Vareo Tips

Thanks to Geoff Shaw of Roadford SC.

RS Vareo Sailing

Beating
Light Winds.
Boat set up.
Adjustable traveller: Slack
Cunningham: Enough to remove creases in sail
Outhaul: To give a shallow curve to sail, not quite flat
Kicker: On enough to take out most of twist in sail

Helm position should be near the mast, allow boat to heel to leeward a little. Your aim is to have the narrowest but longest section of hull in the water.
Sailing: Keep the boat moving, by sailing slightly off wind. Do not over sheet the main. The end of the boom should be roughly over the corner of the transom. Watch your wind indicators carefully and steer so that the wind is constantly attached to the sail. ( windward and leeward ). Move around the boat carefully so you do not shake the wind from the sail. When tacking, try to do an exaggerated roll tack, but nice and slowly. Needs to be enough to pop the battens. In a slight gust, hike out and head up to gain ground.

Just Above Light Winds. (Enough to sit on the side deck continuously.)

Boat set up.
As above.

Helm position should be roughly in line with the front of the centre board, try to keep the boat flat, or a slight heel to leeward is ok.
Sailing: The boom can be sheeted as above. Keep an eye on your wind indicators again. Keep wind attached to sail. When tacking, roll tack smoothly, but not quite as slowly as in light winds. In a gust, hike out and head up again.

Medium Winds. (Hiking comfortably but not straining yourself.)

Boat set up.
Adjustable traveller: A bit tighter than above
Cunningham: Just more than enough to remove creases in sail
Outhaul: To give a nice curve in sail, bit deeper than above
Kicker: On enough to hike comfortably, not much twist in sail

Helm position should now be roughly in line with the back half of the centre board.
Sailing: Now keep the boat as flat as possible, using steering ( as little as possible )your weight and main sheet. Try to keep a nice curve in the sail. Even if you need more kicker, try to keep a curve in the sail by easing the outhaul. The curve is producing the forward power. Watch wind indicators again. Sheet the main in so the end of the boom is over the corner of the transom. Block to block distance should be about 18”. When tacking, roll tack if you can, ease main during tack and head off on new tack slightly off wind, to gain speed, sheet in and hike out, head up again. You may be able to sheet in while you are finishing your roll tack, if you can maintain speed. ( requires practice ). In a gust, ease main, hike hard and bear away to go for speed, then slowly sheet in and head up again. Keep the boat flat. This will keep the increase in speed on for longer.

Strong Winds. (Hiking hard as much as you can.)

Boat set up.
Adjustable traveller: Tight, this stops you sheeting in to much
Cunningham: On a lot depending on weight
Outhaul: On more to give slight curve with kicker and Cunningham on
Kicker: On as much as you can

Helm position should be just behind main sheet block.
Sailing: Some people find that raising the centre board by about 5” helps in strong wind. Do not sheet in too much. The end of boom position now is just outward of the transom or a bit further. With a tight traveller this is as far in as you can sheet anyway. Sail more off wind than before. Sailing too high will be slow or will stop the boat and you will get stuck head to wind. Keep the boat as flat as you can, or even heeled to windward slightly is ok. Before tacking, make sure you have good boat speed, even bear away a bit to gain speed, then pick your spot on the water, and tack. Ease the main sheet through the tack, and head off on your new tack, a bit further off wind than normal. Keep the boat moving, hike hard and sheet in again, then head up again. Don’t worry about roll tacking, concentrate on getting round, it is easy to get stuck head to wind. In a gust, sheet out the main, hike hard and bear away, and go for speed again. Slowly sheet in and head up again after gust. Keep the boat flat.

Reaching

Bear away in a gust and sheet out main, once at speed slowly sheet in again. Play the main sheet in and out to keep speed up. Head up after a gust has finished, so you are ready to bear away again on the next gust. Helm position should be in the middle of the boat, then move astern in the gusts to stop nose diving. Keep the boat flat.

N.B. In waves, tack at the top of a wave or just before the top. The bow should stay out of the water this way.
General Sailing in Waves.
Beating.
Short Chop: Try and work your way through the chop. You don’t want the boat slamming or ploughing into a wave. ( very slow ). At the crucial moment, move your weight back to allow the bow to lift over or bridge a trough. If you have to go through a wave, bear away to gain power and speed, then move your body forward to push through the wave. Then continue picking your way through the waves.
Rollers: Going up a roller, sheet in and head up. Just before the top of the wave, sheet out and bear away, and sail fast down the back of the wave, then sheet in again and head up the front of the next wave. (with practice this is a fast way through waves).

