I guess I can try increasing my main sheet to 8:1. Now, when I try to sheet hard my butt comes unattached to the deck and I slide all over.

Rick, I think I've been trying to find one magic slot to weather whick doesn't work. Finer adjustments seem to be in order.

Pete, I usually sail with one foot under the hiking strap, and with the other I catch the strap with my heel so I have something to push against when sheeting, or the hull rises.

dave

Are you saying that you don't trap upwind but the sheet loads are strong enough to pull you in? Sounds like you either oversheet or you should go in the trapez... or you are significantly heavier than me .

Cheers,

Klaus

I'm a lot heavier than you! 105 kg.

I think that if I pinched less I'd be able to trap more.

I sail a Wave and I do something similar. My forward food is under the hiking strap, but I keep my aft foot out and work the mainsheet cam cleat with my toes. If I have to hike hard, I will hook my aft foot under the aft beam.

When one of the more experienced guys saw how I was working the cleat, at first he started laughing, but after thinking about it, he said he was going to try it next time.

On a Wave I'd set the cleat angle so you can't cleat it.

Supercat 15 or 17

I'm too wimpy for that I guess. It only has a 4:1 purchase with no ratchet and I'm using a fat headed sail.

Ah, yeah...... ratchet would be key.

On the Wave I use a small Harken Fiddle Ratchet with a becket. In light air, switch it off, and in heavy use the ratchet. Also use 1/4" Salsa (great sheet line, no core, non stretch, won't kink, runs throught the blocks with ease).
Can't imagine not cleating the Wave -- Ouch!

Pete, You could go 8:1 and use smaller sheet, i.e., Salsa, as it will still go through the blocks easily. That way the sheet will feed out when eased.
Also, you might think about the Ratchamatic. Wish I could get one for the Wave, but they don't make one that will work on the boat.

Also err on the side of trapping when you shouldn't. Ive seen the euros trap much earlier and the thought is that keeping the boat flat and the mast perpendicular is more of a performance advantage that desperately trying to get a hull flying. I've been taking that approach and it hasn't hurt me yet...and I usually sail heavy.

Like you said, very little on the boat is "static" even in relatively consistent conditions. I'd opt for sail adjustments before rudder changes, but indeed some rudder will usually be necessary

You bring up a good point here Jake, and something I had forgotten all about since making the switch from mono-dinghy racing to cats. In somehting like a Laser or 470, the experts will tell you to keep the boat as flat as possible going upwind, as you said, to keep the mast straight up and the blades straight down, giving you maximum lift from both sails and blades.

We don't talk too much about that in Cats, because we all love to trap, of course, and as soon as you can get one hull up out of the water you have cut your drag in half, but when the wind is "Medium" and you have to decide to trap or not, is it better to keep the boat flatter and get all you can out of the blades/sails, or better to keep your weight inboard, try to fly that hull and reduce the drag?

There has to be a "Changeover Point" somewhere in there, where it pays to stay flat, or pays more to get the hull up...finding that point is why I hate racing in light air!

When it's blowing, you don't have to worry about "IF" you should trap or not, you have to, period. But when it gets light...well...? My biggest problem may, or may not be, indecision. ;^)

On the A-cat, it's faster to go on the wire first and hold it down for acceleration in the puffs versus sitting in, flying the hull, and pinching up.

Not talking about puffs, it is faster to keep one hull out of the water but still keep it flat, just kiss the top of the waves. On all cats I sailed so far I could feel the slow down if the hull flies high upwind. In light winds it helps to make the trap short and crouch. Ones the boat picks speed and want to fly the hull, you can stretch and translate the power in even more speed instead of heal.