Gavin Brady Talks On Kites, Compasses and Running

by Crosbie Lorimer on 27 Dec 2005 A short chat with Konica Minolta’s Gavin Brady just before he left the dock this morning shed some interesting and cautionary light on what may lie in store for the heirs-apparent to the race record, if they really hook into some of the big downwind breeze predicted for the next twenty four hours or more.

Konica Minolta can clearly not expect to match Alfa Romeo or Wild Oats in a straight line drag race so Gavin’s note of caution might seem like wish fulfillment. In reality Brady’s wealth of experience in America’s Cup and round the world race technology makes him eminently qualified to talk about the challenges of hard downwind running on maxis.

'Technology is very low in the sport right now when it comes to downwind sails' said Brady 'really the only teams pushing the limits in sailcloth in this area are these canting keel big boats'.

'The loads on these boats are just that large that when you get a little rip in the spinnaker it just explodes” he said explaining the need to constantly check for wear and tear.

'You can carry ‘spares’ but in reality there’s an overlap issue. Normally when you break one spinnaker you think, ‘now we’ve got to put up a compromise sail’ and sure as hell that will break too!”

'In a round the world race if you tore a kite at the end of the day you could take it downstairs and fix it in 12 to 13 hours. But if you blow up the spinnakers on one of these things you just stuff it in the bag because you’ll be in Hobart and half way home to New Zealand before you’ve fixed it.”

'I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the theme behind this race and the bad luck stories will be coming from the guys sailing down the coast in big waves. This race will be won by the boat that doesn’t break its spinnakers'

Brady also explained the difficulties in steering maxis downwind in a big breeze and waves.

'In America’s Cup boats we’ve got spinnaker poles so you can set them squarer and that provides more of a push so the spinnaker doesn’t load up. But because the rule penalizes spinnaker poles under IRC we’ve all got bowsprits' he explained.

'The problem with a bowsprit is that you can’t pull the pole back and consequently all of the sail is to leeward of the centreline of the boat, so these boats have a terrible tendency to want to wipe out'

Brady indicated that the line between controlled speed and ‘losing it’ is a very fine one in these boats and the margins for error are very small, especially when the bow is buried in the water for much of the time. In hard running downwind the reaction time of the instruments is also too slow to be useful.

'So you find a lot of guys using techniques that go back to the old style of sailing and they actually use a ship’s compass. We never really use it much but when we do use it is downwind in a big breeze'.

'You actually steer with your head down the whole time on a bearing. If you get below that number you know you’re probably going to out wipe that way and if you go above that number you’ll wipe out that way' he said laying a flat hand in one direction after the other.

'Obviously the mainsheet trimmer will need to tell you if the wind’s shifted'.

'It takes a bit of chemistry, but at the end of the day despite all the technology the most reliable piece of equipment on the boat is the same thing that Captain Cook used, the compass' Brady concluded.