outhaul

Hey, Both my old original sail and my new Whirlwind don't have much outhaul ability. I.e shackle connected to the center hole in the sail is at the end of the travel already. Now I do have a longer snap shackle that doesnt help. I assume since these boats/sails are also boomless, there is no need for outhaul? Thanks for comments.

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H18, H17 & Various motor boats

You have a Sport with a boomlet??? If so, you have NO outhaul ability. You do have the ability to adjust the shape of the sail slightly by which of the three holes you select at the clew. I found that the middle hole in my whirlwind Super-R Squaretop seem to be the best overall (go figure), and there is not a big difference if you use one of the other two. Most of the sail shaping happens with sheeting tension and matching tension of the down haul. Travler position is also important.

I virtually never touch the outhaul on my boat (stock SE with boom). I don't find that it makes much difference, I just set it a couple inches off the boom and forget it. There are enough other things to worry about during a race. Also, the geometry of the tack causes the foot of the sail to automatically get tighter as you tighten the downhaul, so it is kind of self adjusting in a way.

sm

I do have a boom, but I get the picture. Tnx.

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H18, H17 & Various motor boats

I have the same question about outhaul adjustment.

I just acquireda H17 that I think was originally built as a "Sport" but sold with an "SE kit". I have it rigged as an SE (main only, using the boom). I think the sail is the original sail, in very good shape by the way. I have the "Sport" stuff for the front of the boat (roller furler, crossbar, forestay & bridle) but do not have a jib, so I haven't bothered to rig it that way. I may get a jib at some point, but for now I'm happy to sail it as a cat rig.

With the mainsail raised and downhauled, the clew is positioned at the end of the boom. Even if I leave the outhaul line slack, the slide that the clew is attached to doesn't move in. It's not stuck, but there is quite a bit of friction when I have the sheet hauled in. Perhaps I will lubricate it and see if that changes anything. But the way it is now, the outhaul adjustment is doing... absolutely nothing.

The sail shape seems fine, but I don't have much ability to adjust it - for example I would expect to use the outhaul to flatten the sail in high wind. It seems that the only thing the boom is giving me is the ability to limit the mast rotation. Next time I go out I'll rig with the "boomlet" instead of the boom and see it it changes the way she sails at all.

Am I missing something?

Did the H17 come with a different sail for the Sport and the SE?

Thanks,

Duncan