Just follow these simple steps and bob's your uncle - all writs to nigel oswald

Introduction

The International Moth is not the sort of dinghy that sailors step into from another class and automatically win. It is likely that you are an experienced sailor already if you want to sail a Moth. You may find the experience intimidating or embarrassing, but stick with it. One of the beauties of the class is that it takes dedication above and beyond most conventional sailing dinghies. This does not appeal to everyone, but to the select few. To be able to hone your Moth sailing skills so that you can drive the razor-sharp hulls in all conditions is an exhilarating experience. Believe me, you certainly know when you are going fast!

There is no substitute for time on the water, but being able to pick the brains of the top sailors is always useful. Even after a few seasons of Moth Sailing, when you think that you are finally getting the hang of it, there is always some technique that can be improved that will increase your boatspeed. That is why we at IMCA UK have put together the following sailing tips. Perhaps this might make your ascent to the pinnacle of the class a little bit easier!

The following article has been divided into six categories, Boat Preparation, Rigging Up, Launching, Light Wind Sailing, Medium Wind Sailing and Heavy Air Sailing.

Boat Preparation - the vital first step

For the less experienced Mothist seeking more speed, the first thing to do is to thoroughly prepare your boat to ensure that you are getting the best possible performance from it. The quickest way to set about this is to try to make your boat as 'standard' as possible. Initially many newcomers to the class think they have a great new idea, not realising that many ideas have been tried out before and discarded. There are many new ideas to be discovered, but initially the quickest way to an understanding of moths and what makes them quick is, to keep it simple. Most moths at the front of the fleet look deceptively simple, do not let this fool you, they have evolved over many years of development. Everything has its place for a reason. Now lets look at each part of the boat individually:

Hull
Ideally, your hull should be strong, fair and light in that order. The odd few pounds of weight in the hull has minimal effect.

Make sure the hull is watertight as a pint of water weighs over a pound. Always fit a breather tube to allow for the expansion and contraction of the air in the hull. It prevents any water being sucked into the hull when it is put on the water on a hot day and the air contracts. or when the hull 'pants' when sailing in rough water. The tubes are usually fitted by the king post on the shroud bulkhead. If your boat has twin tanks you will need two breather tubes.

The hull if necessary can be faired up and repainted. Beware of chalked based fillers since these are porous and will actively pass water through by capillary action, or if the hull is sealed, cause blisters under the paint. There are no short cuts to fair a hull. just lots of elbow grease and a long sanding board. A lot of people sand the gloss after painting to achieve a super smooth finish.

Tubes and trampolines should be firmly tied down, with special care taken to check the tubes and reinforcing where they cross the gunnel. Look for grazing or stress marks in the aluminium, or lumps where the metal has creased. Check the lacing eyes in the hull and that the trampolines are smooth and cannot chafe the lacing ropes. otherwise a swim is guaranteed. As an additional precaution. an extra knot halfway along and at the corner will ensure that all is not lost if a break occurs.

Foils
These ideally, should be the correct shape and profile. Measure the cord length to ensure it is correct. If in doubt compare it to a set of foils that are known to be correct. Sight along the foils to ensure there is no twisting or bending. The trailing edges need to be made as sharp as is practical. Many books recommend a flat 3mm, but I've found that this produces a vibration as the water eddies and breaks free repeatedly.

Both foils should be either varnished or painted white. White is good to minimise heat distortion and also see the weed clearly. I prefer varnish as you can see sheathing damage at earlier stages. Ensure the dagger board has the minimum practical clearance in the dagger box to avoid the board from flopping from side to side when sailing. The board should be vertical and on the centreline. The rudder must also be checked for centrality, and the leading edge is below the pintails to avoid the blade stalling out. Equally ensure as little play as possible to avoid tip movement which can cause the same effect. Cheek your rudder and foils regularly for strain marks to avoid breakage's on the water.

Masts and sails
Check that your mast is straight and true without any rig tension applied. If not find a convenient gate post and carefully straighten it (not if it is carbon!!). Take off all unnecessary fittings and get the mast clean and simple as possible. Check all rivet holes (filled and otherwise) for fatigue cracks. If you find any, it is time to start looking for a new mast. Look at the top and bottom of the track and also the exit, to ensure there are no sharp edges to chafe the sail.

Check the boom for fatigue cracks, especially around the kicker section. They can be stopped for a time by drilling a small hole around the end of them to remove the stress point. How long afterwards it will last, is a lottery.

