RIGGING, TUNING AND SAILING TECHNIQUES SEMINAR 23.11.94.
SPEAKERS: CRAIG JELFS and GARY GEITZ
Setting up rigging, sails and controls as demonstrated by Craig on (then) current Australian, N.S.W. State and Drummoyne Club Champion boat "Betty” [in the yard at Olympic Sails]
The mast is fitted with "T Ball" stay terminators at the hounds to eliminate protruding bolts and swages and to allow a cleaner mast. The crosstrees (diamonds) are not raked and are rigid and extend out square to the centre-line. Their purpose is to support the mast sideways. There is no support fore and aft. The diamond stays are not tensioned but are set up to allow the stays to touch the mast at a point 460mm above the lower attachment point, when held between the thumb and forefinger. A Windex unit (or vane) is fitted to the mast- head and is used mostly for downwind sailing to accurately gauge gybing. It is also useful on the wind in light conditions.
The boom has been stiffened by inserting another section inside the extrusion to control bending, which would allow the leech to open progressively the more the boom bends, it also causes loss of power. The stiffer the boom the better. Under the boom are fitted two wire Strops 460mm apart for the mainsheet blocks, these strops assist in evening out the loadin8 points on the boom and minimise boom breakage.
The mainsheet traveller has a pronounced radius up in the centre to allow the lower block to be placed closer to the upper (boom) block so that in light breezes the angle of the boom to the centre line can be better controlled i.e. closer. This will allow some twist at the head of the mainsail to allow the sail to open up in the lighter breezes. Conversely with a flat traveller the distance between the blocks is greater and the lay off of the boom increases; to control this lay off the sheet will be on harder the head does not open and the sail will not exhaust properly.
The rudder gudgeons are located as high as possible, mainly to keep the stock out of the water to reduce drag.
The leading edge of the blade is kicked under the boat to almost the same angle as the transom, which gives the helm a really light feel and allows at the end of the day arms that are not suffering fatigue; basically the rudder becomes balanced with the boat. The tiller has a single extension, rather than a double as fitted to some boats. In practice the tiller extension is in hand at al times. It is not necessary to throw the extension around during tacks. With boats fitted with end boom sheeting the extension swings through a forward arc, whereas with the traveller mounted further forward the extension swings through a rear arc. Often if throwing the extension on windy days problems are experienced in picking up the extension. if control is maintained throughout the tack there is less chance of problems occurring. The hiking straps are quite long and allow the freedom to hike out comfortably. Some other boats have the straps in a straight line or mounted across the boat, these may be OK, but must be comfortable as at the end of the day; it's hard to hike and comfort is essential. The further you can hike out the flatter you can keep the boat
Inside the boat we have fined a device we call the "coffee table's. The rig tension equipment and centre board tackle are terminated on the unit and is a convenient spot for the for’ard hand in light breezes and as a smooth movement point for transfer to a swinging position. The boat is fined with a 10mm (3/8') stainless centreboard.
The boom vang exerts a 12/1 purchase. The rig tension is 8/I.
All controls for the outhaul, inhaul, vang and Cunningham are located on the rear top edge of the cabin on both sides. This allows adjustment whilst out hiking.
A purchase system for the outhaul is fitted inside the boom section. Blocks are not used at the Cunningham and inhaul points; rather the lead passes through the cringle.
The jib track is mounted on the cabin top, parallel and adjacent to the cabin edge. Were the track mounted on the cabin side the slot between the jib and mainsail would be wider, but so would the angle of the jib; this means basically you can not sail as high. Conversely moving the track inboard, closes the slot allowing higher pointing ability, but with a corresponding loss of boat speed.
Because the vang is necessarily powerful it is necessary to make sure when used on windy days going to win to ease the vang when approaching the windward mark. If the vang is not eased the pressure exerted on the gooseneck track sideways will cause damage. Downwind the vang is used to prevent the boom lifting. As you turn at the top mark the loading on the mast changes from aft loading to forward loading. With the vang left on there is also the chance of breaking the boom. The normal routine is to feed the mainsheet out and the skipper brings the windward jib sheet in, as the for'ard hand readies the whisker pole. Whilst the pole is being set the skipper lifts the centre plate. The forestay comes on and the Cunningham goes off. When the jib is set the leeward jib lead is tensioned. This prevents the end of the whisker pole lifting. The skipper moves forward of the traveller and the crew on to the cabin top. The crew does not go to the bow as this buries the bow and causes the boat to push water. The widest part of the boat is at the side stays. It is better to keep the front of the boat up a little. Keeping the transom clear by burying the bow is not a good argument.
