. If it doesn\u2019t feel powered up and fast, abort the wing by continuing your turn, jibing the boom, and flattening onto the new jibe. The cool thing with this move is that you can get a boost of speed during the flatten, especially in a dinghy. Experiment with winging in the crossover wind range, then aborting, \u00admaking it a late-main jibe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the other end of the spectrum, when it gets super windy, boats like the FJ, 420 and Snipe are still winging and might even plane on the wing. For heavier boats that wing, like the J\/70, there comes a time to abandon the wing and start planing on the reach. It\u2019s all about your best VMG to the mark, knowing your boat, and understanding when to transition as the breeze changes. In puffy conditions in the planing crossover range, 14 to 18 knots, the true masters of downwind morph from one mode to the next, putting hundreds of meters on the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When winging, you must have a big lane behind you because winging is difficult in bad air. Also, boats behind you that are also winging throw a big wind shadow. Always work to find a nice lane before winging. Some people call this a seam in the fleet, a corridor of nice pressure with no boats behind you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winging Angles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For those unfamiliar with \u00adwinging and the angle changes created by doing so, one way to think about it is to compare it to a symmetric spinnaker boat, such as an Etchells or Lightning, that can square the pole back in a medium breeze. In light air, those boats reach back and forth with the pole near the headstay. Once the breeze increases enough, they square the pole back and sail deep. This is a similar angle to winging. A boat with the spinnaker squared back is basically the same as being wing-on-wing. When in this mode, you\u2019ll jibe through about 20 to 30 degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always look forward, toward the gate marks or finish line, to determine if I am sailing the least distance. Visualize your new angle if you were to jibe and question whether it would be closer to the mark. If so, and the lanes are free, do it. Usually when winging, I want to see the leeward mark right over the bow or just between the jib or spinnaker and the mainsail. While doing this, let\u2019s say you get a lift. The jib or spinnaker suddenly feels less powerful, so you head up to get to the optimal angle again with the sheets pulling. Now the gate or finish line has dropped out of your field of vision, behind the main. That tells you it\u2019s time to jibe. Conversely, if you get a big header while aiming at the gate and now appear overstood, abandon the wing and go back to a reach. The key is to point the boat at the gate or finish line in whatever configuration you need to be in for the given wind conditions, assuming you have a good lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tactical Winging<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A key to sailing well downwind in any boat is to satisfy two basic rules: Sail the jibe that takes you most directly toward the \u00adleeward mark, and sail in the most breeze. If you can sail toward the mark while in nice pressure and in a big lane, you\u2019ll hit a tactical home run. When you are in a boat that has various modes, like reaching and winging, always use the most appropriate mode to help you. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> You round the weather mark in a left shift and want to go straight downwind on the header. It\u2019s blowing 10 knots, so winging will provide the best VMG. After rounding the weather mark, you reach for a bit until a lane opens up. Now you have to decide which jibe to be on while winging. You could simply wing on the starboard jibe, or jibe over to port and then wing. Because you are headed and happy, the correct move is to simply bear away and wing, staying on starboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B.<\/strong> You round the weather mark in a lift, so the game plan is to jibe to port. But there\u2019s a cone of bad air at the top of the course. You reach for 30 seconds to a minute, eager to jibe and go the other way. With a train of boats sailing straight out of the mark with you, winging away would put you in bad air. So, the best move is to jibe onto a port reach to quickly exit the train of boats and their dirty breeze. Once clear of the bad-air zone, let\u2019s say 50 to 100 meters, go into winging mode to sail the header toward the leeward mark on the port jibe. You\u2019ll be in a nice lane, sailing low and fast toward the leeward gate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C.<\/strong> You\u2019re leading a tight race or might be just ahead of a group of boats, and you round the weather mark. Don\u2019t immediately wing. If you do, you\u2019ll likely get covered. Here, the move is to round the weather mark, reach for a while, and be patient. Once the boats behind you wing, then you can establish a nice lane and wing. If you reach for a while and feel like you should be winging, but no one around you is, and you want to get away from nearby boats, jibe to port, as mentioned earlier, reach for a little bit to get away from the group, and then wing into a nice lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D.