Bic Techno 133 and sail size question

[isobars]

[DelmarEdward]

went out again today with same board, bic 133, and same 8.0 retro sail.

clearly the problem must have been my downhaul setting, in about the same light winds as friday, in downhauled a couple of more cms and lowered the stop on the mast extension (which i left up on friday elevating the whole sail)
and the sail felt completely different today, much more balanced and easy to use.

also lowered the boom a little which made for a more comfortable ride.

thanks all for the help.

[kmf]

Sailworks has unsurpassed sail support. Simply calling the loft will put you in touch with Dale Cook or Bruce Peterson and they will be glad to help you with your settings. Rigging help can be found here...

http://www.sailworks.com/the-gear/sails/retro.html

KMF

[isobars]

But be forewarned: Bruce uses tiny little short harness lines (much shorter than mine) and bigger sails than I do, so his advice must be all wrong. And, of course, Dale runs slalom boards and big sails tuned for a high center of effort in huge swell, so we all should.

Just so no one can say I'm criticizing them, what I AM criticizing is the common advice that we common people should use the same gear, settings, and techniques as pros (um, which ones?) with more raw talent than we have and more dedicated TOW than most of us can achieve.

[U2U2U2]

[swchandler]

Actually, when it comes right down to it, Sailwork's online rigging guide is one of the best I've seen. The full spectrum of tuning possibilities are clearly covered and visually displayed. Very organized and well presented.

[jingebritsen]

another common issue that sailors "do unto themselves," they leave their base extensions jacked up too high.

what's the cost? depends on the sail. higher center of effort, not good. the tack foot is too far away from the mast, makes the sail have an ugly set of wrinkles no matter how much batten tension. sail never quite feels right.

benefit? if the wind comes up, don't have to readjust.... larger RAF's andcam sails need less tuning with down haul than maybe we all thought for years. again, tune with mast foot placement, boom height, and out haul.

[joethewindsufa]

what you say John is ALWAYS like gold , but this one i don't get:
"mast extension too high"
if one rigs with more extension, but does NOT pull it all the way down, like on a slalom board where the mast base is lowered on the deck, what does that change ?

just for fun, here is an old sail photo:

[jingebritsen]

The proximity of the tack foot to the mast changes the luff curve enough on some sails significantly enough to make the sail look wonky, but sail kinda shitty too. 1. raised center of effort. 2. strange straight or catenary lines in sail surface that cannot be tuned out with batten tension, or even switching masts.

been there, seen that. 2cm extra is fine. 5cm + it becomes quite noticeable.

[jingebritsen]

pic above is far more about the fun than outstanding performance. been there and done that too.