The inhaul is probably the least used control on the boat, but is used if the outhaul is re-positioned. With an increasing breeze the mainsail foot is moved out to the black band to flatten the sail and The inhaul tensioned to form a crease along the foot of the sail and so flattening to the maximum the foot.
The Cunningham on a light day would not be touched. Some creases radiating from the luff can be ignored. The amount of adjustment available from the Cunningham is about 90mm and is marked I to 5 using a mark on the mast as a reference point.
It is essential to have moveable controls marked so that settings can be duplicated week to week, or as conditions change. These settings should be recorded in a log book. It is not possible to remember all details of the available various and sometimes magical settings without logging them.
The mainsail is never cleated when going upwind.
The boat is set up with 230mm of mast rake.
Two extra sets of jam cleats are set on the cabin top for sheeting the jib. One set is to allow a direct pull on the jib sheet when poled out. These cleats are mounted at the rear top edge of the cabin. The other set is located roughly at right angles to the jib turning block and close to the cabin hatch opening. Their purpose is to allow direct cleating of the jib sheets from the cabin opening if the crew is packing forward in the cabin on a light day. This obviates the need to move about to sight the main jib cleats, which are mounted on the aft vertical face of the cabin.
Mainsail sheet tension is set from observing the leech.
As the wind increases and the boat becomes overpowered. The vang is brought into use prior to considering easing the traveller out. It is not possible to ease the mainsheet without first setting the vang in these conditions as the boom will immediately rise the leech goes loose, the mast straightens and the sail goes deeper and you defeat your purpose. With The vang on the traveller and sheet can be eased together.
A common mistake made is with a breeze over 15k, with the traveller out and the vang on, telltales all working and trying to have the sail looking picture perfect. Once you get above 15k you should not be looking at the telltales on the mainsail, you will not get them to work. The mainsail can be back-winding near the luff, the head will start flicking in and out.
Easing the traveller out causes some loss in height, with the trade off being you are more comfortable and the boat is sailing flatter, with the sail on. The conditions on the day dictate. Some days the traveller is kept on and the sail eased a fair bit other days we will ease the traveller and keep the sail on. The Cunningham when strapped on will bend the tip of the mast, open the leech and so de-power the sail. In stretching the sail it also flattens and de-powers. At 15k you are still looking for power most of the time.
Leech lines are not fitted to Olympic Mainsails these days unless the customer requests fitting. When running square downwind the greater the area presented to the wind the better. There is a benefit in easing the traveller out when reaching, rather than holding the sail down with the vang, which will force the mast forward, flattening the sail. Easing the traveller will control the boom and allow the sheet to be brought on.
When sailing upwind the telltales on the mainsail below the two top battens are used as a guide to proper sheeting tension. With the telltales streaming about 50% of the time you are at maximum power. If the telltales are streaming 90% of the time the sail is under sheeted. If they are swirling continuously you are over sheeted. If the top telltale does not flow the sail is too deep. Perhaps a heavier batten could help. Cunningham, vang and pulling the sail on are the only other possibilities on die day. Heavier battens are normally used for the top two pockets on a windier day.
The lower jib telltales are used for steering only. The top telltale is set back about 50% from the leading edge and is used for twist, which is controlled by easing the sail out, or pulling on. The more open the leech is the flatter the sail al the top. The more open up to a point the better it will flow. Too much however and you lose height.
A good rule of thumb for setting jib sheeting angles has been 50% of length of the jib luff project the line through the clew angle to the track. When the sheet and the points mentioned are in line that is the starting position. However with current Olympic sails the position is at 1/3 the height of the jib luff. In light breeze it may be necessary to go one hole forward and one hole aft for stronger breezes.
Rig tension controls the forestay sag. This is the amount of sag in the jib luff. With the forestay on when going upwind it is easy to see the amount of sag or bend in the jib luff. This bow can amount to three or four inches. The more sag the deeper the sail becomes, the more pressure on the sail and the freer, or lower the boat will point. The forestay itself should not be tight when sailing to windward. Tightening the rig i.e. the jib luff will assist in pointing ability. It will also flatten the sail. Olympic Jibs are designed to use a rig tension of 150kg. This optimum setting is obtained by using a rig tension gauge, which measures the tension as applied to the side stays.
