Body Position and Boat Balance


The crew moves the most to keep the boat flat, allowing the skipper to sit still and focus on steering. Whenever you need to move, lean with your upper body first, then step lightly and quickly to move your whole body as needed (or in anticipation of the boat heeling more).


The skipper will find that a sailboat may steer a little better with a little heel in light air. Heeling to leeward in light air will also keep your sail shape optimal rather than luffing back and forth. So when you are sailing in light air, only heel the boat enough to give the skipper a good feel for the helm and to keep the sails in the right shape.


SIDE-TO-SIDE POSITION FOR DOWNWIND When we sail downwind, the force of the wind on the sails is pushing in the same direction the boat is sailing in. There is less of a need to keep the boat flat and less of a need to keep the centerboard or daggerboard vertical in the water to prevent side-slipping.


Catamarans sail best upwind when they have the windward pontoon “flying” just above the water. This reduces wetted surface friction and allows the boat to sail faster.


Instead, the centerboard or daggerboard functions as the pivot point for steering. Without a need for a vertical centerboard or daggerboard, you can retract the centerboard or daggerboard part way and heel the boat to windward; this reduces the friction of wetted surface and gets the sail up higher into the wind. This is referred to as windward heel. The skipper should sit on the windward rail and the crew should adjust his or her weight to maintain a consistent windward heel.


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