Steve Klotz on sailing the FJ in chop

I set up my boat with the mast near vertical in all but the strongest winds and induced less mast bend than I would in similar winds on flat water.

I also use less outhaul tension in the main and set my jib leads slightly father forward to tighten the leech of the jib and add draft to the sail. Moreover, I usually carried my mast in a forward position in the step. I would have preferred to step my mast father aft in the morning races when the wind was lightest, but I expected the wind to build continually during the day and I cannot move the mast butt very easily on my boat. I didn't encounter any lee helm with my mast near vertical and in the forward step position, but the helm was definitely lighter than it would have been with the mast stepped father aft.

On the second windward leg of the last race, the wind built and I became very overpowered. I then put some additional aft rake in the mast and the boat instantaneously shifted into a higher gear, but, unfortunately, no one was close enough for me to gauge my speed. In general, I was very fast to windward, except in the first race when I had inadvertently set some vang tension.

Off the wind, the boat is much faster with the mast vertical. If the wind was not too strong, I released shroud tension and let the mast rotate forward on downwind legs. I don't like to fool much with mast rake during a race but it takes my crew and me only a few seconds to do so on my boat. Fortunately, I seldom need to reset rake during a race and I avoid releasing the shrouds downwind if the wind is very strong because I need my crew's strength as well as my own to retension the shrouds later. In strong wind, the eyes of both skipper and crew should be focused on the sails and water, not down in the bilge, even for a few seconds.

NOTE: My shroud lever system has a 32:1 mechanical advantage; however, I usually attempt to reset tension only after turning upwind. I am not strong enough to do so downwind unless the wind is light.

My settings for [center]board and mast during the series were:

board as far forward as possible in the trunk on my boat, 2260mm from the transom to the front edge of the board in a fully lowered position

mast butt 8'8"8'9" from the transom to the aft end of the sail

track at the bottom of the mast

mast rake near vertical unless the boat was overpowered on windward legs

mast bend 2"3"

Several sailors also asked me how I steered upwind in the chop. Generally, I didn't think about it very much, but, when I was conscious of my steering, I found myself heading up as the bow was lifted by a wave and heading off as the wave passed under the boat. The motion of the tiller is very subtle. Even when heading up on the front face of a wave, I tried not to pinch or luff the jib. The socalled "groove" the difference between pinching and footing is slightly wider with full sails, thereby making the steering easier and the boat better able to accelerate off the top of a wave.

Sailed properly in chop, the boat should literally dance across the water surface, hardly slowing as the bow is lifted. Acceleration should be easy and perceptible on the backside of waves and the boat should never slam into troughs. With the FJ's relatively small sail plan, some hobbyhorsing is natural (boats with more powerful rigs do not hobbyhorse as much as the FJ). The skipper and crew should sit together as close as possible foreandaft, which reduces the moment of inertia of the boat, permits the bow to lift easily over waves, and prevents the hull from slamming as readily into troughs.

Surfing waves also requires technique. Without the spinnaker, the FJ is very slow downwind. It wallows in troughs and does not catch and ride waves very well or far. The boat is much faster and more stable under spinnaker. The skipper should steer slightly across the wave train, up in the troughs and down the crests. The motion is much the same as steering up in lulls and down in puffs. Skipper and crew must shift weight to catch waves but, if the crew is occupied with the spinnaker, he or she can do little more than lean fore or aft. The skipper can move more quickly and easily. Weight must be shifted aft as a wave comes under the stern and lifts it; then forward as the boat accelerates on the crest, and still father forward when the stern begins to drop into the trough on the backside of the wave.

In conclusion, the sailing conditions at this regatta were excellent the best I have seen on San Francisco Bay. I recommend this site to both FJUS and FJWR for future championships. I strongly urge the membership of FJUS to sail in class championships. Regardless of your place in the standings, which no one but the winner really cares about, I guarantee you will get an intensive course in small boat sailing, and have a great time.

In the past 30 years, I have sailed in many regattas, the last 15 active in FJUS. I have yet to tire of the boat or the sport. The FJ continues to teach me and I am still learning (and relearning) skills. I will never forget the world championships I have sailed in the best I have ever done was in the 50 and 80 boat fleets of those races. I doubt that I am finished yet. YEAH!!!!