How many times have you had a nice front row start, you're hanging tough with the boats above and below, then all of a sudden you've lost the wind and fallen behind? It happens to all of us. The single biggest factor is not being able to change gears or, better said, adapt to changes in conditions.

In a car it's easy - when the RPMs are too low and you need more power, push in the clutch and downshift to a lower gear. When the RPMs are high and you have too much power, give up the power by upshifting and get more speed. This analogy may sound crazy, but in many ways the lessons learned in the car can be related to changing gears on your J/22.

Think about all the sail controls that we have at our fingertips that change in some way or another the shape of our sails or, better yet, gears. The unfortunate thing is that we have more than a five-speed gearbox. Together with the main and jib, we can set up any number of shapes for power, speed and pointing.

The J/22 is a fairly sensitive boat in regard to sail trim. Keep in mind that the needs of the boat to obtain maximum speed and pointing are always changing. The sail trim on the sheets should be constantly adjusted. Below I'll give you some of the rules of thumb we have used to let us know when we are in the right gear.

The backstay is considered one of the most important controls on the boat. It can drastically adjust the depth and twist of the main and jib with a single pull. We use as little backstay tension as possible while still keeping the boat on her feet. The only exception to this is in really flat water where the boat does not need all the power, and can make a better VMG (velocity made good) upwind pointing higher. Since the backstay is at the hands of either the skipper or the cockpit crew, it should be adjusted for increases in the wind velocity or for a change in the sea conditions. In general, if you are pointing too high but can't get speed, or you keep rounding up, then the backstay is too loose. If you're stuck in low gear and the RPMs are too high, shift up by pulling on some backstay. I would also say that if you can't point, then the sail needs either trim or, more commonly, power. In heavy air, pull on the backstay hard to tighten the headstay, reducing sag which will help keep the jib flat and depowered. In addition, it will board out the main helping to keep both heeling and helm to a minimum.

The outhaul is something that controls the main much like the backstay. However, we usually set it for the given conditions prior to the start and rarely adjust it unless the wind velocity changes dramatically. In lighter breezes, if the boat feels like it's bogged down (like your car engine does when you need to downshift), ease the outhaul to get more power down low in the sail.

As far as main controls are concerned, the cunningham is the least-used control on our boat. We adjust this whenever a substantial change has been made to the backstay. I like to see soft horizontal wrinkles along the luff unless the boat is overpowered.

The jib trim and lead position are very important factors. We regularly change the jib lead on the weather tack prior to tacking to either flatten (move aft) the sail or add depth. The range that we move through is small, but like the backstay, a small change makes a big difference.

Assuming the main is trimmed in, now trim the jib so that the leech aims two inches inside the spreader tip. If the boat still has a lot of weather helm, then the jib is either too flat or the main is too full. Using a combination of main sheet, jib sheet, backstay and jib lead, try to get a fairly neutral helm. Like any other boat, you want to reduce the rudder drag. You'll be amazed at how quick this is.

Constantly stay in touch with what the conditions are doing so that when a change occurs, you'll be quick to react by either up- or downshifting. Next time you get that nice front row start, keep the clutch in for rapid gear changing and leave your competition in the second row!