THINK HEAVY
-A TRAPEZE CREWS GUIDE TO INSTANT WEIGHT CHANGE.

You may not be able add on pounds with each gust of wind, unless you’re into Tantric meditation, but you can practice techniques that are just as effective. This is written mainly with upwind sailing in mind but can apply to reaches as well.
The techniques fall into two groups that I will call:

1. Stance- using your body position to increase leverage
2. Kinetics- using body movement to increase the pull on the wire.

STANCE
We all know that the further weight is to windward the more effective it is. Hence helms endure extreme agony hiking out by their toe-nails all the way up the beat, and sliding seats and trapezes were invented to give crews a leisurely time. So instead of lying out on the wire thinking of your next pint of Murphys, what can you do to get to that inflatable orange thing in first place (and more importantly reduce the time the poor helm has to suffer).
First you have to recognise when the boat is over powered, or more importantly in marginal conditions, is just about to be; of course your helm never lets the boat heel much, so if you’re not paying attention you wont see the signs. And the best sign is the helm having to play the mainsheet (very hard work). If your helm has a hangover you may also hear some grunts and the boat may heel a bit in the gusts. If the lamp posts were bending when rigging up, you know you’ll be over powered the whole time, except when standing on the plate of course.
So what can you do….and when? You probably know most of these techniques but do you use them?

Upwind stance.
Lets look at the normal ‘powered up’ trapezing stance- feet as close together as the conditions will allow, balls of feet on gunwale, front foot angled forward to resist forward pull of the trapeze and forward rotation of body if hull is suddenly slowed by a bad wave, hands lying on beer belly holding jib sheet tight- this will steady you in waves. If the sheet uncleats when in this position, sort it. Back leg can be bent to angle body back, but probably only necessary if planing. Whole body in straight line, touching helms shoulder (i.e. weight together- if he’s too far back tell him), trapeze height reasonably low but body must not hit any solid water.

The very marginal increase in leverage being parallel to the water is not worth it - better to be a bit higher and have a good view of the racetrack.

So what can you do to increase leverage.
‘Stand’ on tiptoe. The extra 2 or 3 inches does make a difference (ask the girl in the Clio ad!)
Put your arms behind your head, or straight out. One arm will do if you need to keep balance; an arm weighs more than you might think.
Female crews may be able to think of another!

OK, your fitness and need to keep your balance means you can’t do this all the way round the race track, so when are the best times to do it?

Close quarter boat on boat;
Start line- imagine the whole fleet hits the perfectly set line on the gun at full speed. You have a boat close to windward and leeward. Every boat is affected equally by other boats dirty wind or lee bow (we’ll ignore the boat at each end). The next 100 metres are critical. If you are over powered use the techniques. Slowly some boats will drop back a few feet, once that has happened they are buried and will very quickly be spat out the back by the dirty wind of the windward boat and/or by the deflected air (i.e. headed air reducing pointing ability) from the mainsail to leeward. Don’t let it happen to you. Inches gained off the start line will soon turn into metres. But what if you hit the windward boat when you stick your arms out? I guess you need to shout and give them ‘room and opportunity to keep clear’.
Port and starboard- when approaching a starboard tacker and its marginal whether you will cross ahead, get your weight out. If you tack under their lee bow its that start line situation again even though its only two boats - get your weight out.

Other situations:
Laylines- If struggling to lay the windward mark keeping the boat upright will reduce leeway. But in the last couple of lengths your helm may ask for leeward heel to help screw up round the mark.
Gusts- watch for the patterns on the water and try to predict them. Get your weight out a couple of seconds before they hit - a slight windward heel is ideal.
Two sail fetch/reach- the boat will respond to a bit of extra weight. If it’s a short leg you’ll have no problem! Otherwise use techniques in gusts or when passing other boats - to psyche them out!

KINETICS
Pelvic thrust - Probably best used only when heel has become excessive…. and capsize prevention. Try and thrust pelvis downwards- but this is a fixed point of course so the effect is upper body goes up. The problem with using the technique in normal situations is that it shakes the rig which slows the boat.
Forward roll - twist body forwards i.e. forward hip goes down, aft hip up. I have used this in big swells where wind is stronger on crest. Twist as wind increases near crest of wave. It feels as if more pull is being created on the wire, but difficult to assess how effective it is. See what your helm thinks.

Techniques on the RUN, (i.e. conventional spinnaker boats). This is a special situation where the crew moves to aid steering so the helm uses less rudder and therefore less drag. In decent sized waves you need this technique most. When the boat heels, a lot of rudder has to be used to ‘get the top of the mast back over the boat’. But the crew, sitting to windward can use their weight to get the boat upright more efficiently. Timing is critical. Get used to which part of a wave will make the boat heel to leeward. Trapeze high from the case or push block and as the boat heels straighten the body. In marginal conditions, with good timing a legal roll will help you to the front.
Now you know it, get out there and practice, practice, practice.

This article cortesy of Jon Williams, originally written for the Hornet Class, but adapted for all trapeze boats.