NORTH SAILS BLOG

Introduction These are the current settings for the North Sail range of Merlin Rocket sails. This information will give the ability to pre-bend the mast when required and control the rig over the full range of conditions. With the ability of the modern Merlin to be able to make almost infinite adjustment whilst afloat this tuning guide will walk through setting up the standing rigging and then the control of the rig whilst sailing. Spreader settings The settings shown below for the Jackson/Chipstow mast are also a good starting point for all other masts. The focus being around 38mm of pre-bend, see below. MERLIN ROCKET JACKSON/CHIPSTOW MAST • Mast track to shroud wire – 365mm • Tip of track to straight edge between shrouds – 140mm • Shroud to shroud – 677mm MERLIN ROCKET SELDEN SKINNY MAST • Mast track to shroud wire – 365mm • Tip of track to straight edge between shrouds – 137mm • Shroud to shroud – 685mm Standing Rigging Assumptions The ‘jib hook’ position is crucial to maximize your mast rake. • Jib halyard hook at ‘most upright’ setting – Shrouds and lowers loose, just able to get jib halyard onto hook (this is another crucial element, the shrouds should be adjusted so that there is only just enough slack to place the jib halyard on the hook) .• Set the bow of the boat to perpendicular. • The mast should now be perpendicular. Adjust the jib strop/halyard until this is achieved and this should be done before proceeding further. Base Settings Apply some rig tension 200kg (28-29 on Loose gauge PT-1) which equates to helm and crew sitting on the side deck and snugging up the leeward shroud plus a little bit.With the lowers fully released this should give you about 38mm of pre-bend at the spreaders. To measure this, the main halyard should be tied to the gooseneck and touching the mast at that point. Note: Be careful that you don’t pull it so tight as to bend the mast further!Once this has been achieved pull on the lowers until the mast just starts to invert. The lowers need to have sufficient range to go from this base setting to totally free.Make a careful note of jib, shroud and lower settings. These are essential to enable easy replication when on the water.Apply more rig tension and possibly lowers as the wind increases to keep the leeward shroud snugged up. Rake when the top batten starts to invert or when the boom is off the centre line more than 50% of the time. Fig. 1: shows the rig without lowers. You can see the little gauge at the spreaders which is used to measure the pre-bend, the thicker cloth ends 25mm from the mast track therefore 38mm pre-bend. Fig 2: shows the slight inversion in the lower section (deck to spreaders) and the pre-bend reduces to 15 mm. Basic principles Why do we want all of this adjustment? The fundamental is to match the luff round to the mast bend and optimise the two. It also means that we can adjust the shape of the rig to maximize performance for the given conditions, flat mainsail in calm and windy, full in mid range to power up. Good luck on the water! READ MORE

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this tuning guide is to provide our clients with standardized guidelines on how to get the most out of their new North Sails Folkboat sails. This guide was written by Soren Kæstel, Per Jørgensen and Theis Palm. Follow these instructions as closely as possible. However, it is always a good idea to experiment. Your boat, the weight of the crew, the boat’s balance as well as local conditions will also affect the optimal trim. MAST TRIM The mast on a Folkboat is probably the most critical component of the boat’s trim, especially with the introduction of the class-legal aluminum mast. The aluminum mast has the proper stiffness. Therefore, it is important that these trim instructions are followed carefully in terms of how much pressure the mast applies to the aft edge of the mast hole. 1 Verify that the mast is vertical. This is best done by moving each shroud along the mast and make a mark on the shroud that matches the top of the gooseneck mark. Reattach the shrouds to the chainplates and measure from the mark to where the turnbuckles enter the deck – the distance should be the same on both sides. 2 Set the mast rake. Detach the forestay from the deck and place it along the mast. Stretch the wire as much as possible and make a mark that matches the top of the gooseneck mark. Reattach the forestay. The mark should be 1.31 m from the deck along the forestay. 3 Position the foot of the mast. Move the foot of the mast aft until the mast just touches the aft edge of the mast hole. In light winds (0-8 knots) the mast should be relatively hard on the aft edge and pressed 22 mm aft along the mast foot rail for the mast to bend smoothly. In the wind 9-14 knots of wind, press the foot of the mast 16 mm astern and in strong winds 10 mm astern. 4 Adjust the jumpers. Pull-on the backstay. Look up the sail track and make sure that the mast is straight and the jumpers are equally tight. If not, adjust the jumpers until the mast is straight. Jumpers are set relatively loose in light winds and strong winds. In medium winds, tighten the common turnbuckle 2-3 turns. The maximum draft in the top of the mainsail should be 47% aft along the chord. The most important thing is that the mast curve is even from deck to top. If the jumpers are too tight, the mast will curve too much in the bottom and be too straight in the top. If the jumpers are too loose, the bottom will be straight and the top will curve if the jumpers are set to loose. A consistent curvature gives the leech a nice, even twist. 5 Set the forestay tension. Initially, the mast hole helps to push the mast forward and thus get the forestay loose. In light wind the forestay should sag about 8 cm. Tighten the shrouds while sailing until the 8 cm sag is obtained. In medium wind, tighten the shroud turnbuckles 1½ turns and a further 1½ turns in strong wind, thus tightening the forestay under increased wind pressure. MAINSAIL TRIM The mainsheet is critical in setting the shape of the sail and small adjustments can have a big effect on speed and pointing. If the mainsheet is sheeted tight, the leech will close and put more pressure on the rudder – on the other hand pointing ability is improved. This can be used in medium winds and flat water, where the boat can be kept flat by hiking. In light winds the mainsheet is eased so that the top tell-tale flies straight. In heavy winds, sheet tight and pull the backstay until the rudder feels light again (but without losing pointing). In large waves, let the leech twist a little more to have a wider steering angle. This increases speed, and therefore pointing, at the same time. As a thumb rule the top batten is trimmed parallel to the boom in almost all wind strengths. 1 Outhaul. The outhaul is also an important factor when trimming as it controls the draft in the bottom of the sail. In very light winds (0-5 knots) the sail should be 3 cm from the mark. In medium winds (5-12 knots) about 1.5 cm from the mark andin more wind than this pull the sail all the way to the mark. 2 Cunningham. Do not set the cunningham in light winds. In medium winds set the cunningham so that the wrinkles in the luff disappear. When the wind exceeds 15 knots it is pulled hard to open the leech and keep the draft forward in the sail. 3 Traveller. It is a good idea to have two cars on your traveller. They are then connected by two wires of about 40 cm leading to a mainsheet block. This facilitates sailing in light and medium winds. In light winds (0-6 knots) pull the traveller cars 15-20cm to windward. In medium winds (6-14 knots) set them in the middle. In higher wind the cars are eased to leeward to decrease heel and thus rudder pressure. 4 Backstay. The backstay has two functions: To control draft in the mainsail and to control forestay sag. When the backstay is tightened, the mainsail flattens, the leech opens, and there is less forestay sag and, therefore, a jib with less draft. It is agood idea to put marks on the backstay, e.g., every 20 cm, to facilitate finding the right trim after mark roundings, etc. 5 Kickingstrap / Boom Vang. The kickingstrap is used when sailing upwind in strong wind and also downwind. Upwind, the kickingstrap pulls on the mast and opens the leech in the bottom part of the mainsail and keeps the boom down when easing in the gusts. Never use the kickingstrap upwind in less than 18 knots and use caution. Remember always to ease the kickingstrap for downwind sailing when bearing off, otherwise the boom might break. Downwind the kickingstrap is trimmed so that the top batten is parallel to the boom – on all sailing angles and in all conditions. JIB TRIM North Sails jibs are made for sheeting points both on deck and cabin top. However, we recommend sheeting from the cabin top to make the jib-leech twist more freely and thus allowing the gap between main and jib to be as wide as possible. Furthermore, the control of the jib is improved (particularly in heavy winds) because of the shorter distance from clew to block. The jib-lead track is placed with its centre 58 cm from the boat’s centreline. When sheeting from the cabin top, we recommend using a swivel block on the deck, so that the jib sheet does not create an overwrap on the winch. 1 Sheeting Point. The position of the jib lead is crucial for the jib trim. As a reference point measure 2.65 m from the pin in the forestay to the centre of the block (if the lead is on the cabin top). The jib shall luff evenly, i.e. tell-tales must fly at the same time intop and bottom. 2 Jib Sheet. As a general rule sheet the jib so that the middle batten is parallel to the centreline in most conditions, but in light winds (0-5 knots) leave 2-3 degrees of twist. If the sea is lumpy, move the jib lead two to three “holes” forward to getmore draft and power in the jib (the middle batten shall still be parallel to the boat’s centreline). In heavy winds move the lead on to two “holes” back without letting the foot of the sail become loose and flutter. 3 Halyard Tension. Never pull the halyard too tight. This will cause the draft of the jib to move too far forward. Pull it until the wrinkles in the luff disappear. In light wind the best shape is obtained when leaving small wrinkles in the luff. Please get in touch with Theis Palm for any more information. READ MORE

This Kestrel tuning guide is meant to be a starting point from which you can experiment and find the setting that work best for your boat crew weight and sailing technique. If you have any specific questions please contact Tim Rush – tim.rush@northsails.com. Mast Rake 23′ 6″ Tip of mast to top of transom 23′ 6″ Light to Moderate 23′ 0″ – 23′ 3″ Heavy Rig Tension 250 – 300 lbs on forestay Spreaders and Pre-bend LIGHT CREWS Spreaders 425mm long Sweepback 200mm Pre-bend 45mm HEAVY CREWS Spreaders 435mm long Sweepback 190mm Pre-bend 40mm Jib Sheet Extension of jib sheet to intersect luff 2110mm above the tack Transom to front of mast 3175mm Transom to Centreboard bolt 2550mm READ MORE

Introduction North Sails tuning guide is written to help you get the best performance from your International Folkboat sails. The measurements and settings included in this guide are the ones that we have found to be the fastest settings for the IF-Boat. Since crew, wind and sailing conditions vary, you may find slightly different settings are better for you. However, by following these instructions, you can be confident that you are well set up to win at any level. We believe this guide will make your sailing experience simpler, more successful and most of all more fun. The tuning guide was written by Björn Österberg at North Sails One Design. Preparation This chapter explains rig tuning and the trim control systems required to be able to get full potential from your North Sails. Always consult the Class Rules while working with your boat and equipment. MAST RAKE The IF-Boat has relatively little helm and is, unlike most boats, even more neutral when heeled. To get enough helm for good pointing ability upwind the mast is raked aft. The length of the headstay determines the amount of rake. We recommend a total headstay length of 8400mm. You will most likely need to add one or two toggles to the original headstay to bring it up to this length. A popular alternative is to get a new headstay without turnbuckle made to the total length of 8400mm. While measuring the rig you can also check other measurements including J-measurement an spinnaker pole length to make sure they are on maximum and according to the class rule. RIG TENSION IF-boats are typically 20 –30 years old and therefore checking points that effects rig tension can be worth while. The cabin top underneath the mast step and the hull around the chainplates are the most critical areas. A ”knee”, which strengthens the hull and deck at the chainplates, is allowed. This procedure is described in the class rules. The settings for rig tension and prebend should me taken with no load on the backstay. Using a tension gauge helps finding and repeating a desired rig trim. We use the Loos Tension Gauge mod. B rig. The base setting is 22 (220kg) headstay tension. To achieve that the values for the upper and lower shrouds are 37 and 20. In certain conditions, when the boat needs a lot of power, a looser rig set-up with a headstay tension of 18, can be worth trying. A looser headstay adds power to the genoa, making it easier to build and maintain botspped. PREBEND The tension of the lowers affects two things. Adding tension to the lowers increases tension in the forstay. It also affects the amount of prebend in the mast. The amount of prebend determines the amount of camber in the mainsail. Your North manisail is designed to a prebend of 20 mm. Setting your rig with a greater prebend will flatten your mainsail. Setting the mast with less prebend, a straight mast, will add more power to the mainsail. SPREADER SWEEP According to the class rule the spreaders has to be able to move for and aft in the spreader brackets. Reducing the aft movement of the spreaders creates a better support for the mast. Using a string, tie the shrouds to pull the spreaders back as far as they will go. Then measure 280 mm from the string to the aft face of the mast to get the recommended sweep. TRIM DECALS Your sail is delivered with 4 small and 6 large trim decals. The small decals can be used for outhaul and other small range adjustments. We use the large decals for genoa halyard, genoa cunningham, genoa- and main tracks. Cutting the decals into “loose” numbers allows you to match the numbers to positions on genoa track. MAINSHEET TRAVELER The main traveler has to be easy adjustable. A low friction traveler car with a 2:1 purchase will ensure that adjustments can be made even in heavy conditions. OUTHAUL With eased outhaul the elliptical foot panel gives the mainsail a deep and smooth shape. When tensioned for upwind sailing the lower half of the mainsail is flattened. The purchase of the outhaul should be at least 6:1. The tailing end can either stop underneath the boom (as shown) or be lead to the cabin top. CUNNINGHAM Cunningham adjustment affects draft position. With loose cunningham the draft will be further aft. When the cunningham is tensioned the draft will move forward and open the leech of the mainsail. A 3:1 purchase lead back to a cleat on the cabin top ensures easy adjustment. VANG We use the vang mainly to adjust mainsail twist on downwind legs. The vang can also be used to help the mast bend in the lower sections on a heavy air beat. Using a tight vang while manoeuvring in the pre-start will make the boat accelerate faster. An 8:1 purchase with an easy to reach cleat is recommended. BACKSTAY The backstay is the key to balance and speed in medium and heavy air. It has to be easy adjustable even when the crew is hiking from the windward side of the cockpit. The backstay can either be lead to both sides of the cockpit or to a center cleat with the line lead underneath the hatch (as shown). We recommend minimum 16:1 purchase. INNER GENOA TRACKS The genoa has a flat leech section that allows us to sheet the genoa on an inner track in all conditions. The position of the track is 100 to 150 mm inboard of the standard track. The aft end of the track is 600 mm forward of the cut-out in the gunwale. The track is 500 mm long. Because of the low clew of the genoa it is important to have the spacing of the trim positions tight enough. Drilling an extra hole between factory holes, bringing the spacing down to about 50 mm will do the job. GENOA SHEET WINCHES Sheeting the genoa from winches on the cabin top gives the trimmer a better position. Further forward and facing in to the slot between genoa and main it is easier to get the right genoa trim. With low handle winches, such as Andersen, the handle can be left in the winch while tacking. GENOA HALYARD Put a mark on the genoa halyard in front of the cleat. A “North Sails Trim Decal” underneath the mark helps keeping track of the hoist. Adjusting luff tension can be done with either halyard tension or a genoa cunningham. The cunningham alternative has the advantage of not affecting the head of the sail and therefore leaving the sheeting position unaffected. It is easy to underestimate the force in the cunningham and use a too stretchy rope. We use a 6mm spectra core with a 6:1 purchase arrangement on the aft starbord side of the cabin. Since the tack of the genoa is about 200 mm above deck it is important to keep the sail forward towards the forstay. If this is not done properly the sheet tension will pull the tack of the genoa aft, causing a wrinkle from the firs luff hank. If you use a rigging screw at the lower end of the forstay, just tie a 4mm spectra loop twice around the rigging screw and the trough the tack ring. If you are using a cunningham you might want to put a thin aluminium pipe around the rigging screw to reduce friction. Having a full-length forstay use the extra luff hank right close to the tack ring. TWEEKERS Tweekers (twing lines) serve many purposes: they keep the after guy out of the way of the crew on reaches. They reduce the need a forguy and keep the spinnaker more stable in manoeuvres making it easier for the bowman. We put the tweeker blocks at the forward end of the standard genoa tracks where the boat is at maximum width.Sailtrim The IF sails well unreefed even in heavy air. Using the jib in winds above 18 knots will make both manoeuvres and keeping boatspeed easier. Because the centre of effort moves forward with the jib, pointing is the critical thing with the jib. The confident crew will therefore use the genoa in all windstrenghs because of the importance of good pointing, especially in bigger fleets. We recommend using the inner genoa track in all conditions. A good way to move quickly up the learning curve is to mark all trim control lines and positions. This will enable you to copy a trim you have found fast in the past, giving you confidence in boatspeed and allowing you to concentrate more fully on tactics. MAINSAIL In very light air the mainsail should be trimmed with an open leech to allow the wind flow to follow the sail. The traveler is kept about 300 mm to windward of the centerline with the sheet tensioned to position the boom about 200 mm to leeward of the centerling. Check that the top telltales flow to make sure the leech has enough twist. Keeping the crew weight to leeward in these conditiond helps opening the leeches of the sails. The outhaul is set at #3 on the small trim decal on the boom. When the breeze builds to about 6 knots the sail can take more sheeting while still maintaing good windflow. The traveler is dropped to about 100 mm to windward and the sheet is pulled to centre the boom. In light air when the mast is straight the cunningham should be slack and small horisontal “sped wrinkles” should bee seen in the luff of the sail. LIGHT AIR In the 6 to 12 knots wind range the mainsail can be sheeted tight, letting the top telltale stall at about 50% of the time. A closed leech puts priority on pointing whereas a more open leech gives extra speed. In choppy conditions it pays to ease a few inches in the sheet after tacking to help acceleration. When the boat is up to speed the sheet is pulled tight and the focus is back on pointing. At 10 knots you can start flattening the main by pulling the slack out of the backstay and tightening the outhaul. MEDIUM AIR In about 14 knots of wind the boat will start to heel with the trim described above. The solution is to tighten the backstay. This will depower the main and twist its upper part. The boom can still be held on the centreline to match the overlap of the genoa. To keep the draft position in the middle when bending the mast you need to pull the cunningham. A new sail needs only little cunningham tension whereas an older sail requires relatively more luff tension. HEAVY AIR In winds above 16 knots the mainsail is depowerd and used mainly for controlling helm. Controlling the power with backstay works well in steady wind conditions. In gusty conditions this method is too slow and we have to work the traveler instead. Make sure the boat is well-balanced in heavy seas. With the right trim the boat should flow naturally through the waves. If the boat feels “sluggish” it can be a sign that the main is giving too much power. With the right, open-leech, trim the boat will be easy to steer and accelerate quickly after big waves. GENOA To get the right clew height you need to set the tack about 150 to 200 mm above deck. Regardless if you use cunningham or not, it is important to make sure the tack does not move aft with increased sheet tension. If you use a rigging screw at the lower end of the forstay, tie a 4mm spectra loop twice around the rigging screw and the trough the tack ring. With a full-length forstay use the extra luff hank right close to the tack ring. The best reference for genoa trim is the distance between the leech and the spreader tip. The following measurements refer to spreaders with reduced sweep (as described earlier). For standard sweept spreaders add 50 mm to the measurements below. LIGHT AND MEDIUM AIR The right genoa lead for light and medium wind is set when the luff of the genoa breaks evenly from top to bottom. If the top luff breaks earlier the lead is too far aft. In light air the luff should be tensioned so that a few wrinkles remain. Under 6 knots the distance between the leech and spreader tip is 100 mm. When the breeze builds to 8 knots the luff is tightened to remove wrinkles and the genoa is sheeted to 20-30 mm from the spreader tip. In flat water the sail can be sheeted all the way in to the spreader. With tighter sheeting the car has to be moved aft about 50 mm to ensure an even break in the luff. HEAVY AIR As with the mainsail the genoa should be flattened and twisted in heavy air. The luff is tensioned and the lead is moved another 50 – 100 mm aft. The upper part of the luff will now break earlier than the bottom part. The foot of the sail is sheeted tight around the chainplates and the leech is further away from the spreader. In 14 knots the distance is 100 mm. With winds above 20 knots the lead is moved further aft and the distance from leech to spreader is 250 mm. This allows the mainsail traveler to be dropped without closing the slot too much. The harmony between main and genoa is important. An adjustment in the genoa is normally followed by a matching adjustment in the main. In stronger winds the amount of backwind in the main will give a hint about the relative trim of the sails. Compared to other boats the IF can be sailed very close to the wind (with a considerable break in the genoa luff) in strong breeze and flat water. DOWNWIND TRIM Because we no longer sail reaching legs this part only describes downwind (VMG) sailing. The rule-of-thumb for spinnaker trim is to keep both clews on the same height and the spinnaker boom in right angle to the apparent wind. In light winds this will mean a lower boom and for heavy air the boom can be carried higher. If the spinnaker boom is on an adjustable track on the mast, keep the boom horizontal to get maximum effect. The afterguy (brace) should be set with a tight tweeker. The exception is when the boat is sailed on very deep angles where the tweeker should be eased 500 mm to avoid a sharp bend at the tweeker block. The spinnaker sheet is eased just to get a slight curl in the luff of the spinnaker. In light airs sailing higher angles even on downwind legs can use the effect of the apparent wind. The angle determines by the spinnaker sheet pressure. Communication between spinnaker trimmer and helmsman is the key. When the pressure builds the trimmer tells the helmsman to bear off and when pressure drops the trimmer tells the helmsman to luff up. In winds above 10 knots the main is eased all the way to the shrouds. In lighter winds when steering higher angles she main is sheeted tighter to provide a slot between spinnaker and main. To give the mainsail powerful and even camber, make sure the outhaul is eased to #5 and the cunningham and backstay is slack. The vang should be tensioned just enough to keep the top batten parallel with the boom. Spinnaker sailing is easier if you get rid of the genoa. Roll the genoa parallel to the headstay. Start with the clew and roll the sail vertical behind the headstay. Have a 500 mm rope and tie it around the sail and headstay. When the genoa is not furled make sure the genoa sheet is loose. An overtrimmed genoa will create turbulent air for the spinnaker, making it unstable and hard to trim.Crew WorkThe IF is normally raced with 3 persons. It is not possible to describe the “perfect” crew organisation for all boats. The knowledge, experience and the ambitions of the crew should determine who does what. The idea with the following chart is to present a proposal and an inspiration to make your own chart for your boat. By making a chart you have to think and talk trough the crew work. By assigning a job description to each position, a new crew member can be easily integrated into your boat handling team. In organising the crew of your boat your goals should be to:· Involve all crew members in each manoeuvre· Avoid having crew members cross paths with each other· Talk about and decide tactical matters to involve the whole crew SPINNAKER HANDLING We hoist and retrieve the spinnaker trough the fordeck hatch. We like this method because the spinnaker has a shorter distance to get from stored to set, especially at gybe sets. With the traditional way of hoisting from the cabin hatch the spinnaker has to be led past the boom, vang and shrouds before getting in position. Another advantage is to have the bowman work from a position around the mast. This will make the cockpit less crowded and keep the crew weight well forward.A short description: To allow the spinnaker to be hoisted from the mast, exit the spinnaker halyard 2000 mm above deck on starboard side. Mount a cleat 400 mm underneath the exit. The forward closing fittings of the fordeck hatch can be removed while racing. The hatch is heavy enough to keep the water out even in rough conditions. Store the spinnaker in the fordeck hatch. Have the head and clews sticking out a few inches. The halyard is led forward to the forstay to keep it out of the way of the genoa. Use the gunwhale fairlead or a hook mounted close to the headstay. 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The settings below are recommended for Fiberfoam 14 / DNA masts and 80 kg skipper. Download PDF MAST UPWIND DOWNWIND   WIND SPEED   Knots   SPREADER RAKE   PREBEND   CUNNIGHAM   BATTENS (Top 4 battens)   MAST ROTATION   CUNNIGHAM   MAST ROTATION   TRAVELER   (off the center line if foling) 5-8 42 mm 20 mm OFF Light 45-50 degrees OFF 80 degree if foiling 180 mm 8 - 12 56 mm 27 mm 15 - 40% Light Medium   (10+ kts)   35-45 degrees 10 - 25% 70 degrees 220 mm 12 - 16 60 mm 32 mm 100% Medium 25 - 30 degrees 60 - 75% 65 degrees 300 - 400 mm 16 - 20 75 mm 38 mm 100% Medium Heavy (18+ kts) 20 - 25 degrees 80% 80 degrees 500 mm 20 - 24 90 mm 42 mm 100% Heavy 20 - 25 degrees 80% 80 degrees 500 mm (Hang on!)   Lighter skipper will slide settings up the range one and heavier skipper will stay down range one setting for best performance. (70kg is light. 90kg is heavy) Mainsheet should be tensioned enough to have an even twist profile from top to bottom and all tell tails should fly evenly. READ MORE

