Thanks Mike and Karl.
Mike, I ordered some of the Marine Grade Loctite.
Quote:
You will be changing downhaul frequently. You don't want any downhaul on when the chute is up as it puts weird pressure on the mast. For me its also the first thing I go for to depower, then rotator, then traveler, then boards.
I keep my outhaul tight. Pretty much set and forget.
I like the "set and forget" part!
There appear to be nine items on FX to adjust, which is a lot of adjusting. On mast, four, sail has three, and rudders have two.
Mast:
Spreader angle
Diamond wires
Rotator
Mast rake
Sail:
Battens
Outhaul
Downhaul
Rudders:
Toe-in
Load (tilt forward or aft)
I am just wondering about this "dialed in" thing. It appears to me that it is not a permanent thing as some recommend but something that changes quite a bit based on conditions.
Rick White in
Catamaran Racing mentions his "3 W's" -- wind, waves, and weight. I think book does a really good job of summarizing how you set the mast, sail, and rudders based on conditions
for the best sail shape after averaging the conditions of wind, wave, and weight.
I am not at the point where I have a definite opinion about settings (still reading), but I am impressed with Rick's method. (Of course, he is big into racing.)
Rick measures conditions on the day of the sail.
A full sail rates a 30 and a flat sail is a 10. A full sail is like 1st gear on a car with manual drive -- power but less speed. A flat sail is 5th gear -- speed but lower power.
There are gears in between. Each step is a 5.
I am out at the water: I have bad wave chop, that requires more power and rates a 30. Weight onboard is heavy and that requires power too and rates, say, a 25. If the wind is heavy, the sail can't be full or it will be overpowered. So sail rating is 10 for less power.
Average is 20 which is a medium full sail.
Then you "dial in" the mast and sail for medium full by setting the spreader, diamond wires, rake, and so on.
Some of settings should be changed. Some cannot be changed easily...