Lessons for Lockdown: Nick Craig Tuning Tips

D1 Tuning Guide, June 2020

The D-One is a powerful, demanding boat yet highly refined and sensitive. Unlike the people who sail her ?. That mix of power and sensitivity is one of the reasons the D-One is such a great boat to sail!

Static settings i.e. those adjusted on shore

Mast foot position

Mast foot forward shifts the rig forward so your push point (centre of lateral resistance) moves forward whilst your pivot point (centre of effort) is fixed. So your boat will naturally track lower upwind with the foot forward. This is good in breeze and chop.

Moving the mast foot aft (turning the mast foot through 180 degrees) moves the push point aft so your ship will want to point higher upwind. This is good in flat water. Also in very light winds, it is hard to generate lift off the foils with little energy through the sails and foils. Moving the foot aft increases weather helm so generates lift which would otherwise need to be generated through leeward heel. Being able to sail flat in light winds whilst still generating lift from the foils is fast because a flat boat has a fair underwater hull shape and presents an upright rig to the wind. There is more wind high up due to turbulence near the water’s surface in light winds which has a disproportionate affect in light winds

A lot of theory! The short story is I sail with the foot forward in 6 knots+. Foot back in light winds is better but not by much. Foot back in 10knots+ is slow. So sailing with foot back is high risk if the wind builds so I need to be pretty sure it is a light wind day before putting the foot back because it is hard to change on the water, especially in a building breeze which is just the time you would want to reverse the foot!

Read more: Lessons for Lockdown: Nick Craig Tuning Tips

2019 Gold Cup, Lac du Der, FRA

The D-One fleet were treated to a Gallic Regatta for the 2019 Champagne Gold Cup organized by  Emmanuel Abord and  Etienne Lobert and hosted by Ligue de l’Enseignement Giffaucourt at Lac du Der 7 to 10 June 2019.

The rest of the French fleet, Marie Benoit, Thierry D'Allance and David Bremond did a fantastic job assisting with all the background tasks that made such a great regatta. A big thank you from all the competitors, especially the Czech-Italians who were politely allowed to beat the French in the international boules contest. Or so the hosts said. 

As sailors and support teams arrived from 7 nations on the Thursday everyone was enjoying the sunshine and light winds. Unfortunately the weather was not going to last. Friday dawned with a forecast of 23-30 kts with a storm with a name moving across Europe. The intrepid race management team set off ready to start at 1500. Launching in to the shelter of the club house seemed OK but a short sail later it was clear the fleet were in for a wild ride. A couple of keen racers headed up wind to check out the windward leg, but even the best did not make it back downwind without a swim.

Read more: 2019 Gold Cup, Lac du Der, FRA

2019 Gold Cup Competitor Analysis

Since the D-One was launched 10 years ago, it has been sailed in a huge variety of conditions, from calm alpine lakes to full-on sea sailing, and by all shapes and sizes of competitor. We are fortunate to have a very wide base of friendly international sailors.

The boat has always had a fairly crude form of weight equalisation, whereby sailors below 86kg are allowed slightly wider wings. As with all classes, there has been occasional discussion as to whether this is adequate. We were fortunate at the Gold Cup this year to have very clearly defined windy and light days, and a full international fleet weighed in for the event. This gave a perfect opportunity to crunch the numbers, as shown in the graph, which reads from first to last place left to right.

Read more: 2019 Gold Cup Competitor Analysis

2019 European Championships, Lac Biel, Switzerland

The Swiss D-One fleet hosted this championship in the hamlet of Wingreis in the far west of the country, on a grassy meadow by the stunning lake with a view across vineyards to the snow-covered Alps. The Swiss watch-making capital of Biel, three miles up the road, provided enough hotels, bars, restaurants and expensive watches for anyone.

The event started with a break from tradition - no T shirt!  Instead we were given a D-One Swiss (not army) multi knife. No complaints there.

As expected The Swiss were great hosts : Barbecued sausages each lunchtime, wine tasting, historic tour and two great evening meals with plenty of boxer old beer and strangely addictive local milk protein soft drink Rivella -all first class.

Yacht Club Bielersee have a lovely little club and an amazingly helpful group of volunteers in a great setting but also, as feared, a slight absence of wind.

We did manage to get out for some practice racing before the main event, so a chance to check we had all rigged our boats correctly.

On Friday we gathered at the club and..no wind. OK a postponement, no problem the sun is shining more boat fine tuning. I made a nice uv cover for the pole with recycled water bottles and duct tape and made some small adjustments hoping to get s little more power in the expected light breeze. Just when we thought there would be no racing for the day enough breeze appeared to get us out for one light airs race. Sadly my tuning efforts resulted in no pointing and no speed. Glad we just had one race.  

Read more: 2019 European Championships, Lac Biel, Switzerland