FLYING FIFTEEN TUNING GUIDE FR-3/FR-5 MAINSAIL & NXG-3 JIB WIND SPEED (knots) 0 - 4 5 - 8 9 - 12 13 - 16 17 - 22+ Sea State Flat <---> Choppy Flat <---> Choppy All Sea States All Sea States All Sea States Mast Rake 24'11 (7595mm) 24'10 (7570mm) 24'10 (7570mm) 24'9 (7545mm) 24'8 (7520mm) Rig Tension 180 kg <---> 160 kg 160 kg <---> 140 kg 160 kg 160 kg 180 kg Kicker Tension Slack (set for downwind) Just snug Tension until 2nd tell tail on the leech stalls 10% of the time Increase tension bit by bit as the wind increases 30-50% Ram Pull fwd 30mm <---> Pull fwd 20mm Pull fwd 15mm <---> Pull fwd 10mm Neutral position Neutral position Ease fwd 5mm Outhaul Ease 10mm from max <---> Ease 20mm from max Ease 20mm from max Ease 10mm from max Max outhaul Max outhaul Cunningham None (see notes) None (see notes) None (see notes) Removing all wrinkles on the luff Increasing to max tension Jib Inhauling None (see notes) 50% <---> 25% 25-50% None None Jib Luff Tension Soft, slight wrinkles on luff Soft, slight wrinkles on luff Just removing wrinkles No wrinkles Firm Notes: Spreader Length: 420mm-430mm based on overall crew weight, heavy teams should use 430mm, lighter teams 420mm, (if under 23stone then reduce to 410mm) Spreader Angle: FR-3 mainsail use 175mm, for FR-5 mainsail use 185mm Ram: The Neutral position is set on the dock using 24'10 rake and 350lbs of rig tension, this should produce around 20-25mm of pre bend, Mark this position at deck, this is the zero point or Neutral. Move the ram from this position the amount in the guide. Cunningham: Our mainsails use a rubber luff rope which is slightly elasticated which helps to release tension when the cunningham is eased, it does mean it can create larger wrinkles off the luff so its best to lightly snug the cunningham in the lighter winds to remove the larger of these wrinkles without affecting sail shape. Jib Inhauling: With the newer higher aspect jibs there is the option to sheet the sail closer to the centreline, there are too many different sheeting setups to give a measurement figure but if you try using the max you think you could inhaul for a short spell, 30 seconds off a start line for example, this is 100% inhaul, use the % guide figure as a ball park to how much you can use in regular sailing in the longer term. I.e 8 kts in flat water would be the likely most effective inhauling condition using 50% of max. You need to ensure the boom is on or even slightly over the centreline to make this work as effectively as possible. READ MORE

North Sails Flying Eleven Development READ MORE

Mast Rake Use Bruce Farr’s mast rake diagram as a starting point. Most top boats have recently had the centre of their mast set 60 -80mm (2 or so inches) aft of the intersection point of the tapes. When your boat is going well, use a stick to measure your forestay lashing so that you can set it at the same place every time, or experiment knowing what your rake actually is. 4mm on a forestay changes the rake quite a bit (check it out and see). Use a measuring stick - don’t try to experiment by the power of your biceps when setting up the mast. The writer’s experience is that even though in principle everything should be equal, the forestay sets mast rake, while the tightness of sidestays affects rig tension before it seriously affects mast rake. Sailing upwind, it is definitely the forestay that remains tight, and upwind is where the rake matters most. Don’t be afraid to vary your mast rake according to wind conditions, fresh or salt water. (Forward on fresh water, unless it is choppy). Raking your mast too far aft, or forward, will lose you upwind pointing ability. If your rake is too far aft in strong breeze you will capsize a lot. Some skippers believe that as soon as you are in big waves or chop, having your mast raked forward will make your boat bunt into the waves and go slow upwind. If you rake it correctly aft, the bow will lift nicely through the waves without you having to move back in the boat while trapezing. Rudder Class Restrictions give you total freedom for your rudder design. Some believe that when you are planing at high speed off wind, the distance between the centreboard and rudder determines how sharply you will turn with whatever minor movement you make on the tiller. If you want to survive more easily in 20 knots plus, (downwind, of course) hang your rudder blade at least 6 inches aft of the transom and have both your rudder gudgeons and your rudder blade raked at the same angle as your centreboard. A thick, rounded leading edge should help reduce your rudder’s tendency to cavitate (suck air right down, make spray, and stop steering.) At high speed, you will not have very good control of your boat if there is a lot of play in your rudder gudgeons. At high speed (ie, off-wind in a blow) the boat is controllable only through ultra-quick use of the tiller and very quick shifting of body-weight - and both controls must be precise. Don’t be afraid of some swims in the learning stages. You’ll know you’ve made it when you’re with the guys who don’t swim. (If you aren’t willing to enjoy the odd massive wipe-out, maybe you should stick to sailing Optimists!) Unless something major is wrong with your board or rudder blade, 90% of your boat speed will stem from your rig (mast rake, mast bend, and sail shape), assuming your hull and body are down to weight. READ MORE

Introduction First we would like to congratulate you for choosing North Sails Europe Class sails. Here we will present the basic set up and some guidelines on how to get the most out of your North Sail. Follow the guidelines, but always experiment and try finding your own trim. The weight of the crew, the balance of the boat, the stiffness of the mast together with specific local wind and sea conditions will all influence the fastest and final trim. Upwind Trim Even though the Europe is not as physical as the Laser or Finn you will still need to hike to get the maximum performance out of your sail when sailing upwind. If your sails are trimmed perfectly and you are just sitting on the side enjoying the scenery, you will be slow. So remember to take care with your self-preparations. It is always a good idea to use trim scales on your boat so that it is easier to get a reference point. One of the most important trim functions on the Europe is the mast rake. We have found that 5440cm is a good base position to start from. 0-5 KNOTS In less than 5 knots, when hiking is not required, concentration and setup are crucial. In light wind conditions we find that raking back the mast approx. 2cm from base position gives the boat more feel and will help you control the leech easier. Play the mainsheet so that the top tell tail stalls 20% of the time. To keep the leech loose in light conditions is very important. The traveller should be adjusted so that the end of the boom is at mid tank. In light air the outhaul should be 6cm forward of the black band and the inhaul should be loose, 3cm back from the aft edge of the mast. The cunningham is kept loose. 5-10 KNOTS As wind velocity increases, your primary concern is leech tension and traveller position. At around 5 knots of wind the mast can still be raked back 2cm from base position to help you control the leech. As wind velocity increases, from 6 knots of wind, the mast should be raked forward to base position. As you slowly tighten your leech by pulling the mainsheet you should at the same time work with the traveller. The end of the boom should be around mid tank to transom corner depending on the conditions. The top tell tail should stall 30% of the time. From around 9 knots of wind the end of the boom will hit the deck and the top tell tail will probably fly all the time. When the boom hits the deck you can no longer control the leech tension with the mainsheet. Rake forward the mast 1-2cm from base position to help you get the proper leech tension. The outhaul trim depends a lot on the sea state. In flat water conditions the outhaul should be approx. 6cm from the black band and in choppy conditions approx 10cm from the band. With the inhaul trim it is the opposite way. In flat water it is kept loose, 3cm from the mast, and in choppy conditions it will be tightened. The cunningham is kept loose. 10-15 KNOTS In 10 knots of wind the Europe is fully powered. Mast rake will be from base position to 1-2cm forward. The boom should be touching the deck at all times. The traveller position should be so that the end of the boom is from 3cm from the inside corner to the transom corner. Remember to play the traveller in puffs to help you balance the boat. The outhaul trim follows the same ground rule as in 5-10 knots but should be kept tighter, 4-9cm from the band. The inhaul should be tightened. As wind velocity increases to around 14 knots you will also start to need to use the cunningham. A good starting point is to start smoothing out the wrinkles along the mast. From around 14 knots of wind you can also lift the centreboard, approx. 10cm, to help balance the boat. 15-20 KNOTS At this stage it is really time to start de-powering the Europe. To keep the boat well balanced is the main focus. At around 15 knots of wind the mast rake will still be from base position to 1-2 cm forward. As wind velocity increases, to around 20 knots, use base position. The mainsheet should be kept tight with the boom touching the deck at all times. The traveller position should be so that the end of the boom is from the transom corner to some cm outside corner. The outhaul should now be from approx. 4cm from the band to maximum tension. The inhaul should be tightened even more to maximum tension. The cunningham should also be tightened, smoothing out all the wrinkles along the mast. The centreboard can be lifted approx. 20cm. 20-25 KNOTS As we have said before a well balanced boat is the key to success on the race course. It’s all about de-powering. Mast rake should be in the base position to 1-3cm back. The mainsheet should be kept tight but can be played in the puffs. The traveller position should be so that the end of the boom is outside the transom corner at all times. The outhaul and inhaul should be at maximum tension. The cunningham should be kept tight to maximum tension. The centreboard can be lifted even higher, almost to deck level as the wind velocity increases. Downwind Sailing Downwind sailing is an art in itself. Many sailors like to compare it to, for example dancing and they are in many ways right. It takes many hours on the water to really master the art of downwind sailing so be prepared to do some hard work out there. Here we will present some guidelines for helping you to reach that medal winning downwind speed. When approaching the weather mark try to adjust all the sail controls before you reach the mark so that you can concentrate on surfing that first wave instead of messing with your lines. Release the cunningham and inhaul. How much you release the outhaul depends on the wind velocity, you still have to get around that mark in one piece. In higher wind speeds you can also preset the vang. The vang should be set so that the top batten is 2-3° open relative to the boom. Play the mainsheet directly from the boom (1:1) until it feels like you are going to be pulled out of the boat, from that point it is not longer effective. Remember that steering always comes first, before pumping and rocking the boat. With too much power in your arm you can no longer concentrate on finding the right way through the waves but are instead just wrestling with your mainsheet which is not fast. At this point switch to 2:1, it then becomes more manageable and safer. As the wind velocity increases even more, pull the mainsheet directly from the ratchet. When surfing, always concentrate on finding your way through the waves. Don’t be greedy and stay too long on each wave. Instead you should use the top speed gained on each wave to try catching the next one. You should always aim to surf from one wave to the next continuously. Good luck on the water! READ MORE

