Tuning question--a puzzle to the sail maker.

[sailorman37]

I went out for about 2 hours today with a wind of about 15. Seemed like the boat was sailing better on a starboard tach, but didn't see much over 6.5 knot boat speed. Noticed sometimes lee helm, sometimes weather helm. I will have to loosen the forestay and tighten the back to give more rake since the side shrouds are not too useful for pulling the mast back. Also noticed the leeward shrouds were a bit loose. to top that off, one of the sheet car sheaves blew apart - degraded over time from UV.

Despite all that, it was a beautiful day on the bay. I'll take care of these problems and hopefully get up to 7 knots as you mention Frank.

Brad

 

[Frank Langer]

Hi Brad,

It sounds like a good day of sailing!! 6.5 knots is not too shabby, though 7 knots or even a bit over in 15 knots is quite possible in the E30+. Yeah, the side shrouds won't do anything to increase mast rake, but I can't recall if you might need to loosen the lower shrouds a bit to let the mast bend in the middle for some mast bend. Otherwise the headstay and back stay are the key ones to achieve mast rake.

Regarding sometimes weatherhelm and sometimes lee helm during your sail, ideally you should always have a bit of weather helm--ie. the boat rounding slowly up into the wind if the wheel brake is off and the rudder centered or close to center.

Once you replace your broken sheave and adjust the tuning a bit more, I would appreciate an update on how it's going and any impact on speed and weather helm.

Good luck with it!

Frank