How to adjust trim and heel
Heel
A sailboat will almost never sail perfectly straight - a slight roll is certainly present, but it is beneficial. Boat hulls are designed so that the yacht will only sail better at an optimum pitch angle of 10-15. The greater the area of the wetted surface, the greater the frictional force and the lower the speed of the yacht. At a slight heeling inclination (10-15), the area of the wetted surface is even smaller than when the boat is flat on the water, which means that the yacht goes a little faster

Moreover, sails sagging due to heeling take the right shape in light wind and work better. This happens because they are sewn with the expectation of the optimal angle of the boat.In this case, it is important to remember that it leads to a tilted boat. And the more the boat heels, the more it will tilt. You can take advantage of this feature
Why a sailboat heels
As long as the boat is flat, the waterline is symmetrical to the centerline, so it moves straight ahead
When it heels, the waterline becomes asymmetrical. The wave pushes the boat onto the leeward, more submerged side and pushes it into the wind
The more the yacht heels, the more it drifts. When heeling, the center of sail area shifts to leeward and the center of lateral resistance shifts windward, creating a torque that causes the boat to turn
Therefore, the greater the displacement of these points relative to each other, the stronger the drive
Using heeling to steer
Heeling can also be used for maneuvering the boat. It is clear that any additional movement of the rudder slows down the boat. By using heeling to your advantage, you can reduce these movements and not lose speed during maneuvers
The yacht will sail straight when its flat on the water
When heeling against the wind, the shape of the waterline becomes asymmetrical, and the yacht starts heading up the wind
Measurement is important in everything, so with a very big heel (> 20) the speed of the boat starts to drop
The wind will fall off the sails and they will no longer work properly
The boat is headed up too much because of the heeling which needs to be corrected by steering which slows the boat down even more
Drifting
Due to its shape, the keel functions like a sail under the water: according to the principle of an airplane wing, it generates lift in the water current and thus counteracts drift

The lift is directed perpendicular to the plane of the keel. It therefore has the strongest effect when the yacht is either completely without or with a slight heeling inclination, up to 20. As the heeling inclination increases, the keel can no longer effectively counteract drift, as the horizontal component of the lifting force decreases noticeably ,the sailboat begins to drift more
This is how you reduce excessive heeling and all its negative consequences:
1
Heel the yacht to the wind
2
Flatten the sails
3
Twist the sails more
4
Loose the main sheet
5
Shift the center of the sail area forward and reef the mainsail
6
Shift the center of lateral resistance to the stern, the crew moves closer to the stern
Trim
Trim is the inclination of the sailboat in the longitudinal plane. Just like the heel, it is important to manage it so that the yacht goes fast and steers well
Bow
There are three points on the boat that help maintain course and control the movement of the boat: Stem, Keel and Rudder Blade. If you remove the stem from this bundle, the boat will deteriorate. Therefore, the bow should be slightly submerged in the water, about ⅕. This way, the boat can sail a proper course
In light winds, we move the crew closer to the bow for this and load it so that the stem does not stick out of the water
With more wind or on the downwind courses, the bow digs more into the water and slows the motion. To avoid this, move the crew closer to the stern
Stern
When the stern is sunk in the water:
The wetted surface becomes wider, the friction force increases and the speed decreases
Whirlwinds develop behind the boat, slowing it down
The stern lifts, it's difficult to sail in a straight line, and the fact that it is difficult to stay on course makes the sails work worse.
To avoid this, relieve the stern, it is better to bring the crew closer to the center of the sailboat
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