International 14 set up by Mike Lennon of Hyde Sails

Tim Robinson and Zeb Elliot using a big headed sail in 25 knots at Garda last year. The boat to windward is Mike Lennon and John McKenna using a small head main sail… what will happen in the brave new world of one main per regatta? © www.SailboatDeliveries.com

As in all boats, it is the sum of all the parts that gives the edge we are in search of. But then its understanding interactions of those parts in detail that gives a consistent performance advantage. To write an article detailing this interaction is certainly possible but linking that to feel and a complete understanding of varying possibilities is problematic. Also, to try and describe how Hyde have developed their sails over the past year is almost pointless — if you haven’t seen them, describing flying shape is open to interpretation. So in this article I will focus more on broad concepts than detail… but in the end it’s the detail that gives you the edge.

Getting constant performance across the wind range is the elusive goal, so the boat set up should be aimed toward ease of use - make things as easy as possible. For example, how easily can you adjust jib leech twist without easing sheet? You know the scenario, you’re going up wind in 10 knots and it goes up to 12 halfway up the first beat…..what to do, ease sheet? That will make the sail deeper, but the other option is to let the car go to leeward, or drop in some mast rake to allow some twist which flattens the jib. The second two options are preferable but require some adjustment whilst racing.

The main is obviously supported by the mast and it’s the combination of bend and depth that dictates the flying shape. But here is where we get into the black art of gust responsiveness. Enough bend to give acceleration and power-dumping in medium-strong conditions but stiff enough to allow the leech to be shut down. With big roach sails this combination can be tricky. There isn’t much point in having all that extra sail area in the top of your sail if you can’t use it properly. Control of mast bend is essential and, to this make easier, I lead the cap shrouds through the lower spreaders back to the mast base. In my view, this is easier to set up than the method of leading the shrouds directly from the top spreaders down to the gunwale; I believe both can be quick, but the mast-base method is independent of other influences. My main concern is proper control of lower-mast bend - if you can’t control this you won’t go anywhere!

How deep should the main sail be? My view is as deep as you can get away with, but you must be able to dump the power easily and quickly. So good tip response is essential, as is rake control and jib slot control. So the interactions, in broad terms, are as old as the oldest text book. Light winds require a powerful set-up - mast upright, slot closed to near stall, main powerful, rig pretty straight in all directions. Then it’s all out and back from there; the jib car gradually moves out, the slot opens to introduce more twist whilst flattening the jib and the mast will be raked aft, as power reduction is needed. Nothing new here I know -- but the basics just don’t change and it’s important not to lose sight of them.

When to make the setting changes is often something people want to quantify, but don’t get too technical about it, it is fairly self-explanatory. If you’re over-powered, more rake and open slot - don’t forget the Cunningham! A far more vexing question is main size. Remember POW last year? Day one, 5 to 8 knots, day 2, 25 knots! Will we end up compromised by the new rule only allowing one main per Regatta? Will we stay big and learn to live with it in 30 knots? I don’t know; I would no longer recommend going very big above the 3/4 height girth, but nor will we end up going back to a conventional looking sail. Right now we are making sails a couple of inches narrower at the top batten than the biggest sails we have made so far…watch this space. In my view this is a bad rule change. We have taken a difficult boat and made it harder. Plus we will trash our big sails much more quickly putting up the costs. All in all we voted to make our class more difficult and expensive to sail.

Something about the sails then…

I would categorise the main by saying it is on the full side compared to most UK sails I’ve seen, although to a large extent the flying shape will depend on the bend characteristics of the mast. Hyde’s use four full length battens – any more just adds unnecessary weight, any less and the lower batten won’t tack in moderate breeze. This I learned the hard way, it is all a bit strange when the upper two battens tack and the lower one won’t. It has the effect of holding the boom on the centre-line and either re-tacking you or capsizing you. The ideal seems to be 4 full and 3 short to smooth the roach profile.

The jib is relatively full low down and has moderate depth in the head. Good use of halyard tension will control the entry / exit shape. Also, in and out on the track is a fine tune that’s not so fine. If it is too far in, you have no acceleration in moderate winds. Too far out and you have poor pointing ability. It is important to have a good understanding of which athwart ship position works across the wind range. Try to make a mental note of where the track is positioned each time you sail and how the boat feels. Sometimes it’s worth trying the wrong setting to see how things feel and perform. So in light to moderated wind try the track fairly well out board. You will soon pick up a good feel for what works.

The spinnaker is a moderate to flat shape allowing good height on the triangle and is also good on the run. This is largely due to the speed the 14 generates, not amazing spinnaker design! A fuller sail may give more depth of angle when running but will lack acceleration especially when you heat up.

Hyde’s have chosen a cloth that is fairly robust, quite big yarns in the warp direction, with an off-thread line support called X ply. The yarn is Technora, an Aramid fibre mostly referred to as Kevlar. Although widely used in sail cloth, carbon only really works in large bundles, which would make the spacing huge on sailcloth as light as those we currently use, while large yarn gaps cause some load transferral onto the film. The material we use was developed around a cost point, and a combination of aesthetics and good performance. We price the sails around that choice. We have tried sails in more expensive materials, but have seen absolutely no performance or racing life gain. I am currently testing D4 sails, a cloth-construction method in which fibres follow a pre-determined load path; in effect, the cloth is designed for each individual sail. It’s early days, and is very expensive!

More Information:

• Hyde Sails website