In addition to my interest in tech stuff – I am also an avid sailor. Since December I have been sailing a Spiral. This is a fun class – a lot like a laser (if you know what they are) – except a tad smaller.

So I have learnt a lot over the past couple of months – and since there isn’t a lot of content on line about Spiral sailing, I am going to add some here.

I met with some success at the recent NSW State Titles (3rd overall, 2 heat wins and a 3rd). Before that I had a pretty ordinary showing at the National Titles. I mention this simply to set the context for any comment I may make.

I plan/hope to post on a couple of different topics:

• Boat: The Spiral is a one design class – but there are still plenty of things that can slow you down, and some areas for innovation.
• Fitness: As a single hander – power to weight ratio is critical. I will post about my approach to fitness
• Technique: Some specific aspects of boat handling and technique that I have learnt
• Mind games: My weakness… but I will add some comments on this too.

Some of the things I have learnt about boat setup… starting from the back:

• Rudder: The centre bolt needs to be regularly checked to make sure that it is tight enough that the rudder can’t wobble in the rudder box. As a guide, the rudder should be able to stay in any position you leave it without it falling down when you wheel the boat into the water.
• Traveller: The hardest one for me to get right. It will be the subject of a post in its own right
• Mainsheet: Class rules allow a 1:1 mainsheet at the outboard end of the boom. Most sailors are currently using 2:1 purchase. The 1:1 does take a little more muscle (actually 50% more… since typical purchase is 3:1 and I recommend 2:1)… however the reward is a lot less mainsheet to pull in which makes all of the mark roundings, and other tactical maneuvers much easier.
• Outhaul: I use a 6:1 purchase and make sure everything is low friction enough that it can be easily pulled on even when the boom is under heavy vang load. The 6:1 purchase makes pulling it on easier, but also makes setting it more accurate. The outhaul seems quite critical on the Spiral
• Centrecase: Make sure that the centreboard can’t fall out of the centrecase if you capsize (when it is not tied in). If needed, pack out the centrecase with seat belt webbing.
• Vang and cunningham: Make sure they work – most seems to have this right.
• Toe straps: They should be quite tight. If you are very very fit (see my post on fitness) then it might make sense to make them a bit longer, but tighter toestraps give more ‘connection’ to the boat. And longer toe straps don’t often allow people to lean out further – rather it just allows them to have a ‘slouched’ leaning style… which is not good!
• Stiff, fair, light hulls and boards. (Make sure that the hull and boards are on weight and polished and stiff.)
• Sails. Spiral sails actually are pretty hardy. The main thing to look for is that when the sail is set up on the beach with no cunningham and just modest mainsheet tension, that the sail has a nice aerofoil shape. Badly made sails will show non aerofoil shapes. Old, tired sails will need a bit of cunningham tension to look right.