This would be so much more informative with proper camera angles.

This chap has forgotten more than most will ever know about driving a boat fast. He is generous with this knowledge and a real gentleman. One of the very best in the UK.

I refer to this often, and ask the sailors I coach to bookmark it and watch it often.

Excellent presentation. Every time I listen to Mr. McNamara I get another nugget to help me go faster. Thank you.

At first I thought........oh another bumbling old bloke.....and then I realised........he's explaining all this SOoooooo much better than I have ever heard before. Brilliant!!!

I was there, never made it into shot. I met Mike a couple of times, he a great sailor, sailmaker and communicator.

One of the finest instruction on sail trim. Very , very important for better sailing. God be with this man.

Thank you. What a great presentation and thank you RYA.

better watch this one twice. it's good

Been sailing since 7 years old and never got in depth about how the sails work, this video explained alot

Thank you for the very precise and clear explanation of the different tools we´ve got to modify sail shape and improve sailing conditions.

There's lots of videos out here about tuning your rig. This is a great video that explains (in great detail) of why. Thanks Michael. Great video.

That's a great video! I watched it several times and I learned a lot! looking forward to try this knowledge on my laser 2 regatta!

Very passionate and such depth of knowledge, thank you!

Very good. Thank you

WOW,WOW,WOW!  Stunning!

Wonderful talk, thank you!
Three questions:
1) Michael spoke at length about changing the leech tension on the jib to optimize telltale position--but it seems as though he was mainly referring to jib sheet adjustments. If the bottom telltale is flowing but and the top telltale is stalling, wouldn't it be best to alter the twist of the jib by changing the sheeting angle at the traveller car? (apologies if I misunderstood the point)
2) When a two-handed dinghy is getting overpowered by a gust on the beat (or steadier squall wind, despite depowering the controls) such that some wind must be spilled to reduce heel--which of the two sails should preferentially accomplish this? Both? Or should the jib remain close hauled and the main do all the trimming/spilling?
3) How do you optimize the mainsail traveller settings on a boat with a moving traveller car (like the Johnson 18 that we sail)?

Many thanks,

@11:00 talk about the leeward tell tail moving up. Due to the boot hull air displacement etc.
Nicely thought but incorrect.   It’s Bernoulli law that makes air moves upward on the hollow side of the sail.
The higher density air likes to move to the top ( tip of a wing) where it likes to compensate for the less density air.
This makes a Eddy current on that top. Obviously that’s a disadvantage for smaller jib where the eddy is disturbing the main sail.

Needless to say that the tell tail moving up is perfect indicator if any sail is set correctly.

Best regards form a aerodynamic specialist.

Nice explanation and please keep it up .. it’s helping sailers a lot

Great explanation on vang sheeting here

Watch the schitzofranic tell tail