Down Wind Sailing

Light Winds.
Boat set up.
Adjustable traveller: As for up wind
Cunningham: Off
Outhaul: As for up wind or eased slightly
Kicker: Eased to give a twist in the sail

Helm position should be forward to get the transom out of the water.
Sailing: In very light winds it is often not worth hoisting the spinnaker, because you have to sail way too high to fly it. Sail Laser style. Centre board up a fair bit. Boom out as far as it will go ( to stopper knot ) you will probably have to hold it in position. Lean the boat so that the sail is over the boat. This puts the centre of force on the sail over the centre of the boat. Head straight for the leeward mark. Keep looking for wind, and if you see any signs, head for it. Roll gybe nice and slowly, but enough to pop the battens.

Just Above Light Winds. (Enough to fly the spinnaker.)

Boat set up.
Adjustable traveller: As for up wind
Cunningham: Off
Outhaul: As for light winds
Kicker: Eased 6” to 9”

Helm position should be near the centre board.
Sailing: The boat will not plane in these conditions, so your aim is to soak as much as possible. It is sometimes worth releasing the spinnaker halyard by 3” or 4”, this allows the spinnaker to fill to windward a little more. Heel the boat slightly to windward, this allows you to sail a bit lower. The main sheet can be out to the stopper knot. Watch wind indicators and try to keep spinnaker flying. The luff of the spinnaker should be just trying to curl. Keep sheeting spinnaker to check for this. Keep an eye open for increased pressure on the spinnaker, if you feel more pressure, head up slightly to gain speed.
Gybeing: Head up to gain speed, sheet in main a bit, then carry out a nice roll gybe. Make sure the spinnaker is gybed and filling before bringing the boat upright from the roll. The roll gybe must also pop the mainsail battens. You may have to help the main across. Concentrate on your steering so you do not gybe too much of an angle.

What to do with the sheets when gybeing.
When you are ready to gybe, sheet in the main and cleat it off. Move the spinnaker sheet that you are holding to your tiller hand. Now your free hand can grab the other slack spinnaker sheet. Take up the slack just when you are ready to gybe. The spinnaker is now flying from the new sheet ( you will already be slowing down ). Release the tiller hand sheet and pre gybe the tiller extension, then gybe. Allow the boat to come over you then move across. Give the new spinnaker sheet a really good pull through the boat. If the boom has not come across, help it with your sheet hand. Steer behind your back and watch the spinnaker fill, then bring the boat upright again. Your sheet hand can now grab the tiller extension, then take the spinnaker sheet with your free forward hand. Concentrate on steering through the gybe.
Sounds a lot to do in a short space of time, but practice makes this become automatic.
NB, Before gybeing, look behind to check for other boats and any approaching gusts.

Medium Winds.

Boat set up.
Adjustable traveller: As for up wind
Cunningham: Eased a lot but not quite off
Outhaul: Preset or can be eased
Kicker: Eased 5” to 6”

Helm position should be between centre board and end of tiller, or in line with end of tiller.
Sailing: Kicker and Cunningham can be eased just before the windward mark or just after whilst heading down wind. Just before is better if you can. Round the windward mark, ease main fully out whilst bearing away to head dead down wind. Keep the boat flat or slightly heeled to windward at the bear away. Hoist spinnaker, and head up so the spinnaker fills. Sheet main in to about 45 degrees. ( be careful not to over sheet the main ) Check that the spinnaker is flying correctly, luff is just trying to curl, keep checking this say every 10 or 15 seconds. Keep the boat flat, head up to get full power then bear away if the boat heels to leeward. Watch the mainsail, if you are over powered ease the main sheet until it just backs at the luff, then sheet in a little. If it is backing at any other time, sheet the main in until it stops backing. If a gust hits you, bear away quickly, and go with it. You may have to ease the main at the same time. Keep the sheet in your hand so you can dump the main quickly if you need to.
Gybeing: Sheet the main to about 45 degrees, and cleat off. Check behind for boats and gusts. Don’t worry about roll gybeing to much, its quicker not to capsize. Gybe as described on the previous page, but keep the boat flat. Really concentrate on steering, and try to keep speed up, into and through the gybe. Speed means the sails have less pressure on them. Be ready to uncleat the main sheet if all goes wrong. Its always the main that will get you swimming.
Once you have completed your gybe, check the set of your sails. Is main ok, and test the spinnaker luff. Head up and go. To drop the spinnaker, ease the main fully out, and head dead down wind. Release halyard and drop spinnaker as quickly as you can, so that it doesn’t end up in the water. Tidy sheets ready for the next up wind leg. Sheet in the main as you round the leeward mark, and head up on the next beat.