Look at the mast alignment with the boom. According to the mast stepping system used, the mast alignment can change according to the position of the boom, when it is rotated. The track should stay straight and in alignment with the boom when it is rotated. The mast should behave identically on both tracks.

Hound height and rigging depends on many factors, but again start from known dimensions. 1) check your rigging for wear regularly, especially if you are sailing in rough conditions. It is normal for the thimbles to straighten out, so after a time it may be necessary to drop pins in the shroud plates a hole to compensate. Always use a good size wire, 3mm is suitable with very little stretch in the windy conditions. Next check the sail for chafing, broken batten ties, stitching wearing, holes worn by prodders etc. Take whatever action is needed to put it right, or better still, prevent it from happening.

Sail setting is a subject of its own, but quickly check that the curve of the mast is smooth, that the sail shape is clean and even, and the camber is 50%. if the camber is not up the sail, adjust the prodder or spreaders to allow or reduce the correct amount of mast bend. The hound or prodder position may need to be adjusted to correct any major faults. Let the spreaders back or shorten the prodder if the mast is too straight and visa versa.

Tell tails can be put on the sail to check on the air flow, but do not put too close to the mast or they will be in its turbulence. I prefer 5 to 6 up the luff approximately 1/4 chord length back from mast. More can be confusing.

Control lines and fittings
Whatever system of controls you use, do make sure that all the controls work and that they can be adjusted with the minimum of effort. There are lots of capsizes from people fighting and fiddling with control lines with their heads in the 'office' and not concentrating on sailing.
Make sure all ropes pass cleanly through blocks and do not drag down the cheeks on a windy day, with a heavy load they can become almost unmoveable.
Finally, toestraps. Get them right for you. Hiking is painful enough. If the toestraps are too long or too short, fixed at the wrong points, or just "wrong", it becomes intensely painful and can detract from the sailing. Also check them for wear and tear.
These pointers will help guide you towards a sound start to setting up your moth. Get the basics right, and the rest might follow!

Rigging Up
It may seem incongruous to be reading about rigging up techniques in a section devoted to sailing tips, but rigging up a International Moth can be nearly as challenging as sailing it, especially when the breeze is up! This is especially critical with the pocket luff rigs.

It makes good sense to leave as much of your rigging in place at all times, even when trailing. Ideally the boom should be attached with the mainsheet, kicker and outhaul in place. Most helms also leave their cunnigham in place as well, using a quick release fitting or shackle. With all of this rigging in place an experienced Mothie should be able to rig a bolt rope sail rig in about 10-15 minutes and a pocket luff sail in around 20 minutes.

Pocket Luff sails
Pocket luff sails were reintroduced to the International Moth after a hiatus of about twenty-five years. The Lake Macquarie, NSW World Championships in 1994/95 marked the debut of this style of rig with many of the top Australian sailors unveiling the new breed of pocket luff sails. Since then many sailors throughout the world have used them.

The first step is to make sure that all of you control lines are slack so that the boom can be attached once you have the rig up. Then roll out your sail, making sure the zippers are on the topside if you have such a sail. Slide the mast into the pocket, I prefer to place the mast on top of the cambers as it is then easier to snap them onto the mast. You can either snap the cambers onto the mast before or after you put the rig on the boat, depending on your preference and type of sail. Although on a windy day it is easier to deal with the cambers and apply a bit of batten tension prior to hoisting the rig aloft.

Once you have dealt with the sail and mast it is time to attach it to the boat. Make sure that the rig will be facing into the wind once it is aloft. Tip the boat onto one wing and lie the rig across the mast stump with enough slack to attach the sidestays. Then attach the forestay, tying it loosely in place. Now you are ready to put the rig up. Stand with one foot on the wing bar, check that the stays are not tangled, or can snag on anything and raise the rig in one smooth motion. Once you have the mast in position in the mast stump, grab hold of the forestay and push forward, taking up the slack. You should be now be able to let go of the rig, holding it in place with the forestay. Now undo the half hitch you tied in the forestay and pull on some tension. Now your rig should be in place and you should be able to manage this on your own on all but the windiest of days.

Once your rig is aloft, the rest is elementary, attach the cunningham to the luff of the sail and pull on a little bit of tension. Then attach the boom to the mast, followed by the outhaul. Once this is done, you should be nearly ready to go sailing. One last point, on batten tension, it is easy to use too much. Especially in light airs, be careful because you may have problems with the battens popping onto the new tack.