Mainsails are built to maximum luff length and the sail is set up so that the boom is set to the lower black band limit. Higher settings will only cause a crease to develop from the cutaway area.
Some have a natural ability towards sailing. Others do not. Mike Fletcher the Olympic Youth Coach is always on the lookout for rising young talent. Craig has this ability in his T.S.16, but this alone does not make a champion. Many, many hours arc expended in preparing a boat for a campaign. Craig and his dad, Don do this with their Hartley. As a golfer can spend hours practicing to bring his game up to the mark, so other sports people put in time on perfecting their techniques. Having seen numerous Hartley's over the years I consider this boat is prepared very well indeed. Unless you are prepared to put the effort in you cannot expect to reach the top. Of course you can have fun with your sailing, you must enjoy it that's number one. It's why we all do it, for relaxation5 something to focus on, to think about.
In the past few weeks in Perth, competing in the Lexcen Regatta, with a crew of seven, six guys and one girl; we said how much fun it was. We started not knowing each other all that well, but after being and living together for seven or eight days we now have good friendships going. We had fun sailing and fleet racing, and in winning the match racing. To be a winner you must be prepared to put in the hours. Just rubbing down the bottom; it is never smooth enough.
John Cuneo in winning his medal some years ago insisted his crew go over the boat again and again. A psychological thing is in the need to he always working on the boat. With John nothing ever went wrong, the beat of everything, layout, fittings and crew and he worked on them.
When we were campaigning 470 dinghy’s at a high level we had two boats. To be successful you do the things the rest of the fleet don't do. The same applies with families and business, if you warn to get to the top you work that bit harder and you will get there.
Sailing is a very complicated sport and as you know every time you go out it's different. Different winds, different strengths, it's quite shiny, or quite steady, perhaps waves or a whole lot of different things that can happen. Unlike golf where a perfect swing gets you well on your way. Sailing is just not like that - I have broken my talk into four categories, which are: sailing skills, speed, crew work and racing. Unless we are confident in all these areas we are not complete yachtsmen, or yachts persons.
SAILING SKILLS: Steering technique, as you know it, is not like a car where you grab the wheel and follow a path. With a boat there is a need to feather, sometimes you need to steer it quite fat in the groove, quite hard on the telltales, sometimes there is quite rough water ahead in areas like Sydney Heads, Port Phillip or Adelaide there is a big steering technique required. With rough water you can be using a lot of tiller movement steering up die face of a wave and pulling away at the top and going down the back.
With sail trim I prefer the luff of the jib to be breaking slightly when coming to the mark, rather than to be over trimmed, especially at the leeward mark and requires a lot of practice to do it with skill, getting the boat up to maximum speed as soon as possible, which is possible for good guys within two or three boat lengths from the mark. Concentrating on perfect trim, marks comparing the last beat conditions, wind speed, the last square run, how's the outhaul, centreboard down well before the mark, hang on check the mark all well and around all gear on settle it down and away we go. Any ropes over the side, concentrate on boat and crew, then fine tuning. You'd be surprise you can pick up 15-20 or even 30 seconds on a guy. It's all in crew work. Overlay lines? no you shouldn’t. The crew are probably trying to help you and calling the lay line as you go to the top mark, as the breeze increases the boats will generally tack through a finer angle. Say a Hartley tacks through 90 deg. at 10k, at 17k it may tack through 80 deg. It is very hard to call the lay line if you're out say 1000m. Depending on where the fleet is placed, it may be better to do a little hitch up closer to the mark, and as you come in for a port rounding you may only be 150m out. At this position it is much easier to call the lay line and avoid overlaying the mark. There is nothing worse than overlaying and having to crack the sheets to reach in and a couple of guys come in under you that were behind, tack and suddenly you're on their transom. So skipper and crew it's a team effort- same thing at the start getting used to trim is something you must get used to. You cannot have enough communication you must have it all the time. The skipper must coach the crew to his needs.
