Tips on Handling Gusts & Lulls Effectively

In many conditions, we see sailors with poor gust and lull response. In gusts there can be a tendency to fight the boat with hiking and too much steering. We see heel, pinching, corrective steers, and other issues that create unnecessary strain and reduce speed and VMG.

During lulls, even advanced sailors tend to chase apparent wind around, destroying VMG and slowing themselves unnecessarily. Handling gusts and lulls efficiently makes the boat feel easier because you are working with it, not against it.

Gust response: the right way

Ease, hike, trim. That is the correct order of operations for handling a gust.

When a gust from the same direction hits, apparent wind instantly swings aft. We need to keep attachment and good flow on the sail, avoid letting the boat feel the gust along its roll axis, and apply maximum body leverage if we can.

Nathan Outteridge described it as letting the onslaught of the gust rush past. More flow creates more lift. We want to increase airflow speed around the sail without allowing so much force into the rig that the boat heels up and creates sideways force and drag.

By accommodating the new apparent wind aft with sheeting out, we increase flow and maintain constant heel angle. Hike as needed to keep the heel angle the same. Once new speed is achieved, apparent wind moves forward again, and you sheet in to accommodate it. If the wind direction has not changed, you have not changed angle.

Gust response: the wrong way

The wrong sequence is pinch, hike, corrective steer, stall. Because gusts swing apparent wind aft, it is easy to react poorly. If you do not let the sheet out and hike at the right moment, the increased rig load induces heel and creates more helm. Telltales seem to ask you to head up.

Heading up feels good because it keeps attachment through an angle-of-attack change and depowers the rig. But this is a false gain. You point high and may have decent flow briefly, but you have not increased speed yet. As you slowly speed up, apparent wind moves forward again and the telltales make it seem like you are headed. You then make a corrective steer back down, which decreases flow over sails and foils.

Strong pointing comes through higher speed first, not steering angle changes. Increased speed and flow over sails and foils create more lift, reducing sideways force and leeway. Do not feather or pinch up in gusts to manage them. Think ease, hike, trim.

Gusts with shift components

If a gust also has a shift, common in fanning offshore puffs, your response depends on where you are in the puff. If you are on the lifted side, it feels like a normal gust: ease, hike, trim, then come up after accelerating.

If the gust has a header component, apparent wind slams forward and windward telltales come up. Anticipate this, sheet out, and steer down quickly to angle.

Lull response: coast

The strategy when sailing into a lull is to coast. Apparent wind slams forward, the opposite of a gust. We want to unweight, coast, and decrease speed without the boat feeling the lull in heel angle.

This usually means shuffling weight inboard or bringing shoulders up depending on the drop in wind. We need to achieve the new target speed first, which means slowing down. While slowing, we might as well keep height.

You can experiment with trimming in to reduce drag while apparent wind is forward, or easing a bit to keep some power and reduce stall risk. As the boat slows, apparent wind comes back and you need to ease through that change until the trim angle is correct. Too early is better than too late. Do not get caught overtrimmed as apparent wind returns.

Lull response: do not chase

Poor lull management is common. If you chase apparent wind around, you may never find good flow because apparent wind is all the way forward. You could bear off dramatically and the windward telltales can still luff, while you destroy VMG and slow down. Do not chase apparent wind. Coast.

Sometimes lulls show up as lifts. In very light air, if wind dies and shifts, you can sheet out to keep attachment and then change direction to the new optimal angle, but do not go too far and force a corrective steer back down. If a lull is a true header, coast first and come down after speed has decreased. If the sail is still luffing after about two seconds in a velocity header in light wind, bear away. Reading wind direction on the water is the best way to decide.

Practice

These are excellent skills to practice on your own. Start thinking in terms of what apparent wind does in gusts and lulls. Feel speed increases and decreases. Tune up with a friend and have one sailor handle gusts and lulls the wrong way while the other practices the right way; the gains and losses become obvious.