rattle 'n hum wrote:
Ron: Please let me (but none of my competitors) know when you figure this out!
Sometimes I feel like I know less now than when I started!
Gawd... I know that feeling!!!!!
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Downwind do you tighten the halyard to force the mast forward?
Even though I might be ranked 36th last year
(the HCANA needs to get their butt in gear given an idiot like me can make that happen
) Don't go thinking I know how to seriously kick ass at a regatta just yet. I pretty much have all the pieces, but don't always put them together.. One event I am right on Jim Sohn's rudders the whole day... and the next don't even seem to be playing the same game.. Or even worse beat a bunch of great sailors to A mark only to blow it on the way down and back up again...
But... Downwind I don't usually pull the halyard.. What I like when it is light enough to think about tinkering with the Halyard is the Jim sailing position. Sort of laying down with a foot on the boom to keep mast rotated.. From that position it is pretty easy to simply reach up and grab a handful of jib halyard and just hold it.. But I usually don't.. What I find is that if I want to add rig tension and stand the mast up it really flattens to jib shape. It really feels like there is a narrow window in which one might bother with it. When it is really, really light my priority is being as smooth as possible and not bouncing the boat. Wiggling around playing with something I find is rarely worth the speed you think you might pick up.
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I understand that generally you want the mast raked further forward downwind and vice-versa. However, loosening the jib halyard really just loosens the rig so the mast leans further downwind (whichever direction that is), right?
Basically.. but my thinking has shifted more towards obtaining what sail shape at what sheet tension with the center of power as far aft as possible rather than concerning myself primarily with mast rake, other than I seem to try and run as much as possible.
The mast is going to fall of further to leeward with less rig tension though... Hence my thinking that if you are going to run a loose rig and sheet block to block I THINK (and could be horribly wrong) that there MIGHT be something to be gain by letting some shroud out. But I really need to play with it on the beach tomorrow and see how far forward the mast might really roll...
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So do you sheet harder to keep the mast from leaning further to leeward when going upwind? (When I run a loose rig, I can't point for anything with the jib luff bending off so much.) What if the conditions are lighter, and you really don't want to sheet hard?
Trick question!
I am always oversheeted trying to convince myself to sheet out.
No seriously think about the arc the shroud is going to guide the mast through.. As you sheet in and pull rig tension on by sheeting in the mast is pulled aft against the jib halyard. This should also cause the mast to fall to leeward as the 'hounds' come closer to being lined up with the shroud. This is why I think one might really further depower the boat by not dropping holes on the chainplate, but instead going up a couple and loosening the rig when it is really, really honking. This given you can sheet tight enough to flatten the main and the jib. I just caution that if the mast is going forward faster than is it dropping to leeward you wont' be 'depowering' in a way your H16 is going to be happy about even if you are spilling air, the center of power could be moving forward...
Then again most people just stay on the beach in the type of conditions I am taking about tuning for... Not me.. Last week was 24mph gusting to 31mph.. And I was flying solo! Broad reaching in those conditions is unbelievably awesome! I need to put some anti skid something on my rudder castings
And yes... When it is light (which I am actually pretty decent in light conditions.) my setup is closer to my heavy air setup.. A looser rig... Sometimes a bit more downhaul to pull the leech in at the top of the sail....
(seriously play with it... and sometimes do everything 'by the book' and then pull one thing out of whack and look up
) Sheet both main and the jib very softly. Leave the sails with nice big fat curves in all the right places and handle them softly to keep air attached. Sheet in to flatten in the puffs and don't forget to let them out on the other side. This is what I am terrible at in medium conditions. A oversheeted stalled sail is MUCH less powerful than a undersheeted sail.... (which FYI is why if you can, when it is honking it helps to be oversheeted sometimes...
)