Sail Sheet Trim for Racing

Moderator: GreenLake

Sail Sheet Trim for Racing

Postby Guest » Sat May 22, 1999 12:00 am

I just bought a DS1, a Spindrift model built by Rebel. It has never been raced before, but that is a keen interest of mine. I have read about the need for a tapered mast, but have questions about basic rigging first. The current rig has the two jib leads mounted on the cuddy cabin, and the mainsheet has an aft traveler and mid ships cleat. I have seen various pictures of Day Sailer's in action but can't conclude that there is a universally accepted best way to rig either sheet. I'd like to hear opinions from racers that have jib leads in other than original positions (I think the slot would need to be opened up a bit for good performance), and also some ideas about how to rig the main.

Jim Carroll (jcarro-at-banet.net)
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Postby Guest » Mon May 24, 1999 12:00 am

You are exactly where I was 6 months ago, and this is what I've learned in my first 6 months of racing my Spindrift.

The factory sails are durable and pretty w/ the rainbow stripes, but they are very deep and do not go to wind as well as the Jotz, Cressys, and Norths that I race against. Upgrading to some good used racing sails will help a lot. New sails would be even better if you've got $850-1150 laying around.

The cuddy mounted jib cleats are not ideal, but they are adequate for now. The top racers like to keep the slot tight when beating which you can do w/ your setup, but when you do this w/ your deep sails, you'll probably get a lot of hook on the leech which is not fast.

The tapered mast is important for racing at the national level, but everyone at my club has straight mast except for one guy, and the feeling is that it is probably the least return on investment since a new tapered mast is $1000+. If you already have new sails, a good centerboard and rudder, smooth hull, and have become a good sailer, then you may want to move on to a tapered mast. Of course if you're rich, that's different...do it now, but since you've bought a 15 yr old 17' boat, I'll assume you're like the rest of us and do have a budget.

For rigging, you definitely need to put in a 4:1 outhaul. I did the internal one like they show in the back of the Harken catalog. Others have done external, but I think it's worth the extra hassle to do it inside the boom.

If you don't have a boom vang, get one and it should be at least 4:1 and many do 8:1. A 4:1 Cunningham should be added to although I'm still using my 2:1 that came w/ the boat.

For the main sheet I'd do a fixed triangle for now. If you have the factory setup I think you have a block that runs on the rear triangle, but this doesn't allow you to pull the boom in w/o pulling it down which is important in light wind upwind sailing. Tie the block at the center of your triangle and play w/ the triangle height some. Check out the Phil Root approach on this WEB site.

E-mail me directily if you have more specifics. I'm just learning as well, but I've made some pretty good strides in the past 6 months. Our first race saw us finish 5-7 minutes behind the winner in a 30-40 minute race. Now we usually stay within 2-3 minutes and have beat some of the slower racers that occasionally show up, and I still haven't upgraded the sails....

Kevin Clark
Dallas, TX (racing w/ Fleet 64 in Arlington, TX)
DS 11791



Kevin Clark (clarkr-at-aud.alcatel.com)
Guest
 

Postby Bob Hunkins » Tue May 25, 1999 12:00 am

I bought a Spindrift also (#11750), and the biggest improvement I had was in a better set of sails. I was able to get a used set of racing sails. Another thing I'd look at is the rudder, If your boat is like mine, It's essentially a plank - a pretty poor shape. I also learned recently that the rudder head is creating a lot of drag because it extends down into the water. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do about that.

Let us know what hull number you have and where you're located. The best thing you can do is find a local fleet. Kevin has Fleet 64 to work with in the Dallas-Forth worth area. I'm in Houston, and our fleet is smaller, so I try to get insight and help from the 64 guys when I can.

What's the hull number on your Spindrift?
Bob Hunkins
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Posts: 378
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Location: Fleet 25, Houston, Texas


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