Post by viv on Oct 9, 2017 12:26:46 GMT -8
The Flying Shadow (FS) is my favorite SL boat, and I have spent many hours sailing this fine little cat.
Here are some tips to get you started and “flying” over the SL waters.
First of all, there are 2 ways to sail the FS: either with crew or solo. And this has significant impact on the boat's behaviour.
I will focus on the solo part here.
With a crew, the boat becomes easier to handle, more stable upwind, and faster overall around any course, with most wind conditions.
The boat is rather complex. There are many things to manage: steering, sails trim, spinnaker, daggers and, crucially, hiking.
You can even trim the sails independently by "unlocking" them (say "lock" in chat to switch mode).
When in unlocked mode, the up/down arrows control only the main, the page up/page down keys control the foresails (jib+spin).
I will keep the unlocked mode for another, more "advanced" article.
1/ Steering the FS and points of sails
The FS can sail on a broad range of angles to the wind, from about 45º to real wind, to straight downwind (180º TWA - true wind angle).
She is however the more lively between beam reach and broad reach, which is from about 80 to 150º relative to true wind, so about 50 to 125 AWA.
With sails well trimmed and boat level, sailing as close as 45-50AWA, the FS will soon raise on her foil: you are airborne, foiling.. That is, if you lowered the dagger (also called the foil) on the sails side.
Speed will quickly increase as the boat is free from hull/water resistance, and you will need to trim the sails slightly to keep accelerating until well faster than wind speed (about 125% of wind speed, i.e. 19-20 knots for a 15-knot wind).
When sailing further from the wind, there will be a point where you will need more power to maintain that high speed. Indeed, sailing faster than the wind means that the wind pressure on the sails decreases, ever more so as you get lower, bearing away to broad reach. That is when you need to raise the spin, to get that extra power. The tipping point is about 70 AWA. Below that angle, you won’t be able to keep the spin flying well, the limit being 65 AWA. Below 65 AWA, the boat becomes unruly, unstable, the spin keeps flapping, and speed drops.
On the other hand, sailing further away from the wind, you will need to ease the sheets progressively, keeping sails at the limit of flapping for maximum efficiency. At the same time you will need to hike in to keep the boat level. With stronger winds (20 knots and +), you should be able to sail almost straight downwind without losing much speed (up to about 150 AWA, about 170 TWA)
2/ Hiking
As the boat is a light boat, it is the sailor who provides righting momentum through hiking.
The rule of thumb here: the flatter the boat, the better. (edit: a slight heel angle is preferred to totally flat)
It means that you must move around the trampoline to level the boat as best you can, so that the boat remains horizontal.
Sailing solo upwind (close-hauled) with winds as light as 14-15knots, you won't be able to have the boat level with sails rightly trimmed, even when hiking out to the max. It's ok: the boats remains in displacement mode, i.e. not foiling, and you will be fine sailing up to a 30º AWA (that is 30 degree form apparent wind)
Hiking left and right is done either using the HUD (horizontal arrows) or by Shift+left/right arrow keys. Alternatively, you can use chat commands either directly or with gestures.
To keep the boat balanced, you hike on the side opposite to the sails. Else, you may capsize! You'd better react quickly when you start seeing "Danger!" warnings in local chat, or you'll end up swimming.
Emergency actions include: easing sheets quickly, hiking further out opposite the sails, steering into the wind (but this last action will get you stuck in irons).
It is good practice testing the boat to see when the "dangers" warnings are triggered and how the boat reacts to your corrective actions.
3/ Daggers
Daggers, or foils, are the curved blades dropping through each hulls of the cat. Their role is dual, preventing drift like a center board does in a dinghy and providing lift as the boat speeds up.
When moored, they are both up.
You don’t need to lower them as the boat starts, since they only come into play when the boat speed gets over 10 knots, progressively lifting the boat above the water, allowing for her full speed potential.
One caveat: DO NOT LOWER BOTH DAGGERS AT ONCE, especially when reaching at full speed or the boat will tip over, doing a lovely forward somersault (the nautical term is “pitch-pole”)
In normal sailing, at foiling speed, the dagger on the sail side needs to be down.
For instance, if sailing on starboard tack, wind coming from the right, the sails are on the left side of the boat, the left dagger should be down while the right dagger remains up. The skipper is likely to be hiking out on the right side, counter-balancing the sails pull.
You need to get ready to swap daggers whenever you change tack, either through a gybe (downwind) or a tack (turning into the wind).
To be perfectly safe, start by raising whichever dagger is down before lowering the other one (cf. pitch-pole above). But you may do it the other way round… Just don’t be fazed by the “Danger!” warnings and complete the maneuver swiftly !
