Projection 762 Help please?

the head of the blackwater can get very lumpy, but we didnt have a problem with speed upwind 6.5knts, sailed very nicely in fact. think 2 reefs is too much though, as the 2nd reef brings the head down to below the forstay and we seemed to loose alot of rig tension after that.  we might of had too much jib tension cos the backstay was maxed yet the forstay upwind was falling off about 12"!

overall i think we carry a little more tension than what you guys have stated, but i need to go re-measure to confirm this.

We put the No3 up for the first time whilst competing in a passage race the other day - the wind was up to 25knots and we had almost ground to a halt with full sail. Upwind speed was good - 6.5 to 7knots - but we were pointing very low compared with other boats and our speed didn't make up for it. No3 is a 100% blade jib. Is this a rig adjustment issue or are we just sheeting in the wrong place??

2nd Question: in another race in almost no wind we were barely able to get the boat to move. No 'ghosting' along as described by others, and in fact some quite large boats passed us whilst we went backwards in the tide!  Crew were on the leeward rail, sailing free but with flattish sails. Any ideas?

Generally (for dinghy sailors) we're doing ok, getting to grips with the boat and sometimes posting good results. We've found that with our handicap you can't afford ANY mistakes which sometimes makes learning a miserable experience!

Any thoughts would be welcome.

chic,

we have our rigging very loose at the moment, perfect for light airs when you want a straight mast (depending on the cut of your mainsail) with minimal forestay tension. The forestay tension is created using your upper shroud tension. Forestay tension should be sufficient to remove excess sagging from the forestay. With a sagging forestay the boat will not point to windward. 

With our No 3, the center of the jib car pulleys are in-line or just infront of the shrouds -depending on the wind strength. The jib car needs to be such that each of the tale tails move together. Move the cars back in stronger winds to produce a flatter profile lower down and depower the top of the sail.

We have had a good few races recently but our antifouling has given up and patches have fallen off (very pisd off because it wasnt cheap!)

We have found that the J80s are quicker downwind when their gybing angles become closer (in a fair breeze - force 2-3) but we are faster and point higher upwind. They have quite large assymetrics.

Whisper has it that a couple of J80s are coming to race at our club later this season. They'll rate about the same as us and it's been interesting to read here how people think the boats compare. The size of that kite seems daunting - didn't realise there was much upwind speed difference but reckon it'll be hard work against them offwind.

The Falmouth Projections used to do very well against a couple of local J80s.  Projections were much quicker upwind in a good blow and early planing made up for the J80s massive 65sqm kite.  Projections also faired quite well in really light winds against J80s because of their small #1 genoa.  I would suggest the biggest challenge will be in the 8-12 knot windspeed range.