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Topic: main sail |
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John |
Posted: 22-May-06 22:51 |
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i know iso mainsails are indistructable, but when do they pass there racing shelf life? |
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Pete Lindley |
Posted: 23-May-06 11:15 |
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When you have run out of excuses for blaming other things when you keep putting in a poor performance on the race track! Mine is 6 years old.
[Edited by Pete Lindley on 23-May-06 11:15] |
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John |
Posted: 23-May-06 21:54 |
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my main is 10 yrs old but i have noticed when i pull on the outall it gets to the end of the slide before the sail becomes really tight. |
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John |
Posted: 23-May-06 22:04 |
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i have no excuses for performance in races. Me and my partner are on a big learning curve with this boat and are getting better each week. i am in the process of implementing all the tweaks from the website . in doing this i have noticed a few things that are wrong with the boat. such as mast bend etc. i have waterproofed the spinnaker so this should help stop us trawling for fish. |
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John |
Posted: 27-Jun-06 17:01 |
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i asked when do mainsails pass there racing shelf life? the reason for the question is do they stretch because when i pull the outhaul on hard the sail is not very tight. can i do something to compensate this? also the cunningham does not slide very well i have tried all the mods but nothing really works.
wether its poor performance on me and my crews part or just a badly set up boat. it is very disheartning when you get passed by gp14's etc.
we sail at scaling dam which is a small inland resevoir and most of the courses we run are not big enough to fly the kite (i have to hoist and drop the kite because my crew finds it hard to pull) so boat set up crucial . |
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Pete Lindley |
Posted: 27-Jun-06 17:09 |
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Being passed by GP14's - I'd have to say that a bad workman always blames his tools.
It's difficult to help without seeing what's happening. Next training weekend make sure you get booked onto it!
Pete |
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John |
Posted: 27-Jun-06 20:55 |
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you say come to the next training weekend . i would jump at the chance.i asked on events and features forum when is the next training weekend but didn't get a reply.
scaling dam is a very demanding bit of water with alot of small wind shifts and you have to be on your toes. we have three iso's at the club one doesnt sail anymore think they argued to much the other is only out once in a blue moon he has been on a training weekend i pick his brain as much as i can . i will not be beaten by this boat but would like some advise as to what i am doing wrong |
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Pete Lindley |
Posted: 27-Jun-06 21:43 |
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I'd best pull my finger out and get some dates arranged around the country.
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Bob Ladell |
Posted: 28-Jun-06 00:30 |
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John / Pete - if I may.
I infer that the foot is still loose at max outhaul. Can I assume that the clew really is as far out on the boom slider as possible ?? If it is then check the tack end. The plastic slider does get worn or breaks and either way doesn't slide very well. I've used a bit of 3mm rope and tied a knot in it to fit in the slider - works fine. Seen others just use a strap round the mast.
Have you checked the boom length against other boats ?? Conceivable someone has fitted a tube at some point that isn't quite right.
However, doesn't sound like that's your problem as you would expect to sail in F3 / F4 with up to about a hand depth between boom centre and mid mainsail only fully flattening in either no wind or full on F5 and above.
More relevant is your leach. Do the top two main sail panels hold still in a F3 / F4 with a load of kicker on or motor ?? If they are near enough still and the leach straight I doubt there's much wrong with your main. If they are motoring then your main is a bit stretched - but need to see it to say whether past sell by date or not. Try a bit more batten tension ( another webbing notch or two to compensate ). My "club" main motors quite well as does my old pink battened main - but still well capable of thrashing the pants off L4ks - so I've concluded that mains do carry on performing reasonably well for a very long time.
Next I'd look at your jib. I don't care for the Platinum ones of about 4 years ago. The current Chinese ones are great - and the ancient mylar ones are darned good too. Run a couple in club racing - they pull like a train even with all the mylar missing and repaired with tape.
Next tip - run your kite halyard outside the mast using a ring at the spreaders and bit of rope round the gooseneck to guide it. Takes a LOT of load off your crew - and helps the kite and blocks last longer. A thinner rope helps too - 4 to 5mm is good. Check your blocks spin freely. If they don't, ditch the top swivel and rearmost ones and buy new pdq.
If none of that helps then it's a case of arranging a rib, driver a tank of fuel and some accomodation for Pete or whoever he co-ordinates to do a training session with you.
There is of course the option to come along to events where the RWO Pro-Am scheme helps everyone up their game big time ( doesn't it Pete  ........ )
Hope that gets somewhere close to answering your question.
Bob |
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Pete Lindley |
Posted: 28-Jun-06 15:45 |
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Also with the outhaul - as Bob says, you only want that fully on when depowering mainly. Normal setting is 0.75 of your hand length from the centre of the boom to the sail. This equates to about 1.5" from the outboard end of the outhaul track.
I have seen people use shackles to attache the main to the outhaul rope. This is incorrect and results in the shackle being at the end of the boom and the main not quite getting there. The pin on the outhaul track on the boom passes throught the clew of the sail. The outhaul rope comes out of the boom, through the clew of the main and back to the end of the boom where it passes through the little hole you have drilled in the black end piece and a stopper knot is placed on the end (inside the boom). |
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