<\/strong> If you round the weather mark in a lift and have no boats to worry about behind you threatening to steal your wind, a technique unique to the J\/70 is you can get into a wing by bearing away and slowly jibing the boom. It allows you to quickly sail the other way downwind, as if you had completed a full jibe and then winged the kite. On smaller boats that accelerate more during maneuvers, it\u2019s faster to jibe, flatten, and then wing the jib.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practicing and Speed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Winging well takes practice and communicating to your team about the next move. It\u2019s key that everyone is on the same page. With all the tactical options in the J\/70, the fleet has developed its own lingo about turning while winging, \u201cleft turn 1 degree here\u201d or \u201cright turn 1 degree,\u201d because up and down can get confusing with sails on both sides of the boat. For winging or exiting the wing in a J\/70, identify the sail you are jibing. For example, say, \u201cjibing boom to a wing,\u201d \u201cjibing kite to a wing,\u201d or \u201cexiting wing with boom over and a left turn.\u201d In small boats, it\u2019s a little more straightforward, but communications need to be defined regardless. A few examples are: \u201cLet\u2019s wing here,\u201d \u201clet\u2019s jibe then wing,\u201d and \u201clet\u2019s do a wing-on-wing jibe.\u201d And to exit the wing, \u201cjibing the boom to a reach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailing fast while winging is critical, so let\u2019s discuss what you should focus on. The short version is, once you have winged a jib or a spinnaker, sail slightly up toward the jib or spinnaker on a broad reach, or a \u201chigh wing,\u201d as some call it. You\u2019re trying to not sail dead downwind because it\u2019s faster to be slightly up toward the forward sail in a high wing. There\u2019s a sweet spot, which is where the sail would want to fall in toward the boat and assume a reaching position, if you were to head up a few more degrees toward the jib or spinnaker. If you see that happening, bear away a few degrees until it\u2019s stable and happy. At that angle, the jib or spinnaker will be powered up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re holding the sheet, you can feel the sail pulling nicely. Bear away a few more degrees to a dead downwind angle and the sail will lose a little pressure. Bear away a little more and you will feel the slowest winging situation possible\u2014by the lee where the sheet pulls the least because the main starts covering the jib or spinnaker. I see a lot of kids doing this in the FJs and 420s, and sometimes adults in the J\/70s. You can end up there by turning down accidentally, having a wave push the bow down, or possibly by a windshift lifting you. To avoid sailing too low or two high, stick to the rule of sailing high on the foresail, but not so high that it wants to collapse in on itself. This powered-up mode is fast. To keep it here, you need to constantly test the ups, look at the telltales and masthead fly, and feel the power in the sheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are at the perfect wing angle and notice a lift (the masthead fly goes from the weather corner of your boat to the center of the stern), the sheet loses pressure, or you just feel like the boat has lost pressure, head up if you want to continue straight. Or immediately jibe to a reach, throwing the boom over, flattening with extra speed onto a header, then bear away and wing again. The jibe maneuver when lifted is super-fast and allows you to quickly sail the header downwind. If performed before others around you, it allows you to lead on the new, long, headed tack. All of this is tactical gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that you know how and when it\u2019s best to go wing-on-wing, let\u2019s explore seven top winging moves that can make your race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cut the corner. <\/strong>Typically, everyone sails out of the weather mark on starboard, reaching, unless conditions call for an immediate jibe set. If you can wing before the boat in front of you, you cut the corner on them and still maintain a starboard-\u00adtack advantage. The boat in front ends up in a difficult situation in that they want to jibe to aim for the gates, but you have borne away inside them and cut them off, and you\u2019re still on starboard. I love using that move in a J\/70. I\u2019ve been passed by it, and I\u2019ve passed boats using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be the first to wing. <\/strong>If you round the weather mark with a big enough lead or a gap behind you and instantly wing, you can gain huge on the boats that have not yet done so. Doing that while leading can instantly break the race open. While others are reaching and waiting for the opportunity to wing, you\u2019re already sailing deep, headed straight for the leeward mark, and you\u2019re gone. You can end up winning the race by hundreds of meters. And if you happen to have a gap behind you, winging before the group ahead allows you to cut the corner on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paint