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Although I hadn’t chosen to study with ForceSail, I still wanted to learn from them. The owner, Alexander Guskov likes arguing with everyone in sailing chats, but his reasoning is hard to dispute. Alongside his course, he runs webinars on sail trim, weather, berthing and other topics. €70 each, covering two five-hour sessions. I considered taking them all, but started with sail theory.
The first session was incredibly useful. We began with how wind exerts forces on different shapes, working towards hull and sail shapes. We covered each sail’s role, its relationship with the keel, and the order of reefing. Interesting points:
• to reduce rolling in waves, you need either high speed or a large heel angle
• the headsail provides drive and the main balances the boat, so reef the main first
• a 150% genoa takes on the mainsail’s function, allowing comfortable sailing under genoa alone
• knowing true wind strength aboard is useless; apparent wind is what matters
• trim primarily by the upper third of the sails
• lower speed lets you sail closer to the wind
• when weighing anchor, you can set the main to give a little movement into the wind
A couple of things bothered me. Alexander is dismissive of Russian sailing terminology, rejecting staksel — from stagsegel, a sail on a stay — yet immediately talking about a headsail, which amounts to much the same thing. He also leaned heavily on maths and formulas, complicating the material unnecessarily.
For the second session, he set website tests on wind and sails. Here lay the catch: we spent the entire second session, six hours, going through those tests. So tedious I almost fell asleep with my eyes open.
Overall, I’d recommend the first sail session. Useful practical advice and the necessary background, presented together in concentrated form.
#training #forcesail
The first session was incredibly useful. We began with how wind exerts forces on different shapes, working towards hull and sail shapes. We covered each sail’s role, its relationship with the keel, and the order of reefing. Interesting points:
• to reduce rolling in waves, you need either high speed or a large heel angle
• the headsail provides drive and the main balances the boat, so reef the main first
• a 150% genoa takes on the mainsail’s function, allowing comfortable sailing under genoa alone
• knowing true wind strength aboard is useless; apparent wind is what matters
• trim primarily by the upper third of the sails
• lower speed lets you sail closer to the wind
• when weighing anchor, you can set the main to give a little movement into the wind
A couple of things bothered me. Alexander is dismissive of Russian sailing terminology, rejecting staksel — from stagsegel, a sail on a stay — yet immediately talking about a headsail, which amounts to much the same thing. He also leaned heavily on maths and formulas, complicating the material unnecessarily.
For the second session, he set website tests on wind and sails. Here lay the catch: we spent the entire second session, six hours, going through those tests. So tedious I almost fell asleep with my eyes open.
Overall, I’d recommend the first sail session. Useful practical advice and the necessary background, presented together in concentrated form.
#training #forcesail
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