Racing strategy is well documented in books. It is important to work out a race strategy for starts. There is no value in fronting up to the line without a strategy for the race. Wind direction and tidal influences play a big part in deciding which way to attack the course. Talk to your crew about this. Think ahead and plan your tactics. Do you want a loose or hard cover on an opponent? Can we push him to one side of the course? or perhaps to another comer away from the fleet. Study a book on tactics. Attack and defence. If you're going to attack a guy I'm probably going to do it downwind. I'm going to throw a lot of gybes and get right in his air, attack and rattle him and wear him down. Defensive sailing - I think the right hand side of the course is favoured - I'm going to go out that way and I won't hard cover him. I'll loose cover him, and make sure he's sailing below me and tack abeam, knowing that's the way the fleet's going to go and push him out that way. When he comes back the other way, bang right on him. Stop him going out too far and get him back to the fleet.
Fleet sailing sail the fleet, you never want to do a L.T.O., what Mike Fletcher calls a lightning tack into oblivion, way out on your own and hang on a big wind shift and the whole fleet's got us. How often have we all done that. Never have too much separation from the fleet. The more separation from the fleet, the more the shifts go up or down the bigger the gain or the loss. Keep the separation to a minimum. I find in my older years I am sailing better closer to people. Get too far away and it's easier to lose the plot and allow others to get boat lengths on us.
Sailing the environment, or conditions around you, such as the waves. It could be the big point ahead, with a wind shadow waiting. Tactical use of a compass may be necessary off shore. A lot of boats don't need them Glen Bourke with three Worlds wins in the laser doesn't use a compass. I don't know how he manages but he does it. People tend to get a little bamboozled with compasses. You don't want to get too technical, all you need to know is your mean heading a high whether the boat is lining on that tack. This could be 90mean, 100 high and 80 low, that's really all we need to know. They're certainly good for direction if the weather is closing in and you're on Port Phillip Bay, it's always nice to know that Royal Brighton Yacht Club is back at 0:4:00. I don't get too deep into compasses. A lot of people will tack because they have come down a couple of degrees, irrespective of where the fleet is. A compass is just an aide. It doesn't tell you where to go or when to tack. It will tell you if you're high, on a mean, or low, use that in respect of all the fleet around you, what they're doing around you. if every one is low and you happen to be down ten, but in a good spot just sit there and tough it out, if one or two go that's enough, tack with them and that's using the tactical compass.
One procedure I find good for starting is to sail to the middle of the line and bring the boat head to wind on the line, if you can sight across the boat without that imaginary line, or a line from say the traveller showing a bias one way or the other that is a good line with no advantage either end. Should the boat be pointing towards one end then that end is favoured. The Windex unit is a good indicator of head to wind. It doesn't follow that that may be the end you choose to start, that's where strategy comes in and perhaps other factors. There could be a mass of boats at the favoured end and the chances of everyone getting a good start there are not so good. Perhaps 2 of all those boats are going to get a good start. Maybe choosing a spot just below that big pack or maybe half way along the line and hold the fleet high as the start approaches, freeing in the last seconds to gain boat speed.
It is important to have a sighting either way along the line itself extending beyond the end of the line to a reference point on shore, which may be a tree, roof or easily recognisable object you can use should one end of the line be obscured. It is then possible to use the shore object and say the leeward buoy as two reference points of a straight lime and extending this line to a point hopefully ahead of the boat thus giving a good indicator of your proximity to the line.
This is a good exercise to practice. This is extremely useful for small fleets who on occasion participate in large fleet regattas. It applies with Olympic classes when they travel overseas only to find they are unused to the very big fleet starts and can go out the backdoor from the beginning. It is most important to keep focus and work at your race strategy.
SESSION 3: Consisted of questions and answers to Gary and Craig, based on the 20 questions as published on page 14 of the 1994 November issue of Tillerscope. Where the question has already been answered during the course of the evening it was deleted from this session.
Q.1. I notice that Craig and Brendon are both out swinging, whilst others are inboard. The boat is obviously powered up. Could the panel explain the difference in (a) powering up and (b) powering down arid (c) the sailing technique used to allow the boat to sail flat and fast.
A Gary : If the others are not swinging out they're lazy, Craig and Brendon aren't.
Craig: Powering up the traveller goes to the centre, no vang at all. When you are looking for power the vang will only kick the mast forward and flatten the sail, so with a little outhaul cased to give depth to the sail, no inhaul on at all. The Cunningham will be off in any breeze up to 15k. Sometimes the rig tension can be eased a little in line with my earlier comments about headsail sag. This deepens up the front of the jib giving more power. The jib car on the lead can go fractionally forward if the jib is eased more than you would normally carry it.
