I've spent years thinking about this topic and it has always been a source of frustration.
Best place to start is on Guy Cribb's web site for all the tuning tips and knowhow.
www.guycribb.com goto 'technique' and then you'll find the info you seek under 'quick tips' .
The basics are downhaul and outhaul. The more downhaul the more control and lighter the sail will be . Able to react and spill the gusts. I.e. downhaul to get the leech floppy. A good guide is always to crank on the downhaul so that the leech is floppy to the third battern. The third battern should point to the middle of the mast. You can decrease the downhaul from there if you want to increase power for earlier planning , but you will loose contol. The less downhaul the more control you loose. IT IS A TRADE OFF. I recommend plenty of down hawl down to the third battern and instead of using downhawl to control power use outhaul for this purpose. See below. Guy Cribb said always pull on as much downhaul as you can as it will never be enough. I followed this and for years my leech was too floppy causing the sail to lack proper power....so follow the third battern rule young jedi.
Outhaul - With modern sails the less outhaul, i.e fuller sail, the more power. I hardly set any outhaul. However to go up wind in lighter wind more outhaul and a flatter sail is the better. That's why race / formula riders have the adjustable outhaul system so they can change settings on the move. For me I always use a fuller sail as I find the power and drive in the sail to be quicker , more progressive , more powerful and less twitchy. i.e. quicker to get planning. I recommend outhauling so that the sail can just rub against the other side of the boom if you press down firmly about 1-2 feet from the clew end. I find if the sail is flatter it lacks drive, is twitchy and is more difficult to get going.
Offcourse each sail can be slightly different.... I've got an old ART 6.0 which I struggle to get enough downhaul on, whilst on most of my tushinghams it's easy to crank on far too much downhaul.
yeah.. it's a good site, had a good read and picked up some interesting tips.. i'm new to windsurfing and trying to teach myself so it's been useful.. Beach and water starts are my next ventrue!! better sort my rigging tho, i've just been pulling as much down & out haul as i can making the sail flat and just hasn't seemed that quick on the water...
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Rob
Pulling outhaul flat will de-power the rig and remove the drive so you can't get going - Modern sails need very little outhaul. The only advantage of pulling on more outhawl in less windy conditons is it allows you to sail closer to the wind. i.e get up wind. But I never think it is is a viable trade off.. I'd rather have more power to get up wind planing. Sail rigging can really be frustrating... If it's not working sometime coming back to the beach and changing something i.e outhaul and downhaul can make all the difference.
Sail tuning
I've spent years thinking about this topic and it has always been a source of frustration.
Best place to start is on Guy Cribb's web site for all the tuning tips and knowhow.
www.guycribb.com goto 'technique' and then you'll find the info you seek under 'quick tips' .
The basics are downhaul and outhaul. The more downhaul the more control and lighter the sail will be . Able to react and spill the gusts. I.e. downhaul to get the leech floppy. A good guide is always to crank on the downhaul so that the leech is floppy to the third battern. The third battern should point to the middle of the mast. You can decrease the downhaul from there if you want to increase power for earlier planning , but you will loose contol. The less downhaul the more control you loose. IT IS A TRADE OFF. I recommend plenty of down hawl down to the third battern and instead of using downhawl to control power use outhaul for this purpose. See below. Guy Cribb said always pull on as much downhaul as you can as it will never be enough. I followed this and for years my leech was too floppy causing the sail to lack proper power....so follow the third battern rule young jedi.
Outhaul - With modern sails the less outhaul, i.e fuller sail, the more power. I hardly set any outhaul. However to go up wind in lighter wind more outhaul and a flatter sail is the better. That's why race / formula riders have the adjustable outhaul system so they can change settings on the move. For me I always use a fuller sail as I find the power and drive in the sail to be quicker , more progressive , more powerful and less twitchy. i.e. quicker to get planning. I recommend outhauling so that the sail can just rub against the other side of the boom if you press down firmly about 1-2 feet from the clew end. I find if the sail is flatter it lacks drive, is twitchy and is more difficult to get going.
Offcourse each sail can be slightly different.... I've got an old ART 6.0 which I struggle to get enough downhaul on, whilst on most of my tushinghams it's easy to crank on far too much downhaul.
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Torbay Surfing website administrator
Thanks Nick, that's some
Thanks Nick, that's some really useful stuff there.. plenty to get playing with!!
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Rob
No probs... but definetly
No probs... but definetly check guy cribs site as he's got loads of tips on every aspect
All the best
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Torbay Surfing website administrator
yeah.. it's a good site,
yeah.. it's a good site, had a good read and picked up some interesting tips.. i'm new to windsurfing and trying to teach myself so it's been useful.. Beach and water starts are my next ventrue!! better sort my rigging tho, i've just been pulling as much down & out haul as i can making the sail flat and just hasn't seemed that quick on the water...
_________________________________________________
Rob
Pulling outhaul flat will
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Torbay Surfing website administrator