Steve Cockerill has devoted his life
to making singlehanders go fast. He has won national titles in several of the
hottest classes and in 1999 added the R5300 national championship to the list.
Now, on the eve of this year's RS300 nationals, Steve reveals his winning tips
for making this blaster perform to the max.
The RS300 is one of the most challenging and exciting dinghies I have ever sailed. When I first saw its eye-catching lines I remember thinking that her designer, former Europe turned International Moth racer Clive Everest, must have had a totally free hand in its design. The radical 4.25m singlehander is, in my opinion, based on a 1980s Moth. The boat is like sailing a 'Europe with attitude'. It is a boat that tests the nerve of good helmsmen and quickly develops skills in less experienced sailors. My personal view is that if Olympic sailing is really to become 'more exciting' then the RS300 is the sort of boat the International Sailing Federation should be looking at.
As with many of the new one-design boats, the RS300 offers a great cockpit layout and fittings which work well. However, I think the following changes will benefit the sailor who wants to leave no stone unturned in the search for speed:
Firstly remove the swivel-jamming cleat on the mainsheet. This will leave the ratchet block free to accommodate all movements around the cockpit and help prevent rope knots and tangles during tacks and gybes. Replace the Ratchet block with a Harken H009 Hexaratchet and an H010 base, also replace the mainsheet with 9mm Polilite. On the boom replace existing blocks with Harken Carbo 40 series blocks.
Treat the boat to a lavish coating of surfboard Wax - the surfboard wax which helps surfers' feet 'grip' their surfboards. You might find that you spend more time on your feet than any other non-trapeze singlehander I can think of. The downside of using surf wax is that the boat looks messy quickly (because dirt sticks to the wax)... but what is more important: aesthetics, or being able to keep your feet?
Change the aluminium tiller extension for something with more strength, the stiffer the better. An all-carbon stick which encompasses a wrapping of carbon twill around the outside should make the extension both strong and able to cope with the type of knocks which are usual in a boat of this size and type. Jerry Wales is probably the hottest RS300 sailor in the country at present and he uses a Rooster carbon fibre extension. Click here for more details or to order a carbon tiller on line.
Fit a 'continuous' kicking strap system one where you can always reach the line to make adjustments. This is not fitted as standard by the builders, but in my opinion, should be. Sailors should remember that, in a boat with as much beam as the RS300 it is a very long way across the boat to ease out the kicking strap. Now, onto the actual sailing...
You will find that you are burning many calories just keeping the boat sailing. With the RS300's un-stayed rig, adopt the standard Laser-style approach to light wind rig set-up. This involves using the vang to 'take out' the bend of the mast so that it matches the luff curve of the sail.
You know you have used too much vang when the sail starts to develop luff curve 'starvation' which shows itself as creases from the clew to the luff. Leave the cunningham off - cunningham will only increase the 'fullness' of the luff. When you are sailing upwind in light airs sheet the boom so that its end is between the corner of the transom and the transom centreline. Remember to use the outhaul to flatten the sail for flat water.
This is a boat for concentrating on where you sit, rather than concentrating on comfort or stability. In the really light winds I sit next to the mast on the windward deck. This is the most comfortable place and is also effective in preventing the transom from sinking and creating the turbulence which definitely slows you down.
As the wind increases, move back along the deck to the wide part of the boat which obviously increases leverage. Care must be taken to keep the narrow transom from 'digging in' through lack of speed. Sail the boat as upright as possible... this requires a great deal of effort and is where all those calories are burnt off.
As kicking strap tension is increased, it acts as first a 'powering up' then 'depowering' device. The outhaul should be adjusted to give eight-inch depth at the middle of the boom while slightly less (perhaps six-inch) is needed in flatter conditions.
I use more kicking strap than most sailors as, at 74kg, I am one of the lightest with the 'B' (big) rig. With lots of vang tension I can over flatten the luff of the sail, then use the cunningham to bring the fullness aft into the mainsail which, in turn, opens the leach of the sail.
This set-up is not to generate power, but to de-power the rig and concentrate the power in the bottom half of the sail. I find hiking with straight legs very tough going (I have in the past almost resorted to a 'droopy bum' method) but I try to concentrate on heeling the boat to windward, so that my straighter leg style is assisted by the hull/deck line, and the weight of the rig itself. This also helps the foils start to work and generate lift.
If you assume that heeled to windward, the shape of the hull tries to bear the boat away from the wind - then you might have to use positive rudder (pushing the tiller away from you rather than pulling it towards you) to keep the boat on its course.