This tuning guide has been prepared to help you get the most out of your North Sails as quickly as possible. It is meant as a starting point only, as we cannot cover all options and techniques. Feel free to modify and experiment in small steps to find what suits you best. If you find a settings that really work well, please keep us informed. Mast Preparation Ensure all sheaves are free running and the rigging is clean prior to stepping the mast. SPREADERS Spreader Angle: Measure from spreader tip to tip. Super Spar M2 Sleaved – 780 mmProctor D+ – 760 mm Spreader Length: Measure from spreader tip to wall of mast. Super Spar M2 Sleaved – 410mm Proctor D+ – 410mm Rig Tension / Mast Rake Rig tension is measured on the shrouds with a 3mm wire gauge. Mast rake is measured from top of mast to the centre of the transom. For sailing in all conditions the rig should be set up with Jib hoisted and tension fully on: Rig Tension: 400lbsMast Rake: 6470mm This should make the mast straight with no Mainsail hoisted. Mainsail Ensure the Mainsail is fully hoisted – halyards do stretch. Battens Battens should be left in the sail at all times and whilst not afloat, the sail should be rolled down the leech, parallel to the battens. Cunningham This is used to position draft in the sail. Do not use any Cunningham until you become overpowered in heavy airs, then pull Cunningham on progressively harder as the breeze increases. This will move the draft of the sail forward in the top and de-power the upper leech. Outhaul Beating: In light and heavy airs the foot of the sail should be pulled tight. In medium airs, ease approximately 12mm. Running: Keep the foot tight in all conditions. Reaching: Ease fully in medium conditions, in light airs ease 25mm and in heavy airs pull out tight. Jib To find Jib lead position, follow the sheeting angle through the Jib clew. This should divide the Jib luff approximately in half. When sailing upwind in a Force 3, all the tell tales should break together. In medium/heavy airs, the Jib should be sheeted hard to maximise pointing ability. In lighter conditions the Jib sheet needs to be eased approximately 12mm to keep the top of the leech open. Once a fairlead position has been found, use it in all conditions with very heavy airs, then move back 25mm. This will flatten the base of the Jib and open the leech, keeping the boat driving and on her feet. Good luck on the water! READ MORE

Basic Setup Rake – 21ft 2inSpreader length –  430mmSpreader Angle –  100 -110mm (track to line straight between wires at tip)Prebend –  20 – 25mm (with the lowers slack)Lowers Tension until the mast is straightShroud Tension 26-28 on a Loos gauge Centreboard Position Upwind GUIDE SETTINGS 0 – 8 knots – Vertical9 – 12 knots – Up 5-8cm (from vertical)13 -18 knots – Up 10-15cm19 -25 knots – Up 20-25cm It is almost impossible to change your mast rake on the water but because the top mast is long and the lower mast is controlled by the lowers, as you pull on the kicker the mast tip moves back in much the same way as it does when you increase mast rake. This creates weather helm so to balance the helm the centreboard angle should be adjusted. This becomes the key to speed through the wind range. The exact positions will vary depending on your weight and height as well as the stiffness of your mast and the seastate, but the principle is that as the wind increases raise the board enough to keep the helm balanced and the boat driving forward as opposed to luffing and stalling in the gusts. If you raise the board too far the boat will feel easy to sail but you will be unable to point. There is always some tolerance when searching for the optimum board angle, so if you want to point high and you are prepared to sacrifice a little speed lower the board a little, if you want to go low and fast raise it. Good luck on the water! READ MORE

This Tuning Guide has been prepared to help you get the best out of your North Sails. This is meant as a starting point, feel free to modify and experiment in small steps to find what suits you best. If you find a Setting or Settings that really works, please keep us informed. Mast Position The aim of the B14 settings is to keep the lower ¼ of the mast as straight as possible. To achieve this you will need to move the mast foot as far forward as is possible, and use a small chock in front of the mast at the mast gate. The size of the chock will vary and you will need to set this by looking up the mast when it is tensioned and checking it is straight. On The Water Tuning Because the rig is very simple, there are not a lot of changes you can make while you are on the water. There are your normal sail controls, the jib tack height and the centre board. CUNNINGHAM As you start to become overpowered start to pull on the cunningham a little, as the breeze increases progressively pull on more. JIB TACK HEIGHT The jib tack height is the only control for the sheeting angle of the sail. Lowering the tack will increase the twist of the sail. If the conditions change you can alter the tack height between races, lowering the sail if the breeze increases and raising it if the breeze drops. CENTRE BOARD As with the jib, the centre board can only really be adjusted between races. If you feel the boat ‘tripping up’ over the board in breezy conditions raise it up.As a guide:15-20kts: 150mm (6”)20kts+: 300mm (12”) Notes Tensions are found with Loos PT1-m rig tension gauge.The spreaders are measured from a straight line between the shrouds to the back of the mast track, without rig tension. The holes are a bit of a course adjustment so you might not be able to exactly match these figures. If in doubt go slightly further forward on the lowers and slightly further back on the uppers, if possible try to keep the 2 sets of spreaders in line or the upper set slightly aft. Good luck on the water! READ MORE

UPWIND SAILS GUIDE Options Fit For Any Sailor All sails can be described using four basic criteria – Size, Shape, Style and Specifications Size quantifies the two dimensional aspects of the sail: luff, leech and foot lengths, and the sail’s roach profile. Shape describes the three dimensional aerodynamic form built into these perimeter dimensions, which is commonly referred to as the Mold Shape. Style refers to the material used to build a sail. Specifications indicate the specific construction features such as hardware, reefs, luff attachments, fittings, and other sail handling systems. North designers use complex numerical tools in concert with extensive empirical data to create unrivaled sails. The starting point is a well-suited mold shape selected from a design library with a fifty year lineage. The mold shape is then adapted to a particular target use, based on multiple inputs determined by our sail experts in consultation with our customers. Factors such as boat type, righting moment, rig geometry, sail size, material type, aspect ratio, wind speed, wind angle, sea state, mast bend and headstay sag are just some of the critical elements to successful sail design. Navigating all of these variables can be challenging for even the best and most experienced sailors. Compounding the issue are the different languages of sailing used around the world. This guide is intended to help us speak a common language when describing sails. Mainsail and Mizzen Mainsail Types Standard Mainsail This is our default mainsail type for both racing and cruising. Standard Mainsails may include up to 2 full-length battens and use conventional roach profiles that are customized to the boat’s geometry and customer requirement. Available in all material types, popular configurations are 1 full-length top batten for racing, and a “2 Plus 3” (2 full, 3 leech) batten configuration for cruising. Full Batten Mainsail Cruising Mainsail with more than 2 full-length battens. Available in all material types, usually paired with a luff car system and mechanical fasteners to batten receptacle. High Roach Mainsail Traditional cruising catamaran roach profile with full-length battens. Sometimes called a “Butter Knife” or algorithmic curve. The key feature of our High Roach Mainsail is that the batten can be designed parallel to the boom for easy flaking or boom furling. Available in all material types, but best suited for NPC Radian, NPL Tour, 3DL Marathon and 3Di Endurance styles to support the wide head angle. Square Top Mainsail Our most modern mainsail profile, with a head width supported by a gaff batten. Available in all material types, but best suited for NPL Sport, 3DL and 3Di. Boom Furling Mainsail Mainsails specifically designed for use on furling boom systems. Typically designed around a boom manufacturer’s specifications, these include special features like hard braid luff rope, leech plies and extra battens. Available in all material types, but best suited for NPC Coastal, NPC Radian, NPL Tour and 3Di Endurance. Mast Furling Mainsail Mainsails to be used with in-mast or external mast furling systems. Can be configured in a wide array of batten and roach profiles depending upon furling system and performance requirements. Available in all material types; best suited for NPC Coastal, NPC Radian, NPL Tour and 3Di Endurance. Racing Headsail Types Sails listed as headsails can be made either as Genoas or Jibs. Sails listed as Genoas are only made as overlapping headsails, while Jibs are only made as non-overlapping headsails. Light Headsail Maximum size specialty headsail for very low boat speed and boats that have other, full-sized headsails. Typically used when the boat is tacking through wide angles, with an emphasis on getting the boat moving. This mold has a full shape, with enough curvature in the leech to remain smooth when not sheeted in hard. Light Headsails will not perform well when trimmed in tight. The luff curve is designed for very straight headstay. Super Light Headsail Similar to Light Headsail but often made in the lightest cloth possible, with a very low maximum apparent wind speed rating. Light/Medium Headsail Maximum size headsail shaped for power more than pointing. Used when maximum upwind hull speed cannot be achieved or it is a struggle to maintain it. Medium Headsail Maximum size headsail used when the boat is powered up, but has still has not achieved maximum upwind hull speed. The Medium Headsail has a flatter shape that can be trimmed harder than a Light Headsail. The luff curve is designed for low headstay sag Medium/Heavy Headsail Maximum-sized headsail with an all-purpose mold shape. Geared slightly toward pointing more than power. Heavy Headsail Maximum, or near maximum size headsail used when the boat has reached maximum upwind hull speed. This shape is best when the boat will not go much faster, but can go higher by sheeting hard. This mold has a very straight leech and needs to be sheeted hard to remain smooth. The luff curve is designed for moderate headstay sag. #2 Genoa Reduced size genoa designed to fill the gap between the Heavy Genoa and #3 Jib. This mold has a very flat shape and a very straight leech to allow for a wide sheeting angle. The LP, mid-girth and luff length are designed around the rig geometry. This sail may not sheet well around some spreader arrangements and is not suitable for all boats. The luff curve is designed to match moderate headstay sag. #3 Jib A non-overlapping headsail for heavy air use on boats that also carry genoas. This sail sheets inboard of the shrouds and in front of the mast, which allows the mainsail to be eased or traveled down without backwinding. This sail is typically sized with a maximum foot length and mid-girth to fit in front of the rig. It has a round entry and very straight back to power through waves while maintaining pointing. # 4 Jib Reduced size Jib for use when the mainsail is reefed or nearly reefed. This sail is short of maximum luff length and has a reduced foot length to allow effective steering in large waves and reduce mainsail backwind. Heavy Weather Jib Similar to #4 Jib but sized to Offshore Special Regulations (OSR) guideline. Furling Genoa All Purpose Roller Furling headsail with an LP greater than 110%. Designed for a wide range of wind speeds and angles. The material must be low stretch to hold shape in heavy air, and strong enough to handle furling and rig impact. Designed with a shape similar to Light/Medium Racing Genoa, it is optimized for eased out, upwind trim in the middle of the target wind range. Furling Jib All Purpose Roller Furling headsail with LP less than 110%.Typically designed for modern cruising boats that utilize non-overlapping headsails. Can also be designed as a heavy weather specific sail for cruising boats that also carry overlapping genoas. Self-Tacking Jib All Purpose Roller Furling headsail with LP less than 110%. Designed for modern cruising boats that utilize non-overlapping headsails with a lateral, self-tacking sheeting track. Commonly fitted with a clewboard for sheeting adjustment, and optional vertical battens. Yankee All Purpose, high clewed headsail for cruising. May be set on roller furler or fixed stay. The high clew enhances reaching performance and improves visibility. Commonly used on cutter rigs or boats with an inner Jib. Inner Jib / Inner Fore Staysail / Staysail Small Jib set on an inner forestay. May be set on roller furler or fixed stay. Typically designed as a heavy weather jib, but also used a Genoa Staysail for cutter and double head rigs. Storm Sails Storm Trysail Designed to attach to mast and sheet independently from the boom. Typically set on a dedicated luff track, its size is based on Offshore Special Regulations (OSR) guidelines. Storm Jib Designed to attach to headstay or inner stay with luff tape or hanks. Size is based on Offshore Special Regulations (OSR) guidelines. READ MORE

Introduction The purpose of this tuning-guide is to give our clients in the H-Boat class some guidelines on how to get the most out of their North Sails. The tuning guide is made by Steffen Stegger, Lars Christiansen and Theis Palm. Follow the guidelines, but always experiment and try finding your own trim. The weight of the crew, the balance of the boat, the stiffness of the mast together with specific local wind and sea conditions all have influence on the fastest and final trim. Mast Trim Before stepping the mast in the boat, some very important measurements have to be made to follow this tuning guide. 1. The length and angle of the spreaders are important to the shape of the main, they help to control the bend of the mast and thereby the tension of the forestay. The length of the spreaders is measured from the side of the mast to where the shroud passes the spreader, the measurement is 81 cm measured along the middle of the spreader. The spreader angel is measured by fixing a fine line between the two top shrouds, measure from the line to the aft side of the mast, the measurement is 19 cm. Next make two tape marks on the spreaders at respectively 44 and 54 cm from the side of the mast. These are used to trim the jib. 2. Lead the upper shrouds and forestay along the mast, the upper have to be out of the spreader tips. Pull them as hard as you can and put a mark on all three wires at the height of the black mark at the gooseneck. These three marks are now used to check if the mast is straight from side to side in the boat, and to check the mast rake. The mast is then stepped. 3. The foot of the mast is placed so that the distance between the center of the forestay pin to the front edge of the mast is 2,42 m. 4. Control that the distance from the top of the gooseneck mark to the deck measured along the side of the mast is 54,8 cm any possible difference should be adjusted when setting the forestay in the next step. 5. The mast rake is set so that the distance from the mark on the forestay to deck measured along the forestay is 1,37 m. 6. Now that the correct mast rake has been set, control that the mast rest on the full surface. If this is not the case, the pressure on the rig will become uneven and the forestay unsteady. 7. The marks on the top shrouds (from step 2) are now used to control if the mast is placed in the middle of the boat. This is done best by measuring the distance from the mark to the deck. This should be the same on both sides. 8. Rig tension is somewhat difficult to define, because not everybody has the same meter to measure. We have used a Loos Gauge type PT-1 M. See the On the Water Tuning Guide. 9. The lower shrouds are tensioned, so that the mast is completely straight in the boat up to 20-22 knots. From here on tighten them till the mast drops 5-10 cm off to leeward at the forestay fixture – the exact measure depending on crew weight. Mainsail 1. The mainsheet is the most important factor when trimming the main. Even minor adjustments can have a big effect on speed and pointing. If the sail is sheeted hard the leech will close more and increase rudder pressure, but the pointing ability will be improved. This can be used in middle air and flat water as long as the boat can be hiked flat. In light wind the mainsheet is eased so that the tell-tale by the top-batten flies straight aft. In heavy winds the mainsheet is pulled very tight and the H-boat Tuning guide backstay is pulled until the boat becomes light on the rudder again. As the waves increase more twist is needed to facilitate steering. At the same time it improves speed and hereby pointing. As a thumb rule trim the aft part of the top-batten parallel to the boom in all wind strengths. 2. The outhaul is also an important factor when trimming as it controls the draft in the bottom of the mainsail. In light winds (0-4 knots) the sail should be 3 cm from the mark. In a little more wind (4-10 knots) about 1,5 cm from the mark and in more wind than this pull the sail all the way to the mark. 3. Avoid using the Cunningham in light winds. In middle winds pull only so much so that the wrinkles disappear. In winds above 14 knots pull the Cunningham hard to open the leech and the draft forward. 4. Adjustment of the traveller affects rudder pressure and depends on the crew weight. The traveller is adjusted so that the boom – as long as possible- is kept parallel to the centerline. This is to keep maximum distance between the main and the jib. As the wind increases and the backstay is pulled let the traveller to leeward until the boat is balanced and light on the rudder. 5. The backstay has two functions: To control mainsail depth and to control forestay sag. This means that a tighter backstay flattens and opens the mainsail, gives less forestay sag and hereby a flatter jib. We have put marks on our backstay every 5 cm, so we can return to good trim after mark rounding etc. 6. The kicking strap is used upwind in heavy winds to bend the mast and hereby opening the sail in the bottom part. It also keeps the leech from opening too much when easing the mainsheet in the gusts. Never use the kicking strap upwind in less than 16 knots. Remember always to ease the kicker before going downwind to prevent the boom from breaking. When reaching, set the kickingstrap so that the aft part of
the top batten is kept parallel to the boom. Jib 1. JIB LEAD As a general rule set the jib lead at a distance of 2,88 m from the forestay pin to the center of the block. The jib shall luff evenly along the luff of the sail. This means that the telltales should break evenly. If the waves are big in more than 6 knots move the lead 1-2 “holes” forward and if the wind is less than 6 knots up to 5 “holes” forward. 2. SHEET TENSION To trim the jib, use the marks set on the spreaders. In wind strengths that are less than 6 knots use the mark at 54 cm from the mast in more wind use the inner mark
(44cm). 3. HALYARD TENSION Never over tighten the halyard, as this will move the draft to far forward. Pull as much as to remove the creases, but not more. In light winds leave some creases at the
luff, as this will cause the draft to move aft, thereby increasing depth.As a general rule set the jib lead at a distance of 2,88 m from the forestay pin to the center of the block. The jib shall luff evenly along the luff of the sail. This means that the telltales should break evenly. If the waves are big in more than 6 knots move the lead 1-2 “holes” forward and if the wind is less than 6 knots up to 5 “holes” forward.SpinnakerThe height of the spinnaker pole on the mast should be 1,50 m over the cabin top roof. The pole is kept horizontal in most conditions. This makes it possible to take full advantage of the whole pole length, keeping the spinnaker as far away from the other sails as possible. Our GRADIENT spinnaker is designed for this. In light winds the pole height is adjusted to keep the clews at the same height to get the best angle of attack on the windward leech and keeping the leeward leech open. In heavy winds on a tight reach, the spinnaker pole should at no time be closer to the forestay than 60 cm to prevent the boat from coming out of control. If you have any questions regarding trim or H-Boat sailing in general, please contact Theis Palm. Good luck on the water! READ MORE

