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I figured I'd weigh in with my thoughts on Diamond Wire Tension for the Hobie 18.
As with all things, free advice is generally worth everything you pay for it, and if you won't be offended by my offering my thoughts, I won't be offended if you cast them aside.
I usually sail with my daughter, we are generally racing @ pretty close to minimum weight. When racing at or close to minimum weight, I prefer to run the Diamond wires a little on the loose side. I define loose as going to the point 36 inches above the anchor point @ the bottom of the diamonds, wrap a bungee tightly around the diamonds, and loosen them till they squeeze in to within 3 inches of the mast.
In the past, I have also done a fair amount of racing with Tom M. ( who also races a H-18 and posts on this forum ) When sailing together, Tom and I were racing at about 360#, and When racing at that weight, I generally run the Diamond wires quite a bit tighter.
All that having been said, the H-18 mast is really designed to be bent on the minor axis and the sail is cut with that in mind.
The H-20, and the Tiger masts have diamond wires mounted differently, and the difference in mounting, I believe, tends to bend them on the major axis which requires a great deal more tension on the diamond wires. Also, the cut of the sail is designed with that in mind.
To try and tune a H-18 Mast the same way the H-20/Tiger guys tune their masts is going to be an exercise in frustration.
The reason I run looser wires when sailing @ minimum weight is that the loose wires allow the mast to bend sooner, which flattens the sail more, and allows you to depower. The easiest way to get the mast to bend in overpowered conditions is to have a 5:1 or a 8:1 Downhaul, I run a 8:1 because the advantage of sailing with a lightweight female crew is offset by her lack of arm strength to really crank on a 5:1 and get enough downhaul to really flatten the sail.
The reason I sail with the tighter Diamond wires when sailing with Tom is that if the wires are loose, the mast bends far sooner than I would like it to and starts to depower when I still need all the power I can get.
When sailing "heavy" I really want the mast to stay straight and keep the power pocket in the sail . The tighter Diamond wires when sailing heavy keeps the mast straight when sailing in light air even tho you may have inadvertently "oversheeted" a bit. It also keeps the mast straight and the mainsail powered up in heavier conditions when because of the weight you can make use of the additional power.
Diamond wire tension is one of the very few adjustements I make on my boat from one regatta to the next based on the total weight of skipper and crew.
Almost everything else I set up exactly the same no matter the conditions.
I got some advice that I considered to be good advice from Greg Thomas a couple of years ago.
He said, " Tornado Sailors used to make changes in setup when the conditions changed as little as two knots. They spent more time tuning the boat than they spent sailing the boat. The thinking has changed, and now, as the Hobie factory team we very seldom sail the same boat twice. We set the boat up exactly the same way every time we sail it, and learn how to sail it fast at those settings."
I think a discussion such as this one is good. I think it is important to know WHY you set up your boat the WAY you set it up.
Make changes ONE at a time so you can evaluate the effect the change has on the way your boat sails. If you make several changes at once, you cannot know the effect of each individual change.
Do not get set in your ways, always be open to learning new and better ways to make your boat go fast.
The last major change I made to the way I set up my boat was shown to me by a man that had only been sailing the Hobie 18 for a year. The lesson in that, is that you can learn from anyone, if you have an open mind.
Stephen
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If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.
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