by Dave Goeke

Conditions in the San Francisco Bay as anyone reading this knows are unusually challenging. It is not like sailing in San Diego or the Chesapeake. ASA 102, or ‘Performance Sailing’, is a new course offering from American Sailing designed to help students learn technical details of sail trim to optimize performance of relatively small fixed keel sailboats with tiller steering, such as our Merit 25. I recently took the class and the Instructor Qualification Clinic and even with a lifetime of sailing I found it edifying.

Some students who I teach and certify do well in Basic Keelboat and fare poorly in Coastal Cruising because the transition to a bigger boat and heavier bay conditions for some people is a bit of a reach. ASA 102 for many such students will help bridge the transition from 101 to 103.

Some students who I teach and certify in Basic Keelboat have many many many questions about the finer points of sail trim, performance tuning, racing. ASA 101 is focused on teaching fundamentals of sailing, safety, and boat handling. There really isn’t time in the ASA 101 curriculum for addressing the inevitable plethora of questions students always ask about how to make a boat go fast, win races, optimize performance, take full advantage of all the sail controls, or how to use all the sail controls together to optimize performance. ASA 102 for many such technically inclined and inquisitive students will provide the educational opportunity to learn in technical detail with depth about all the sail controls on a sloop rig, how to optimize performance, and how to go fast.

The first topics you learn in this class are that the three sources of power for a sailboat are angle of attack, sail depth, and twist.

The basic tuning controls for a main sail are the cunningham, halyard, back stay, traveller, outhaul, and mainsheet.

For the headsail, or jib, controls that serve the same purpose are the halyard, jibsheet, and fairlead blocks.

The challenging questions ASA 102 will help you answer are how to use all these controls together and in concert, to make a boat sail fast and handle safely, in varying wind conditions that ASA categorizes as light, moderate, and heavy air; when sailing close hauled, on a reach, and on a run. As you can see there are many variables that must be aligned to work correctly together in order to maximize the performance of a boat. Understanding all these topics is especially important on the Bay because conditions are so much more challenging.

Here is the course outline

ASA 101 Review

• Safety, Planning, Preparation
• Roles and responsibility, skipper, crew

Boat Handling

• Sailing Rudderless
• Sailing Backwards
• Tacking
• Jibing
• Ducking
• Slow & Go
• Mooring
• Heaving-To
• Crew Overboard: Figure 8, quick stop, and gybe approach

Sails, Trim, and Power

• Trim Concepts
• Sail Shape and Sail Power
• Centers of resistance and effort
• Sources of power are angle of attack, sail depth, and twist
• How does the keel provide lift
• Balance and Control
• Sail Controls

Using what you know

• Upwind Trim in light, moderate, and heavy air
• Reaching Trim in light, moderate, and heavy air
• Reaching Trim vs Close-Hauled Trim
• Running Trim, in light, moderate, and heavy air
• Deep Broad Reach Trim, in light, moderate, and heavy air
• Wing and Wing Trim
• Reefing

Some questions for prospective students to consider

• You know what a Cunningham is, and how to use it. But how do you best use it sailing up wind in light air? Moderate air? Heavy air?
• The back stay and outhaul work together to help optimize shape of the main sail. How does that work? How does that vary with wind speed and point of sail?
• Fairleads on a jib serve the same purpose as a boom vang and an outhaul on a mainsail. Can you explain that? Where and how should that fairlead be positioned sailing on a run in heavy air? On a reach in light air? Up wind in moderate air?
• What are the controls on a mainsail that control depth? How is depth position adjusted, vertically and horizontally?
• How good are you at putting a boat in a heave to?
• Exactly what is the angle of attack according to ASA?
• According to ASA what are the critical safety hazards and proper techniques for winch safety and winch technique
• Can you sail a Merit 25 backwards? Would you like to learn?
• Can you sail a Merit 25 without using the rudder? Would you like to learn?
• Can you bring a Merit 25 to a complete stop at a pre-designated point?
• How proficient are you with a figure 8 man-overboard recovery? How about gybe approach? How about quick stop? Would you like to get better?

No interest in racing or performance tuning?

Many students tell me they have no interest in sailing for performance, and are not interested in performance tuning, competition, or winning a race. Please don’t fool yourself. Currents and conditions in the SF Bay are unusually challenging. Some day soon you’ll need to point out a lee shore, and some day soon you need to out-sail an an opposing tidal current in heavy chop. Regardless of whether you are interested in competition, racing, or performance tuning, it is in your interest as a skipper to know how to sail a boat to its full capability.

If these questions are of interest to you then ASA 102 from Spinnaker Sailing will help you do that.

ASA offers a rich collection of educational resources, in print, on video, and in person through formal classroom training, to help you learn all this complicated stuff in great detail.

You will learn a lot in this class about sail trim and controls. Expect to work for the certification. The exams are hard. Criteria for passing on-the-water skills demonstrations are rigorous. When you pass you will feel confident in knowing how all the sail controls on a boat work and how to optimize this complex set of controls for varying wind conditions and points of sail. If you like sailing the bay in a fresh breeze with lots of chop I would urge you to consider taking this course. I know a great sailing school in the South Bay where you can take it.