Plane a Dinghy
Planing is an advanced technique and occurs when your boat skims across the water and overtakes your bow wave - it reduces hull drag and can make you go dramatically fast. This guide will tell you all you need to know to start planing.
Contents
Steps
- Once ready to plane, turn into the direction you wish to speed along. As a beginner, a broad reach to training run is ideal. Make sure you have lots of room in front of you.
- Raise your centerboard slightly more than you would do normally. This reduces drag.
- Get going fast. Set your sail perfectly - use telltales if you have them and make sure you're traveling at an intense speed. Raise your spinnaker if you can and feel comfortable with it.
- Get your boat's balance dead on, by hiking / trapezing.
- Once going quickly, trim your boat to be facing bow up as much as you can - aim for about 30 degrees. Do this by moving the weight of all the persons aboard backwards. Use the hiking straps at the back of your boat if you have them (known as planing straps) and move your crew (if any) towards the back of the boat also.
- As you accelerate, keep the boat flat (that is, horizontally, still keep the bow up).
- Continue to move in a straight line - as you are now flying, you may find the forces acting on the rudder want to turn your boat. A steady hand is required.
- If you need to turn, remember that tiller movements will be VERY sensitive if you are successfully planing.
- To stop planing, resume normal daggerboard setting and trim by lowering the daggerboard and putting the bow of the boat back in the water.
Tips
- If you're really brilliant, you could even try gybing whilst planing.
- You can only plane in sufficient wind. A high force 3 is usually sufficient, though heavier boats may require greater than a force 4. Go out in these strong wind conditions if you wish to plane.
- If, as you begin to plane, you begin to be overpowered, there are various actions you can take - if you have a spinnaker, turn onto a run (dead downwind). If you don't have a spinnaker up, loosen off all the sails and turn up towards close-hauled until your sails flap.
Warnings
- Planing makes your boat unstable and can be very difficult to control. Don't attempt this (as an inexperienced planer) in close company with other boats.