Here are some tips to get you started and “flying” over the SL waters.
First of all, there are 2 ways to sail the FS: either with crew or solo. And this has significant impact on the boat's behaviour.
I will focus on the solo part here.
With a crew, the boat becomes easier to handle, more stable upwind, and faster overall around any course, with most wind conditions.
The boat is rather complex. There are many things to manage: steering, sails trim, spinnaker, daggers and, crucially, hiking.
You can even trim the sails independently by "unlocking" them (say "lock" in chat to switch mode).
When in unlocked mode, the up/down arrows control only the main, the page up/page down keys control the foresails (jib+spin).
I will keep the unlocked mode for another, more "advanced" article.
1/ Steering the FS and points of sails
The FS can sail on a broad range of angles to the wind, from about 45º to real wind, to straight downwind (180º TWA - true wind angle).
She is however the more lively between beam reach and broad reach, which is from about 80 to 150º relative to true wind, so about 50 to 125 AWA.
With sails well trimmed and boat level, sailing as close as 45-50AWA, the FS will soon raise on her foil: you are airborne, foiling.. That is, if you lowered the dagger (also called the foil) on the sails side.
Speed will quickly increase as the boat is free from hull/water resistance, and you will need to trim the sails slightly to keep accelerating until well faster than wind speed (about 125% of wind speed, i.e. 19-20 knots for a 15-knot wind).
When sailing further from the wind, there will be a point where you will need more power to maintain that high speed. Indeed, sailing faster than the wind means that the wind pressure on the sails decreases, ever more so as you get lower, bearing away to broad reach. That is when you need to raise the spin, to get that extra power. The tipping point is about 70 AWA. Below that angle, you won’t be able to keep the spin flying well, the limit being 65 AWA. Below 65 AWA, the boat becomes unruly, unstable, the spin keeps flapping, and speed drops.
On the other hand, sailing further away from the wind, you will need to ease the sheets progressively, keeping sails at the limit of flapping for maximum efficiency. At the same time you will need to hike in to keep the boat level. With stronger winds (20 knots and +), you should be able to sail almost straight downwind without losing much speed (up to about 150 AWA, about 170 TWA)
2/ Hiking
As the boat is a light boat, it is the sailor who provides righting momentum through hiking.
The rule of thumb here: the flatter the boat, the better. (edit: a slight heel angle is preferred to totally flat)
It means that you must move around the trampoline to level the boat as best you can, so that the boat remains horizontal.
Sailing solo upwind (close-hauled) with winds as light as 14-15knots, you won't be able to have the boat level with sails rightly trimmed, even when hiking out to the max. It's ok: the boats remains in displacement mode, i.e. not foiling, and you will be fine sailing up to a 30º AWA (that is 30 degree form apparent wind)
Hiking left and right is done either using the HUD (horizontal arrows) or by Shift+left/right arrow keys. Alternatively, you can use chat commands either directly or with gestures.
To keep the boat balanced, you hike on the side opposite to the sails. Else, you may capsize! You'd better react quickly when you start seeing "Danger!" warnings in local chat, or you'll end up swimming.
Emergency actions include: easing sheets quickly, hiking further out opposite the sails, steering into the wind (but this last action will get you stuck in irons).
It is good practice testing the boat to see when the "dangers" warnings are triggered and how the boat reacts to your corrective actions.
3/ Daggers
Daggers, or foils, are the curved blades dropping through each hulls of the cat. Their role is dual, preventing drift like a center board does in a dinghy and providing lift as the boat speeds up.
When moored, they are both up.
You don’t need to lower them as the boat starts, since they only come into play when the boat speed gets over 10 knots, progressively lifting the boat above the water, allowing for her full speed potential.
One caveat: DO NOT LOWER BOTH DAGGERS AT ONCE, especially when reaching at full speed or the boat will tip over, doing a lovely forward somersault (the nautical term is “pitch-pole”)
In normal sailing, at foiling speed, the dagger on the sail side needs to be down.
For instance, if sailing on starboard tack, wind coming from the right, the sails are on the left side of the boat, the left dagger should be down while the right dagger remains up. The skipper is likely to be hiking out on the right side, counter-balancing the sails pull.
You need to get ready to swap daggers whenever you change tack, either through a gybe (downwind) or a tack (turning into the wind).
To be perfectly safe, start by raising whichever dagger is down before lowering the other one (cf. pitch-pole above). But you may do it the other way round… Just don’t be fazed by the “Danger!” warnings and complete the maneuver swiftly !