As I said its a flattering photo! Actually I went ok.I'd already been out an hour when the photo was taken and had a gopro camera looking at me on the boom for the first time..It really put me off my gybes!I was buggered the next day!
After losing 10 kegs I know for sure that my internal sail size calculator is way off... I keep getting overcooked on what I would normally be fine on.
Whether that translates into sail range, not sure.
As others have said, it's most likely the mast/sail compatibility that's the main problem here.
yeah i had a similar sensation just recently.
went out on a 4.7 in 40+ knots when i should have picked the 4.2 or smaller..... i was overcooked.
it's all relative at the end of the day. weight versus sail versus board etc.
i reckon for us average joe's and joette's pick the smallest sail you can get away with.
good for heavy winds if only they knew how to sail
but its got to be consistent..Still Ive been blown away with that size sail!
No I don't have a pit crew unfortunately..
That was just the go pro being fitted..
I may be able to pull it on more but it was pretty tight..Ill try & put the extension up a hole next time & reef it on more.
I think you might have a bit of a mast mismatch issue. I find that my 4.2, which doesn't get used too often, is the most sensitive to the mast I use. With the stiffer 400 19 it feels quite twitchy, even with heaps of downhaul, and quite a narrow range. But with a softer 380 17 it is much more comfortable, just as powerful with the same downhaul, bigger range especially in gusts and more "absorbant" - not spongy as such, but perhaps "forgiving" might be a better term. At 70 kg I think I'm more in the lightweight category.
More downhaul on a too stiff mast might help a bit, but I'd try to borrow a shorter, softer mast and see how that goes. Too much downhaul is just as likely to choke the sail which won't help with range anyhow. It'll just feel powerless and unresponsive.
Sounds like I need a softer shorter mast..I always wondered why I never really enjoyed most of my sails with the 4.2m. Ignorance is bliss..[}:)] I was happy before I knew I needed to spend more $ & get another mast.. imagine how the 3.3m sets on it!
Not sure about Sailworks, but at the NP rigging clinics with the designers and testers (Micah is a big guy, though not massive and Pieter is 80kg and short for a Dutch guy), the key to adjusting downhaul was on where the second bottom batten sat on the mast. For the Alpha/Atlas, they wanted it to be level with the front of the mast with before outhaul was applied.
That resulted in a lot more downhaul than I had been using, and a lot more leech twist than your sail is showing.
I have applied that in the few sails I've had since then, with pleasing results.
hard to tell exactly from that pic, but that looks like a pretty big fin with a 4.2. How big is the board?
Hey Sue, I discovered something the other day with my rigging. I chose to use my new-to-me 7.5 Ezzy Freeride for the first time. I downhauled it according to spec, it looked OK. Attached the boom, layed the sail on the ground and pushed down on the fat end of the mast so the tip was raised pivoting from the boom on the ground. I then saw that there was bugger all flop in the first two battens as described in the instructions. So I downhauled it some more and there they were, just as the book sez but using more downhaul than recommended. My mast is an old ART 460, size as recommended but not an Ezzy.
Took the sail out and it felt fabulous up to 18 knots (max wind for the arvo), balanced, light and harness lines set near perfectly, I fell in love. It felt great, a bit more tweaking and it'll be even better...if I don't confuse myself in the process
. Pity it was too gusty but feel in the gusts felt awesome.
It got me thinking, why hasn't my KA 6.4 Kult feel as good? KA recommends a 460 as an "alternative" to a 430, which I haven't got. So I've been using the ART 460. Next time I use it I'm going to give it a shirtload more downhaul, I reckon that's been my problem. Others on this list opened my eyes to this. What is said on the printed spec doesn't necessarily mean it'll be correct...especially if you don't use the same brand mast! I'm keen to try out the theory on the KA as it feels quite good but now know it can be better!
I suggest, next time you rig your most used sail, do as I did and lay the rigged sail on the ground, push the fat end down and then take a pic so others can see how the top of the sail lays. There are other things like pressing down on certain parts of the sail which I haven't understood yet, but the former would be a good starting point for analysis I reckon.
Looking at that pic, I would guess it goes upwind nicely but you get flattened when the gusts hit
Found this for sailworks when I was looking for a pichttp://www.sailworks.com/documents/sails/Retro/settings.cfm
This is how I set my 4.2, either the medium or high setting which BTW is a severne blade not a sailworks.
I use my 4.2 quite a bit with a 400 ideally I should have a 370 for it, I think your making it hard for yourself on the 430 if you use that sail a lot, you probably should be using a 370.
I would try a couple cm more downhaul, but the stiffer mast wont bend as much as the gusts hit.
sailing in the slalom comp last summer at south beach on a 5.0m in winds from 25 to 35 knots i got hammered. i could not gybe at all,it took me 30 minutes to finish first slalom course of 4 short legs! i could not even sail around the pier to get back to carpark as wind in late afternoon picked up to 35 knots plus,an absolute dog of a day.
bought tushingham rock 3.3m and 370 x6 mast[should have bought 340] and small 145-185 carbon boom.
few days later 2 days of wind gusting up to 33 knots,sailing on same board + fin i used at south beach i was only slightly overpowered when 30 plus knots hit.
gybing was a million times easier and i could sail comfortably for hours without getting tired, heaven!
did own a 3.7m race sail previous,but that size for me is too powerful in the really strong stuff. 3.3m is next size down for me to 5.0m.
25 fin and 80 litre board i find are small enough, going smaller is little benefit.
it's sail size that counts for lightweights, now i love sailing in 25/35 knot seabreezes!
unfortunately I only seem to pick it right every few years..[}:)]
