Sail Twist

   When our Gnav exploded in the 14 i had to sail it with no kicker it killed my gloves in no time and took all the skin off my fingures.  I had to Duck tape them up for the rest of Abersoch dinghy week.   I also could barelyh lift my arms after a further hour on the water!

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Merlinboy Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 03 Jul 06 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 3169	Post Options Post Reply Quote Merlinboy Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Sail Twist Posted: 24 Oct 08 at 4:24pm
	When our Gnav exploded in the 14 i had to sail it with no kicker it killed my gloves in no time and took all the skin off my fingures. I had to Duck tape them up for the rest of Abersoch dinghy week. I also could barelyh lift my arms after a further hour on the water!

redback Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 16 Mar 04 Location: Tunbridge Wells Online Status: Offline Posts: 1502	Post Options Post Reply Quote redback Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 24 Oct 08 at 7:28pm
	OK a bit more detail about the kicker. I'm talking about under powered conditions. The kicker goes slack when you apply maximum mainsheet tension but there has to be something to stop the sail twisting right off when you bear away at the windward mark. So you need enough kicker to stop excessive twist on the reach but not so much that you're going to bend the mast and/or hook the leach when beating. So my judgement is you should see all the weight go off it when you sheet in and then you can play the leach tension when you're going upwind. The idea is to keep the boat powered up to the maximum that you can so keep bringing the leach up tighter until you see the top tell tale stall then ease and start the cycle all over again. That way you're keeping the sail at its most powerful. As soon as you are over powered its a different ball game, then you start using the kicker to de-power the rig and keep the boat from heeling and incidentally save your arms from having to take all the leach tension through the mainsheet. Without kicker in those conditions the mainsheet will be unbearably heavy in a boat like a 4000 and the sail will rag causing a lot of drag.