Greg and Caleb:
I really appreciate your comments.
I have done most of the things I could think of as you
are are correctly suggesting to flatten the and
de-power the main. This are the things I will like to
try next after given some thought to this issue and
taking into account your feedback.
1) In an attempt to flatten the main I had the vang
tight which as you pointed out is preventing the main
from twisting and spilling some air.
2) I should have also tried a first reef.
3) According to some of my readings our boat should be
able to carry the 176% Genoa up to 20 MPH so I had the
big head sail on. I was talking to a friend and he
pointed out that if I was not able to reduce the boat
heel I perhaps should have changed to the working jib.
He points out and I think he is correct that when the
boat is heeling it naturally has a tendency to point
higher because of the change in hull shape.
My thinking at the time was that the bigger head sail
would compensate and bring the bow down
3) As far as the rig tuning I will like to be able to
measure the stays tension. I do have some sag on the
head stay but I am not sure how much is acceptable.
any thoughts here.
thanks again for your comments
armando
--- Greg Van Pelt <greg.vanpelt@...> wrote:
There's a lot you don't tell us Armando, so it's
really difficult to
make any observations that might be helpful. OTOH,
this is the
interweb - any advice you get is worth what you pay,
so here goes . . .
It could be that your rig isn't properly tuned, but
unless you see
more problem on one tack than the other, or have lee
helm or
consistent difficulty going to weather in light air,
it's not the
first place I'd look.
You don't tell us whether you've adjusted the
primary controls to
flatten the main: are the outhaul and cunningham
cranked tight?
Particularly with blown out sails, depowering when
the wind gets into
the upper-moderate range is essential. OTOH, if you
have the vang on
hard, you're pulling down on the leach, and not
letting air spill out
of the upper part of the sail, which will induce
weather helm.
Likewise, you'll want to twist off the top of the
main. You can
accomplish this by easing the main sheet, and
bringing the traveler to
weather in order to put the boom near the centerline
of the boat.
(I'd be careful with this - many people don't
actually sight the boom
against the backstay, and consequently bring it
slightly to weather,
which creates huge weather helm.)
In the conditions you describe, the top of the sail
should twist off
to leeward, and the boom should be dropped slightly
below the
centerline of the boat until the helm balances.
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