I find that this technique works well and minimises the risk of dropping your rig onto your foredeck or elsewhere. Other techniques such as raising the rig up, putting it in the mast stump and then attaching the stays also works but you need a friend to assist you and on windy days even with two of you, it can be a bit of a handful.

Bolt Rope Sails
Bolt rope sails have some advantages over pocket luff sails, they are simpler to maintain, rig and if set up correctly can generate more power and possibly more speed in light winds. The disadvantages are that in order to keep up with the pocket luff rigs when the breeze picks up, they generally need to be to be flattened off earlier using stiffer battens which help to keep the leech of the sail tighter and more stable/controllable.

First of all the mast track should be smooth and free from sharp edges, polishing the inside of the track can help the sail to slide up and down. The battens should be tensioned just enough to remove the vertical wrinkles in the batten pockets, any more and:
You may have difficulty in flicking the battens over after a tack or gybe.
It could lead to damage as it puts excess strain on the ends of the batten pockets at the luff and leach of the sail.
Rigging is fairly straightforward, attach the shrouds, lift the mast onto the step and tension the forestay. Attach the boom, lean the boat over on its side and feed the sail onto the mast, connect the cunningham and pull on some tension This makes it easier to attach the clew of the sail onto the boom if you leave your kicker connected up. Then tension your sail controls according to the conditions.

Other tips
The narrow International Moth designs are much easier to sail with some foam or an airbag in the outer wing pockets. There is a fine line between too much and too little. Too much will make the boat want to turn turtle immediately when you capsize. Too little will be of no benefit. Don't be concerned about the hardcore scoffing at you, all of the top sailors utilise some form of buoyancy in their wings. It makes the boats much easier to control in a breeze, especially when you are trying to keep you speed down prior to a start.

Another good idea is to have a piece of elastic on your tiller so that it is self-centering. Do not fit this too tight, just enough so that you feel a light resistance at five degrees of helm or so.

Ideally, you should have trampolines that are porous, not pure sailcloth ones. This depends on the windstrength where you sail and your bodyweight, but is nonetheless a good idea. Solid sailcloth trampolines are a pain in strong winds if you capsize, as most sailors do! The wing that is out of the water acts as a sail and the wing in the water will act as a sea anchor. This can make it especially difficult to get enough leverage to right your boat in strong winds, even if you weigh more than 11 stone.

Another tip to make your capsize recovery as quick as possible is to have righting ropes under your wing bars so that you can lean back from the wing bar whilst you are standing on the centreboard to give you some extra leverage. Use a piece of ski rope with some elastic threaded through the middle, this will stay tidy and above the water when you are once again upright.

Launching
Now that you are ready to hit the water you must make sure that everything is in it's correct place and that you have not forgotten to do anything. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR BUNGS IN! This procedure is certainly not going to be unfamiliar to any experienced dinghy sailor. Make sure that you have the required amount of tension on your control lines for once you get away from the beach. Less experienced sailors will have their hands full just trying to keep the boat going, so do everything you can before you get on the boat.

The procedure for launching that follows is specifically for launching off of a beach but the same principals apply to any other launching problems that you may encounter. For inexperienced helms it is advisable to stick to such launching conditions until you are confident of you ability to avoid all obstacles. Hopefully your home club has such facilities!

Put the boat in the water at about mid thigh depth. Any deeper and you will have trouble reaching into the boat to grab the foils without having to tip it right on top of you. Put the centreboard into the case and push it down about three-quarters of the way so that it is not going to hit the boom (or the bottom). Now push the rudderblade down, making sure that you are keeping the bow into the wind. If you have a fixed rudder, the best plan is to capsize and fit the rudder, making sure that you are in deep enough water to have the rudder clear the bottom when you right your boat. Don't try to launch like you are recovering from a capsize, that is jumping over the wing bar as it comes up because you will find that the boat will want to sit head to wind. The worst case scenario then is that you find yourself heading back towards the shore!

Now locate the mainsheet and grab hold of it making sure that the sail battens are filling on the correct side. This is not so much of a problem in strong winds when you will have more power than you can handle, but in light winds when you need that power to even get in the boat it is imperative. Hold the boat with mainsheet and tiller in each hand. Once the bow is slightly off the wind, you will feel that the boat wants to take off. This is the point when you swiftly leap onto the boat and head inboard as far as the gunwhale. The boat will move along dragging the windward wing in the water until you have managed to sheet in properly. Once you have sheeted in the power will come into the rig and the windward wing will lift out of the water. Make sure to head outboard at this point to counteract the tendency for the boat to heel to leeward. This will take time to learn, do not despair if you capsize. On conventional dinghies the stability of the hull slows down the response of the boat. Without that luxury, Moth sailors just have to learn quicker responses. Once you have got the boat underway, you cannot relax, but at least hopefully, you are heading away from the shore and any obstacles such as moored boats or jetties.