Strong Winds.

Boat set up.
Adjustable traveller: As for up wind
Cunningham: Eased a fair bit but not quite off
Outhaul: Preset don’t even think about it
Kicker: Eased 6” to 8”

Helm position should be at back of boat, to stop nose diving.
Sailing: At the windward mark, keep the boat flat, ease the main and slowly bear away. The boat will probably plane straight away. If this feels fast enough for you, don’t hoist the spinnaker. Play the main to keep speed up. Concentrate on steering. Go for the spinnaker hoist as you sail dead down wind. Sheet in spinnaker and main and go for it. Head up for more power, bear away if you start to heel to leeward. Keep main sheet in your hand, ready to dump some main if you need to. Keep the boat flat.
Gybeing: Good steering is vital. Gybe when you are going fast, but not during a gust. Just as a gust ends is ok. Strong wind gybeing means you must concentrate on steering and main sheet control, its always the main that will put you in. Check behind as usual, sheet main to about 50 degrees, and grab slack spinnaker sheet.
Go for gybe, give the spinnaker sheet a good pull. Make sure you help the boom across ( this is important ) Once the boom comes across steer dead down wind, until you have good control again. Dump the main sheet if you need to. Concentrate on steering and main, don’t worry about the spinnaker until you are settled, then sheet in the spinnaker and head off on your new course. Stay as far back in the boat as possible to keep bow up. Move across the boat quickly whilst gybeing. Sheet out main fully and head down wind to drop the spinnaker.

Down Wind in Waves.

Try to use each wave to get surfing. In light or medium winds the waves will not be that big, so head up slightly to gain speed and try to stay on the wave for as long as possible. To start surfing, as the wave picks up the boat , move your weight forwards. This should get you surfing, just try and stay with the wave. In stronger winds it is much easier to get surfing. Use the same method, but be careful not to sail straight into the wave in front. Try to sail along the wave, and choose your moment to speed over the wave in front, then stay with that one, until you can go for the next one.
Gybeing: The best time to gybe is when you are surfing at speed down a wave. This is quite scary at fist, but at this moment the sails are least powered up. Even your spinnaker may be flogging because you are moving as fast as the wind. Steering needs to be good. Once gybed head off on new course.

Racing

Starting.

Check start line transits and safe transits. Try a timed approach. Check for any wind bias on the line, you may see a port end flyer opportunity. Don’t let yourself be in a position where you could be pushed over the line. Ideally at the start you want a nice little space to get clean wind right on the line, so you can sail fast off the line without any one getting in your way.

First Beat.

Try hard on the first beat. Don’t sail to the lay lines to soon, unless there is more wind on a particular part of the course. In light winds always go to where the wind is. CONCENTRATE, TRY NOT TO MAKE ANY MISTAKES. Think about this all the time, it is mistakes that will cost you places. Think ahead when approaching the windward mark. If you are on starboard you have right of way ( call in plenty of time if you have to ). Make sure you can make the mark. If you are on port, look for a gap in the traffic for you to pass, and then tack onto starboard. Or you may be able to lee bow other boats if you can still make the mark. You cannot tack directly in front of another boat.

Down Wind Leg.

Round the windward mark and bear away, hoist the spinnaker and go. Head for clean wind. Keep thinking. Make sure that no one is above you, taking your wind or stopping you heading up. You will find it difficult to pass. Make sure you can gybe when you want to and not have starboard called on you. Try to approach the leeward mark on starboard. Aim to arrive at the leeward mark with room to bear away and drop your spinnaker. Round the mark, keep the boat moving as you round up and head up onto the next beat. Sheet in the main as you round up, then adjust kicker and Cunningham.

Rules to consider.

Starboard over port.
Windward boat gives way.
Two boat lengths at mark.
Upping at start and racing.
Overtaking boat must keep clear.
Touching marks at start and on course.
Infringements 720 degree turn.
OCS.
After finish must not re-cross line.
Tacking onto some ones line.