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 Post subject: Help me out..
PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:03 pm 
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Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 1:20 pm
Posts: 122
Location: Atlanta, GA
This past week I felt real sluggish in around 8-12 knts, and still slugish but not quite as much in 12+. My settings were...

Mast rake: line came between center and back of porthole

Spreader rake: just shy of 1 3/4 or about 42 mm

Diamond wire tension: Increased it halfway through the week from about 650 to 800lbs, or 36 up to 40 on the pro gage.

Pre bend: started around 25mm, but we played with the diamond tension a little.

So I was set up for pretty medium conditions, maybe a little on the "power up" side, but heres the thing..
1. I felt like the main was way too flat; hardly any twist up top even after letting the rotator out all the way. Sheeting out didn't really help either.

2. In 15+ I felt we weren't as fast as we should have been; having to bear off too much to accelerate and couldn't point with other Tigers. In 8-12 these problems seemed to intensify. The downhaul seemed to not have much play to it, the difference between letting it all the way loose and having it pulled in tight felt like a much smaller margin than usual. Overall it felt like we were lacking power and having to bear off too much for speed which was probably what killed our pointing.

So now I'm trying figure out what to do next.. We were told we should have the mast raked much further back, to the top screws on the rudder plate. (We did end up raking it back further to the back of the hull but didnt get a chance to test it out) What I'm confused about is that the only adjustments we can really make are more mast rake, more spreader rake, diamond tension etc.. all of which are meant to depower, but this seems counterintuitive since I felt sluggish and lacked both power and speed. Yet it would be ridiculous to loosen up on things and rake forward for heavy air, since I was already set for medium conditions. This is some whack sh*t. I'm gonna try raking it back a bit more and increase spreader rake to 50mm and see what happens, but yea this just seems like it should feed the problem more than help. What am I missing here..

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:57 pm 
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Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 12:44 am
Posts: 85
Maybe you are missing mainsheet tension? Mainsheet really has to be very tough, especially at 15 knots.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:02 pm 
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Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 10:03 am
Posts: 14
I would say that we had many of the problems you identified early this season.

Before I layout out what we have done - how much does your team weigh and in 8-12 are you single or double trapped.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:18 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 28, 2003 1:12 pm
Posts: 1464
you never mention what your crew weight combined is? (if you are above 330lbs - 350lbs is a max, best to be on or near minimum - on the Tiger that makes quite a bit of difference)

Also is it the STX main? (I think it is since your sail number on your sig)
Make sure you are using the softer of the top two battens that came with your sail - battens play into this allot - tell us what set of batten you have...or did you build a set from your old sail and buy a couple? Need to make sure the weights of the battens is in line how they should be.

Yes more rake - for whatever reason seems to make the boat go better - upwind - not a de-powering tool really - just a boat balance one. When you let the rotation go all the way - that will flatten - leave it at the shroud or a little back once you are trapping - never blow it off completely upwind unless its nukin' - (I know some guys will over rotate to bend the top off easier - I personally don't have experience doing it that way - but I understand it can have its benefits)

Sheet in tight - have clean air - if you were taking bad air after the start because you are a poor starter...nothing in the tuning dept. will help - bad air will make you sail way lower than everyone ahead and have less power - its critical to tack away and sail clean or you are doomed!
More details please.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:28 pm 
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Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 1:20 pm
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Location: Atlanta, GA
We're 350. Between 8 and 12 we're single trapped, 12 is probably the threshold between double and single.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:10 pm 
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Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 1:20 pm
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Location: Atlanta, GA
It's an STX and the top two battens are the soft ones. The over-rotation was to see if we could twist the top off a little more after the downhaul was in tight, no real effect though. Downhaul on hard and main sheeted tight the track side at the top of the mast looked to be bending straight back far more than I've ever seen it do. Tried sheeting out but that just slowed us down. Loosening the downhaul did very little. I've never had issues with the sail being too flat or the mast bending like it was, and I couldn't tell you anything different I did setting up. I'll rake the main back more and see what that does for me. Oh and is tuning for the new spreaders compatible with the old ones... does 50mm on the new = 50mm on the old?

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