Returning to the shore
Returning to the shore should be a case of simply following the above procedure in reverse, but there are some added tips. If you have a rudder box, it is advisable to slow down a good distance from the shore and pull up a fair amount of rudder and centreboard, but not so much that you loose steerage or start to drift sideways excessively. Once you have completed this task, it is best to approach the beach with one of your wings in the water so that you can keep your speed down. Leap off the boat where the water gets shallow enough and grab the wing bar, simultaneously guiding the boat into a head to wind position. One thing to remember is to try and approach the shore as close as possible to close hauled so that putting the boat in a head to wind position is not a battle.

With a fixed rudder, just pull up a bit of centreboard prior to reaching the shore. Then find a gap where you know that you will be able to capsize to leeward without hitting any obstacles. Come into the shore with your leeward wing in the water and then capsize when you are in shallow enough water that you leeward wing will touch the bottom. Then gracefully climb over your exposed wing bar and step onto the centreboard before heading for the stern to remove your rudder. You can attempt to leap out of your boat without capsizing it, but this is not advisable. If you run aground with a fixed rudder you will do a lot of damage. Don't worry about how capsizing looks to the spectators on the shore.

Light Wind Sailing
Many helms believe that light winds are boring and offer no challenges. I'm sure that most sailors who excel in light airs have been told by their larger compatriots that light wind sailing is not 'real sailing' and to 'just wait until the breeze comes up'. Granted, greater physical fitness is required to get a International Moth around a race course in a force 5, but it is still imperative in light airs. Concentration is probably even more important. An analogy I have used in the past to explain how unstable a modern Moth is that it is similar to riding a bicycle, once you have some momentum it is easier to balance. A fair hull and foils and easily adjustable systems is more important in light airs.

Generally, slackness is the key to light air success. The rig tension should be slack to aid mast bend and rotation. Make sure that the rig has only a small amount of rake. The battens should be as flexible as is practical. All of you control lines should be relatively slack on all points of sailing, especially with pocket luff sails because they tend to hold their shape more than bolt rope sails and take longer to slacken off along the luff.

Upwind
Your centreboard should be fully down for maximum power. Body movements should be kept to a minimum, only move around to counteract wind and wave variations. The boat should be heeled about 5 degrees to leeward. This allows for a margin of error for the skipper if the wind drops, or shifts or he or she ends up making too sudden a movement. It also allows for a reduction in wetted surface area and gives the helm the weight of the rig to balance against. The sail should be set-up with a camber depth of around 12% and then adjusted accordingly so that with minimal kicker, all of the tell tales collapse at the same time. You want to keep the tell tales on the verge of collapse at all times, so you should be sailing quite high. It pays to sail a little freer if there is any waves or swell around. With bolt rope sails in light winds you are able to pinch and still keep your speed up. Pocket luffs need to be sailed freer or you will find that the rig will stall out too early.

Remember to keep you head out of you boat and don't spend too much time looking skywards at your sail. Although great concentration is required just to sail the boat, you must be aware and make use of windshifts. Don't let a sudden knock put you into windward! In puffy conditions, always try to sail in areas with greater wind velocity, even if it is not tactically the best move, you will make much better distance over your rivals if you keep moving and they are caught in a hole but heading the right way. Saying that, it pays to keep in mind that you should try to stick to the side of the course from which any wind increase (e.g. sea breeze) is likely to come.

Reaching
As you approach the top mark, try to adjust your control lines for the reach ahead. You can take many places if your fellow competitors are fiddling around in their boats as they round the top mark and are not looking for any puffs. Remember that being so light the International Moth accelerates very, very rapidly so even just a little puff can make quite a difference. Do not raise your centreboard as you would in other classes of dinghy. Ease the cunningham and outhaul but increase the kicker tension slightly more than you had coming upwind. You will also want to move well forward in your boat, but do this with caution, in the boats with pintail sterns you will find that you can move too far forward, sinking the bow in excessively as there is very little buoyancy in the stern. Try to keep body movements and sail trimming to a minimum.

