Sailing Trim and Rig Tuning Question

[BrettHunt]

Hi all,
I have a 2001 wing keel standard rig with new North dacron sails, roller furling 135% headsail and performance package. I am an occasional racer, and frequently feel I should be able to hold pace with other boats of equal or worse handicap, but somehow they slowly pull away. Very frustrating.

Last season, I began to notice that when my genoa tell tails were streaming straight back I was not getting maximum speed. Instead, letting out several inches of genoa sheet, to the point where the tell tails were flopping all about, seemed to give me more speed. At first, I was highly skeptical of this, given that wind and sea state are very variable, I figured it was just in my head. But, over the course of several races, I carefully observed the GPS speed (we sail on a lake so no current), and confirmed that in fact we could gain a few tenths of a knot by easing the sheets past anything that seemed reasonable.

So, what is going on? Is my rig out of tune? I have a loos gauge, and run 30 on the uppers and 22 on the lowers. This seems to be consistent with various on-line recommendations, but there are a lot of opinions on this it seems. Anybody here have a definitive answer?

Trying to get some improvements before this season's races begin.

Thanks,
Brett

 

[delling3]

What rating are you sailing at? PHRF ratings for the CP22 vary quite a bit.
What amount of mast rake are you running?
When you are sailing close hauled, how much weather helm do you have?
How full is your mainsail?

 

[BrettHunt]

My club uses the Portsmouth Yardstick, typically I get a 0.915 rating in moderate air. I believe that converts to 219 on the PHRF scale. Not experienced enough to know the intricacies of the rating systems though.

I have not measured my mast rake. I will do that Memorial Day when I put it in. I have read that with WK it should be zero. I assume I adjust that with the Forestay? Right now my forestay is pretty tight, so I think my mast rake should be small if any.

In winds <10 knots I have little weather helm if I don't overtrim the main. Above 15 it starts to get pretty heavy, like I'm really pulling the tiller.

How full is the main - good question, not sure how to quantify that but it is a loose foot main, in lighter air I ease the outhaul and in heavier I pull it back. I use the vang, probably over tighten at times.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

You didn't mention the wind conditions. There is an old saying, when in doubt, let it out. Sometimes that will offer up a few knots. But, there's lots more to think about. In lighter air you don't need so much luff tension. If your genoa luff has a permanent curl, then you are way too tight. Ease it out until it is gone. In light air you don't want too much halyard tension, but not so it is scalloped on the wire if you have hanks, or sloppy if you have a foil. You can tell as you raise the halyard when shape builds into the sail giving you a nice shape.
with a light luff or halyard tension, the draft will be further aft which is better for lighter air and also it flattens out the leading edge of the sail which helps point into the wind. As the wind pipes up you can tighten the halyard which will bring the draft forward and power up the jib. The genoa lead is another factor. When going to weather you want the luff to break the entire length of the leading edge. If the top half breaks before the bottom, then your sheet lead is probably too far back. If the bottom half breaks first, then the lead is probably too far forward. You want it in the right place so that the entire luff breaks at the same time when sticking your nose into the wind so that the genoa luffs or back winds. The traveler is another thing to think about. The traveler car is usually brought to windward in the light stuff with the sheet eased out and gradually lowered down the track as the wind builds and the sheet tightened up. In most cases the genoa should have both inside and outside tell tales straight back, but when the wind really gets wicked, then you feather the boat into the wind to maintain control even though it is heavy and then have the inside tell tales straight up with the outside telltales are straight back. Crew on the windward rail in that situation. Then there is the backstay adjuster. In the light stuff, you might want to add a little just to increase the weather helm of the boat. But not too much. As the wind builds, you want to pull down on the backstay adjuster, but remember to ease it if the wind lightens up. Crew placement is also important for proper heeling angles and to keep the ends light (not too many people at one end). If everyone is sitting in the cockpit, your ass end might be squatting. And, of course mast rake and plumbness is important. You can measure with a long tape to make sure the mast head is the same distance from point to point on either side of the boat (measure to a chain plate or something). If you have a brand new set of North Sails, north might have a mast tuning guide for your boat. When it comes to pointing, a winged keel is no where as good as the Capri 22 fin keel. There is a one design fleet of Capri 22's in this area too and because of the skinny water in some places, only the winged keel will work. But, that is ok. They are all the same. I sort of get it that you are in a handicap situation and so the differences of boat design also might be a factor. Experience has a lot to do with success too. You have to make sure you are pointing the boat in the right direction and you have to understand the wind shifts and know when it is best to tack or stay on the same course. And then there are the tactics of covering your competition which will influence your decision making too. Put all of this stuff together to obtain cohesiveness on the boat and your fun will really shift into higher gears. It's also good to have crew that enjoy sailing with you (so don't yell too loud) and a crew that returns a lot so that they get to know the boat, you and the drill of getting around the race course. A skipper doesn't need to be in the situation where he is talking the crew through all of their chores to the point that you cannot concentrate on the race, other boats and where you are on the course. It is great to have a crew who knows the drill, gets the job done without having to teach them along the way. You have to get your head out of the boat and concentrate on that stuff too and that is easier knowing that the crew is doing their job so you can do yours. Good luck, but most of all, have fun.

