Question to the racers: what is the best way to go downwind, say the downwind leg in a triangle race. Assume the wind is constant (rarely the case, but one variable at a time).

We all know the best way to go downwind on any sailboat is never straight, but at a slight angle, possibly with gybes.

So the question is: what is that angle (appr.) on a downwind longboard? Does the answer vary for light, med and strong winds.

As a sub-question, I personally like to go about 160 degrees, and gybe at least a few times. The vary act of gybing is a form of pumping, which gives more speed. Is that legal when pumping is not allowed? How is it controlled then, since gybing on a downwind run is legal?

I know there are experienced racers in this forum, so I feel this is the right place to ask...

In Mistral/Raceboard, Div 2 (years ago), and Windsurfer One Design, the optimum angle for me always seems to vary from running dead downwind (in light winds) to gybing through 90 degrees (Raceboards in strong winds). The Windsurfer would go downwind at perhaps 30 degrees from dead downwind in a big breeze, although of course that will vary to up to 45 degrees if you are trying to get out to a shift, and down to dead square if you are running in a gust in confined waters.

I think the top guys (our best local longboarder in recent times was Olympic medallist and IMCO world champ Lars Kleppich) would sail higher angles as they can generate enough speed to make it worthwhile. In Windsurfer One Designs, the fastest sailors all sail higher angles downwind in big breeze than the slower sailors.

Non-pumping, it seems to work to run squarer because you cannot generate the speed you need.

Under the rules, you cannot come out of a gybe at a higher speed than you would have been at if you hadn't gybed at all.

Woops, that was me.

And by "under the rules" I meant the normal Racing Rules; that is when they are not modified by specific windsurfer rules.

Thanks. Interesting stuff. Yes indeed in my racing days I was amazed at the difference in downwind angles between a top racer and an average one. There is more than strategy here - one has to be able to safely and efficiently gybe, esp. in strong wind, which only proficient racers can do.

When I was racing (80s), I was downwinding at higher angle than most, indeed to generate overall downwind speed, as you state. I would say downwind was my specialty then, the weakness being the rest

Lately I've been playing with almost 90 degrees in stronger wind, and it's just amazing how I get there in about the same time. Of course, it's much harder work and riskier (risk of missing a gybe), but soooo much more fun.

OK, will keep playing with all this.

> you cannot come out of a gybe at a higher speed than you would have

That would be one difficult rule to monitor.

Pierre, I think that you got it right when you said that it depends upon the amount of wind. As a raceboard sailor I find that on the down wind in less than say 7 knots that square is often the quickest and best route down wind. However as the wind starts to get beyond this and depending on how hard you want to pump then the angle can get shallower. The board width also plays a part on how soon you can get on the plane and your angle.

Cheers
Pat

To re-inforce Pat's comment re board width - the new raceboards coming out from Mistral and Starboard seem to have substantially wider tails.

My bet is that when planing, these boards will sail lower angles than the prior generation of raceboards. However, they may pay a price in sub-planning conditions. It will be very interesting to see this when we get to race against the new boards.

In sub-planning conditions, my experience is that dead square or thereabouts is fastest. Speed is mostly driven by sail size and pumping abilities.