Cunningham Vs Downhaul
Barry: I'm glad you want to become a more proficient sailor. So Many sailors just roll out the jib and raise the main and they then call it sailing. The boat does move through the water but so much more enjoyment can be obtained by fine tuning the controls.The problem with most books, and I research over 25 books, 5 videos and over 100 sail related articles when I was writing my book, was I had no idea what the authors were talking about. Additionally, the infomation was all over the book. The cunningham might be on pages 25, 52, 135 and 225. I took all the infomation ever written on the cunningham and put it on one page. I include every thing ever written on telltails on 6 pages and did the same with all the other controls for the main and jib. Also, a lot of authors used complicated equations I did not understand. I was never good at math. I went to Catholic grammer school in the late 40's and I knew why God created me but I wasn't good with calculations. I did know what a steel edged wooden ruler was as the Nuns used it many times on my knuckles!! My book is designed for the begginer to very high intermediate and it is written with those folks in mind - I wrote it as I saw it through my eyes as I remember how hard it was for me to understand sail trim.Anyway, on to your question. The first thing you should ask yourself is WHY am I making a particular sail trim adjustment and what adjustment do I want to make. The reason you want to adjust the cunningham or the downhaul or the halyard (they all do the same thing) is to change the draft position. Review Ross's book or mine to find out eactly what draft position is. Also look up draft depth, twist and angle of attack. Unless you have a complete understanding of those 4 items, sail trim will never make any sense to you.Another thing to do is take Paul's suggestion and go to the North Sail site and check out the animation. Jim Wolgram gave the answer on the downhaul. The boom is on a slide and not in a fixed position. Without a way to pull the luff down you could not adjust the sail. Additionally, with a downhaul you don't need a cunnigham.Now, consider this, look at the money I just saved you on the purchase of a cunnigham. Take what you saved and buy my book!! I sell it with a 100% guarantee - if your not satisfied, I'll return your money and you can keep the book. Take a look at my sail trim chart, while your at it.