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Had my first sail in Spark no. 252 today. Great fun. Many thanks to Pete King for selling it at such a good price. The photos of her going nicely (or upside down as Seasalter sailors think of it) will be coming soon! Only problem was kangerooing in the waves off the Kent coast. Are there anyways to stop this?
Ta,Ben
I used to sail at Cat Club at Sheerness, where the faster tide could set up a really nasty chop.
You need to drive the boat as hard as you can through it - I eventually decided that the extra power from Sport Mode really helped in this respect.
On the beat it pays to bear away to get up speed and then you can try 2 things - preferably combined.
First is to sit where the cat will pitch through the waves, and then you can swing your upper body fore and aft to counter some of the pitching.
2nd is to try different steering techniques through the waves - I can't be specific because the same technique doesn't work in all wave conditions - depending on how short (distance from wave to wave) the chop is, and to some extent on the wind strength. You have to "try to see what works", ie when bearing away and when luffing up pays in the wave pattern you are in.
Off wind runs are best taken by bearing away downwind as you surf down a wave, luffing up in lighter conditions to regain speed so that at the next wave crest you gain more when you bear away again.
