Sailing your Catamaran fast and in the right direction
First off, there are a lot of adjustments to play with on a modern cat. However, like many things, 90% of your speed potential is determined by 10% of the adjustments. We’ll focus on that 10% here. The tiller, main, and jib are the primary 3 controls that a beginning racer needs to worry about.
| Upwind | |||
| Light Air – up to 5 or 6 kts | Medium Air ~ 7-12kts | Heavy Wind ~13kts+ | |
| Tiller | Steer so the [[Apparent Wind]] starts out at about 35-40°. Once the boat gains some speed you can slightly head up a bit. Steer to the jib telltales. The [[Luff]] side should be steady streaming back and the back side should be slightly lifted – up to 45°, but not dancing. | Same as Light Air | Steering is similar to before. Try not to [[Pinch]] or feather too much - its slow. |
| Jib | Tighten (sheet-in) jib so the [[Leech]] of the jib follows the contour of the main. Don’t over-sheet and close off or choke the [[Slot]]. Sheet in slightly in puffs and relax in lulls. | Tighten (sheet-in) jib firmly. However, don’t oversheet and make the bottom curl. Jib sheet tension should be adjusted as wind strength changes (firm up in puffs, and a little-bit looser in the lulls). | Super tight, as flat as possible |
| Main | The traveler should be centered. Main sheeted so upper 2-3 [[Leech]] tell tails just start to play peek-a-boo behind the mainsail, then sheet out a bit so they stream back. Keep testing the telltales to verify proper trim. Firm up the main just a bit in puffs and relax in lulls. | The traveler should be centered. The main sheeted so upper 2-3 [[Leech]] (trailing edge) tell tails just start to play peek-a-boo behind the mainsail, then sheet out a bit so they stream back. Keep testing the telltales on main and jib to verify proper trim. Firm up the main as the boat speed increases. | Sheet the main hard and use the [[Cunningham]] and [[Outhaul]] as needed to flatten the sail. The cunningham is very effective in depowering the main. If the crew is strong, have them continuously adjust main sheet tension to spill wind in the puffs. If this is not enough, the skipper can also travel out the main and/or feather into the wind as necessary. |
| Downwind | |||
| Light Air – up to 5 or 6 kts | Medium Air ~7-12kts | Heavy Wind ~13kts+ | |
| Tiller | Your average course should be about 45° from straight downwind, but prioritize on following the [[Apparent Wind]] angle of about 90°. As boat speed picks up, steer down to keep [[Apparent Wind]] at 90°. Steer down in puffs and head up a bit in lulls. | Same as Light Wind | Speed is your friend - you have to keep it up to keep the boat manageable. After the bear away, its better to sail deep at first and then slowly head up to “heat it up”. Again, keeping boat speed up is important as it will actually reduce the apparent wind speed and make the boat feel more manageable. |
| Jib | Sheet-out jib quite a bit so the tell tales on windward side of the jib luff start to dance and then sheet in just a bit to get them to smooth out. To sail fast, this should be continuously adjusted as wind speed and boat speed vary. Tell tales on back side should always be streaming back (not dancing). | Same as Light Wind | Same as Light Wind |
| Main | Set the traveler out to roughly 6” in from hull. The Main shoudl be sheeted so upper 2-3 leech (trailing edge) tell tails just start to play peek-a-boo behind the mainsail, then sheet out a bit so they stream back. Keep testing the telltales to verify proper trim. Firm up the main as the wind increases in puffs. | Set the traveler out to roughly 6” in from hull. Main should be sheeted out so the leech (trailing edge) tell tails are flowing smoothly and then sheet in just a tad. The main sheet should not be cleated and continuously adjusted if you want to go fast. | Set the traveler out to roughly 6” in from hull. Continuously adjust main to be sure you have good backside flow (not stalled). You will need to actively sheet in as you heat it up. Head downwind in the puffs – this is counterintuitive at first, but if you try to head up, you’ll surely swim. Daggers should be raised about half way. |