the competition into a corner. <\/strong>In the same realm of cutting the corner, this move occurs in the corner, near the layline. Let\u2019s say you\u2019re going downwind, reaching on port jibe, and following someone who is also reaching. As you approach the left corner (looking downwind), knowing they will jibe soon, wing behind them. Now you\u2019re sailing deeper and cutting the corner. When they jibe, you now have a perfectly matched racing setup to jump them and steal their breeze. As the boats converge, watch their masthead fly to see where their wind is coming from, and then jibe over by simply throwing your boom with a right turn and flattening onto their breeze. It\u2019s a quick move and takes the wind out of their sails, literally and figuratively. From here, either you roll them, or they\u2019re forced to jibe back into the corner, reducing their options and forcing more maneuvers. You can also \u201cpaint into a corner\u201d against groups of boats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If in the back of the fleet, wing immediately.<\/strong> Another time to go right into the wing mode is when you\u2019re doing poorly. Maybe you were OCS and went back now to find yourself in last place, desperately hoping to catch up. Wing-on-wing can give you that opportunity. Once rounding in last, you can always lighten the mood by pointing out the good news of having a massive lane, and then instantly wing. I\u2019ve seen a lot of people in that position catch up a ton downwind just by getting into the wing and keeping it the whole run, sailing less distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sail perpendicular.<\/strong> When coming into the finish line or a leeward gate, sail perpendicular to reduce distance. By winging, you cut the corner on any boats ahead that are reaching. I think of it as sailing one side of a triangle while they sail two, by extending forward, jibing and reaching back. You can get to the finish line sooner with this move, even if the wind is a little light to wing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a specific scenario coming into a gate where you can use it to get room. If you are closely trailing an opponent and both of you approach the gate just outside the zone (aiming at the middle of the gates), you can wing behind them toward the mark to enter the zone first while they extend forward, then jibe to head back and round the gate. You are now inside and have room. Their jibe opens their stern, and you have entered the zone first and inside. This doesn\u2019t happen often, but it feels nice when it does. It leaves you in a much stronger rounding position to start the next leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ping the competition.<\/strong> You\u2019re on the port jibe near the layline, approaching the right-hand gate (looking downwind), and there are other port-jibe boats overlapped to your right. They\u2019re going to have room on you, probably leaving you on the outside of a big pinwheel around the gate mark. In this situation, you can jibe to starboard and reach toward those boats to take them out past the layline, then lead them back clear ahead and rounding ahead. Chances are, they might not anticipate you doing this, but even if they do, they have to stay clear. For safety within the rules, do this well before the three-boatlength zone, maybe as far out as five or six lengths so there\u2019s no question you\u2019re outside the zone. The boats you\u2019re reaching toward can even be winging on the starboard jibe, but they have to either head up or jibe if on port because you\u2019re the leeward boat. In a classic match-racing move, you\u2019ve reached them off the racecourse, forcing them to overstand. They\u2019re typically flailing at this point and probably starting to yell; bear away once you feel the geometry is correct and jibe toward the mark, breaking the overlap with them and entering the zone clear ahead. We call this the ping move. It can also be done at a \u00addownwind \u00adfinish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vary modes to manage your lane.<\/strong> If you\u2019re wing-on-wing and someone is sailing at a different angle, about to encroach on your breeze, go into reach mode until you find another clean lane. Then bear off and wing again. If you maximize your time in big seams or lanes, you can do some damage downwind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wing-on-wing spinnaker sailing in sportboats has become an essential technique in the tactical toolbox, but like most things, there’s a proper time and place to use it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":75844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Steve Hunt","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"156","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Sailing World editor Steve Hunt shares his experience of when, where and how to wing the asymmetric spinnaker.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"ad_targeting":"","sponsored_url":"","social_share":true},"categories":[156],"tags":[174,2911,1168,184],"class_list":["post-75843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","tag-how-to","tag-print-may-2023","tag-spinnaker","tag-strategy"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}