Q.2. Much information is available about Tufts. Can you comment on the optimum attitude of jib tufts in light and heavy weather and the relationship to making ground and speed through the water.
A. Gary: We spoke about that with the drawing showing the telltales on the jib and steering in the de-powering groove and middle groove, when your're cruising along and when looking for power, how the leeward side is starting to lift you might need to start to power the jib up or ease the sheet a little.
Craig: The top tuft is designed and positioned on our Olympic jibs as mentioned earlier for twist. Mike Fletcher's son developed the theory by setting the top tuft back 50% of the width of the sail the maximum amount of twist can be determined. Twist controls the depth of the top of the jib as well. You will thus know when you have too much or too little twist.
Gary: The middle luff tuft works much the same as the bottom tufts. A lot of people set their jib leads position to as many tell tales as they can. Some set their leads to a breaking bottom tuft to leave the jib a bit deeper in that area. There seems to be a trend in using three on the bottom to allow the jib to be set up better. Some larger boats do it all the way down the sail.
Q.3. Could you explain leech lines.
A. Craig: We do not fit leech lines to our Olympic Hartley jibs these days, the same as the mainsails, unless they are asked for. Those who do ask for them use them for downwind adjustment, to try and hook the leech around to try and stop the wind from escaping at the leech of the sail. A general purpose leech line is there to try mid take flutter out of the sail. on the bigger boats when going to windward the leech of the sail will start what they call motor boating when the leech starts vibrating and can be quite loud.
Gary: A noisy sail can be very distracting and drives a sailor quite crazy. It's very annoying. Some T.S.16 guys do use them downwind, but if you crank them on too hard when running square you can lose out on the projected area of the sail we spoke of earlier. Sure you get depth, but I'm pretty sure of what I am saying the depth running square really doesn't do much for you. I think the natural seam shape in the sail is probably enough depth there to make the sail sit one way. The leech line is only trying to take the roach out of the sail to a straight line.
Craig: Upwind a hooking leech affects the flow of air across the sail and you are looking for a clean exit, as with an aeroplane wing the sail is a clean foil. When the leech line is pulled on the last 150mm
depending on the sail will hook quite dramatically to windward, it's like using a handbrake.
Gary: A fluttering leech does affect the air flow across the sail a bit Ben Lexcen used to love flapping leeches. All the photos in the old days would show fluttering leeches. The attitude was, at least you know the air is there and getting out, or the sail is working. Leech lines can be dangerous by allowing over-running mid end up with a bad hook, you're not adjusting as much as with a sheet, but if the gust goes, down ease the leech line a bit.
The following article is re-produced from a series in “Tillerscope” in March, April & May, 1995, and is done so at the request of a member. I hope you find it as interesting and helpful as I have in the process of preparing it for publication. I propose that it will be printed in a series over the next four months.
Continuing question time (session three).
Q.4. We are sailing upwind and crossing a strong tide, which is affecting the ability of the jib to contribute. Can the panel comment on compensating adjustment when the tide is on (a) the windward side and (b) the leeward side.
A. Craig: When the tide is on the leeward side it will push the boat further to windward, it will point at the suite angle but the boat will climb to windward sideways quicker. The apparent wind will go forward, which means you will tend to sail lower, but you will climb to windward at a faster rate. You are pointing lower, but the V.M.G. to the mark is greater because of the sideways motion. The opposite affect applies with the tide on the windward side. You will feel that you are sailing higher into the breeze, but in fact you could be being pushed to leeward against it even if the boat is pointing higher into the breeze. It really doesn't change the trim of the sail.
Q.5. is there a need to have light and heavy battens for the mainsail? Can you comment on inducing mainsail shape by tensioning Nos.1 and 2 battens.
A. Gary: Craig was saying the other day he thinks we should have a separate quote on all our sails; when we do quote we should quote for an extra set of the top two battens which will be stiffer. Craig has found with some guys who do need two battens for the top and two battens for the number two batten pocket. So we will begin quoting this way. Batten tension - no it doesn’t do a lot, certainly with light air it doesn't need to be in as tight, just in medium to fresh. On a fresh day it needs to be in medium to tight. It does not do anything for the shape. Shape is what the sail maker builds into the seam shape, into the luff rounds etc, no matter what the batten tension it does not do a lot.
Craig: You do not want them loose so that at a lot of the time you will have creases running vertically front the batten pockets. This is a good indication they are in too slack. Try and have the batten in just firm enough to take the creases out.
