Just to complicate things there is another rope called the outhaul and this is controlled by the crew as it is cleated off under the boom by the mast. Todate when sailing we have not touched it - just made sure it was tight - well it is my first year learning to sail after all. Guidance from Topper is as follows.....
When sailing upwind you will nearly always have the outhaul pulled quite tight but you may wish to loosen it for the downwind legs. You can pre-set the "off" position by tying a large knot (or use a ball) about an inch from the cleat when the foot is pulled tight. This means you simply have to uncleat at the windward mark and it will be in about the right place for downwind sailing. Remember to pull it back on before rounding the leeward mark!So next time we go out I will put 2 knots in it and report back how it works.
In light winds the boat sails a lot better with much less tension in the outhaul, even upwingd i sail it in very light airs with enough sag to get a hand span between bottomn of sail and boom laterally, It does mean that the top batten needs a good pull on tacking so we are also starting to roll tack but find going too far slows the boat right down due to hull shape.
ReplyDeleteWe sail popursuits and go in a 64 minute about 15 seconds after the lasers not sure which handicap this is Chelmarsh SC