Mast rake Is measured from the top of the mast/gaff to the centre top of the transom. Wooden Hulls – 4950mm – 5000mm (These measurements work for both Gaff and Bermudanrigs). Goodwin hulls – 4975 – 4850mm Winder Hulls – 5000mm – 5100mm Rig Tension 12 to 16 on the shrouds using a Loos tension gauge for older boats. New boats both wood and frp will take 18-22.This isn’t as critical as it would be if the mast had spreaders, however it still controls the amountof jib luff sag and mast rake so care should be taken to keep a record of your setting so it is thesame every time. Outhaul Upwind, set the outhaul so that the foot just touches the leeward side of the boom. If the conditions are choppy and you are not overpowered ease the outhaul so that there are 2cm between the leeward side of the boom and the foot. In strong winds pull the outhaul tight. Downwind, you can ease the outhaul 5cm if you want more power. Fairleads and Jib Height The fairleads should be positioned as far back as possible on the thwart and as high as possible.You are allowed to fix the fairlead on a block 25mm high. The distance between the bearing surfaces of the fairleads should be roughly 750mm. Start with the tack corner of the jib 30mm above the deck. Raise it to 50mm above deck for light and moderate wind and waves. Lower the tack corner to level with the deck for strong winds. Pull it down 10 – 20mm below deck level for very strong winds. Kicker and Twist I think twist is the key to making a Mirror fast. A closed mainsail leech will make you point but if you overdo it the sail stalls, the boats slows, and you go sideways, giving the same effect as notpointing. Keep leeches open enough to stop the telltales stalling. This isn’t so much of a problemonce you are both hiking because there is pressure on the mainsail leech to keep it open, but it isstill possible to oversheet the jib. If the boat slows down compared to the boats around you or theboat feels as though its bouncing up and down on the spot, ease the jib sheet 1cm and see ifthings improve. Marks on the jib sheets are very helpful here and even calibration marks on the kicker will helpyou re-produce your fast settings. Spinnaker Pole Setting Good luck on the water! READ MORE

Introduction The settings in this guide will help you get the most out of your Albacore North Sails. As always experimentation and documenting will enhance your specific boat. The weight of the crew, the balance of the boat, the stiffness of the mast and local wind and sea conditions will impact your tuning. This guide was developed with the Superspar M2 mast and B2 boom. Boat Set-Up: Foils The basic hull and foil set up is similar for most Albacore builders and sails. Typically the centerboard is moved as far aft in the boat as the rule allows. The minimum allowable distance from the transom to the leading edge of the centerboard when lowered 90° to the hull is 2600 mm measured along the curve of the hull. It is normal to have the board within 1 5mm of this measurement. It is increasingly common to rake the centerboard forward in flat water and in winds less than approximately 1 2 knots. Ensure the board can do this and that the 90° position is clearly marked and visible inside the boat. The trend is also to have flexible centerboards that have good gust response and give a slight gibing effect when raked forwards in light to moderate winds. Make sure that the centerboard and rudder are aligned. With the mast off and the boat upside down, stand behind the boat and sight along the foils. I f they are not aligned, normally the rudder has to be moved to bring the foils into alignment. Mast Butt Position and Rake The maximum forward position of the mast butt is 3350 mm measured from the aft face of the transom to the fore side of the mast at the foot. 3335 mm is the recommended starting point for North sails. This will provide sufficient pre-bend without compromising the ability to ram the mast far enough aft to allow the boom to pivot around the leeward shroud while sailing downwind. The most robust measurement for rake is to mark the mast at the hull sheer line. Put a straight edge across the partners aft of your mast and measure down the shear line on both sides of the boat. Use the hull skin to deck intersection. Calculate the average of those two. Place a mark on your mast that same average distance down from the top deck. Disconnect the bottom of the headstay and swing it to the mark you just made on your mast. Mark the headstay at that point. (extend with line if necessary). Replace the headstay back to the bow. Hoist the jib and tighten the halyard just enough to take the slack out of the shrouds. The mark on your headstay measured to the top surface of the deck at the bow should be about 6”. I f it is not you may need to move your shrouds up or down to achieve the 6″. This is your max forward light air setting. In winds above 1 5 knots it is common to pin the shrouds down one pin from this position. Above 20 knots two pins is common. North Sails North Albacore Sails are cut to be powerful. Both main and jib have a fair amount of depth which is needed for superior downwind performance. In order to achieve superior upwind performance proper mast bend is required. The objective is to add just enough bend to keep the leech tell- tales flickering while in full power mode, and then as much bend as is required to flatten the sails in stronger winds. Bend is achieved primarily with boom vang, but pulling the mast forward at the partners, easing the jib halyard, and lots of main sheet all contribute to mast bend. Pre-bend A system to increase the bend of the mast at the partners is very important. A strut is the preferred method because it it raises the fulcrum where the bend occurs, but a simple tackle system at the partners will suffice. In most wind conditions upwind the mast must be pulled forward or “pre-bent” so that it resides about 1 ” -2” from front of the partners. In very light winds the mast will have to be bent all the way to the front of the partner to open the leech. In strong winds the mast should be allowed to bend to within 0.5” of the partner (any more than that and you risk over-bending and damaging the mast when you ease the head-stay). In light winds the mast will be fully pre-bent while reaching. The amount of pre- bend is gradually reducing as the wind increases. The correct time to reduce the pre-bend can be hard to judge, however if the mast is not pre-bent enough, the luff of the main is too full and the leech ticklers are difficult to fly all at the same times as the ticklers 1 /3 back from the luff. When this is correct, all ticklers can be flown. Spreaders A good way to check the spreaders is to set the mast at the max forward, light air position. There should be zero shroud deflection in any plane (I.E. totally straight shrouds with no deflection at the spreader tips). Put your eye close to the chainplate and sight up the shrouds. This should produce a spreader length of about 1 5-1 5.5” and a sweep of approx. 7” (Standard spreaders have to be shortened to achieve this). This position is a good starting point for crew weights of up to 360 lb. Above this consider increasing the length of the spreaders by 0.5-1 ”. Jib Sheeting Position A good way to start is to fold the jib head to the jib tack and mark the mid- point of the luff. Then draw a line on the clew patch from this point to the clew of the jib. By eye extend this line down to the jib track. Experience has shown that the best light/moderate jib lead position is about 4-6” aft of this point. Further forward of this and the lower third of the jib can get too full. As the wind increases the jib car needs to be moved aft. In very strong winds this sheeting position can be as much as 1 0” aft of the starting position. This will flatten the foot of the jib and open the leech. It is important not to over-sheet the jib so that the main is backwinded, or, the jib leech tell tail is stalled. The jib height must be adjusted so that the foot of the jib is in full contact with the foredeck upwind. The jib height can be adjusted through the lashing of the sail to the wire at the head. It is a good idea to raise the jib in light air to get extra sail area, and lower it in heavy air to keep the foot touching the deck when the jib car is moved aft. Main/Jib Cunningham The function of the cunningham is to move the point of max depth forward, or aft in the sail. Tightening the luff pulls the max depth forward. Maintain the max depth of the main just forward of half way. The more the mast bends the more Cunningham will be required. The jib max depth should be further forward about 1 /3 of the way back from the luff. (like an airplane wing) It is important that the jib and main cunningham are released off wind. Outhaul The North main is powerful at the foot so it is important that this is restrained upwind. In very light winds the outhaul is pulled so that the foot is taught. Above 1 5 knots it is pulled very tight. When reaching the outhaul needs to be eased. Maximum power is approximately 2-3” of release on the outhaul. This will be sufficient to open the foot of the main. Jib Halyard Tension In light winds upwind, the jib halyard is often set to allow for about 2” of sag at the mid luff. This should provide great speed and a wide groove. Tightened a little to improve pointing or slackened a bit to increase speed. Limiting Jib wire sag to about 2″upwind is important until the wind becomes overpowering. Above this, the sag is less important because the jib halyard is let off to increase mast bend and rake. It is a good idea to mark your halyard adjuster to know where your rake is. Check the section above “Mast Butt Position and Rake”. Mark your halyard adjuster on the mast at a point where you achieved 6” of rake. Then make a scale on it in 1 ” increments. 8-1 0″ of rake is common at the upper wind ranges. The halyard is loosened, the vang is tightened and the shrouds are pinned down. While reaching the jib halyard is eased to achieve 2-4” of jib wire sag. Many of the top boats have a system to tension the fore-stay while reaching in light to moderate conditions. With this applied, the halyard can be loosened to give jib luff sag and a powerful jib without affecting the mast bend control. Vang The vang is completely loose in light winds. As the wind increases a little use the vang to keep the top batten parallel with the boom. More and more vang is used as the wind builds. Once you are both hiking a harder vang will bend the mast and depower the sails. It is a sensitive control and too much vang can lead to a sail with too tight a leech, or too flat a main. Too little vang can lead to too deep a main, or too much twist. Correct vang adjustment and appropriate jib halyard are critical to maintaining good balance and the right amount of power. When reaching the vang is used to keep the top of the main from getting too loose. Good reaching speed is obtained with constant adjustment of vang and deck level mast bend in response to the changing conditions. Try to keep all of the main ticklers flying. Wing on Wing When wing on wing, it is important to get the boom out as close to 90° as possible, and the jib foot snug. With this in mind, the jib halyard is loosened off by at least 6” and the mast rammed all the way to the back of the partners. It is common to let the jib halyard off to give 8”+ of jib wire sag. Above 6-8 knots get the jib out and away from the mainsail. Normally the centerboard is fully in the case and the boat is heeled to windward. Vang should be set to give just a small amount of leech twist as can be seen from the photo. George Carter 2015 International Champion READ MORE

Tuning Set-up BEFORE YOU STEP THE MAST Before stepping your mast there are a number of things to do that will make your boat easier to sail and the sails easier to trim. MARKING THE SPREADERS Before stepping the mast put a mark on the underside of each spreader (first spreader up) 100mm in from the spreader tip. Use either coloured tape or a felt tip pen. We’ll use this mark later as a guide to trimming the large jib. JIB TRACKS With a high aspect ratio jib like the 1720’s, the lead position is crucial to good speed. The stock hole spacing on the tracks is simply too far apart to get the lead right in all conditions. We suggest drilling one extra hole between stock holes on the track. Also drill out the heads of the screws to increase your adjustment possibilities. It is only necessary to do this at the back half of the track, as the front half is never used. MAINSAIL The 1720 main has one full-length batten at the head and three long battens at the base. The batten pockets on your North mainsail are a little different to accommodate these long battens. These pockets use Velcro closures rather that the traditional elastic to keep the batten in. The amount of pressure on the pocket is important especially on the upper batten. Be sure your battens are tight enough to remove any vertical wrinkles coming off the pocket, but not so tight as to induce curve in the batten. If the sails are new just put a bit more tension for the first outing just to allow for give in the batten pocket. Be sure to check your batten pocket tension when sailing. TUNING THE RIG These steps will get you set up to sail the boat in moderate conditions and give you all-purpose tune. In the following section we will describe adjustments to make the boat perform at it’s best in the full range of wind and sea conditions.With the rig in the boat and the forestay in place tighten the caps and lowers by hand until firm and you cannot tighten them any more. At this point adjust the gooseneck shrouds to centre the mast at boom height. To do this use a tape measure and check the exact length of each shroud to ensure accuracy. Again at this point the gooseneck shrouds only need to be hand tight. The next step is to measure from the masthead down to the chainplates on both sides. Tighten or loosen the upper shrouds until the mast is centred from side to side. Once you have achieved your AP setting you should mark the shrouds before de-rigging to make setting up the rig faster next time. Unfortunately at present the class rules outlaw the use of calibrated bottle screws, which in our opinion is a backward step as they make setting up the rig a piece of cake! Using a Loo’s model (PT-2) Tension gauge, tighten the uppers evenly, until the uppers measure 28 on the gauge. Then tension the lowers to 23 on the gauge and this will give you approximately 55mm of pre-bend at the spreaders. The gooseneck shrouds need to be set at around 5 on the gauge, and then you will be almost ready to sail! The final step is to tension the topmast shrouds. Now we are all using the double spreader rig these can be set a little looser than before, and we recommend that with only a 1/6th of the backstay travel applied the top shrouds should be hand tight. This is a little hard to describe in words but take a little time to determine the travel of the backstay, if in doubt put on slightly more rather than less!! Hook up the backstay, install the boom and you are ready to go sailing in moderate conditions. We have found these settings, to be good starting point for most people. Note: The rig tension measurement is taken without the backstay hooked up or the boom hanging off the main halyard. The weight of the halyard or tension in the backstay can effect shroud tensions. So to be consistent, we always leave these items loose when tuning the rig. ADVANCED RIG TUNING Adjusting the tension of the upper and lower shrouds changes the amount that the headstay can sag and the amount of pre-bend in the mast, which directly effects the fullness of the jib. Shroud tension also effects the mast and mainsail shape by controlling fore, aft and sideways bend of the rig. In general you will want the pre-bend reduced in lighter conditions and increased in a breeze. The aim of this is to increase and decrease the amount of power available from the up-wind sail plan. From our starting set up described above we will increase and decrease the tension on the lower shrouds to change the amount of bend in the rig. All the settings below start from the base settings which we have stated above:0-5 Knots – Take 2 turns off the caps and -1 turn on the lowers5-10 Knots – Take 2 turns off the caps 10-15 Knots – Leave as base 15-20 Knots – Add 2 turns on caps 20-25 Knots – Add 2 turns to caps and add 1 turn to the lowers 25-30 Knots – Add 3 turns to caps and add 2 turns to the lowers The above settings are a good guide for changing gears but do not take into account the sea state. You will therefore find you can go tighter than those suggested in flat water, but will probably want to go looser in really choppy water down the wind range. Sail Trim MAINSAIL Mainsheet Upwind use the mainsheet functions to control the overall amount of twist in the leech of the mainsail. Once the traveller is set, we trim the mainsail until the back end of the top batten is parallel with the boom. We then fine tune the mainsheet tension depending on what gear we want to go in. If we want the boat to point we can trim the mainsail harder, reducing twist and the helm will load up a little allowing us to point higher. Eventually, as we point higher, we will slowly lose speed and need to foot off again. In order to foot we need to ease the mainsail slightly to twist open the leech and ease the load on the helm, we can then drop the bow down slightly to foot and build speed without heeling the boat over and inducing helm. The mainsheet can also bend the mast and flatten the sail (especially near the top). Traveller The traveller controls the athwartship’s position of the boom when sailing upwind. We’ve found that it never pays to have the traveller car more than 6″ above the centreline of the boat. In general the traveller will be on or very slightly above the centreline in light air, and below, or well below in moderate to heavy air. Once you are overpowered constantly, or sailing in waves, it is generally faster to keep the traveller fully down and drive the boat a little faster through the water. The 1720, like many other one designs needs to be sailed flat upwind. In puffy conditions it is often faster to play the mainsheet when a puff hits, than to ease the traveller or feather the boat. The goal when playing the mainsheet upwind is to keep the boat flat and on an even angle of heel through all changes in wind velocity. Start judging the angle of the jib against the horizon and work to keep it constant. Outhaul The Outhaul controls the depth of the lower third of the mainsail. Upwind, except in very light air and choppy water, the outhaul should be tight or out to the black band. Downwind, reaching or running, let the outhaul off so that the middle of the foot is 5″ away from the centre of the boom. In heavy air you may want to keep the outhaul tight to de-power on the reaches and project more sail area. We like to keep the outhaul tight upwind to reduce the amount of drag the lower part of the sail produces. The sheeting angle of the jib is very tight on the 1720 and easing the outhaul too much upwind will reduce the size of the slot and result in poor flow between the mainsail and the jib. Boom Vang In moderate conditions upwind we trim the mainsheet to where we want it and then take the slack out of the boom vang. This way when we ease the mainsheet for a puff and the boom does not rise up and twist open the mainsail leech. As the wind velocity increases the vang starts to become redundant up-wind and all of the loads are taken on the mainsheet only. The real benefit of this is that when you ease the mainsheet in a strong gust the sting is taken out straight away and the boat does not heal excessively. Cunningham The cunningham is used to control the draft position in the main. Our mainsail is made from very low stretch Mylar that does not change shape much as the wind increases. Because of this we find we do not need to use the cunningham much except in very heavy air. Upto about 16 knots, tension the cunningham enough only to leave slight wrinkles coming horizontally off the mast. After that if you feel that the draft has moved aft slightly, use only enough tension to pull it back forward to it’s designed position. Backstay The backstay is probably the least used mainsail control on the 1720. Upwind we do not use the backstay until about 18-22 knots of wind. At that point after dropping the traveller, the boat will still be slightly overpowered. Tighten the backstay very lightly to bend the top of the mast and de-power the sail. After tightening the backstay, the top of the main will twist open requiring you to trim the mainsheet slightly. Conversely, if you ease the backstay the main leech will tighten slightly forcing you to ease the mainsheet. If you find the mainsail starts to flog in an uncontrolled manner at this point remove backstay tension, as this is a sign of too much backstay. If in any doubt let it off and sail with the smallest amount on. Downwind in heavy air you will want to keep some tension on the backstay to keep the mast from moving too far forward. The swept back spreaders of the 1720 rig keep the mast from moving forward and you can keep the backstay loose downwind in light to moderate airs. As good practice get a crew member to sight up the mast to check for reverse bend. If the mast is bending forwards apply backstay until it comes straight. Genoa Trim We start by finding the correct lead position in the moderate air. Remember if the inside top tell tail breaks first, move the lead forward until all tell tails break together. In light to medium airs we usually sheet the genoa with 2 of the standard hole spacing showing. As the wind increases we quickly recommend moving the leads to the back of the track and twisting the sail but keeping the foot tight along the deck. In flat water and as long as the mainsail is not back winding, sheet the genoa onto the mark on the spreaders. As you get progressively over powered and waves are an issue, sheet the sail on or close to the spreader tip when sighting down to leeward in the cockpit. When you reach the top end of genoa conditions, sheet at the back of the track and ease the sheet as much as is required to stop the mainsail flogging. Anything that can be done at this point to keep the leech of the mainsail working will result in better speed upwind. At the other extreme be sure to keep the sheet well eased in light air to twist open the top of the jib and keep the slot open. You will probably be sheeting 85-100mm outside the mark in less than 6 knots. The halyard tension on this sail should not be over tensioned, small wrinkles should always be showing from the hanks, in all conditions. Take care when using the winch on the halyard as it is very easy to over tighten the luff and damage the sail. Extreme care must also be taken when raising and lowering this sail and always ensure that the sheets are not cleated when hoisting and lowering otherwise the sail will tear behind the hanks. The Asymmetric System The first thing you need to decide before rigging the spinnaker is whether you are going to gibe the spinnaker clew between the spinnaker luff and the jib or out around the spinnaker luff. We recommend that all gibes are done inside the spinnaker luff in all conditions. Gibing inside is faster, although it can get pretty exciting when the breeze is up. Gibing outside is usually safer in heavy air. But due to the long spinnaker pole on the 1720 we think it is safer to gibe inside all round. Setting the Spinnaker We always set the spinnaker to leeward underneath the boom. The first step is to set the pole (bowsprit). Next we hoist the sail up to the hounds before any attempt is made to pull on the tack line. One crew member usually helps to feed out the sail from the bin. As the boat heads downwind and before the boom is all the way out, we quickly pull the tack line while the mainsheet man trims the sheet. The idea is not to pull the tack of the sail out of the boat as you approach the weather mark, but to wait until the head of the spinnaker reaches the hounds. Keeping the tack back slightly helps to reduce the chance of the sail filling too early, and sliding under the boat! This is not fast! Gibing the Spinnaker Gibing the 1720 spinnaker is probably the most athletic job on the boat because there is a lot of sheet to pull in. We find that it is not how fast the old sheet is eased that is important, but how fast the new one is pulled in (at least on inside gibes).Start your turn slowly, easing the spinnaker sheet as the bow comes down. As the boat starts to lose speed, roll the boat to weather to turn the boat without using the tiller. As the boom comes over, quickly trim in the new sheet. Be careful not to trim the sheet too much, as it is easy to oversheet and slow the boat further. The outside gibe is much the same, except that easing the old sheet quickly is much more important to get the spinnaker clew out in front of the boat early. Dropping the Spinnaker We always try to take the spinnaker down on the port side, normally the weather side, so that we are already set up with the spinnaker on the correct side for the next set. The best way to do the weather take down is by coming into the leeward mark a little high. You can then run down right at the mark, making it easier to pull the clew around to the windward side of the boat. Drop the asymmetrical as you would a regular spinnaker by gathering the clew first, easing the tack line fully, and then finally the halyard checking the progress to ensure that the sail does not touch the water! Trimming the Spinnaker Trimming the 1720 spinnaker is very easy. Basically, you trim an asymmetric the same way you would a jib or genoa. Pull the sail in enough to keep 6-8″ curl in the luff. As with any other spinnaker, be careful not to over trim. Always keep the sheet moving in and out. This apparent wind moves around very fast on the 1720, so rapid trimming and easing of the sheet is important. When reaching it is important to keep the tack of the sail within 500mm of the end of the pole. This makes the luff straighter, opens the leech and increases the forward force of the spinnaker. When running or sailing deep, let the tack line off about 1.5 – 2 metres to allow the luff of the spinnaker to roll around to windward, this will allow you to sail a little lower. In certain conditions it will pay to have the tack line on the winch and trim it on and off to keep the sail working 100%. General notes on sailing the boat Always sail the boat as flat as possible.Be sure not to point or pinch too much. The foils on the 1720 are quite thin and stall easily at low speeds.Keep the crew weight forward upwind and downwind, when not on the plane.Move crew weight aft downwind in heavy air. We mean a long way back. Usually one of the crew moves behind the helmsman to the pushpit. This keeps the bow out of the water and keeps the boats planing.Keep the helm as neutral as possible upwind and downwind. The boat is meant to be sailed with a neutral helm. If you have a weather or lee helm, something is wrong with your trim or set up. Caring for your sails Your sails from North Sails One Design are constructed from the best materials on the market today. Before we made your sails, we tested many different fabrics from the best suppliers in the world. MAINSAIL It is not necessary to remove the battens from the main when storing it. Be sure to roll the sail up parallel to the battens to avoid putting a permanent twist in the battens. Watch the mainsail for signs of wear on the batten pockets where they cross the shrouds. Be sure to wash the sail off with fresh water when it becomes salty and make sure the sail is thoroughly dried before storage. GENOA Like the main, always roll the sail after sailing and do not remove the battens. Occasionally wash the sail off with fresh water. If you have been using a lot of leach line on the sail remove this before storing. SPINNAKER The best thing to prolong the life of your spinnaker is to always store the sail clean and dry. Although this is not always possible! When the sail gets wet in salt water (and it will) wash it off with fresh water and dry it thoroughly if leaving for a long period of time. Fold your spinnaker to store it if possible. Good luck on the water! READ MORE

