carl10579 wrote:I don't go sailing intending to race but I end up sailing as fast as I can anyway.
I though the saying went... When 2 or more sailboats are in sight of each other on the water, there is always a race, lol.
carl10579 wrote:The reason I like the spit tail is that you not only can get the boom closer to the centerline you can go over the centerline and point even higher.
This whole conversation has really been about making the boat sail better upwind. Earlier we discussed how one modification compliments another. IE, being able to bring the foresail inboard more (via barber haulers), or sheeting the main inboard more without putting to much leach tension on it (split tail). I have just begun the modding process on my boat (barber haulers are in but not been through sea trial yet), but in my head... if you make one sail help the boat sail closer to the wind, you must make the other do so as well, to keep the boat efficient. My guess is at the end of this exercise, I will not be able to get the mainsail to outperform the foresail in this regard, but should be a little better. The split tail will not be able to keep up with the barber haulers ability to effectively trim the sail when pointed closer to the wind. Just a hunch...
The split tail should be able to center the boom (vs mid boom sheeting, with which I find it very difficult to do so). I am not sure about getting it passed there to the windward side of the centerline. I am pretty sure to accomplish that one would typically use a mainsheet on a sliding traveler across some sort of thwart (or possibly the transom)?
carl10579 wrote:I like the split tail with the adjustable cleating on both sides. In lieu of a traveler it looks to be effective.
I am intersted in your opinion on this. One of my big questions is why adjustability (and of course is this a diminishing return)? Is this where you see the opportunity to hook the boom slightly past the centerline to windward? Assuming so, this would be a technique done in light wind, where the mainsail was in "parachute" mode, allowing the boom to be "over trimmed" to get the top batten back to center, no? If I have stated my case correctly, then the cost to provide this adjustability can start to come at a premium, depending on where you want the adjustments to be available from. So, how important is easy access to the adjustability from the crew location on the boat (again is this a diminishing return)? For example, what other conditions am I not thinking of in which one would make such an adjustment to the tails? If there is not, then is it necessary to bring the adjustability points back to the crew, or leave them at the transom? I believe this adjustment to the tail would only be made in light wind conditions?
To add a little confusion to everything, I have seen it where the tails are drawn back together (lets say near the sump) and pulled across the bottom of cockpit floor to the "command center" (in our case centerboard trunk), as a (re-formed) single line that is cleated off. My hunch is that easing this line raises the apex of the triangle the lines form at the end of the boom, thus theoretically allowing the height at which the boom is centered to be adjustable. Let out some tail and take in some main, and the boom should be lifted higher and remain centered.
To try and simplify the confusion, AE stands for "Augie Equalizer" (Mentioned earlier). I do not think that they would be used on a Daysailer. So, try and imagine the picture without the AE lines rigged.
If you are still following me up to this point, now I am going to tell you I lied to you... lol. The 3rd diagram I drew is essentially 2x "Augie Equalizers" rigged in the transom corners of the boat. You will notice that the split tails are not drawn back together to a single adjustable point. I can see the value of having a single "raise or lower the boom and keep it centered" control (by drawing the lines back together). Again at the cost of rigging, and extra creativity it would take to do so on a Daysailer.
The additional rigging of adding the Augie equalizers (on a snipe) theoretically solves the problem you proposed of being able to over sheet the centerline. From the snipe site...
http://www.snipetoday.org/articles/articles-from-the-experts/tuning/item/1463-preparing-and-sailing-a-snipe"The Augie Equalizer or "AE" attaches to the split tail as it runs along the deck from the outboard deck traveler blocks, one AE control line attaching on either side of the traveler center line piece. In very light air to light/medium air, by pulling the windward AE line, you can center the main and get more twist in the mainsail at the top than the split mainsheet would otherwise allow."
The AEs (on a snipe) are essentially 2 lines attached to the tails before they are drawn back together, allowing one side or the other of the apex to be independently drawn outboard (at the cost of lowering the apex as well).
Admittedly, whom ever came up with all this rigging is more creative than I. Just wondering how effective any of it would be on our boats past the simple split tail rig?