E-29 Pointing

[Mike Thomas]

All,

I'm starting to actually care about where I finish in the Thursday night beer cans (for those of that know me, no laughing please).

I did notice something interesting last timeout. The boat points much higher on a port tack than it does on stbd. The rig was tuned with a loos pro tension gauge so I know the rig tension is even port vs stbd. Over the winter I replaced the headstay with a longer one because the previous one was short. I had negative rake (if that's a term) when the rig was relaxed and barely an inch or two of rake with the back stay adjuster cranked hard. I do have a roller furling unit.

The problem has always existed but it does seem worse this year, or maybe now I just care a little more.......

Can anyone give me some advice on where to look next?

Mike T.

 

[SAILSHIGH]

How solid is the mast step?

Mike,

How solid is your mast step? I know its kind of out there but that is how I noticed a problem with my old hunter. The mast step would press in and throw the angle out. Well it may not of that much. It was a preaty painless fix. Easy as pulling teeth with our 29. I wish I could still deck step the mast like on my hunter. OH Well I love my E29 much more.

Good Hunting.....

 

[treilley]

Is your windex accurate? Could a current be affecting your pointing? Maybe your mast is not centered. Have you measured with the main halyard?

Just some thoughts.

 

[NateHanson]

How are you measuring your pointing angle? Using wind instruments? Eyeballing the windex? I'd check that the perception of pointing angle is correct first. Then consider possible causes.

How big of a difference is there?

 

[treilley]

Also consider keel shape. Your keel may have a better shape on one side than the other providing more lift on that tack.

 

[Mike Thomas]

Thanks all,

It's always the simple things we overlook and Treilley pointed me in the right direction. Because the races are usually at night I use the instruments and not the Windex. Making the mistake to only rely on what the instrument says and never bother to actually look up the mast in broad daylight.

We were out in light winds last week and the delta port vs stbd was about 25-30deg. Now, I don't expect to replace Chris Dickson, but I can certainly keep the boat in the slot by feel and about 25-50deg delta was what the instrument said.

I just went out and eyeballed up the mast from the backstay and noticed the wind direction transducer peeking out from the port side. It's no where near the centerline of the boat! I guess one of the kids is going up the stick this week.

Thanks again all

Mike T

 

[Mike Thomas]

Correction - Nate Hanson pointed me in the right direction.

Mike T

 

[Randy Rutledge]

What mast rake are 29T boats running? The specs call for 9” but my boat has about 4” and some weather helm. More rake should help pointing but would add WH. My mast is down and I would like to have a feel for whether to go back as was or change.

 

[Randy Rutledge]

Mike do you ever use your anchor light to see the windex at night? Legal no handy yes.

 

[Mike Thomas]

Randy
Normally I do have the anchor light on for safety reasons. I could look up and probably should but I tend to point by feel, observe the knot meter and sail shape as I usually sail by myself or one other inexperienced crew.

Not looking to the masthead is just a lazy habit I need to change.

Relaxed my rig has about 4" of rake I can crank it up to about 9 and sometimes that feels too tight. The loose rig is a big improvement when sailing off the wind. My guess is with the furling rig I can only get so much benefit from cranking it up. I haven't had an opportunity to play with it in a good breeze yet.


For some reason the specs on a tall rig call for less rake than on a standard rig.
That sounds counter intuitive don't it?

Mike...