RS Tera Southern Squads 25/26 Weekend 2 - WPNSA

Our second weekend was held at WPNSA focused on one important aspect of performance sailing: speed. Not just “pull the sail in and pull some ropes and hope” speed, but as a squad we wanted to build deeper understanding of how the flow around the boat and sail creates the power that makes speed possible.

Understanding flow & sail shape

We began by looking at how air attaches to the sail. When flow stays smooth, the boat accelerates; when it breaks away, the boat stalls. The sailors explored different sail shapes—flatter for less drag and higher pointing, fuller for power and punch through chop—and learned how small adjustments to downhaul, outhaul and kicker dramatically change how the Tera moves.

A key takeaway was that the sail needs constant change and reading. Conditions were changing over the weekend along with the water state meaning sailors had to adapt.

Upwind modes

We introduced different upwind modes and how to sail in each, but also how the boat feels different in each:

• High mode - higher angles, slightly slower boatspeed, flatter sails, strong height gains.

• Low mode - lower angle, maximum speed, especially useful in choppy patches or when not wanting to get covered.

• VMG mode - happy medium, best speed to make our way to the next mark, often dips in and out of high and low mode.

Switching between these modes helped sailors feel how a Tera accelerates when flow is clean, and how the boat speed is reduced when in high but overall height is really gained, especially in the Pro rig.

Reverse flow downwind & S-Turns on Waves

Downwind, we shifted to the concept of reverse flow. This is where the wind meets the sail from the leach and flows towards the mast. This drives the boat downwind but creating lift rather than just being pushed.

Sailors practised gentle S-turns to surf waves, build apparent wind, and carry speed from one puff to the next. The emphasis was on steering for power: turning up slightly to catch flow on the sail, then gently bearing away to release and accelerate. The sailors quickly felt the difference between simply sailing “straight downhill” and actively working the boat to get the highest speed possible.

A big well done to all the sailors, the conditions were challenging but a lot was learnt. Looking forward to building on this these concepts and discovering the when to use the different modes upwind, especially off the start line and to dive more into starting strategies in tide.