Gary: Good comment, and make sure you tie them in with good knots. Craig and Brendon were in some trouble last weekend because of this. Some years ago we were using mainly the Blue Streak batten material and the top two battens had what we call a ‘V' lock to tension the batten, whereas the batten material we are using now is moulded up in New Zealand and are complete with their own ends and you don't have the "V" lock so we are going back to a batten with a hole at the end and require tying in with a triple reef knot and it's worthwhile when it's blowing hard to make sure they stay in by binding the ends and knots with electrical tape.
Q.6. We are allowed two jibs. What should I be asking the Olympic sail maker for to allow cover of the wind range? How do these sails vary?
A Craig: We make two types of jibs; they both have the same type of seam shapes. But have different luff curves. One is a fuller jib with more in the luff curve to give more depth there and to the flow lines it is more flatter there and with the flatter one you can sail higher; it is suited t a more to a stronger wind range and flatter water. The fuller one is something we developed for Glenelg for the lighter breeze and quite bumpy water. So you have more power there, so like Gary said there is a bigger groove to steer in. So the tell tales will stream and be easy to steer to, when you're steering upwind the telltales won't be flicking inside out and it's easier to keep the boat tracking in the one direction with the deeper luff in the jib.
Q.7. On very heavy days is it better to sail with a cut down jib or sail with mainsail only? If sailing with mainsail only how do I balance the rig downwind?
A. Gary: No, as the boat would be out of balance. Downwind may be OK. as the jib doesn't do a lot downwind on a T.S. When it is poled out it does. Upwind the boat would be way out of balance it would have a lot of weather helm as there is nothing up in the for'ard part of the boat to pull the head away to balance the boat. If you were racing the boat I would have to say no to that. You couldn't race anyone in a stiff breeze who had a good flattish main and jib on.
Q.8. Are reefing points useful on a T.S.16 mainsail, if so where should they be fitted?
A. Gary: No you don't really need them. Maybe if you were doing a cruise for a week or two and you
had all old sails and there is a bit of wind around you could fit a reef point low on the sail to reduce the sail size slightly, but certainly on small craft if you put a decent reef in the sail the boats don't go to windward, even in 40k because you no longer have the horsepower against the wind strength.
Q.10. How do I optimise the sail settings for (a) downwind and (b) reaching legs of the course.
A. Gary: Downwind we have already covered.
Reaching in light, medium breeze sure you need to power the sails up and set the flow going round both sides of the sail.
Q.11. The mast popped to windward, the slot opened, the boat accelerated and climbed to windward! How do we achieve this magical state?
A. Gary: I sometimes wish I knew! I'll let Craig answer this, as this is exactly how the boats do go.
Craig: Popping the mast to windward! The boom vang does a lot of that. With the boom off to the leeward side, when you pull it on it is pushing the mast to the windward side of the boat. An important factor is in having the diamonds slack enough to let the vang do it. If the diamonds are too tight the mast is just going to stay rigid and won't move at all. Set the diamonds up as indicated earlier.
Gary: It does seem quite loose, when I looked a the boat earlier I thought they are doing nothing. As the mast bows to windward the windward diamond will tighten and take the load. You need that mast. bend and to get it the boat needs to be rigged this way.
Craig: Another way of opening the slot is by moving the jib leads aft and opening the leech up, that opens the slot and also by flattening out the bottom of the mainsail with a little more outhaul on and a bit of Cunningham on as well. It gets to the point where you are overpowered.
Q.12 When should I be looking for twist in the mainsail and when should it be without twist?
A. Craig: Twist is when the top of the mainsail opens out, so if you are behind the boat and look up the leech of the sail the top of the sail will be opening out slightly in the leech.
Gary: It is very hard when you are sitting in the boat and you are looking up at the white sheet. From behind with the boom say close to the centre line the sail back edge opens out as it rises to the top. Using a string line from the boom end to the headboard anywhere out from the string line to the leech of the sail is twist.
Craig: You should be carrying twist 99% of the time. Vary rarely when sailing to windward would the sail be straight down, if you are nine times out of ten you would be stalling. The only time you could sail without twist would be in perfectly flat water in 3 to 5k. The amount of twist determines your height and this gets back to your leech telltales and how much twist you carry. Once you start to get over 15k and you start to get overpowered you are really trying to flatten the sail out and keep the boat as flat as you can really. So a lot of times the mainsail will flick inside out and the top of the sail is being overpowered.
