BLUEMOMENT

Not my idea but one which I have seen on a couple of boats recently and have now copied on Silkie but not used yet.

A strip of tape is appled to both sides of the genoa pointing toward the mid-point of the luff from the clew of the sail to assist in positioning the cars properly. I used spinnaker repair tape since I had appropriate colours in stock and my strips are about 18" long by 1" wide.

Now I *know* that Silkie's training for a major race in 'Silkie', what with multi-part cascading mainsheet, windward sheeting traveller car, calibrated mast pre-bend and rake, 'tweak marks' in Pentel marker for his barber haulers, hydraulic backstay tensioner, retrofit carbon prodder for his asymmetric, twin rudder kit, a well-thumbed copy of 'Navigation, Strategy and Tactics' by Stuart Quarrie - and some strips of sticky tape.....

Bloomin' cheek!

Perhaps a couple of bits of sticky tape doesn't quite fit me for racing yet but I am determined to get a bit more scientific about sail trim. I feel another thread coming on...

From what I've seen, the said strips of sticky tape do yeoman service as go-faster stripes on 'Silkie'!

All the stripes tell you is where the centre of the luff is. The car position depends on wind strength and apparent wind angle. If you have telltales slightly behind the luff they will give you more information on where to put the car - oh and towable cars are a lot nicer than pin-stop cars as well.

Pete Cooper wrote:All the stripes tell you is where the centre of the luff is. The car position depends on wind strength and apparent wind angle.

Agreed that what the wind in the sail is doing is the essential but the stripes should provide a useful reference. Silkie does have tell-tales too although perhaps three rows would be better than two.



Given that only the leeward ones are visible in this pic, what do you make of the sail trim?

Och, the sail trim's no bad, but the beard could dae wi' a wee bit o' attention.....

Lovely pickshur.

You try to start a serious thread, requesting advice from the more experienced sailors in the group... Sheesh!

If you only want nice pickshurs for wisecrack captions this is rather splendid.



You can't see the genoa tell-tales but the fact that I'm steering with the tiller up my erse while tring to get the lunchtime rolls out of their bag must be good for a laff or three.

Yon's dead nonchalont. An' I think the sail trim's a wee bit better in the first fottie. Ra second wan needs maybe jist a tooch o' barber hauler. An' here wis yon Dave thinkin' ye were scratchin' yer erse, the way ye were wagglin' it.

But ah still think ye've goat ra motor oan, but.....

You'd've heard it if it wis.

Conditions were a bit variable at that point IIRC. Note that the genoa is drawing reasonably well although the windex is pointing not far off astern.

An' I think the sail trim's a wee bit better in the first fottie.

Specific criticism is what's needed.

I've found, on a fair few occasions going downwind, that the upper genoa is much blanketed by the main, with disturbed airflow and rolling/yawing - which reduces boat speed.

Taking the first reef in the main has frequently resolved this, permitting the genoa to sustain its full drive with an enhanced airflow, the boat to stabilise, and an increment in boat speed results. But it's all 'tweaking' - and there's little benefit if the pub's still closed when you get there.....

Now there's a good tip.

I shall always time my arrivals to coincide with pub opening hours in future.

Oh, and in that configuration, oversheeting the reefed and flattened main a fair bit so that its airflow spills forward around the mast adds to the airflow destined for the genoa anyway.

Much the same thing with a light spinni, in light airs and a left-over slop, when it's hard to keep the spinni full.

It's worth playing about with, when no-one's watching.....