Let us assume that the direction the water flows over the rudder effects the direction the water flows over the whole boat, including the centreboard. If the rudder is pushed, the direction of water flow over the whole boat is effected by the rudder and comes from the leeward side of the hull, generating more foil lift.
With the fine bow technique used, even in a large chop, slices the waves at the higher pointing angle, generating height at the same time.
As a lightweight sailor I find the RS300 very powerful, yet relatively easy to depower, at the Nationals in 1999 I won one of the windiest and two of the lightest wind races in the series.
Using the rig's flexibility develop power without leverage upwind. This is simply a logical development of the medium wind rig set up: a deep foot which develops the power low down and requires lots of Cunningham and kicking strap tension to flatten and open the head of the sail. Get the top batten to flap in the breeze once it gets too windy - but do not forget that flat water needs a flat sail and that lumpy water needs full sails.
Running in a RS300 is a question of choice: speed or stability. You can go for either... but not both. While sailing downwind in light winds you can sit behind the mainsheet - but this is slow. Playing the balancing game near the mast makes the RS300 take off. Once again, it's all about keeping that narrow transom from digging a very deep and slow furrow in the water.
The narrow bow will support your weight, but the price you pay is one of reduced stability: it's sometimes like ice skating, not sailing. When they saw my sailing style downwind, several fellow club sailors said they thought I was cheating: rocking and rolling downwind. I asked a couple of them to take the RS300 for a trial sail. They came back and admitted, perhaps, that the design was more difficult than they had perceived.
The design is really not much more stable the further back you stand, but at least when you do lose balance, the buoyant wings may prevent an embarrassing capsize.
I tried to develop the by-the-lee sailing for downwind sailing (very little kicker with the boom at 90 degrees). This worked and even made the boat more stable. However, in competition, RS300s tend to sail only triangles. The course helps keep the fleet in the race for longer. I can't think of a boat that 1 have ever capsized so much during the first few days into the design.
Reaching is 'power time' for the RS300. Release the outhaul and ease off as much kicker as you dare (before the boat starts to nose dive) and sit there. But that's not all you have to do.
The design still requires agility to read the gusts and lulls and keep the boat on its feet. You need to be trimming forward to stop transom drag and sideways trim corrections to keep the boat level. If you are feeling brave, pull up the daggerboard for an extra burst of speed and encourage the making of ground to leeward.
Reaching in stronger winds (with just the front foot in the back toe-strap and the other foot pressed against the small transom post) might give you stability enough to hike as far back as possible to stop nose diving.
Do not let out too much kicker tension. My mistake at last year's nationals cost me three capsizes in one leg, until I realised the error of my ways. Don't look for speed: go for stability.
The kicker tension keeps the mast aft, the leach more supported and helps prevent nose-diving. If you think the wind has eased then ease the kicker to fill the sail, but watch out for those gusts!
The RS300 highlights a sailor's mistakes. A stable platform into each manoeuvre will help the sailor accomplish the task. As always, in the gybe, the boat must be flat - if not slightly heeled to windward. The start of the gybe is performed with a quick kick of the new leeward wing which starts the spin of the boat.
It looks more like a windsurfer-style carve-gybing rather than a dinghy gybe. It is quite an impressive sight. When tacking though, the reasonably experienced is on more familiar territory: concentrate on sailing the boat to head to wind, kick off the new leeward hull (which will spin the boat) and make a quick dash for the new windward side. Remember to let out as much sail as possible on the way (this is were the supplied jamming cleat does not help matters).
Don't forget that the tiller extension must be swung 'around' the back of the boat as it is too long to go between the mainsheet (aft). Personally, tacking facing 'backwards' kept the transom out of the water (my head is lighter than my bum!) and helped me keep hold of the extension all the way.
But what about the mainsheet? Just step over your 'sheet hand' with your front foot. It's pretty standard on the Europe and works well with the RS300.
Although it appears that the RS300 is not a boat for the faint hearted, it is actually superb. It is the first boat I have ever sailed that is a joy just to sail around the course... let alone race.
The RS300 responds more to weight trim movement than many other designs. Watch out for the droopy transom and remember to sit as far forward as you dare until nosediving becomes a real possibility.
For upwind pointing, heel the boat to windward and use positive rudder - push it away from you.
Don't use the out-haul to de-power. My preference is to use more kicking strap and cunningham tension which should allow you to keep the power low down.