Women's Snipe Sailing
MANEUVRES, POLE LAUNCHING, & MARK ROUNDINGS
Tacks
THE SKIPPER MUST TURN THE BOAT CORRECTLY
The Snipe is a very heavy boat and this greatly impacts how you tack the boat. The skipper should not turn the boat fast. Turning the boat fast requires too much rudder and this is slow. When the jib sheet catches on the shroud, this is usually the result of the skipper turning the boat too fast.
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The Snipe is roll tacked in light air. Light teams should be careful not to roll the boat too much. The boat is heavy and difficult to flatten without weight. If you cannot flatten the boat quickly, you will loose acceleration.
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Do not trim the main and jib until the boat is flat coming out of the tack.
Tacks - Crew
The crew tacks backwards in the Snipe. The back leg crosses to the new side first and goes immediately under the hiking strap. The jib should luff as little as possible through the tack. The crew can reduce luffing by keeping tension on the old and new sheet through the tack.
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The crew should not backwind the jib through the tack. With a heavy boat like the Snipe, backwinding the jib causes the boat to slip sideways. Backwinding is only acceptable when tacking in extremely light conditions. In windy conditions, the crew should be the first person across the boat and hiking on the new side, before the skipper.
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To trim the jib properly after the tack, the crew must look at the leech of the jib and the distance to the spreader. Look through the window in the mainsail. You can also use the splash rail as a reference. The leech of the jib should never be tight against the spreader.
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As soon as is convenient after a tack, the crew should pull the slack out of the windward jib sheet. This allows the crew to be more ready for the next tack and tack faster. It also reduces the jib luffing through the tack, which is faster.
Winward Mark
STEPS FOR A WINDWARD ROUNDING
Coming into the windward mark, the vang must be eased. This is imperative in heavy air, because you can invert your mast if too much vang is on when you turn downwind.
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Crew releases the jib sheet and launches pole while standing in center of the boat.
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Skipper cleats the jib sheet on the windward side after the pole is launched.
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Skipper eases jib halyard off.
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Crew pulls up the centerboard
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Crew eases the outhaul, jib cloth (jib cunningham),
main cunningham, and then moves weight forward.
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In light and medium wind, teams with experience can pull the mast back.
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Leeward Mark
BASIC STEPS FOR THE ROUNDING
3 - 5 BOAT LENGTHS BEFORE MARK
(depends on wind strength)
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Mast forward again (if pulled back during downwind)
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Crew pulls the outhaul on again.
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Crew eases the pole back about 10 cm (4")
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Skipper pulls the jib halyard on.
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Crew puts board down.
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Crew releases pole back and trims jib.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER TURNING UPWIND
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Crew pulls on jib cloth/jib cunningham
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Pull Vang
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Pull main cunningham
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If you are arriving at the leeward mark in a big group or if it is very windy, be sure to take your pole down several boat lengths before the mark. If there is a problem with the pole releasing, or if another boat in front of you has a problem with their pole, it is impossible to turn upwind with the pole still up.
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POLE DOWN EARLY FOR CROWDED ROUNDINGS