This tuning guide has been put together by Ethan Bixby from North Sails in North America, who is the designer of our newest 505 sails. The calibration scheme below does not reuse existing numbering schemes. We have tried to develop a calibration scheme that supports the following: Standards Uses reference points common to all builder’s 505s, forward tack and aft tack 505s, etc.Uses zero as the neutral, or basis datum setting.Uses negative numbers for LESS of a control and uses positive numbers for MORE of a control. If that is not clear, the light air settings are on the negative side of the datum and the positive numbers are heavier air settings, finally forward is negative, aft is positive. Mast Step Measure from the back of the mast along the top of the CB cap, aft, over transom, to the aft most point of the hull (it may be slightly aft of the transom). Ignore the rudder fittings. The mast should be stepped as close to 10′ 0″ as you can get it and still get the right low bend at max. rake and not hit the partners. Don’t worry if the step extrusion in the boat keeps you about 1/2″ or an inch forward of this point.Note: The aft end of the hull is where the class rule measurements are taken, not the actual face of the transom. This value is more reproducable across different hulls. Rake With no jib hoisted, connect a tape measure to the end of the jib halyard. Hoist and cleat the halyard to the point where the “O” on the tape measure starts at the top of the the “gooseneck band” on the mast, with reasonable tension applied. On a boat with an integral wire in the luff of the jib, you can use the topping lift as long as it is very close to the jib halyard/headstay intersection with the mast. Take the jib halyard (or topping lift) forward and measure from the end of the halyard (at the same tension) to the top of the rail at the bow. This is the top forward part of the boat, regardless of where the headstay is. Adjust the forestay/jib halyard and shrouds until a measurement of 3 ‘4″ is obtained. The shrouds should not be excessively tight, but snug. Mark that setting on the forestay tackle in the boat, where you can see it. This is the datum rake number, mark it in the boat as “0”. Measuring aft this should be 25’8″. For future reference record the distance from the eye to the fork pin to some reproduceable point on the boat. On a Waterat I use the bearing point of the jib tack fitting to the headstay fork/eye junction, and on my boat the distance is 5.5″ as an example. Mark that setting as “0”. All of your rake settings can be simply marked on the luff of the jib adjacent to the fork/eye junction. This is the best repeater and easy to see! Mark one inch increments at additonal inches, i.e. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Note: that the forward rake measurement is much less sensitive to mast bend, shroud tension, hull rocker, and height of transom. Mast Ram (Bend) Set rake to 0 (3 ‘4″ forward) or 25’8″ (aft) with mast dead straight and the rig just snug. Jib Leads (Fore & Aft) In light or no wind, with the mast rake set to “0” as above, and the ram set to “0” as above, sheet jib in hard. Sight down lead lines on the jib clew. Move jib cars fore or aft until the jib sheet is lined up with the more vertical line. That is the standard power setting. Mark that hole on the jib track as “0”. Number holes with negative numbers forward from there, and positive numbers aft of that hole. The angled aft (slightly closer to the horizontal line) is for heavy air depowering when raked. In practice, you may not need to actually move the jib car for heavy air, as rake changes the lead angle for you. You may need to move the jib lead aft for light air, flat water. Jib Lead Tension With the jib still sheeted as above. Mark a spot on the jib sheet that is clear of the cleat and turning blocks. You will be calibrating the jib lead tension based on that mark, so mark the corresponding point on the seat tank as well. Note: that we use the “normal” trim line on the jib as this allows us to reproduce fore-aft or up-down jib lead measurements across any jib sheeting system, long and short luff jibs, and forward tack and aft tack boats. Centreboard Roll the boat over on it’s side. Pull board out and put it in the down position. Set the leading edge of the CB perpendicular to the bottom of boat at the centreboard trunk. Mark the head of the board (perhaps aft end of the head) level with the top of the CB cap. Mark this as “0”. Mark increasing numbers in 1″intervals up the back end of the head. Mark “1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8”. Also mark a position with the board as far down (raked forward) as possible.Also measure from the top of the centreboard to the aft end of the hull on the centreline. With an HA board this number should be roughly (depends on rake and board depth) 122″. Note: we’re open to suggestions on this. This measurement will result in different effects with different CB planforms. I think what we are really trying to measure is where the centre of area or pressure is fore and aft and below the hull. Spreaders Set the spreaders to 16.5″ length (measured from the side of the mast to the shroud), and for 6.5″ poke. For lighter teams, and in very light or very heavy air, increase sweep to 7″. Lighter teams can also shorten spreaders to 16″. Note: that this measurement is from the shrould to the closest part of the mast, along the spreader. This measurement assumes that your spreaders are 124 inches above deck level (old US specs) AND assumes your shroud chainplates and mast step locations are the same as other boats. If any of spreader bracket height, mast step position and shroud chainplate location are different on your boat, these measurements will not result in the same effects we get. We have a comprehensive measurement system to relate spreader height, hounds height, spreader details, and triangulation of the chainplates. Please contact us for this as it is a much better tool to obtain the actual deflections and angles. READ MORE

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See also: J/111 European Tuning Guide  NORTH SAILS J/111 QUICK TUNING CHART Wind Strength Jib Asym Mast Butt Headstay Verticals/Uppers D1s/Lowers D2s/Intermediates Sheet Angle/In-haul Traveller Car Vang 0-6 Knots LM 1.5A     -6 -2 Handrail All Up Off 6-8 Knots LM 1.5A     -4 -1 1.5" - 2" inside handrail 18" Up Off BASE 9-11 Knots LM 1.5A   44.3 cm   2.22M Arc 15.3M "pin-pin" 62 Units RT-10 Loos gauge 28 Units RT-10 Loos gauge 27 Units PT-2 Loos gauge Handrail 4" Up Off 12-15 Knots MH 2A     5 1.5 Handrail Centerline Off 16-20 Knots MH 2A     9 3 1/2 way handrail track Centerline On Hard 20+ Knots HWJ 2A     14 5 1/2 way handrail track. "Twisty" sheet load Centerline On Hard 24+ Knots     Track, no in-hauler READ MORE

