Looking for sail trim and rig tuning tips for our recently purchased Beneteau 310. We have done some basic rig tuning to put suggested bend into the mast etc..., the boat sails pretty well, but we are having problems pointing as high as other boats in our local club races.
- Status
Let's see now. You want to point a little higher and go a little faster. Where have I heard that one before? Oh yes. I remember now. Every race I have ever been in. In short, we all want to point a little higher and go a little faster. There are some things you can do though.
Beneteaus are not racing boats. They are racer/cruisers. This results in compromises. To give the interior space for comfortable cruising they are made beamy. The shroud base is wide in relation to the length of the boat. This means that your sheeting angle is wide and therefor it is difficult to get your Genoa in far enough to point really high.
Don't put too much halyard tension on your Genoa. If you do it will tend to pull the draft forward and this will make it so that you will have to sail further off the wind to make your tell tails fly properly.
If your headsail is a roller furling one, then you will never be able to get as good sail shape as a good, non roller furling headsail and as a result you will not be able to point as high.
Old, blown out sails will not point worth a damn. If you are on a budget and your sails are baggy your sailmaker may be able to recut them so it will save you money and still permit you to point higher.
Your headstay needs to be fairly taught otherwise the headsail will sag off to leeward and again you will not be able to point worth a damn.
These are just a few pointers to get you started. Good luck.
- Status