The first thing I want to address is the mental part of sailing in heavy air. You need to like it or at least trick yourself into liking it. Think back to when you were a kid and you were afraid of something. Perhaps it was the high dive at the pool, windy day at sailing camp or just being a daredevil on a bike. Initially there are concerns about what might happen; but after the first few crashes, belly-flops or death-rolls, you learn it’s not terrible and can even be fun.

Heavy air sailing is much the same way. After the first few broaches downwind or launching off a few waves upwind, you realize it is not that bad. After the first couple of experiences, it is less intimidating. Heavy air sailing is a lot more work but much more fun and rewarding. I am not one to spout off rules or slogans before racing; but the one thing that is common to all the teams and people I sail with is the attitude, “NO ONE WORKS HARDER THAN US.”  This is the state of mind you need to have in survival conditions.
Here are a few sailing tips to help get you over the hump. These are in no particular order.

1. Get yourself a nice, newer style life jacket. I am not kidding about this; the new ones are much more comfortable and allow more movement and agility.
   
2. Most tuning guides are set up for moderate winds. Don’t be afraid to wind a few extra turns up on the rig when it is really snorting. If you have a certain ratio of uppers to lower that you use, continue in this mode.
   
3. You are still racing. Try to go through the same pre-race routine as you would in all other conditions.
   
4. Traveler. I only use my traveler in light-to-moderate winds and it only goes to windward. Once you get all your crew on the high side and start to put backstay on, put your traveler car on the centerline and ignore it. When I am not using it, I tape the line to the traveler so I have one less thing in which to get my feet tangled.
   
5. Vang. Applying vang does a few things. It will take the place of the traveler, allowing you to play just the mainsheet without the leach opening up too much and hurting your pointing. The load on the vang also forces the boom forward at the gooseneck and bends the mast. This flattens the bottom third of the mainsail. A good place to start with this is to match the vang tension with the mainsheet. As wind increases, keep applying vang. Our foredeck is 200+ pounds and at max vang he is pulling about as hard as he can while still sitting on the deck. This is constantly adjusted. Every time you adjust the backstay (especially easing) you need to adjust the vang. Make sure it is the maximum power of 8 to 1.
   
6. Backstay. Even in big breeze, there are puffs and lulls. Play your backstay as you would in the medium wind ranges; however now you are going to go from just plain tight to really tight. To find out where max backstay is, look for over-bend wrinkles to appear in the lower section of the mainsail.
   
   
   

   This is a good example of over-bend wrinkles. This is pretty close to max backstay. If we get more velocity I would put more backstay on, but not much more. If we depower too much we will not have enough power to punch through the waves.  

   
   
7. Jib Leads. Everyone moves the jib leads back. This may not be enough. In the big puffs we may also ease the jib about one to two inches to open the top of the jib and depower it. By easing the jib and not putting the jib leads too far back, we can trim the jib and power up quicker in the lulls.
   
8. Mainsheet. Now that the traveler is cleated off, you have an extra hand. Your mainsheet is now your new best friend and you will be holding its hand a lot. I play this constantly. I use angle of heel to judge how much I can trim or need to ease the sail. Having the mainsail luff is faster than the boat heeling too much. Remember, in these conditions if it is not luffing, you do not need to trim it.  
   
9. Crew weight. Pack it together and move aft. Center the crew weight around the jib trimmer and move a bit aft to keep the bow from digging into the waves.
   
10. Downwind. Keep the weight aft.  We take the guy to the winch and have the bow person in the hatch or in that area. This will help the trimmer last longer and allow him to pump on the waves more. Don’t be afraid of pumping the mainsail on the waves.
    
11. If you drive too deep downwind, the boat may start to get squirrely and start to roll side to side. Try to keep the mast over the keel. Yea, I know it sounds weird until you think about it. If the boat heels to leeward, you can bear off. If the boat rolls to windward, head up. If you continue to roll back and forth, you want to head up some. If you are going to wipe out, it is better to just broach up than round down into a gibe.
    
12. Have fun. I have sailed the J/22s in some pretty hairy stuff over the years and can’t remember many of them breaking.
    
13. Try to practice in heavy air. If possible, use someone else’s boat. I have to say thanks to Paul for this opportunity.

That just about covers it. I will see you at the next regatta and if you have any questions just ask.--TF

 

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