Download the North Sails J/105 Tuning Chart Part 1: Rigging Preparation The following recommendations are small changes that should be made to the stock J/105 to allow you to get the most from your North Sails and make the boat easier to sail and set up. Head swivel shackle The North Sails jibs come with a webbing loop at the head. It is critical to have a 90-degree “twist” shackle to attach the sail to the swivel. A standard shackle will cause a hard spot at the top of the jib as the sail is torqued. Remove backstay toggle Many J/105s come with a toggle that rotates the hydraulic cylinder 90-degrees so that the handle faces forward. While it is nice to have the handle forward, this toggle reduces the throw of the backstay adjuster too much so that you are not able to get enough tension in heavy air. Some of the older boats actually need to have the backstay rod shortened to get enough backstay throw. Change to 4:1 or 6:1 Cunningham The standard Cunningham is 2:1 and led aft to a cabin house halyard stopper.This system should be replaced with the lower purchase with integral cleating shackled to the ring on the top of the Quik Vang. This allows for easier and more precise Cunningham control by a forward crewmember. Many boats then rig the asymmetrical tack line through the free stopper. Mark the tack line at the cleat Put marks on the tack line at the proper range of settings. As you approach the windward mark you can then pre-set the tack line so that when you extend the pole and set the spinnaker the tack will be set properly. The tack line is much easier to work with in this placement than on the side of the cabin house. Move mainsheet swivel base forward of the traveler This allows for easier trim of the gross tune by the main trimmer, especially when tacking. Tapered Spectra spinnaker sheets These sheets have a light uncovered portion that attaches to the sail, with a covered portion that goes on the winch. The sheets should be 3/8” Spectra cored line with the cover removed at the sail end of the sheet. These lightweight sheets are used in all conditions and help downwind performance in light air. Heavy sheets pull down on the leech of the spinnaker in light air, closing the leech too much. Bypass the jib sheet turning block The standard set-up for the jib sheet is to run the sheet from the clew of the jib, through the lead block, through the turning block near the rail, and then to the winch. This set-up makes the lead block lean over to leeward, increasing sheeting angle. In light and moderate air, the jib will sheet tighter to the centerline if you lead the sheet straight to the winch from the jib lead block. In heavy air, it can be faster to use the turning block to sheet the jib outboard slightly. Part 2: Rig Set-Up and Preparation Tools and items required: Loos RT 10M Rod Tension Gauge, 2 crescent wrenches, spray lubricant, bosun’s chair and 50’ metric tape measure. Part of the success of growth of the J/105 Class is the tight class rules and limited sail inventory. With the J/105s limited sail inventory of only one headsail, aggressive rig tuning is essential for performance throughout the full range of wind conditions. By definition, the North Sails “AP” inventory is optimized for 9 to 12 knots. This is actually the easiest condition to sail in, so the racing tends to be at its tightest. Having really fast sails in this condition is key to gain a slight speed edge and the AP inventory is designed to give you just that. The heavy air “HA” inventory is optimized for 13-20 knots. In the extreme conditions of light and heavy air the rig must be manipulated to enhance the sail shapes for those conditions. The result of proper rig tuning is the correct relationship between mast bend and headstay tension to get fast shapes. The North inventory has been designed to make these transitions easily with the correct tuning to be fast in all conditions. Step One: Check Mast Butt Position The measurement from the front of the forward bulkhead to the aft face of the mast should be 24.46cm (9 5/8”). This is very close to the center of the step. For the HA sails, the mast butt should be 26.00cm (10 1/4”) from the bulkhead. Step Two: Check J Measurement The J measurement is the distance from the headstay intersection to the deck to the forward face of the mast. This should be a minimum of 4.11m (13’6”). Use mast chocks or SparTite to achieve this position.lean over to leeward, increasing sheeting angle. In light and moderate air, the jib will sheet tighter to the centerline if you lead the sheet straight to the winch from the jib lead block. In heavy air, it can be faster to use the turning block to sheet the jib outboard slightly. Step Three: Set Mast Rake Rake is controlled by headstay length. The headstay should be set at the class legal maximum rake, 13.035m (42’ 9.125”). Hoist a crewmember up the mast and have them hold the butt of the tape measure at the center of the pin that secures the forestay to the mast. Measure to the to of the furler drum (measurement A), then measure from the top of the furler drum to the bottom of the furler drum (measurement B), then from the underside of the furler drum to the intersection of the stem and sheer line of the boat (measurement C). The overall headstay measurement is then the sum of A+B+C. Step Four: Centering the Spar Put a mark on the rail of the boat on one side even with the chainplates. Measure this distance from the headstay attachment on the bow. Put a corresponding mark on the other side, the same distance from the headstay. At this point the Upper Shrouds (Caps) should be hand tight and the Intermediates (D2s) and the Lowers (D1s) should be loose. Hoist the tape measure to the top on the centerline jib halyard. Measure to the marks on either side and adjust the Caps until they are equal. Step Five: Tensioning the Shrouds Tighten the D2s and D1s to hand tight. Add 8 full turns to the Caps. Then tighten the D2s 6 turns. This should be done incrementally (2-3 turns at a time per side) sighting the mast to be sure that the mast is in column. Add turns to one side and remove turns from the other to bring the mast in column. This added tension that you have applied has probably made the D1s slack, so double check to make sure that they are hand tight. Step Six: Check Shroud Tensions with Loos Gauge Put marks on the shrouds 2m (6’ 6 3/4”) up from the deck. Put the top post of the gauge on this mark when measuring tension. Be sure to have the backstay released when measuring tension with the Loos Gauge. For the base setting for 10-14 knots TWS the shrouds should read the following: All Purpose Sails Caps: 35D2s: 10D1s: 0 (10 cm play) Heavy Air SailsCaps: 55D2s: 25D1s:10 (hand tight) You should double check to be sure that the mast is still in column at the dock when the rig is at full tension. At the base setting, the mast should sit with virtually no pre-bend up to the hounds. You are now at the “base” setting and ready to go racing. From here follow the Quick Tuning Guide to optimize your J/105’s performance for various wind conditions. Advanced Tuning – Beyond the Numbers The North Sails J/105 Tuning Guide is very refined, and has been used to the letter to win many events. However, understanding the fundamental concepts of how tuning affects the rig and sails is important to be able to check that the settings are right for your boat, as well as customizing your own tuning numbers for your sailing style. Keeping good records is the key. Keep a Wet Notes pad on your boat and record your rig settings, wind speed, sea state, and your speed and pointing relative to other boats. This will help you to see what is working best for you and fine tune your own numbers. Changes to shroud tension affect the rig in two ways: 1) headstay tension & 2) mast bend. Tighter Cap shrouds generate more headstay tension by pulling back against the headstay. A good guide for Cap (upper) shroud tension is that the leeward Cap shroud should just go slack in all but the heaviest of wind conditions. Tighter D1 (lower) and D2 (intermediate) shrouds generate more headstay tension by reducing mast bend and compression. The important factor of the D1 anD2 adjustment is the relationship to the amount of backstay used in each wind condition, which affects mainsail shape. Tight D1s and D2s will make the mast too straight (main too full and draft forward) when no backstay is used, and conversely loose D1s and D2s will allow the mast to bend too much (main too flat or even inverted) when a lot of backstay is used. The final D1 and D2 rig tension will be dictated by mainsail shape. The light air performance of the J/105 can be dramatically improved with leeward mast sag in under 12 knots. This is side-to-side sag from the partners to the hounds. This can only be seen under sail and will not happen at the dock. The settings from the Quick Tuning Guide should generate this sag, but all masts are a little different, so you may need to adjust your intermediates and lowers to achieve it. Loosen the intermediates and lowers so that there is 2.5cm (1”) of leeward sag halfway to the hounds in under 9 knots and Zero in 9-12 knots. In general the intermediates will need to be eased twice as many turns as the lowers to achieve even sag. Part 3: Mainsail Trim The J/105 relies on much of it’s power from the mainsail with the class inventory. The mainsail is very easily adjusted because there are many shape controls including mainsheet, traveler, backstay, cunningham, vang and outhaul. Proper mainsail trim is achieved by balancing the speed and pointing with its twist, angle of attack and overall power. Proper communication with the helmsman for the feel of the boat and performance vs. the boats around you are the key to establishing the correct balance of those three elements. Mainsail Angle of Attack — The Traveler The traveler controls the boom angle to the centerline of the boat, which is described as angle of attack to the wind. Much like the sheet, a narrow angle of attack (traveler high) is used for pointing and powering up the boat and a wide angle of attack (low traveler) is used for acceleration and depowering the boat. Carry the traveler as high as possible without making the boat heel too much. In light to moderate conditions the boom should be on centerline or slightly above. In very light air, when the main is twisted, setting the boom actually above centerline will put the lower third of the main parallel to the centerline of the boat. A good gauge for this is to look where the bottom batten is pointing. The bottom batten should point at the backstay in very light air. If it is pointing to windward of the backstay, the traveler is too high. As the breeze builds, the traveler should be played aggressively to control heel and keep the boat on its feet. If the boat heels too much, the boat will get too much helm and the helmsman will have to use much rudder angle to keep the boat going straight. The optimum rudder angle to create the most lift is around 4 degrees. There are times when more angle than that is unavoidable, but 5 degrees of rudder angle should be the most that you try to use. Rudder angle can be monitored by putting a tape mark on the top of the wheel when it is perfectly straight. The main trimmer can notice when the helmsman is using too much helm (or not enough) and adjust the traveler appropriately. Mainsheet vs. Traveler for Various Sea States One of the more difficult things to determine is how to depower the main in moderate to heavy conditions. As we have learned, you can depower the main by either twisting the main by easing the sheet or letting the traveler down. The technique used should be determined by sea state, which will affect how the helmsman has to steer the boat. In flat water, the helmsman should be able to use very subtle steering changes. Hours of on-the-water testing has shown us that depowering by lowering the traveler and keeping a tight, untwisted leech produces the best VMG. You can point reasonably high in flat water without slowing down and the tight leech will help with pointing. We have found that twisting the main in flat water in moderate air only makes you lose height. With this style the traveler is played to maintain the proper angle of heel.However in waves and chop, the opposite has proven to be faster. In waves and chop the helmsman has to be more aggressive with the helm. With the wider range of steering keeping the traveler higher (with the car near centerline) with a more twisted main allows the helmsman to steer through wider angles and accelerate as needed in the waves. With this style the mainsheet fine tune is played to maintain the correct trim and angle of heel as the helmsman steers through the waves. Overall Power – The Backstay The backstay is the most important sail control for setting the overall power of the sail plan. The backstay is the universal control to modify the shape of the main primarily, but also the jib. The North Class Inventory has been carefully designed so that backstay adjustment changes the shape of the main and jib in unison. As backstay is applied the mast bends, flattening the main. It also pulls aft against the headstay, reducing headstay sag, which flattens the jib. By flattening the sails the boat’s power is reduced as the boat becomes overpowered and heels too much. Flatter sails can be trimmed harder than full sails so when it is windy it is better to set the sails up flatter and sail with less twist. This will allow you to point higher. As stated in the tuning section of this guide, having the rig set up properly for the wind conditions will allow you to get the most benefit of adjusting the main and jib together with the backstay, but itis also the control that allows you to set up the sails as best you can when the wind changes and you are no longer tuned correctly. With a loose rig the main will flatten out faster than the jib. This is because the loose D1s and D2s will allow the mast to bend, which will flatten the main. However, since the mast is bending, the main will get to a point where it over bends before you can bottom out the backstay. By not being able to bottom out the backstay, the jib will still be a bit fuller than is ideal at this point since 1) you can’t pull on the full range of backstay and 2) the mast will compress more so the backstay tension will not transfer as well to the headstay. Conversely, with a tight rig, the main will stay fuller when the backstay is eased, while the overall rig tension will keep the headstay tighter and thus keep the jib a bit flatter. It is important to understand this relationship between how the backstay and rig tuning affects sail shape when you may not be tuned correctly. If your rig is too loose, use more backstay to set the main up flatter, knowing that your jib will be fuller than ideal. If your rig is too tight, use less backstay to set the main up fuller, knowing that your jib will be flatter than ideal. In general, it is better to be set up with a flat main and a full jib so it is better to err on the loose side of the rig tuning matrix if you expect the wind to change. It’s much easier to depower the J/105 than it is to power it up so always tune for the lulls! As the mast bends it has an immediate effect on the luff and leech tension, so other controls must be adjusted in conjunction with the backstay. When you pull the backstay on, the mainsail will twist more so more sheet will have to pulled on to reset the twist. More backstay will also loosen the luff, so more cunningham will be needed. Don’t forget to ease the sheet and the cunningham after you ease the backstay. Other Mainsail Controls Cunninghamhe cunningham controls the luff tension of the mainsail. Luff tension controls the draft position of the mainsail. As backstay tension is applied, the mast compresses and the main appears to fall down a little and the draft will move aft. Pull on the cunningham to move the draft forward to the desired position. As well as moving the draft, luff tension will also make the main somewhat flatter. In light air, you should see slight wrinkles coming from the sail slides. In moderate air the luff should be smooth. In heavy air, the luff should be tensioned past being smooth to set the draft position and flatten the sail. VangWith the non-overlapping jib, in order for the mainsail to generate enough power in light air, a certain amount of depth has been designed into the lower portion. In over 12 knots begin to pull on the vang to induce low mast bend to flatten the lower third of the main. When it is really windy pull on the vang quite hard to help bend the mast. be sure to ease the vang at the weather mark! Before you ease the main, ease the vang to allow the main to twist as you bear off. If the vang stays on too hard, you may not be able to bear away, or worse you could break the boom. OuthaulThe outhaul also controls the sail shape in the lower third of the mainsail. Easing the outhall makes the lower third of the mainsail fuller and tightening flattens the lower third. In light air the outhaul should be slightly eased and pull it progressively harder as the wind increases, to the point where you should pull it as hard as you can in over 15 knots. Part 4: Jib Trim The J/105 Class Jib has a very tough job. It has to be fast in all wind conditions, where other 35’ offshore one-designs allow three headsails! The single jib inventory presents a tough challenge for sail designers to create a sail that is versatile enough to cover the entire wind range, while being constructed so that it can be light enough to perform well in light air, yet being strong enough to handle heavy air. The 3DL jib is the ultimate solution to handle this daunting task. The latest design has been refined to be responsive to the few controls that can change the shape. The 3DL process is the only way to create a sail that is minimum weight, yet is strong enough for heavy air. While the North 3DL jib is refined to a level that makes it very easy to enhance the light shape in light air and a heavy shape in heavy air, it is important for the trimmer to be able to manipulate the sail appropriately. The primary controls that we have to affect the sail shape are the halyard, sheet, jib lead placement and headstay tension. Jib Halyard The halyard is the most important sail control for shaping the jib and it has a much greater affect on sail shape than the cunningham on the main. However, just like the cunningham on the mainsail, the halyard controls the entry angle, draft position, and overall depth in the sail. A tighter halyard will produce a more draft forward, rounded entry shape, with less overall depth. A loose halyard will produce a more draft aft, finer entry shape with more overall depth. As a general rule, the halyard should be tensioned to just barely remove the wrinkles in the luff. In lighter air wrinkles can just be visible, in moderate air the luff should be smooth, and in heavy air the halyard should be pulled 2.54-7.62cm (1-3”) past removing the wrinkles. In flat water, a looser halyard can improve pointing with a finer entry angle. In waves and chop, a tighter halyard will produce a more rounded entry and more open leech, which will have a wider steering groove and be better for acceleration. If you try the loose halyard and your helmsman seems to be struggling to find the groove, try a slightly tighter halyard. As sails age, the entry tends to get finer and the draft starts to move aft. An older sail will require more halyard tension to achieve the same shape as a brand new sail with a looser halyard. Jib Sheet The sheet is the most important control for adjusting the jib once the draft is set. The general rule is to trim the jib as hard as possible without slowing the boat down too much. The jib needs to be played in conjunction with the main and the helmsman’s steering. The sheet tension will change with each change in the wind speed. When a puff hits, the leech will become more open. Be careful not to trim the jib too soon. Allow the leech to stay open to take advantage of the puff to accelerate the boat and them trim in once you have accelerated to increase pointing. The Class mainsails are fitted with a spreader window so that you can see the jib leech on the lower spreader. Put tape marks on the spreader at 7.62cm (3”), 15.24cm (6”) and 22.860cm (9”) in from the spreader tip. In general you should trim the jib so that it is at the spreader tip in very light air, 7.62cm (3”) inside the tip in light air, 15.24cm (6”) to 22.860cm (9”) inside the tip in moderate air, then back out to 7.62cm (3”) in heavy air. These guidelines are subject to change based on sea state. The jib can be sheeted harder in flat water than in waves and chop. Be careful to only make small sheet adjustments. Due to the high aspect nature of the jib, small changes make abig difference. Jib Lead The jib lead should be used to control the top and bottom shape of the jib. The middle of the jib is not as affected by lead position as much as it is with sheet. Once the sail is trimmed to the appropriate spot on the lower spreader, adjust the lead to make the top and bottom look right. Moving the lead forward will make the upper leech more closed and the foot rounder. Moving the lead aft will make the upper leech more open and the foot flatter. The median jib lead position is slightly aft of the middle of the jib track, which is about 9” aft of the chainplate. This position is also just forward of the window on the side of the cabin house. Headstay Tension Headstay tension has the most dramatic affect on the overall camber of the jib. Headstay tension affects headstay sag. This is a difficult thing to visualize, but it works much the same as mast bend affects mainsail shape. As the headstay sags, it pushes the luff towards the leech, which increases camber. Conversely as the headstay gets tight, it pulls the luff away from the leech, decreasing camber. Clearly this is very important, but has been listed last here because it is very dependent upon rig tuning. Headstay tension is achieved by a combination of a tighter rig and a tight backstay. As we have learned in the rig tuning and main trim sections, rig tuning and backstay tension has a great affect on mainsail camber as well. The Class main and jib designs and the tuning guide shroud tensions have been carefully developed to have the backstay control main and jib camber in unison. If you are tuned properly, when the main sets up correctly, the headstay tension will be correct as well. Your headstay tension should be almost self-tending. During a race, the only way to adjust your headstay tension is with the backstay. Because of this it is important to know how you are tuned and whether you are actually sailing in the right wind speed for your tuning. The backstay will be the key to get the most of the set up that you have when you are not tuned perfectly. Simply, if there is less wind than you are tuned for, use less backstay tension to power up the sails as best you can. If there is more wind than you are tuned for, use more backstay tension. A good technique is to tape a batten with marks every 2.54cm (1”) on it to the backstay cylinder. This will help you to be able to record your settings and duplicate them later. Part 5: Crew Weight Placement With the new “float line” rule, this discussion has become much easier now that we know that all boats should float the same. The goals of weight placement are to 1) control helm and 2) reduce wetted surface in light air. Light Air In light air the crew should be well forward and to leeward both upwind and down. Two crewmembers should be forward of the shrouds to leeward. Remaining crew should be up near the shrouds. There should only be one person in the cockpit other than the helmsman. In really light air the main is not trimmed that often and the helmsman can make small adjustments. Being to leeward helps heel the boat increasing helm giving a better feel and allows for the best pointing and rudder lift. Being forward allows the bow to dig in which also helps pointing as well as reduces wetted surface by getting the transom out of the water. Moderate Air In moderate air the crew can begin to slide back as they begin to move to weather. Once anyone goes to weather they should be stacked just behind the shrouds. At this point if you have a dedicated main trimmer, he can slide back to his station upwind. Downwind as soon as there is constant adequate pressure on the sheet and you begin to try to sail low the crew should move to weather to help rotate the spinnaker to windward out from behind the main. This happens at about 10 knots. There is plenty more coming on downwind sailing in Part 6, starting on page 21. Heavy Air In heavy air the crew should continue to move aft, especially in waves. If you notice that your helmsman has to steer a lot to keep the boat going straight (dialing for dollars), move aft and as the bow lifts the boat will track straighter. Since crew weight is limited the guys who are on the rail need to hike hard. Remember, sailing is a sport and it’s a boat not a couch! Part 6: Downwind Sailing Sailing the J/105 downwind can be one of the more difficult things to do well. Paying small attention to the minor details can make a huge difference. The key to fast sailing downwind is good communication between the trimmer and the helmsman. The trimmer should constantly be telling the helmsman how much pressure he has in the sheet. This will allow the helmsman to know if he can bear off a little more, but more importantly when he needs to head up a little bit to build pressure. The J/105 has an asymmetric spinnaker set on a centerline sprit. The goal in downwind sailing is to maximize downwind VMG. This is achieved by sailing a wind angle tight enough to keep speed, but sailing lower towards the mark whenever possible. The North Sails asymmetric has been designed as a running spinnaker for optimum downwind performance at the apparent wind angles that produce the best VMG for the J/105. The sail has been designed to rotate out to windward to project the maximum sail area out from behind the mainsail. Always hoist the sail all the way to the top. Due to the luff length restriction in the rules, the tack of the sail is never set all the way down to the pole. Raising the tack helps the sail to rotate to windward. Light Air Sailing (0-9 knots TWS) In light air, you must sail tighter angles for best VMG. The tack is set 0.3m-0.6m (1-2’) off the sprit. The crew should be forward and to leeward. Keep the crew weight as low as possible. Steer down in the puffs until the pressure sheet starts to get light and then head up slightly. Communication between the trimmer and the helmsman is key. Try to find the lowest angle you can sail before the speed drops. Don’t forget about the main! Proper mainsail trim is essential to good speed. The vang should be set so that the top batten is open by 5 degrees. A good trick to help acceleration out of the jibes is for the main trimmer to hold the sail in a bit after coming out of the jibe. When the asymmetric is jibed, it needs to be overtrimmed to make it “pop” through. When the spinnaker is overtrimmed, it blows air back into the mainsail relieving pressure from it. By keeping the main in, it will keep the main pressurized as well as opening the slot between it and the spinnaker to get the air flowing over it faster. The main trimmer can easily feel if the main is pressurized by the pull on the sheet. Ease the main out slowly as the pressure on the sheet builds as the spinnaker is eased. Moderate Air Sailing (9-12 knots TWS) In moderate air, there is a wide range where you can sail. Lower is best as long as you can maintain your speed. The tack line is eased 0.6-0.9 (2-3’) off the sprit. The same principles apply to steering as in light air. Once the boat feels well pressured, the crew should move to the windward side to help rotate the spinnaker. In this range the crew should be very active moving to weather when you head down in the puffs and back to leeward when you head up in the lulls. Heavy Air Sailing (12+ knots TWS) In over 12 knots, the boat is well pressured up going downwind. At this point you want to sail as low as possible most of the time. There will almost always be good pressure on the sheet but when you sail too low, the sail will become blanketed behind the main and collapse. The sheet is well eased to get as much of the sail out from behind the main as possible. The crew should be to windward at all times. Heel the boat to windward by as much as 10 degrees. The vang should be set so the top batten is parallel to the boom. DOWNWIND NOTESGood coordination between the trimmer and helmsman will result in very subtle changes in the sheet. A properly coordinated team will only adjust the sheet by a couple of feet. If you find yourself constantly trimming and easing more than 3 feet of sheet than your coordination should be improved. Be careful not to try to sail too low and collapse the spinnaker. A collapse will result in around a three-boat length loss! Rev 0218 READ MORE

