A lot of downhaul

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Of course, more downhaul allows the sail to twist and handle higher winds.
Less downhaul makes for a fuller sail for winds that are too light for the original design of the sail.
Downhaul is set from personal turning experience, preferences, sail design, and amount of wind availible.
Most slalom racer's use maximum downhaul all the time, so in 20 mph winds, use a 7.8 sail typically.
In the same winds, a lot of freestyle sailors would use a 4.8 sail, planing almost as easily, with almost no wrinkle in the upper leech of the sail.
Pick your poison, take your chances, and hope it works out.

d0uglass · Posted: Fri May 05, 2017 12:31 pm Post subject:

rtz, I'll ditto what dennis_c said, which is what I said about this model of sail a while back.

Regarding your pictures, the sail was definitely under-downhauled in the first set of pictures. But in the second set of pictures it looked like it had plenty of downhaul, perhaps even a bit too much. The ideal downhaul setting may be intermediate between the two sets of pictures that you showed, but closer to the second set of pictures. The Chinook Powerglide needs enough downhaul to pull out the wrinkles and allow smooth batten rotation, but unlike a higher performance sail it's not meant to be super floppy at the trailing edge.

rtz · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 296 Location: Oklahoma City

A stiffer mast would be interesting to see what effects it would have on the sail. It's interesting that http://www.powerexmasts.com/ has no U.S. distribution. Surprised no shop picks them up.

Looking for a free ride sail; 4.7 or smaller for when the little Chinook is out of it's wind range.

Would a wave sail be easy to handle and well mannered?

Looking to buy new.

grantmac017 · Joined: 04 Aug 2016 Posts: 946

But something used and spend the money on a good mast. Those epoxy ones are already the weak link.

Arrgh · Joined: 05 May 1998 Posts: 864 Location: Rio

Agree completely. Masts, especially rdm's, last a long time. Buy a good 90% carbon constant curve. With a good mast, your Powerglide will probably be at least as good as a better sail with a crappy mast. I wouldn't necessarily downsize the sail. A better sail of the same size will be much more stable.

westender · Joined: 02 Aug 2007 Posts: 1288 Location: Portland / Gorge

If your sail is luffing, you need to bear off or sheet in. Idea

cgoudie1 · Posted: Fri May 05, 2017 11:08 pm Post subject:

+1

It seems like technique to me also.

-Craig

westender · Joined: 02 Aug 2007 Posts: 1288 Location: Portland / Gorge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex0qRZXvWaI

grantmac017 · Joined: 04 Aug 2016 Posts: 946

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935