It is possible to achieve greater speed by gently rocking and sheeting the sail. This is inadvisable because if you are relatively inexperienced you will probably end up capsizing and it is actually illegal! The general excuse that helms use in this situation is "my boat is so unstable that it is the only way to stay in it". This is seldom true and is just a way of cheating, why not use a paddle or an outboard motor? Neither of these means of propulsion is particularly practical in a Moth anyway!

Running
Running is undoubtedly the most difficult and tedious point of sailing in a Moth. You should sit quite far forward to reduce the wetted surface area, but not so far forward that you are crouching directly behind the bulkhead. The boat must be kept upright, which can prove difficult when you are going very square to the wind, as you will have no weight to balance against. The kicker should be slack enough so that the top battens are roughly parallel to the boom. The outhaul and cunningham should also be let off as much as possible to give the sail maximum fullness.

Running very square in light winds is easier to achieve in a boat with a bolt-rope sail as you will have softer battens in than a pocket luff sail. One of the inherent traits of pocket luff sails is that they use quite stiff battens in all conditions. This is why you will find that the boom will tend to come in towards the centreline of the boat when conditions are very light. The only solutions to this are to let more kicker off or to use a piece of elastic around the boom and forestay to force the boom to relax.

Medium Wind Sailing
Medium airs provide the best opportunity to go as fast as possible in an International Moth. On a reach in 25 knots you will probably be going faster, but around the course you will find that moderate conditions allow maximum velocity made good. The major distinction is that in heavy airs you will invariably have too much power in your rig and you will be flattening the sail out, whilst in moderate airs, depending on your body weight you can harness the full power of the rig. Depending on your physical fitness you may find that you are much more able to drive the boat hard in a force 3 or 4 than above.

Upwind
You should be able to hike upwind in moderate conditions whatever your bodyweight. If the conditions are marginal and you find that you are just perched on the wingbar. Try to sail a little freer and look for maximum power from your rig.

Heavy Wind Sailing
Boat preparation is vital in order to make sailing possible, let alone racing. It is essential to keep everything in the boat as simple and uncluttered as possible. First the rig, I prefer the stiff cruciform battens as this allows the sail to be flattened and being stiffer the sail the sail will not flog. It also holds the leach tighter which is important for control. I prefer a lot of rig tension especially when the sea is very rough, as this will reduce rig movement. It is important that everything is stiff and positive. The sail should be set up with minimum shape, cunningham pulled out to the black band, kicker pulled on hard and outhaul pulled out so there is minimum shape in the foot (if is tensioned bar tight it can make the foot of the sail flap and cause turbulence over the bottom of the sail). It is usual to put the rig back one notch on the shrouds before tightening the rig as increased rake is preferable. The boat should feel completely balanced without any weather helm or lee helm. Some helms prefer a small amount of weather helm but in my opinion this can only possible act as drag and must be wrong. The dagger board should be raised approximately 9-10" and left there. Check everything in sight to make sure you will not have problems. If it's really breezy don't try to adjust any controls, you will be overpowered anyway, you won't have time and if you are going downwind they will be out of reach. Now having got the boat right you have to sail it, here's how.

Upwind
Keep the boat level at all times, the toe straps must be set up so that hiking is comfortable in such a way that you can easily extend your upper body in and out to help power and control over the waves. The sail power must be set up to match the leverage you apply when hiking. The upper leach must exercise correctly to automatically exhaust excess power in the gusts. Sheeting angle and kicker tension depend on water conditions but the sail should be sheeted much wider than normal conditions. Do not pinch the boat harder it blows, the wider you must sheet and the lower you sail. Kicker, generally in flat-water conditions use the maximum you can without distorting the sail. You may need to slightly reduce kicker tension in rough sea conditions to increase the amount of rig twist; this helps the boat to accelerate over waves and also reduces the amount of sail sheeting necessary to maintain control. Concentrate on keeping the hull moving by accurate steering and use of your body weight to allow the hull to follow the water as naturally as possible. It is essential to watch the waves and the water pattern very carefully to choose the fastest route and to ensure that your body does not slam into the waves as this is very tiring and loses a lot of ground to windward

Tacking
The narrow boats are the hardest things in the world to tack as they are so light and stop during the manouvre. Always tack facing backwards and practice lots in very rough conditions eds note there seems to be disagreement on this point - we'll get more advice and let you know which way to face. In the meantime, do whatever comes naturally. You must learn how to pick the correct wave to tack on and only experience will teach you this. You must be bold and once you have started the tack you must go through and get out on the wing as quickly as possible whether you are up to your neck in water or not, it doesn't matter for if you time things correctly when you sheet in the wind should lift you clear.

