One thing I have noticed over the past few sailing seasons is that many sailors are unsure about how much vang tension to put on a sunfish rig. While there is methods out there to adjust the vang while sailing, the majority of sailors set it and forget it during a race.  Deciding how much vang tension to put one is one of the toughest things to judge on a Sunfish.

The Sunfish has a lanteen rig with the length of the boom being 164 inches and the foot of the sail measuring around 160 inches.  With the design of the rig being the way it is, the majority of racing sailors will be able to trim the mainsail enough when sailing upwind to negate the effects of having any vang tension.  The main time I find the vang helpful in upwind sailing is when the wind is strong enough that one needs to sheet out the main sail consistently in order to keep the boat flat.  In these cases, one would want plenty of vang tension on so that when you ease the main, the end of the boom by the outhaul cap does not raise and ultimately make your sail more baggy.  That being said, I find the most important part of the vang tension is for downwind sailing speed.

The way I setup my vang tension for the day is to sail dead downwind or even by the lee on both tacks prior to the start of the first race of the day.  What I’m looking at is the outer leech panel just above the sunfish on the sail.  With the proper amount of vang tension one will obtain the proper leech tension to avoid the the leech opening up or spilling off air. Ultimately, one will be able to maintain better pressure in the outer portion of the sail above the sunfish. This will be advantageous against competitors when trying to maneuver the boat downwind as well as sailing by the lee.

The next question that most people would naturally have at this point in the discussion is how to tell if they have too much vang tension on.  I’m not entirely sure the proper words to describe how the sunfish sail will appear with too much vang pressure on, but focus your eyes towards the bottom of the sail, below the window, from the gooseneck back towards the outhaul and cunningham cleats.  In this area of the sail, it will definitely look a little funky like it being choked off or something.  If it is very strong winds, this shouldn’t be too big an issue.  However, in the moderate and lighter winds, one may want to ease the vang off some and try sailing downwind to see if the leech will hold pressure without opening the leech and spilling off air.  The more one practices with these settings, and focusing eyes to the proper parts of the sail, the easier it will become to judge putting vang tension and ultimately the improvement in downwind sailing speed will be there for sure.  Best of luck.

24 boats showed up to compete at the Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association in Delaware this past weekend, June 21-22nd, 2008. Sailors travelled from at least 6 states for the competition including Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New York, and New Jersey. Among the competitors were former Sunfish Regional champions and place winners, in addition to one former North American Continental Champion David Davies, whom shared the hotel costs with me over the weekend.

The group of competitors were treated to beautiful sunny weather and wind conditions that increased each day as it progressed between a range of 7-15mph, with the occasional gust over 20mph. Race Committee Chairman Dave Racine setup excellent Modified Olympic courses with each leg being approximately a halfmile for races totaling 3 miles in length. The starting lines were very square to the wind, probably one of the finest jobs of line-setting that I have personally witnessed. The benefit of the squared starting lines was that we did not have 1 general recall for the entire regatta. In addition, I would like to thank all of the people involved with the regatta for their excellent hospitality. I especially enjoyed the Saturday evening meal which highlighted Pulled-Pork, veggies, breads, and some fine dessert selections.

On day 1, the fleet managed to complete 4 competitive races all decided by less than 100 feet distance separating first and second place, with 2 of the races won by just boat-lengths. However, at the end of Day 1, Brian McGinnis amassed four first-place finishes to end the day with 4 points total. 2nd place on Day 1 went to John Meier of Virginia totaling 12 points, 3rd place to Steve Evans of Delaware with 16 points, 4th place to Sarah Lester of Delaware with 20 points, and 5th place to Chris Raubacher of Delaware with 24 points.

The interesting element of the day was the upwind dynamic; each layline provided sailors with a small lift as they approached the mark on that tack. However, when in doubt, I tended to choose the right side as it seemed their may have been a slight velocity benefit on that side. Each race brought with it a little more wind and waves as the day progressed, I can recall sliding back my gooseneck slightly before each new race. Consistent downwind speed throughout the day was the necessary edge that propelled me to cross the finish line first in all the days races. One thing I noticed is that I personally sailed with much more vang on then the other sailors, I think this contributed to my downwind speed advantage.

Day 2 was very similar to the first day as far as the weather conditions go, the only difference being that we were not on the water as late on Sunday as the previous day. Soon after reaching shore at days end Sunday, I noticed the wind howling again as it had around 3-4pm the previous day. With the wind starting at around 7mph for the first race, Brian McGinnis managed to pull off another 1st place finish, virtually clinching the regatta unless something catastrophic was to happen. Brian McGinnis finished the regatta off with a throw-out race of a 7th place, followed by a 2nd place finish in the final race to complete the regatta with 7 points total and earning him not only the Regional Championship, but qualifying him for the 2009 Sunfish World Championship currently destined for Nassau, Bahamas. The next 2 races really became a dogfight for second place in the regatta. Steve Evans pulled off a 2nd place, then 1st place, in the last 2 races to come from behind and capture 2nd overall in the regatta with 15 points. John Meier stayed consistent throughout and held on for third just a few points behind.

Written by Brian McGinnis for submission into the Sunfish Class Windward Leg Magazine