How does the Streaker rig work

At our club the streakers have picked up on the technique I employ to get the Solution to run by the lee, by slackening the forestay which allows the boom to go further forward thanks to the slack shrouds, I guessed that must be why the Blaze guys did it after the nationals when the Rooster guy came and mopped up with slack shrouds.

I think of it as a supported unstayed rig.

The idea of the rig is that the relative position of deck hole (which should be a pretty tight fit) and mast foot is used to set the rake, in a similar way to an adjustable unstayed rig in a Europe, Optimist etc.
The shrouds are then used to limit high up sideways bend in a similar way to cap shrouds, and the forestay used in conjunction with the mainsheet/kicker to get a reasonable degree of mainsail leech tension without needing to pull the boom onto the back deck laser style.

However, many boats do in my opinion have the rigging set too slack for any amount of breeze. The general guidance is that the shrouds and forestay should be put in the furthest hole down you can get it into by yourself, doing the shrouds first. When done like this, the shrouds don't really flop around, but obviously are significantly less tight than a boat which has a mechanical means of tensioning the rig. Any less rig tension than this in breezy conditions, and the boat turns into a complete animal downwind, as the mast flicks around all over the place in gusts and shifts.

Don't most Solos have slack in the shrouds these days?

Originally posted by Ian99 The idea of the rig is that the relative position of deck hole (which should be a pretty tight fit) and mast foot is used to set the rake, in a similar way to an adjustable unstayed rig in a Europe, Optimist etc. The shrouds are then used to limit high up sideways bend in a similar way to cap shrouds, and the forestay used in conjunction with the mainsheet/kicker to get a reasonable degree of mainsail leech tension without needing to pull the boom onto the back deck laser style. However, many boats do in my opinion have the rigging set too slack for any amount of breeze. The general guidance is that the shrouds and forestay should be put in the furthest hole down you can get it into by yourself, doing the shrouds first. When done like this, the shrouds don't really flop around, but obviously are significantly less tight than a boat which has a mechanical means of tensioning the rig. Any less rig tension than this in breezy conditions, and the boat turns into a complete animal downwind, as the mast flicks around all over the place in gusts and shifts.