Try to get a fluent movement going- tricky, i know. Make sure you do not have too much kicker on as this will keep the boat head to wind and/or screw it back into wind after the tack the same problem occurs if you come out of the tack with the main pinned in.

Steering is a fine line- steer too much and the boat totally stops through the tack, too little and you you dont get through the wind in the first place. One way of doing it if you are having major difficulties is to dump a fair bit of sheet as you go through but keep steering the boat furhter through the tack, the idea is to come out of it almost on a reach with the main a long way out you can then get your weight out, slowly sheet in and head up to a close hauled possition. This process can then be refined as you get used to it-

I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS A FAST WAY OF TACKING BUT JUST A WAY TO MAKE SURE THE BOAT GETS ONTO THE OTHER TACK.

I have had a huge problem tacking my new boat so have spent a long time trying to work out faster ways of doing it. In survival condition races i usually try to tack as described above as it ensures you do actually get the boat through the tack, you lose a lot more time sitting head to wind and are much more likely to capsize if you mess up a normal tack (which is very common in a lot of wind).

Fast ways of tacking: This is what i seem to have picked up during what seems like hundreds of trial and error tacking sessions while practicing. Most of this is pretty basic stuff really but is often forgotten. (this is all with regard to being powered up, i.e. not light wind)

1.Steer Smoothly and move quickly. Do not over steer or move the tiller too much as you go through (elastic helps this). Do not hesitate, once you have decided to tack do everything at once, dont wait for the boat to come on top of you before getting on the new wing as this keeps the old windward wing in the water too long, slows the boat and gives you a mountain to climb the other side. If you move across the boat as soon as possible you can get on the other wing a lot quicker.

2. Keep the wings out of the water. This is f****ing difficult, takes tons of practice and rarely hapens (but is definitely very fast).Worry about this last. When you do get it right though you will notice that the boat does not completely stop and you come out of it with some momentum- and critically you can still steer a moving boat, i.e. you can bear the boat away from head to wind without serious tiller wagging. I think i manage this on about 2% of medium wind tacks but im working on it.

3. Stay as far forward for as long as you can. This also helps the boat keep going through the tacks. The best way i have found of doing it is as you come into the boat, keep your body forward of the mainsheet blocks for as long as possible and as you go round the back of the mainsheet, move you body very quicklyback and then forward as soon as you are round the mainsheet. In light to medium conditions, you would be supprised how easy this is and in these conditions, i find it makes a big difference.

4. When the battens flick make sure the rudder is central. When the battens pop, you get a sudden surge of power, if the rudder is central (even if you are still pointing too close to the wind) you will accelerate out with this (and then bear off if necessary). If you are still pushing the boat through as the battens flick, the rudder acts as a brake, has very little flow over it so no steerage and the boat will want to go back head to wind.

Reaching
Tight reaching: The best place to sit is generally about half way along the wing bar trying to keep the front of the boat just in the water. Play the main constantly and try to keep the boat heeled slightly to windward.

Beam/Broad reaching: Sit right at the back of the wing bar, if the nose is still digging in when the wind gusts try, to hike at an angle off the back. Play the main in and out in the gusts so the boat is dead flat. You may have to weave around to prevent the bow digging into the wave in front, bear away going down the back of the wave and luff up just before the front of the boat reaches the troughs.

Running
Sit right at the back perched somewhere around the gunnell/wing join and lock your feet out so that you can react to the gusts lulls and waves. If it gets seriously windy and you are having trouble keeping control over sheeting the main can help as it reduces the downward pressure that is trying to pitchpole the boat.

Gybing
Always try to gybe going down a wave, when the boat is going at its fastest. Make a smooth turn keeping the boatspeed up and pull the main across when you are swapping sides. Leap onto the new windward side with the mainsheet and tiller still in the opposite hands, being ready to make any course alterations (luff up if the boat is coming on top of you or bear away if it is heeling to leeward). Only once the boat is level should you swap hands.

Capsizing
As soon as you have capsized try to get onto the centreboard as quickly as you can to stop the boat inverting. Grab the righting line and lean back, as you go into the water pull the windward wing down so that it is on the surface. Still in the water position yourself so you are about half way along the wing, reach in and grab the mainsheet, this lifts you partially out of the water and gets the boat moving forward. Climb in to the boat grabbing the tiller on the way and off you go.