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Control lines

Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: Dinghy classes
Forum Name: Technique
Forum Discription: 'How to' section for dinghy questions and answers
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12897
Printed Date: 28 Mar 24 at 6:27pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: Control lines
Posted By: snowleopard
Subject: Control lines
Date Posted: 30 Oct 17 at 8:48pm
In the process of assembling my new (to me) Finn, I am at a loss:

There are the usual suspects - kicker, outhaul, cunningham, plate up and down plus loads of other obscure but understandable bits like toe strap tensioners and transom flap closers but there is also one I have never come across before: a tack tensioner. Why would one use that in addition to foot outhaul and cunningham?


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One hull good, two hulls better.



Replies:
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 30 Oct 17 at 9:22pm
Ask the Solos Wink

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Spice 346 "Flat Broke"
Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish"


Posted By: davidyacht
Date Posted: 30 Oct 17 at 10:12pm
Inhaul flattens the lower entry of the mainsail; also efficient way of putting fullness into the main without having to let the outhaul off.  In the Solo you simply let the inhaul off at the windward mark and pull it on to a preset at the leeward ... well that’s what I do.  I suspect that Finnfare has plenty on this.

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Happily living in the past


Posted By: jeffers
Date Posted: 31 Oct 17 at 1:14pm
Have you tried the Finn UK Class Assoc? They are a friendly bunch of guys in my experience. If you are on Facebook they have a good page there.



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Paul
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D-Zero GBR 74


Posted By: winging it
Date Posted: 10 Nov 17 at 8:32pm
I have also recently bought a Finn, and took it to a cvrda meeting with some other h lpful Finn sailors who say the kicker and the inhaul are the most important controls in the boat, and the Dow haul the least important.  Pull the inhaul on upwind but have the kicker off - use the mainsheet and the traveller to control power, keeping the sheet right most of the time.  Offline put the kicker on to create power, release the inhaul to put shape back into the sail.  

There is useful information on the BFA website, including information about mast rake which is also important, but you have to match it to mast and sail.


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the same, but different...



Posted By: KazRob
Date Posted: 11 Nov 17 at 5:25pm
The inhaul can just be the coolest control there is. If you ease it, it flattens the entry low down on the main, which can make it quicker but gives a very narrow groove to steer in. Pulling it on does the opposite being a bit more draggy but with a much wider and easier to sail groove to sail in. It also helps open (pull it on) and close (ease it off) the lower leech which can help you point or foot (remember on a Finn the boom is sheeted down so a 'closed' leech as you look at it can still be open relative to the boat centreline).
If you have a sail with two telltales with one around a foot or so behind the mast and a few feet up from the boom and the other a foot or so directly behind the first you can use those to help fine tune the sail entry by adjusting the inhaul.
Have fun


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OK 2249
D-1 138


Posted By: snowleopard
Date Posted: 11 Nov 17 at 5:30pm
Some interesting food for thought there. All the boats I have sailed for the last 30 years have had loose-footed mains and fixed tacks so it will be a new experience. Investing in a shed load of telltales sounds like a good starting point.

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One hull good, two hulls better.


Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 11 Nov 17 at 5:56pm
Does tack inhaul make no difference to loose footed mainsails then?

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Spice 346 "Flat Broke"
Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish"


Posted By: KazRob
Date Posted: 11 Nov 17 at 10:32pm
I've no idea about loose footed mains as never had an inhaul on one but no reason why moving the tack wouldn't work if sail was cut for it 

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OK 2249
D-1 138


Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 11 Nov 17 at 11:24pm
I guess it must change the shape of the bottom of the sail whether it has been cut with that in mind or not. Will experiment on the Blaze, the normal systems just attache the tack to the mast with either a rope or bungee and no specific length is recommended. I have a dynema strop which keeps the tack roughly in line with the luff but wouldn't any more than a little cunningham tension make an adjustable tack inhaul redundant?

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Spice 346 "Flat Broke"
Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish"


Posted By: KazRob
Date Posted: 12 Nov 17 at 4:06pm
Perhaps the other way to think of it is as a pre-bend control on boat like a Finn, OK or Europe where you haven't got a ram or lowers to pre-bend the mast in light winds. Instead of moving the mast forward with an I haul the sail moves back relative to the mast low down and flattens. What I meant about the sail being cut for it is if the bolt ropes are too stiff or exit the boom & mast too close to the gooseneck it won't have much effect I'd imagine.

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OK 2249
D-1 138


Posted By: snowleopard
Date Posted: 12 Nov 17 at 10:28pm
On the Finn, hauling in on sheet or kicker bends the spar a lot and flattens the sail. The inhaul would restore some belly into the luff. Makes sense when you think of it that way.

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One hull good, two hulls better.



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