Q 13.. Should the boom bend, or is it better to limit the amount of bend?
A. Craig; As I said earlier the boom has a stiffening device inside, which is an old boom with the track cut off and the whole length fitted inside the new one. The boom does still bend, but it has been limited. When a boom bends the middle of the sail goes down and the back of the sail goes up and the leech frees off and you lose power; you also lose power by taking the foot round out of the sail and sucking the shape out of the bottom of the sail, so if you keep the boom as stiff as possible you will achieve maximum power.
Gary: There was a tendency some years ago in Melbourne to have big bendy booms a sort of a fad when Bill Binks had this big bendy boom. It was only because he was a good sailor and made it work for him. In general terms what Craig has said is right a stiff boom and use the mainsheet to control the sail. You are going to get some boom bend but that is all you will ever want.
Q14 Could the panel discuss the effects on the mainsail caused by mast bend, application of the vang. Cunningham and freezing the leech.
A Gary Mast bend we have spoken about; it will take some of the luff round out, therefore the sail looks to be a little flatter, which it is. Craig has spoken about the vang, a good powerful vang is needed for a strong wind range. People get a bit carried away with Cunningham eyes; I always find they want to be pulling these so-called wrinkles out of the luff of the sail, where in the last 5 or 10 years a lot more people sail around with wrinkles out of the luff or from the mast horizontally, they're fine. If your looking at light' medium you're looking for power you don’t want to pull the luff down tight. Certainly if the breeze builds and is quite fresh and these wrinkles have got to be quite big wrinkles, to tidy the sail up a bit and stop the shape blowing aft with the extra wind pressure sure you have to take some of those wrinkles out. The cloth will stretch a little and bring the shape back from where it has been artificially pushed back with the air back from 50-55%; you will crank it back with the luff tension, back up to 45-47% that's ok for the Cunningham line. Some Hartley's carry a big bubble in the luff. This cannot be controlled by the Cunningham. There are a couple of reasons for that. As the wind builds up you may not be twisting the jib enough and you are choking the slot with so much wind pressure trying to get through that area between the leech of the jib and the luff of the mainsail where the curve is. You may need a little more sheet eased on the jib, just a little to spring the jib leech off a little bit. Secondly the mainsail could be a little too deep, the luff round could be built with a little too much round and may need a little of the round taken out. You may be getting that bubble effect too early, certainly as the breeze builds to a good breeze you will tend to get that especially in that 18-20k, you will get some backwind for sure. If you're getting it at 10-12k I'd say no. Either the jib sheets are on a little too hard or the mainsail is too deep. Cranking the Cunningham on will make it worse because you're making the cloth tight at the front as you pull the shape forward in the sail, which is what you don't want, you're making the problem worse.
In cranking the Cunningham on in a nice 8-10k breeze and you sit there with the mainsail in one position, with the skipper looking up at the leech as the crew cranks on the Cunningham, or the luff tensioner, you will see that the leech springs open on it's own by the Cunningham being stretched, because you are actually stretching the cloth on the bias of the cloth, it is actually stretching the fabric, the leech is actually stretching open for you, that is good in the heavy air as well as it is actually increasing a bit more twist for you in the top itself by stretching the luff down. You will see this happen near the number 2 batten.
5th of series of 5 articles.
Q.l5. Is it necessary to have adjustable outhaul & inhaul controls?
A. Craig; The outhaul does two things, it controls the depth in the mainsail, which gives you your pressure and it will open or close the slot. I f you are looking for more power ease the outhaul in a bit in get bit more depth in the sail to give you the drive you need in a lighter breeze and as the breeze builds, flatten the sail out with the outhaul. The inhaul as said earlier is little used, but on a really windy day when the outhaul is on as far as it will go, then pull the inhaul on to get that crease on the bottom of the sail and reallv flatten it out as much as you can. The outhaul is used a fair bit.
Q.16. How can we be sure we have the optimum angle for jib setting? Some boats have top edge mounted tracks, others have their tracks on the side of the cabin and others use a double parallel back with a cross track to permit variation of the angle
A. Gary: We are always trying to get the clew of the jib in close to the centre line, as close as possible for any class of boat, but you can't with the Hartley. This is where having a sparring partner is so important, to be out in a fair breeze intent on tuning one boat, moving one adjustment and testing the new setting
Q.17. Set your jib so that the leech is laying about 250mm off the crosstrees is often heard advice. Would you comment on jib sheeting angles ~d the 250 correction.