 

[BobbyFunn]

Are you allowed to reduce the headsail size.

You say with increased wind you have more weather helm. You state that you let the headsail trim loose you sail faster. You state that with good wond you have to apply more rudder.

Whats happening is your headsail is pulling you around because of being well trimmed and well powered. The boat isnt balanced under good trim so your rudder compensates and drags you down.

By lightening up on trim you depower and your rudder doesnt slow you down as much.

Are you heeled with weather helm?

 

[Slartibartfass]

I got a speed puck last season to monitor speed when I change trim to better understand what is happening.... highly recommend having that visible at all times...

 

[delling3]

You should check your mast rake. A tight headstay is not indicative of proper mast rake. you can have a very tight headstay with a ton of rake. The headstay tension on a CP-22 rig comes from the shroud and backstay tension. Before you tune the shrouds, you may need to adjust your forestay length using the front turnbuckle to get your rake properly adjusted.

 

[BrettHunt]

Thanks everyone, very helpful information and a lot to think about. I will be get the boat measured, dialed, and out on the water on Memorial Day, and will report back on here on my findings!

 

[DrJudyB]

You can rely on the telltales only in light and medium winds - under about 15 kts. In strong winds the heel becomes the main trimming indicator and the excess power has to be released by increasing the twist of both the mainsail and headsail (and/or other ways of depowering such as reducing sag in the headstay, bending the mast, flattening the foot, reducing sail area, etc)

When you get the heel back under control, down to 15-20 degrees, the pressure on the tiller should ease. Tiller should be about 3-5 degrees to weather above the center line when sailing upwind. If you have a lot of heel and you have a lot of pressure on the helm, the boat will be slow.

When reaching, it's very very hard to get all three sets of tell tales to fly at the same time. Most people choose to pay attention to the top two sets in light and medium . But in stronger winds, the top telltale will be jumping around alot, so first you must trim to reduce heel and then look for the best combination of sheetblock position and sheet tension to maximize speed. In general you need to move the sheet block forward and outboard when reaching, as compared to pointing.

Keep an eye on the leech telltales on the mainsail as well. If the headsail is over sheeted compared to the mainsail, the airstream from the jib detaches when it hits the mainsail, You will slow down and heel alot. You need to watch the leech telltales on the mainsail battens to be sure the mainsail is trimmed in harmony with the jib.

 

[DrJudyB]

But, over the course of several races, I carefully observed the GPS speed (we sail on a lake so no current), and confirmed that in fact we could gain a few tenths of a knot by easing the sheets past anything that seemed reasonable.

What point of sail are you on? What wind conditions? What do you mean "easing the sheets past anything that seemed reasonable"?