Below are Vince Brun’s suggestions for boat set-up and pre-race routine, based on his experience sailing the J/88 North American Championship. You can also download PDFs of the following: US Tuning Guide US Quick Tuning Guide EU Tuning Guide EU Quick Tuning Guide BOAT PREPARATION Bottom Needless to say the bottom of the boat being clean and properly maintained is a key part of any fast boat or program. Going fast starts there and I can assure you that not one boat ever won a big event with a poorly maintained bottom. Don’t matter how well the crew perform, the rig is set, the sails trimmed, or the helmsman skills, a clean and smooth bottom, will have a huge impact on the overall boat performance. For this reason, I always make sure that my boat bottom is as good as I can possibly get it, this will give me confidence which helps me focus exclusively on the mast and sail setup. SAILS, RIG SETUP & PERFORMANCE Rig Setup I found that the current North Sails J/88 tuning guide was extremely accurate on the gauge numbers. Light Medium versus Heavy Jib At the regatta Velocity performed better with the Light/Medium jib up to 18 knots TWS, and this was made clear when we had the heavy jib in winds between 14 to 18 knots. The J/88 likes to be slightly overpowered and the small jib didn’t help in that range. This was noticed not only in the lack of acceleration after a wave, but also in the poor pointing ability. I would tend to use the Light Medium, even if the breeze is hitting 19 knots in the puffs, when the wind drops, the J-88 gets underpowered quickly when using the heavier jib. Backstay The backstay is a key control on the J/88 in all conditions, not only helping with the flattening of the mainsail but also critical on controlling the forestay tension, and therefore forestay sag. Find a good way to calibrate your “fast settings” with good backstay marks, so that they can be duplicated again, and again. Inhaulers and Jib Lead Position For anyone trimming the jib, the inhauler and jib lead position are key controls in achieving a well set jib. If these controls are set in the wrong position, the trimmer won’t be able to have the jib properly trimmed. During a race you don’t normally have the luxury to stay on the leeward side to get the sail set up just right, so having these settings established well before the race is extremely important. In my opinion, the key to success on any boat, is the confidence to be able to repeat “fast settings” that were learned in previous races or training and only work on fine tune changes from there. These numbers should be constantly added into your boat’s tuning matrix, so that these adjustments can be made automatically, which will help free everyone’s minds to better focus on what is happening on the race course and strategy. Running rigging with proper length and good marks As emphasized above, I’m a firm believer that good marks on the control lines, are a tremendous help to crews allowing them to perform their tasks faster and with more precision. Example: If the spinnaker halyard is marked when the sail is fully up, the mast person will know precisely when that job is done and be able to move to his next task quicker, and without hesitation. Mainsheet I would suggest having the mainsheet fine tune separated from the mainsheet gross, to avoid the lines tangling at the leeward rounding or during pre-start maneuvers. Spinnaker sheet turning block position It might be a good idea to have the turning block for the spinnaker sheet moved forward, so that the spinnaker and jib sheets don’t cross. This allows the spinnaker sheet to stay ahead of the jib winch and in line with the spinnaker top deck winch. Folding Propeller As we learned on the first race on Sunday, it’s extremely important to have the propeller properly closed before the start to avoid the extra drag. The boat should be traveling at full speed before turning the engine off and putting it in reverse, this will ensure that the prop is properly set. PRE-RACE ROUTINE Pre-Race Warmup I have seen many different approaches to this, but ultimately everyone has the same items crossed, before the start. Below is the pre-race routine I try to execute before every race day. It’s very simple: Get to the starting area and start sailing on starboard (hopefully against another boat) for a good period of time to record the wind oscillation range, and have the lifts and headers numbers well defined. During this time, I also fine tune my controls so that I’m comfortable with the boat speed (this being the reason for another boat being around). If there are speed issues, I make changes and continue testing. After this is done, I hoist the spinnaker to make sure all the lines are led correctly and practice a few jibes to get the crew polished and ready for the day. At the starting area, I normally check in and inspect the starting line, by going head to wind near the committee boat. Checking the wind direction and comparing it with the line setup. Now with all the data needed, the crew can discuss and prepare the starting and first leg strategy. Starting around other boats Obviously it’s hard to predict what others will do when approaching the starting line with a minute (or less) to the start. Possibly more important than how close you are to the line, is what “upwind lane” you will have 30 to 60 seconds after the start. A boat close to leeward with their bow slightly forward, will be a serious issue immediately after the gun. There are a couple of ways to escape this situation but the key is to identify the problem earlier rather than later, particularly when there are boats closer to windward. If someone is close to leeward with a minute or more to go, you have two possible options: Two tacks – which involve doing two quick tacks and opening the gap to the leeward boat and closing on the windward boat. This normally requires a nice gap to windward and great crew work to make this maneuver possible. This technique will require a well trained crew that understands the boat and can execute the tacks with relatively minimum loss of speed. The other more common option is to “push” the leeward boat by bearing off and taking their stern, establishing a hook to leeward. In most cases this attempt will force the leeward boat to do the same, but if they are late responding, which is not uncommon, you will be in a controlling position since you will have more speed and be able to hook. If you are unable to execute the hook, because the leeward boat has mimicked your move, you will be forced to go with plan A and do a double tack to protect your hole and future lane. Again, identifying the situation early will give you more options to avoid a bad starting position. READ MORE

Base Settings Rake – Swing Arc – Use jib halyard pulled down to top of black band on mast – swing fwd to mark headstay. Rake – Distance from mark on headstay to deck at stem: 2230 mm Cap Shroud Tension: #60 on RT-10 Loos Gauge D1 Tension: #40 on RT-10 Loos Gauge D2 Tension: #25 on RT-10 Loos Gauge J Dimension: Measured from stem to Fwd face of mast: 4050mm Mast Base: Measured from Fwd face of mast to bulkhead: 460 mm Pre-Bend: without mainsail hoisted: 20mm Sail Models Jibs 0-14 TWS: LM-2 Light-Medium Jib 12-25 TWS: MH-2 Medium-Heavy Jib Spinnakers 0-20 TWS: A2-4 AP Spinnaker 18-25 TWS: 4A Heavy Spinnaker Quick Adjustments Turns from Base Settings TRUE WIND SPEED SAIL SELECTION CAP SHROUDS D1s D2s Very Light (0-8 TWS) LM-2 -5 turns -2 turns -2 turns Light (9-12 TWS) LM-2 -2 turns -1 turn -1 turn BASE – Medium (12-16 TWS) LM-2 or MH-2 Loos 60 Loos 40 Loos 25 Heavy (17+ TWS) MH-2 +5 turns +2 turns +1.5 turns READ MORE

The Farr 280 is a relatively light boat which makes it very receptive to positive trimming. It is imperative to have thesail trim spot on but also the fore and aft weight trim correct and whichever team does this the best will be rewarded with the best boat speed. Up to 7 kts the Farr 280 is always looking for more power so keep the sails powered up, focus on building speed efficiently out of transitions (tacks, jibes, ducks and mark roundings) and don’t over trim or you can easily kill the speed. Tools Needed Take your rig tune seriously. Keep whoever adjusts the rig the same from the beginning to the end and you will be far more accurate all season long. It is one item on our list we can get right before we leave the dock. Equipment Requirements • Loos Gauge PT-2 (headstay, V1 and D1 shrouds)• Loos Gauge PT-1 (D2 shrouds)• 30 m (100’) tape measure (forestay pin-to-pin)• 5 m (16’) steel tape measure (mast heel)• Rig spanners (adjustments)• Setting Up the Mast Step 1 Set the mast plate in the correct location.Before the mast is stepped, place the aftface of the mast step 455 mm (17.91”)forward of the forward keel bolt centerline. Measure from the white line to theforward keel bolt (Fig. 1). Step 2 Step the mast and attach the headstaystrop to the lower headstay fitting Step 3 Attach the cap shrouds only just past hand tight. Step 4 Measure down from the uppermeasurement point (Fig. 3) and make amark on the headstay 11.92 m (39.11’) fromthe top point. Step 5 Pump up the mast on the hydraulic jackso that it just lifts off the collar. Then pump the headstay down (shorter) so that your headstay mark of 11.92m (39.11’) becomes just even with the plate in the headstay well. Step 6 Measure back from the headstay to the same location on both sides of the boat even with the partners. Make a mark on the partners halfway between these 2 points. This locates the centerline of the mast on the boat’s centerline.Using the supplied chocks center the mast on the centerline of the shrouds. This may entail sanding the supplied plates to fit the partner hole. Once centered, screw the plates to the chocks through the sidewall of the partners so that none of these fall out while sailing. Eventually the mast should be held in place with “Spartite.” Step 7 Using the centerline halyard measure down to the mark from Step 6 on both sides of the boat aft of the headstay.Adjust the cap shrouds so that this number is the same on both sides. Now your “hounds” are centered.NOTE: It is extremely important that there is no “load” on the shrouds when you adjust the nuts (Fig. 6). If there is toomuch load you may either strip or cross thread the rod. To adjust the nuts you must “drop” the mast, adjust, then pump back up. Step 8 Use an ARC measurement to get the correct 1.5° rake at the correctmast butt height. Take the centerline halyard, measure 1.00 m (39.37”) down from the boom band, swing the halyard to the headstay and mark headstay. Pump up the mast until this headstay mark is 684 mm (26.93”) above deck. Place a straight edge over the headstay well to get this measurement.Note: how high the bottom of the mast is relative to the mast plate. See Step 9. Step 9 Obtaining the correct cap (vertical) shroud tension. With the mast pumped up so that the headstay ARC measures 684mm (26.93”), note the mast butt height. In the case here it is 78 mm (3.07”). With the headstay at 1.5° rake and the mastraised 78 mm (3.07”) (Fig. 8). You want the jack pressure to read 1925 psi or 133 bar on the cockpit dial with just the headstay and cap shrouds attached. You will need to raise and lower the rig a few times to make the necessary adjustments to the cap shrouds. Step 10 Repeat Step 9 when attaching the D1s with the caps (verticals) and headstay. Use the PT-2 Loos Gauge to get 28 units on the gauge for the D1s. Step 11 Repeat the Step 10 while attaching the D2s, D1s, caps and headstay. Use the PT-1 Loos Gauge to get 26 units for the D2s. Step 12 With all standing rigging attached, check the finished tune with the Loos Gauges.You should have the Loos Gauge units listed below for the BASE settings. The mast butt height will be relative to your boat. Hull #1 was 78 mm (3.07”). We set BASE settings for this boat at maximum load. From this point the tuning relates to lowering the mast buttheight combined with lengthening the headstay to soften the rig loads as the wind speeds diminish. BASE Settings for 18+ kts TWSRake 1.5 °Mast Butt 78 mmHeadstay 39 PT-2 Loos GaugeCaps 43 PT-2 Loos GaugeD1s 28 PT-2 Loos Gauge No diagonal or vertical shroud adjustments should be required with this rig. Primary adjustment is with the headstay and mast butt ram. Headstay and mast jack pressures can be referenced using the hydraulic pressure gauges on the control panel. 1° of rake change = 53 mm (2.09”) change to the headstay length. With the mastset at 1.5°, use a batten set down into the bottom of the headstay well to mark the batten at the centerline of the headstay pin shown in the photo below. Tighten and ease the headstay in 26 mm (1.02”) increments and mark the batten from 1.25° to 3°of rake. Use this batten for a quick reference when tuning. Use the centerline of the headstay pin to measure rake while sailing the boat. The red line shows the centerline of the pin. D2s 26 PT-2 Loos Gauge For lighter winds we recommend a combination of dropping the mast down and lengthening the headstay. This promotes sailing with a softer rig laterally while sailing with more rake. Three marks that help when sailing 1. On the under side of the spreaders make a mark to reference the headsail leech when sailing: Lower Spreader: 635 mm (25.00”) from mast centerline Upper Spreader: 476 mm (18.74”) from mast centerline 2. Mark the headstay to be visible from the cockpit/rail. The red marks below note 1.5° (upper) and 3° (lower) of rake when parallel to the deck height. 3. Mark the maximum down position on the aft face of the mast (shown below with white electrical tape. But this should be marked in a more permanent manner. READ MORE

The object of the Starling class is for all sails and masts to be identical. We pride ourselves on our ability to reproduce sails identically, so please feel free to contact us if you feel your sail isn’t the same as other sails. This is important as it allows us to improve our methods, and ensures all sails out on the water are the same. If for any reason your sail is outside the tolerances, then we will replace it. The luff of the sail is 4040mm long.If you are fitting a fixed height gooseneck, then allow 4025mm from the top of the boom to the top of the sail. The foot is 2115mm long.Allow for the outhaul to pull the sail out to a maximum 2125mm from the aft face of the mast. The leech is 4370mm. Sail Care Always roll your sail and keep it in its bag when not in use. Ideally remove thebattens after use. If you don’t want to do this, then release the battens from the pocket elastic and roll the sail parallel to the pockets. If you are rolling onto a tube, tie the clew first and roll the sail a couple of turns before attaching the tack. This will allow you to roll the sail parallel to the batten pockets on the tube. Wash the salt from the sail every 3-6 weeks depending on how often it gets wet. Do this on a light day by hosing the sail while rigged, and leaving to dry.Setting up:The tack should be set on one of the holes on a standard gooseneck fitting (about 25mm from the mast) for. Choose the hole which makes the tack area of the sail setup smooth.There are no rules requiring black bands. To take maximum advantage of this, make sure your sail is as high as possible up the mast. Check that your mast is the maximum length allowed under the rules (4480 from base to tip.) If you have a fixed gooseneck, then you will want the sail to be at the top in heavy airs. You will need 2-3 talurits on the halyard strop so you can adjust the luff tension to make it looser for lighter winds. Make sure that the boom is long enough so you can get maximum tension on the outhaul when the wind increases. Check that the sail doesn’t extend beyond the end of the track on the boom or it will damage the sail. Battens Your sail comes with a standard set of battens specially designed for the Starling.Smaller skippers will find a benefit from changing to a heavier #2 batten as the wind increases. The basic shape of the sail features a very straight (or flat ) exit, so there shouldn’t be any need to change the lower battens from one condition to the next. Remember – the stiff end of the batten is the back. Bendy end forward!!! Outhaul We suggest 4:1 purchase inside the boom, so you can make small repeatable adjustments. Make sure you have a system of marks so you can repeat your fast settings from upwind to downwind- or when the breeze changes. Use a shock cord system inside or outside the boom to help the system release. Don’t ease the foot too much. If you are getting vertical wrinkles off the boom, then you have gone too far. The Starling sail has the ability to be set up full, but then to flatten really well as the wind increases. Experiment with various settings so you know what is fast for your weight in each condition. Rake Following is a formula for working out the correct mast rake for your hull.Because there is a variation in the hulls, there is no correct rake to suit all boats. There is a correct rake for your individual boat and you should have a record of this and of the rakes you try. Another way to find a starting rake is to level your hull alongside a top boat. Then sightthe masts and set your mast up to the same angle. Measure this from a mark permanently etched on your mast to a mark on the stern. This is your rake. The following system will give you a good all round rake. You should feel free to use this as a starting point and experiment slightly forward and aft of this point. Measure up 3050mm from the deck and mark the back of the mast – this is the new rake measuring point.Measure from the 3050mm position to the intersection of the deck and transomA good starting mast rake is 3640mm.From this position, individual skippers will need to adjust the mast rake to suit their body weight and sailing style. If more speed is needed downwind, rake the mast forward, and if more pointing ability is required, rake the mast further aft Sail Shape It is a good idea to glance up at your sail occasionally especially when you are going fast- (or really slow) to see what your rig looks like and therefore be able to eventually memorise these shapes and settings.Look carefully at the top batten. Try and guage how open the top batten is and use this as a reference to compare withprevious settings. This tells you how much mainsheet and vang you should be using. Rig Tension:Tight v’s loose. I prefer a firm rig. The tension should be so that by pulling forward on the mast you can just do up a shackle on the forestay. Any tighterthan this is unnecessary. My reasoning is purely practical. There are pro’s and con’s for the 2 extremes. If you have a loose rig, it will give you more optimal fore and aft rake upwind and downwind, whereas a tight rig can’t move. However a loose rig also means it falls away sideways which isn’t desirable. I think that this is why the 2 styles ultimately perform equally. Of course what the top skipper is using will always appear fastest!!- but look carefully at what else he/she is doing. My practical reasoning is simple. A loose rig is more susceptible to wear and therefore failure. The movement also makes it more prone to shackles etc working their way loose. If you are a methodical type of person and check your gear often, then by all means go for a loose rig if you believe it to be the way to go. If you have a rotating rig, you may need to have it a little looser to help it rotate more easily. Try a 1-2mm thick teflon washer under the mast. Masts All masts must be from the same F4 section from Fosters. There is a 150mm range between the maximum and minimum heights for the stays. We suggest having the forestay close to min (2800) and the sidestays close to max (2950).If you have a rotating mast, then we recommend an inner forestay at 900mm. This should be set very loose so that when the boom is right out there is still about 20mm slack in the stay. Due to the nature of the mast construction, there will be variations in the stiffness of the masts. Beware of this as it can be the reason for consistently poor performance in certain conditions. Avoid masts which are too stiff.If you are over 60kg you will start needing a stiffener in you mast. If you are careful you can wait until you are over 65kg- however you run the risk of breaking rigs downwind. Vang Your vang is there to control leech tension once you run out of width on your traveller. If the breeze is light and you aren’t having to ease the main in gusts, then you don’t need any vang. In these conditions you should have it just eased, so that it isn’t taking any load.However, you don’t really want it too loose or else it will take too long to pull on should the breeze increase. In the lighter breezes you are quite often sheeting quite loosely, so make sure there is no tension on the vang. As soon as you find yourself easing the main in the gusts, you should have vang on. This should mean that as you ease the main in the gust, the boom moves outwards only- not upwards. Remember vang bends the mast and flattens the sail a lot, so if you are hunting for power, make sure you don’t have too much vang on. Be sure your rig and fittings are strong enough, so that you aren’t afraid to use a lot of vang when the wind increases. Reaching is similar in trim to upwind. In the light you will have to be careful not to close the leech too much, however as the breeze increases, you will need to slowly increase the amount of vang to keep the leech under control and keep powered up. Again too much vang will bend the mast too much and lose power. Downwind you will need less tension than you have had upwind or on the reach.Ease vang as you go around the mark. If you can imagine looking up from the boom, the ‘twist’ or amount the leech opens, should be nearly the same on all points of sail, in all conditions.For this reason it is a good idea to get used to looking up at how open the top batten is and try to adjust the vang to keep it looking the same as the wind changes. Cunningham Cunningham does two things. It moves the shape forward in the sail, and then as you use more, it bends the the mast and opens the leech in the head. Cunningham is the last control you should be using to depower. You will already have a good amount of vang and full outhaul before you use the cunningham. The more you get overpowered, the harder you pull on the cunningham. Centreboard Your centreboard is another very important control to how the boat sails. The rake and positioning of the centreboard changes the balance of theboat and makes it easier or harder to sail. Basically the further forward and further down the board is, the more poweryou will have. You may even try raking it forward a little in the light. As the breeze increases you will begin getting overpowered and the helm will start getting a little heavier. A heavy helmis slow, as you are holding the rudder against the water flow and creating drag just like a big brake. Therefore as it starts getting heavier, it is time to start moving the board. Firstly do this by raking the board. Leave the top at the front of the case, and let the bottom move as far aft as possible. You will probably find it faster if you begin doing this a little earlier in choppy conditions. If you are still overpowered, you can now start lifting the board. Don’t be afraid to sail around with up to 150mm of board up if it is windy. This will allow the boat to sail flatter, especially through the gusts, and to move faster through the water. Be aware to begin putting it down again if it lightens, or else you will find yourself not pointing. Rudder The rudder is very important. You sail the boat by feel. The position and rake of the rudder will effect this feel. As arough rule the rudder should be set up so the leading edge is square to the water.However it is even better to fine tune it from here by trying it a little back orforward from this position. Changing the tip postion by 10mm increments is about right. Once you are happy, then fix it in place with some sort of system which won’t allow it to move around. The rudder ‘feel’ should be light in all conditions. Make sure there is no slop in the rudder system. There is potential for wear especially in the gudgeons. If this is the case then replace them with a good positive system. Calibration Even the best skippers need calibration marks. These enable you to keep the best speed from week to week, and to keep learning how small changes effect your performances. Highest priority is the Outhaul, the cunningham and the vang. I would also recommend some marks on themainsheet. Marks on ropes can be done with markers, or better still, by sewing contrasting thread into the lines. Good luck, and please feel free to make comments and contributions to this guide. READ MORE

