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WOW - Lessons from a Crazy Day of Frostbite

5/8/2026 3:34 pm

Bill Brangiforte 4-2026

 

We recently sailed a wild frostbite day at Barrington. While the temperature wasn’t too bad (about 45 Degrees), it was blowing 15, with gusts over 25. The tide, which is always strong on the river, was ripping in against us. Since it was supposed to build during the day, the committee was a little concerned about safety and decided to sail us right off the dock at the Yacht club. This would keep everyone close by, in case they got into trouble. I am glad we went out, though, as there were lots of lessons to be learned.

 

The cove, in front of the club, is stunning with big beautiful houses along the shoreline. The problem with these big houses is that they cause havoc with the wind. The southerly came whipping over them and crashed down onto the water with violent fan shaped puffs. Managing this kind of day requires a very different technique than you would normally use.

My daughter and I participate in Kenpo Karate. If we decided to try Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for a day we would need to think differently. While they are both Martial arts, they require very different techniques. The same is true with racing on a day like this. It is still Sunfish sailing, but it requires a different mindset. Let’s discuss some of these differences.

  1. The boat setup is unique for these conditions. Optimum boat speed is not the goal here- survival is! The boom is set higher than normal, to allow for auto-tacks and to make it easier to get under it with the extra gear required for the cold conditions. The Jens rig makes this easy, but it is best to do it while still on land. I wished I had mine higher, but was afraid to raise it on the water without getting into trouble. The gooseneck should be farther aft than you would usually put it, to help with weather helm and avoid getting into irons. Everybody got stuck in irons and had trouble getting out of it. The outhaul and Cunningham should be reefed down tight, but I found it best not to have the vang super tight. Keeping the vang off a bit made it easier to keep the boom out of water while close reaching through the big blasts upwind.
  2. The starts were crazy! Even with a strong opposing tide, we all had OCS’s. There was no favored end, as the wind would shift 50 degrees, every 30 seconds. The only thing that really mattered, was not getting stuck in irons in the last seconds before the starting gun. I found the best way to do this was to keep the boat moving in the last minute. If you luffed on the line or had someone below you keeping you up, you would go into irons and your start was ruined. Keeping some flow over the blades really seems to help here.
  3. Once off the line, staying on starboard was the only way to go. Until you had decent speed, tacking was disastrous. Clear air is just is not important in these conditions. There is plenty of wind for everyone.
  4. On the weather leg, maximum focus should be on looking upwind for incoming shifts and planning on how to handle them. If a big blast is coming, get ready to dump the sheet and, if it is a header, don’t tack unless the shift looks really solid.  This takes some practice. It took me most of the day to get a feeling for how the incoming puffs were going to play out.
  5. Never tack once a big puff hits. Just do your best to get through it and reevaluate after it dies down a little.
  6. If the boat in front of you auto tacks, it may be better to tack before the header hits you, but only if you are moving well.
  7. Don’t hike! Just get your feet under the strap, your butt outside of the rail and focus on sail trim. A tight strap helps here. Hiking got you into big trouble, as the gusts could just shut off and you would end up in the water. The chine on the Sunfish is your friend here, as it lets you get away with being heeled up. It is not fast, but the alternative is worse!
  8. Only trim hard briefly, in the moderate lulls. The only way to get through those blasts is to close reach with the sail partially luffing. This worked great in the huge lifting gusts. Close reaching, while sailing on the lifted tack is the best way to get upwind in this stuff.
  9. Although the course was fairly short, the strong opposing current slowed down the weather leg. Even so, try to minimize tacking. I would say no more than 4 tacks per beat is a good idea for a short course.
  10. Don’t try to lee bow! Every lee bow turned into a lee stern. While ducking is the way to go, it can be tricky. There were lots of Port/Starboard collisions Sunday. For the last couple of years, I have been the Tactician/ mainsail trimmer on a J-35. Ducking boats in heavy air on the J involves dumping lots of mainsail. Once I call for a duck, I put two hands on the mainsheet and get ready to drop it about 10’. I kept thinking about this while racing on Sunday, as it was good training for the conditions we had. Since the boat is probably healed way over, and the helm is loaded up, you need to be prepared to dump lots of sheet during a duck.
  11. Be careful at the weather mark! Sail an extra boat length past the layline to allow for a bad tack or unfavorable shift. In this case, the current was against us and shifts were huge near the shore. Having to do two extra tacks is disastrous, and usually leads to being in irons.
  12. Once around the weather mark however, everything changes. Now is the time to be aggressive. Keep your head on a swivel, looking for those big blasts and get into them. Turn and burn! If you do it right, the boat will be on a near constant plane. The Sunfish, with its chines, is great for this, as you can do dynamic turns without the danger of death rolling.
  13. At the leeward mark, give yourself lots of room to make your rounding. It always takes more time than you think to get the main in. As you pass the mark, put the bow up. This makes the sail luff and easier to get in. Practicing your two-handed sheeting will help a great deal with getting the main in during these crazy days. Remember, when trimming, your forward hand should come up, over your head, before grabbing the sheet again with your tiller hand.

The most interesting take away I had on the day was that avoiding the big bummers, as Dave Perry used to say, was the key to success. By not being over early, getting caught in irons, hitting anyone, or tipping over, you were pretty much guaranteed a top 3 finish in every race, and it was an extremely experienced fleet. The other important thing to remember is that these tips work would work well on a lake or small body of water anywhere in these wild conditions. All in all, I am glad we went out and I want to thank the Barrington crew for being out there in during these cold days and for their great hospitality.

 

Bill Brangiforte 4-2026