Slop and chop and dinghy racing

by Kim Couranz, SpinSheet
A few weeks ago, I enjoyed racing my ILCA 6 out in the Chesapeake Bay one day and at the mouth of the Severn River off Bay Ridge the other day. Saturday was super hot, but after a front went through, Sunday was much more enjoyable (at least from a temperature standpoint). Both days included some pleasant breeze: Saturday started off light but built to almost 15 knots, while Sunday was more seven to 10-ish.

With spectacular summer conditions like that, you’d better believe that the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7s weren’t the only boats out on the Bay. Bigger boats had fun racing the Annapolis Yacht Club Two Bridge Fiasco on Sunday, and there were also many cruising sailboats and a ton of powerboats out all weekend long.

And that means a lot of chop. With so many people enjoying time on the Bay, there are lots of boat wakes interacting and causing all sorts of liquid chaos. Instead of a somewhat-regular wave/swell height and directions, the lumps come at you from every direction. It’s impossible to get a rhythm steering over/around/through waves. So, you’ve got to adapt, your mindset as well as your boat setup and boathandling.

We’re all in it together. It may not seem like it, especially when your competitors just a hundred yards away seem to be in a magical flat spot in the water, but on days like these, everyone is struggling with the chop. Yes, it’s hard, and it’s frustrating. But somehow, knowing that it’s not just you dealing with the chop makes it a little more palatable. Those folks in that magical flat spot, don’t worry, they’ll get their moments in the washing machine, too. Everyone “gets” to enjoy that at some point. Or rather, at many points.

Accept reality. You can’t just wish the slop away, so accept it and adjust the way you’re sailing. To find success that weekend, I repeatedly had to remind myself—usually out loud (yes, on a singlehanded boat!)—to sail differently than I would have in the absence of all those annoying waves. Tacking in on what might have been the port-tack layline on a non-choppy day? Nope, not gonna happen. I had to say, “You can’t point right at the mark. Just go for that tanker for a while.”

Change what you can. Your angles will get bigger upwind, and you need to create a more powerful sail plan (are you easing outhaul, cunningham, etc.?). How you sail downwind may need to change, too. Dead downwind is likely not going to work. Heating it up to power through the chop, even if it takes your angle farther from your downwind mark(s), is important. Remember, on most boats, it’s way easier to keep the boat moving than to get it moving once again once you have stopped. Heat it up downwind. Keep it footing upwind, and keep it rolling! – Full story