Twist or Attack?

The wind is up and it is time to de-power the mainsail, so are you going to Twist-off or change the Angle of Attack of the mainsail.

There are numerous articles on sail trim which will undoubtedly explain this better than I can, but I'll attempt to give a brief description of each method.

Angle of Attack de-powering is probably how you were taught to sail. It involves flattening the entire main using loads of backstay, Cunningham, kicker and outhaul. Having flattened the entire main you then play the traveller to change the sails angle of attach to the wind to de-power. When the traveller is fully down-tracked you switch to playing the main. In a gust you are probably calling "Down Track!" or something similar to the main trimmer and watching the sail rag until the gust is through.

Twisting off powers up the lower part of the sail whilst de-powering the top part of the sail. Use backstay tension to flatten and de-power the top part of the main sail. Then power up the lower part of the sail by loosening off the kicker, up-tracking the traveller and use the mainsheet to pull the boom to the centre line of the boat.
The mainsail will now really twist off, giving you power low down for driving forward, but reducing power in the top of the sail to reduce the heeling effect on the boat.
You can then play the backstay, main and kicker (in that order) to maintain the required power level in the sail. You can really play the backstay in this mode, on in the gusts and off in the lulls. In a gust you will now be calling something like "Backstay On!" to the mainsail trimmer.

I have always used the traditional Angle of Attack method, but have recently started to use the Twist-off method and the difference on the 31.7 is very noticeable.
In Twist-off mode the boat seems to stagger less in the gusts, and it feels kinder to the sails and the rig as the loads and heeling moments appears to be a lot less.
I am now looking to carry full main and #3 up towards 30 knots true, whereas in Angle of Attack mode I would have had two reefs in well before we got to 30 knots.

Don't forget this is primarily for wind conditions in the 16-30 knot range. Also keep an eye on you pointing, if you Twist-off too much you will probably affect your ability to point.

I am now a complete convert to Twisting-off, why now give it a try and see what you think.

AUTHOR: Andy Phelps – Electra GBR 8198T
DATE: 16 November 2005