OK, thanks, that helps a lot. I used to have less weather helm before I stored the boat for a year. When I stored it, I had to drop the forestay when they pulled it to its cradle. Then when I launched again this year, I thought I remembered somewhere that the main halyard hanging still should hit the boom about 4 inches back, so I set her up that way. I did note that the forestay turnbuckle was not screwed in as far as it used to be.
Let me see if I understand the theory here. If I have excessive weather helm, I stand the mast up straighter (less aft rake), thereby moving the center of effort forward to match the turning moment of the boat? Oh ... does a little change make a lot of difference .... or is it a lot of change makes a little difference? Tom "Sailor Chef" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent by: [email protected] 07/10/2007 02:52 PM Please respond to [email protected] To <[email protected]> cc Subject Re: catalina27-talk: how much rack to you set in your mast? Thanks for the kind words Phil. I started on my advanced mast rake/tune degree when I acquired my first J-24. I couldn't afford new sails for a little while, so I ended up with my rig twisted up like a pretzel to be able to get any sort of shape out of my blown out sails. One of my buddies looked at it one day after I beat him and asked me if I'd used a tuning guide, I told him "sure, I average the North, Sobstad and UK guides then did the opposite"! When the penny jar got big enough I bought a set of "one regatta" North's. For the first couple of races I was as slow as I'd ever been 'till I got the rig sorted out. It still didn't look like most of the other's in the fleet but was real close to the perennial fleet leader's rig and I was fast again! Mark Want to keep your WHOLE PAYCHECK? PLEASE VISIT http://www.fairtax.org ----- Original Message ----- From: Phil Agur To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 2:03 PM Subject: RE: catalina27-talk: how much rack to you set in your mast? Well said Mark. I’ve been in one design fleets that try to pass all the exact rig settings back and forth between the boats, and that’s good until you want to finish above mid-pack, after that it’s unscripted. Mast rake is indeed used to balance the helm but curiously I’ve found prevalent recommendations for a heavy amount of rake in the C22 racing fleet. On the whole it was observed the boats made better progress to windward in heavy air with heavy rake. What was really happening was when hit with a puff (in heavy air) the boat not the skipper reacted by feathering up (the start of a round-up if you will) due to the heavy weather helm. To understand why that would be advantageous you have to subscribe to the theory that racing to windward is like climbing a ladder, so any motion (i.e. like feathering in a puff) that moves the boat to the next rung is a huge instantaneous gain. The fleet winners compete with very neutral helms, since weather helm creates drag throughout the leg, and manually feather up in the puffs thereby making both gains. Wining is often just stringing a succession of small gains together. My last race boat would actually reverse to negative weather helm if you over tightened the backstay. However, it would do a good imitation of a complete knock down in that condition without rounding up. Cruisers (those who want to sail comfortably without focusing like a championship racer) therefore should leave in sufficient weather helm to avoid the uncomfortable down stay maneuver. Phil Agur s/v Wing Tip Secretary/Treasurer Call Sign WCW3485 IC27/270A MMSI 366901790 www.catalina27.org Vessel Doc# 1039809 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sailor Chef Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 10:58 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: how much rack to you set in your mast? Tom, Mast rake is used to "balance" the helm and is largely a boat by boat thing. Some of the factors determining the amount of rake needed (or not needed) are the size and type of sails, weight distribution in the boat, primary wind conditions in your area and your sailing style. Generally, if you have a lot of weather helm, you need less rake (more straight), If you have no (or lee) helm, you need more rake (leaning back). Hope this helps Mark, "Gratis" (6115) and others Want to keep your WHOLE PAYCHECK? PLEASE VISIT http://www.fairtax.org ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 11:44 AM Subject: catalina27-talk: how much rack to you set in your mast? I was reading an article on another board, and it caused me to wonder ... how much rack do those of you who have tall rigs set up in your mast with the backstay tensioner off? Mine has about four inches of aft rack, as determined by where the main halyard crosses the boom. Does that seem about right? Tom Monroe 6219 Different Drummer Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.14/885 - Release Date: 7/3/2007 10:02 AM Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.14/885 - Release Date: 7/3/2007 10:02 AM