A Craig: 250mm, with some boats having raked crosstrees and others straight out a set dimension isn't really relevant, different sails can be smaller or larger, with differing depths in the jib, or working with telltales. It comes down as Gary said earlier to working on your own boat, sitting to leeward before the race and checking the amount of twist in the jib and working with the telltales. Perhaps once you have it set right you can then put a figure on it. It will however be different for everyone. Gary. back to your sparring partner.
Q.l8. The Hartley is blessed with numbers regularly racing. As such it is possible to closely follow performance. As sail-makers, what is your attitude to the standard in the Hartley T.S.16 of maximisation of sails utilisation. Should more attention be given to improving knowledge arid on water skills and if so how could this be best achieved.
- Gary: Just look at the crowd here. I can't think of any association apart from Lasers or Etchells who have large numbers where you could get a group as big as this. There is no doubt about the number of Hartley’s our there. To lift the “on water skills” and in handling people to get the class faster overall
- you have more nights like this with more questions that we haven't had enough of tonight and we are running out of time,
- on water coaching by paying a coach that is good enough to view sails and crew, boat stability and angle of heel, twist, tactics arid strategy and all the rest of it. Today our National Coach Mike Fletcher is employed full time by the A.Y.F. and has been for five or six years. He coaches throughout Australia at medium to high levels. We have other coaches in there as well, such as Ian Brown, Buster Hooper from Melbourne. I’m doing a bit they want me to do more, there are guys like John Cassidy in Perth doing some. Sailing is progressively more and more a sport that needs coaching like any other sport, sailing is a long way behind in coaching. I think that is going to get better as we go towards 2000+. When I went to the Admirals cup in 89 Mike Fletcher came as the coach for the three boats that went from this nation. Chaps like Peter Curts an old timer, but who has been there for many years would sit down in a room like this and Fletch would have a briefing, or debrief and Curtsie would have a whisper he's wasting a lot of time as he'd never come up with coaching. It has come a time in sailing where we need coaching at high levels and a coaching structure for Club level, State, International or whatever. That's the only way I know to improve rapidly fleets and people in sailing. Especially when you have coaches who hand out log books that I use with 420 and 470 guys. It's basic, but something I wish I had years ago in my Flying Ant, Cherub and 470 days. You can make up your own or buy them through the YA. of N.S.W., who intended to throw them out a few years ago until they were stopped. They allow a coach who may only see them once a year to follow their progress through a race, how they score their ability out of 10. If for argument this chap in the past eight weeks has started poorly, so this weekend we are going to coach him on starting technique. Another might be down on speed. The log can help you with all your information. Keeping race information pays dividends, especially when visiting other clubs. It is not that hard. It works for me and it works for Craig and it will work for anyone else that sails a boat.
Q.20. Can you comment on rig set up and tension of the mast stays?
A Craig: Tension of the forestay determines the depth of the jib, so the more eased it is, the greater the depth of the front of the jib and more power, but you won't be able to sail quite as high. If you are looking for power on a light day you can ease the tension off a quarter inch to half an inch to give that extra bit of power to get the boat going through the water, and on a windy day at Drummoyne where the water is not rough, you might have it up tight to flatten the front of the jib out as much as possible and then sail quite high. If using a rig tension gauge and if using a flatter jib you’re looking at about 154kg and another 10 for a tighter jib. In checking other boats I find that everyone is way too loose. Years ago everyone carried quite soft rigs, with flat jibs, but these days the jibs are a little deeper and so you have to carry a firmer rig to get the boat to windward. Otherwise you will struggle aid you arc overpowered all the time, and you will not have the same height as others.
Gary. Of course your log-book will help with these tension changes for different days.
In response to a question about laminated sail cloth Gary advised: price is a big consideration with Kevlar and has a number of advantages over a Dacron sail. It won't last as long as Dacron, but it will last for say 10 or 12 months. We, as sail makers, have not pushed it for the trailer sailer market, as we believe we want a sail budget for everyone. We are riot talking America's cup. With a limited budget we use the best of Polyester Dacron for the class and that's what we do, we use about a 5 oz stiff yarn tempered cloth,
END OF SESSION.