Flattener
A flattener (sometimes called a flattening reef) is a leech cringle above the clew. It is rigged with a tackle and used to depower the sail before reefing. It's main use seems to be for racing one-designs, where the clew outhaul has to be tensioned to a specific point, usually marked with black bands (similar to the black bands that limit the boom downhaul on dinghies). In construction, it seems similar to the cunningham control, but it's function is to depower the sail rather than move the draft of the sail. It seems that a depowered main exhibits much less influence on weather helm, as does moving the draft forward with the cunningham. I am interested to try these controls, along with a 6:1 boom vang and adj. backstay on the h22. So far, I have only read about them, but the theory seems sound. It stands to reason that a depowered main with the draft forward will move the center of effort forward (as will raking the mast), which has the same effect on weather helm as moving the center of lateral resistance aft (such as partially raising the centerboard). Of course, this is all so much hooey until someone actually does it, and it sounds as if Harvey already has. I will keep you all posted as I attempt to cover every square inch on my boom with some sort of tackle- thanks for the inputs. Next I'll ask about barber-haulers.
