Thanks for all the insight Mike!
1. What I did, after installing sail slugs on the main for ease of hoisting, was to lay the whole rig out on it's side on the lawn: mast, boom, sail and all, fully "rigged". "Hoisted" the main as far "up" as it would go, and cleated off the halyard. Used a block and tackle to pull the boom/tack "down" as far/tight as it would go, then set the gooseneck stop (tube/cleat thingy) a couple of inches below that. When I rig the boat, I cleat off the boom downhaul (gooseneck) to the cleat/tube, and when I raise the main, I know that I have it as far up as it will go, and as tight as I can make it, while having the boom as high (headroom) as possible. Results in the boom being a bit lower than I see in many of the pix in the galleries, and while I have no reason to believe that the luff is too long, I have a feeling my mast might be a bit short (OK, yes, I actually said that!
)
So, I know that I always have as much tension on the luff as I can get, while having the whole thing as high as possible. When I want to reef the main, I leave the gooseneck where it is, and just bring the head of the sail down accordingly, thus also knowing that I have the reefed main "low" so to speak (minimum "lever arm").
Maybe that's why the use of the Cunningham has never occurred to me: I never have slack, or "speed wrinkles", in the luff to begin with?
Since my main is already on slugs, maybe I'll add another one at or just above the tack grommet, leave the tack pin out, and play around with the Cunningham some more!
2. I rarely mess with the outhaul - usually "set and forget", as tight as it will go. Only in very light air will I ease it, but it only goes 1-2" when I do that. I have no reason to believe that my boom is "short" or my main foot is "long", so is that pretty much the max travel you get?
3. Exactly how is the vang ratio calculated? I'm a dummy at math, and have seen all kinds of numbers thrown around re: this. I'll do my best to describe mine (adapted from a stock Precision 23 vang given to me by a friend): single line leads from the boom down through a block attached to base of mast. This line is attached to this 4:1 vang (as Ronstan calls it):
http://www.ronstan.us/marine5/product.a ... RK10-430NC which is in turn attached to the boom right behind the single line. So, do I have an 8:1 vang? Assuming I do, then I am getting nowhere near the power of a 20:1. Can good results ensue anyway?
4. I have mid-boom sheeting, so N/A. Although, self admittedly, I have a tendancy to oversheet ...
5. I'm usually singlehanded, except when #1 and #2 are along (wife and very young daughter, or vice-versa, depending on the crisis at hand!), and in those conditions, we are just toodling around in very tame conditions, with no real concern for proper anything (yet)!
6. I hear ya there! Of late, in any kind of "dicey weather", when I have all other things pretty much set how they need to be for the conditions at hand, I find myself tuning the barbers more than anything else. Of all the improvements I've ever made to the boat, I can honestly say that they have been the cheapest/easiest/most useful ...
7. Oh yeah, we were discussing the Cunningham! At least now I know it's one of the "last ditch" (and I mean ditch!) solutions ... <grin>
Again, thanks Mike for imparting so much of your wisdom to us "peons" - it is greatly appreciated, even tho most of us here will probably never compete at a NACR. 'Course, you may never finish a FL120 or TX200 either!