My recollection of rig tuning was that you move the mast butt forward to
induce more weather helm. I seem to remember this was the case on both my
J-24 and my Olson 911S. On the Olson 911S we tuned the rig to induce about
an inch and a half of prebend to match the design luff curve of the main
sail. This helps power up the main to it's intended design. Putting on the
backstay depowers the main and flattens it. On Spellbound we never reefed
the main. We always changed headsails to keep the boat balanced. We carried
a light #1 (151%), an AP #1 (151%) (12 - 18 kts. true), a #2, and a blade.
We had great success with that combo. Our wind conditions were generally 8
to 15 kts. true, with excursions under and over. We generally never saw
winds over 25 but occasionally there were gusts over 25. We played the
traveler heavily in the gusty conditions and used a lot less if minimal
check stay to depower the main. The check might have been hand tight to
steady the mast.
Regarding halyards I used exposed vectran with covers where they go through the clutches so they could grab. When I replaced the old rope to wire it forced me to replace all the clutches to compensate for the smaller diameter line.
Rich Canning
ex-Spellbound - Olson 911S
now crew on brand new Beneteau 40.7 (1st in Spring, summer and fall series)
and crew on Pearson Flyer (3rd summer) and now new Beneteau 36.7 (2nd fall
protest pending)
Received on Thu Oct 7 07:32:10 2004