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Mainsail Centre Sheeting

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Medway Maniac View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Medway Maniac Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Mainsail Centre Sheeting
    Posted: 26 Jan 06 at 6:31pm

To come back to the topic of centre sheeting, I started out in Fireflies and yes, they are good to roll-tack and the aft sheeting suits that.

But I then went on to a centre-main with a centre bridle (like the 2 & 4000 and the 800) and found that much easier to use in general and especially when gybing in a blow - you can face forwards and just grab the whole bunch of mainsheet to pull the mainsail across. The bridle gets in the way, however, when you want to get the weight forward in lighter winds.

The Laser-1-style sheeting, with a centre final take-off block and the purchases and bridle aft, makes it much easier to move fore and aft, but can get in the way if you use a long tiller extension, e.g. for single-handing from the wire, where a full centre-main is preferable.

Recently I’ve been sailing with an aft bridle and taking the main off the boom, 29’er style, which seems to work fine but is very cold this weather as the blood drains out of your raised hands!

So each of the alternatives has pros and cons, and in my view which you’d best use depends on the boat, the venue, the strength of the wind and whether you’re sailing one or two up.

For that reason it makes sense for a class to allow all options so that sailors can chop and change at will.

The 3000 class voted last year to allow all the options and the new VanderCraft 3000 will be available with any or all according to customer wishes.

My inclination would be to go 29’er style in summer and Laser 1 style with deck-mounted ratchet block and side-jammers in winter, switching to a centre bridle and centre-jammer for sailing the boat on my own from the wire - always a popular option with 3000 sailors. The switch-over can be done very quickly

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Roland Butter View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Roland Butter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan 06 at 9:34pm

I sailed toppers during the centre-main transition and it makes a huge difference! You can actually play the mainsheet effectively without your hiking and body movements for waves being affected by the mainsheet pulling you back in the boat. 

I disagree with changing for conditions/venues cos you may as well get used to one and stick with it. If your always swapping then you won't get chance to be fully efficient with one or the other, so you will come out worse off. If light winds mean you need to put your body in an uncomfortable position then so what? deal with it. Just go for the one that has the most advantages and weigh up how important those advantages are. (Centre-main in every class! )



Edited by Roland Butter
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jeffers View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote jeffers Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan 06 at 8:58am
Originally posted by Roland Butter

If light winds mean you need to put your body in an uncomfortable position then so what? deal with it. Just go for the one that has the most advantages and weigh up how important those advantages are. (Centre-main in every class! )



A few years back (when I only weight 11 stone) I sailed our clubs Topper open in a borrowed boat with a borrowed sail. The wind was light to non existance but I still managed to post a 9th out or 34 despite being by far the heaviest (I reckon by a good 3 or 4 stone) and against a fair few squad sailors. They were suprised, as was I.

What was my secret? I got the boat moving on every leg and then just went with the wind. They were far too busy roll tack, shifting round to get comfy etc... to feel the puffs as they came across, I was 4th at the windward mark but lost out offwind.

Just goes to show that you can sail a boat despite being seriously overweight as long as you can work out what you need to do (and a bit of luck always helps).

This was on aft main, I find aft main much harder to use than centre main (but I have always raced centre main).

Paul
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Harry44981! View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Harry44981! Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan 06 at 4:16pm
11 stone is only about 0.5 stone under the top of the optimum weight for the topper. But in light winds the light guys you sailed against will always be faster in a straight line.
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jeffers View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote jeffers Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan 06 at 4:44pm
Originally posted by Harry44981!

11 stone is only about 0.5 stone under the top of the optimum weight for the topper. But in light winds the light guys you sailed against will always be faster in a straight line.


I agree they should have all been faster than me but they all seemed too worried about their comfort to sail fast. I was practically curled up in a ball up near the mast...they were all looking bemused as I ghosted past them up wind!
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Roland Butter View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Roland Butter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan 06 at 5:17pm

Harry, 11 stone is well over optimum weight range! 65k is pushing it for a topper and 11 stone is just under 70 kg so jeffers did very well for his size and when you take into account using aft sheeting.

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Harry44981! View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Harry44981! Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan 06 at 5:43pm

Suppose so, but you can still be competitive in stronger winds with more than 65kg- I'm though you know my size I am and I am able to get the same results (albeit nothing special) in a force 1 and a force 5. I agree Jeffers sailed well, especially considering the wind strength.

Not going to argue with a national champ



Edited by Harry44981!
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mike ellis View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote mike ellis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jan 06 at 9:16pm
last weekend at the feva squad training it was light and me (70kg) and my crew (54Kg) are way too heavy for a feva but if we just sat on the bow practicaly and very still it went upwind a dream.
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