The purpose of this tuning guide is to give our clients in the Dragon class some guidelines on how to get the most out of their North sails. The tuning-guide was compiled by Jørgen Schönherr, Poul Richard Høj Jensen and Theis Palm. Always experiment and try finding your own trim using these guidelines. The weight of the crew, the balance of the boat and the stiffness of the mast, together with specific local wind and sea conditions all have influence on the fastest and final trim. MAST TRIM Before stepping the mast in the boat, some very important measurements have to be checked to follow this tuning guide correctly: 1. Lead the upper shrouds and forestay along the mast, the uppers have to be outside of the spreader tips. Pull them as hard as you can and put a mark on all three wires at the top at the black band on the mast (it is 80 cm above deck level). These three marks are now used to check if the mast is straight from side to side in the boat, and to check the mast rake. 2. All measurements for the mast position is made from station 4, (you find station 4 between the forestay and the mast) which is marked on both port and starboard side of the hull with a dot. Draw a line in between the points. From the middle of this line to the front end of the mast (without spinnaker pole track) See the distance in the ‘on the water’ tuning guide below. 3. The mast rake is set by first fixing the forestay on the deck 1,86 cm from the front side of the mast. (This is the max. distance allowed in the class – rules). Then measure the distance from the black mark on the forestay to the deck (along the forestay). See the distance in the on teh water tuning guide below. 4. The upper shrouds proper position is located by measuring perpendicularly from the line on station 4 to where the shroud enters the deck. See the distance in the on the water tuning guide below. For light crews (220-240 kg) we recommend to leave the shrouds one hole forward. 5. The lower shrouds are placed in the hole just behind the top shrouds (approx. 3 cm), so that they don’t hold the mast back when going downwind. 6. The marks on the top shrouds (from step 1) are now used to control if the mast is placed in the middle of the boat. This is done best by measuring the distance from the mark to the deck. This should be the same on both sides. It is very important, that the mast is straight from side to side and not being distorted at deck level. 7. Setting up forestay tension, put the mast in strong wind position (tension 20 on the uppers and 8 on lowers). Next, put the tension gauge on the forestay around the black mark. Pull runners until the gauge reads 30. Make tape on runner exit above deck. Do the same on the other side. Now both runners have the same tension on the mark set-up. When you ease the runners until the forestay is just tight, the tape mark will be 15 cm above the deck as the uppers are both the same length. 8. The jumpers are adjusted by pulling the permanent backstay. Look up along the sail track and check that the jumpers are equally tight on both sides. If this is not the case, they should be adjusted till the mast is completely straight. 9. For all rig tension measurements we have used a Loose Gauge PT-2M. To get a more precise reading, cut the plastic of the upper shroud about 1.2 m above deck. You find all setting in the chart below. 10. The lower shrouds are tensioned, so that the mast is completely straight in the boat up to 20-22 knots. From here on, tighten them till the mast drops 5-10 cm off to leeward where the forestay meets the mast – the exact measurement is dependent on crew weight. ON THE WATER TUNING GUIDE  Wind Light – 0-5 knots Medium – 6-16 knots Heavy – 17+ knots  Comments SailInventory Mainsail A-7+ for Std. Petti & BBMainsail LM-2 for stiff Petti mastGenoa MG-15 / MJ-8Spinnaker CD-5 or R-5 Mainsail A-7+ for Std. Petti & BBMainsail LM-2 for stiff Petti mastGenoa MG-15 / MJ-8Spinnaker CD-5 or  R-5 Mainsail A-7+ for Std. Petti & BBMainsail A-10 for stiff Petti mastGenoa HG-15 / MJ-8HSpinnaker CD-5 or R-5 The sea conditions and waves can change the wind range in the sail inventory Mast Rake 123,5 cm (Petticrow)120,0 cm (BB) 122,5 cm (Petticrow)120,0 cm (BB) 122,5 cm (Petticrow)120,0 cm (BB) Measure 80cm up from deck, transfer mark at mast to the forestay. Measure along the forestay to deck level Mast Ram Mast 1,5 cm forward at deck level Mast neutral Mast 2,5 cm forward at deck level If you struggle with pointing, pull the mast back Mast Position 83,0 cm (Petticrow)81,5 cm (BB) 83,0 cm (Petticrow)81,5 cm (BB) 83,0 cm (Petticrow)81,5 cm (BB) Mast position at deck level is taken from station 4 Jumpers (adjustable)Jumpers (fixed)     Loose   Loos gauge tension 6 Mast straight   Loos gauge tension 6 Mast straight   Loos gauge tension 6 Make sure the mast is straight from side to side Upper Shrouds Loose gauge tension 14 for Std.Petti & BB and 12 for stiff Petti mastminus 1 turn Loose gauge tension 14 for Std.Petti & BB and 12 for stiff Petti mastplus 1-2 turns Loose gauge tension 14 for Std.Petti & BB and 12 for stiff Petti mastplus 3 turns Tension is taken without plastic. Shroud position from station 4. is 83 cm all time, for light crew 80 cm LowerShrouds Let the mast bend 1 cm toleeward at spreader level Mast straight Mast straight plus 1-1½ turn so themast bends to windward When you set the mast straight, look up at the sailgroove Backstay Little tension in the very light Just tight to prevent the mast top from moving in waves Just tight to prevent the mast top from moving in waves Little tension in the very light to pre-bend the mast Runners Slack to 15 -16 cm above deckMark # 4 From 15 – 5 cm above deckMark # 3 – # 2 From 5 – 0 cm this is maximumMark # 1 Mark # 1 (tape) runners at through deck level such thatthe forestay reads 30 on the Loos gauge.This is the maximum runner setting Mainsail Light sheeting; upper teltalesflying straight back Sheet until the top batten isparallel with the boom; uppertelltales 20% on leeward side Sheet until the main is flying nicely, the top batten is 2 degrees twisted to leeward, telltales are flying straight back If you struggle with pointing, you must pull the sheetharder, but check the mast ram first MainTraveller To windward; boom on middle To windward; boom on middle On the middle and up to 10 cm to leeward The boat has to be light on the helm Outhaul 2,0cm from black band 1cm from black band All the way out to black band The sail has to be flat along the boom in heavy wind Cunningham Loose Loose – just remove wrinklesalong luff Just remove wrinkles along the luff In very heavy winds, you can pull hard to move draft forward Boomvang LooseMake sure it is cleated for the run LooseMake sure it is cleated for the run LooseMake sure it is cleated for the run On the reach and run pull so the top batten is parallel to the boom Genoa Sheet Pull so the foot just touchesthe shroud at deck level Pull until the foot is touching10 cm up at shrouds Pull until the foot is touching25 cm up at shrouds Genoa Barberhaul Mark #4 / 15 cm out of cuddy15-18 cm from the spreader Mark #2 / 9 – 10 cm out of cuddy5 cm from the spreader Mark #3 / 10 – 12 cm out of cuddy8 cm from the spreader GenoaHalyard Small wrinkles along the luff Just remove wrinkles alongthe luff Just remove wrinkles alongthe luff Make sure that the luff is NOT overstretched   READ MORE

Congratulations on your purchase of North Yngling sails. Thank you for choosing us as your personal sailmaker. We have been working hard to design and build the fastest, easiest and most durable Yngling sails available. Please use this guide as a reference and starting point. While we have found these numbers to be accurate and beneficial for most sailors, others may find different settings to be even more comfortable. We urge you to experiment. While we cannot guarantee immediate victory by following this guide, we can assure you will be taking a major step in the right direction! Please call on any of your North One Design Yngling experts if you have any questions. Good luck and good sailing! Prior to stepping your mast Check the length and cant of your spreaders, as they are important in shaping the mainsail. When set properly the spreaders help maintain control of the mast bend and indirectly, the tension/sag of the forestay. The length of the spreader is measured from the side of the mast to where the shroud passes through the spreader tip. The length of the spreader should be very close to 60Cm (23 9/16”). The cant of the spreaders is measured by checking the distance of a taut line (bungee cord hooked at the tips works well) from the back of the mast. We have found this distance should range between 21.5-22.0 Cm ( 8 ½- 8 ¾”). The greater this distance, the bendier the mast. For the Abbot Boats/ Proctor Spar combination set up closer to 21.6-21.8. For the DeWolf Boats/Hall Spars combination set up the spreaders closer to 21.5 cm. The butt of the mast is set so that the distance between the center of the forestay pin to the front edge of the mast is 1.925 m (6’ 3 ¾”). Note: it is important to check that your mast does not sit squarely on the step (or casting). Ideally there should be a gap of nearly ¼ “ between the front of the mast extrusionand the casting or step. This gap will allow the mast to “rock” fore and aft easier and therefore bend easier, making for smoother gear shifting from light to heavy winds. Hoist a tape measure on your main halyard and lock in your standard full hoist position. The mast rake is set so that the distance from the top of the mast ( main halyard in its locked position)to the top of the deck at the transom is 26’ 3”- 26’ 5”. Using the tape on your main halyard, check that the mast is centered in the boat side to side. Start with a tension gauge to measure your rig-tension. We suggest the Loos Model PT-1 gauge as it appears to be most consistent. These are good rough tune starting points for the upper shrouds at the dock: Light winds (below 6 mph) your gauge should read close to 6. In medium winds, and for your “base” setting your guge should be close to 9 and in heavy breeze the guage should be at 18. HOWEVER…… Note: As a final check in all conditions for your upper shroud tension, ideally the leeward upper shroud will just barely start to go slack…not sloppy. The lower shrouds are best adjusted and fine tuned while under sail. They are tensioned so that the mast has a slight (3/8”) sag to leeward at the spreaders in light to medium winds. Only in heavier winds or when overpowered, will the lowers be tightened to straighten the mast laterally in the boat. MAINSAIL TRIM Trim the mainsheet hard enough to make the top batten parallel to the boom. You can check this by sighting from underneath the boom on a vertical plane. Once you have accelerated and you want to point higher, trim harder to cock the top batten slightly to windward. Generally, we recommend sailing with the top leech telltale stalling 70% of the time. In flat water, you can trim harder, but in light air and choppy water, you will need to ease to twist off the top of the main. In light to moderate air, trim the traveller car to windward no more than 4-5” above centerline so the boom is on centerline. When you have the traveler to weather be sure to ease the mainsheet to maintain the upper batten parallel to the boom position. In light, sloppy conditions , or when trying to accelerate, ease the sheet so the upper batten is angled outbord from parallel 15-20 degrees. As the breeze increases, gradually drop the traveler back to centerline to reduce helm, while at the same time trim the mainsheet. In very windy conditions, the traveler car may be dropped up to 2-3” below centerline. In these conditions the vang is tensioned hard to control leech tension and help bend the lower sections of the mast. OUTHAUL The outhaul controls the draft in the bottom of the mainsail. In nearly all conditions the outhaul is pulled tight enough to close the shelf foot so that the shelf seam is along the side of the boom. In heavier winds, the outhaul is pulled very tight, and to the band, so that the bottom of the main is very flat. Actually, the difference between standard “all around” trim and heavy wind trim on the outhaul is very slight. The outhaul, again, is pulled quite hard in most conitions. CUNNINGHAM The cunningham is used to position the draft of the sail. Your goal should be to keep the maximum draft point 50% back in the sail (sighting from luff to leech). We use no cunningham up to 10 knots, just enough to remove many of the wrinkles in 11-12 knots, and progressively tighter in higher winds to remove most of the wrinkles and position the draft forward in the top of the sail. BACKSTAY The backstay affects several different areas of sail trim and should never be overlooked as a power control. Pulling on the backstay does two things to the sail plan. First, it bends the mast by pulling on the tip, which opens the main leech and flattens the upper two-thirds of the sail. Secondly, it makes the headstay tighter, which flattens the upper entry of the jib and eases its leech; thus increasing pointing ability and reducing heel. Since pulling on the backstay has a large effect on main leech tension, whenever you adjust the backstay, you should check your mainsheet trim and vang tension. JIB JIB LEAD As a basic starting point, set the jib lead at a distance of 2 m from the forestay pin to the center of the block. The jib should luff nearly even along the luff of the sail. In heavy winds move the lead aft a hole (no more than one inch). Note: Many sailors are raising the tack of their jib off the deck nearly 2-3” ( the skirt is still lying on the deck) to help make the bottom of the jib more powerful.  HALYARD TENSION Be careful to avoid over tightening the halyard, as this will move the draft too far forward. Pull just barely enough to barely leave a hint of wrinkle off of each snap, but not more in all conditions. In heavy winds pull the halyard a slight bit tighter so as to make the luff smooth and position the draft properly. SPINNAKER The general rule of trim is to allow 8-10” of curl in the luff of the sail. The outboard end of the pole should be even with the free floating clew and the pole should remain perpendicular to the apparent wind. Pole height is important and has a big effect on the spinnaker. The luff break should appear approximately one-third of the way down from the head. If the break is lower, the pole is too high and it should be lowered, higher than this, the pole is too low and should be raised. Another effective guide is to position your pole so that the centerseam of the spinnaker (the vertical seam running from the head to the middle of the foot) is parallel to the mast. Light Air The most important area in light air is to concentrate on good communication between helmsman and spinnaker trimmer. The goal is to sail as low as possible while still maintaining good pressure on the spinnaker. An easy way to measure this is knowing the tension on the sheet. The important thing is not to sail too high with translates into longer distances, consequently do not sail too low thus sacrificing boat speed.If the spinnaker sheet starts to drag in the water, head up slightly! Be careful not to pull the pole too far aft, which over flattens the spinnaker. Heavy Air Reaching Never allow the pole to rest on the headstay. Always maintain at least 2-3” of distance between the pole and headstay. When big puffs hit and the spinnaker is full, ease the sheet 2-3’ to help the boat accelerate. Trim as the puff subsides. Have the foredeck person keep a hand on the vang at all times and be ready to release if the boat begins to spin out. As soon as the rudder starts to have weather helm, the vang should be out of the cleat and eased until the boat is under control again. Hike hard on the reaches.  Mainsail Ease the sheet until a luff appears then trim slightly to create more apparent wind. Dead downwind the boom will be out to the shrouds. Set the vang in light to moderate air so the top batten is eased out past parallel to the boom ( since the shrouds are set aft on the Yngling more twist in the main dead downwind is necessary to help the boat sail low enough.) The Cunningham, backstay and outhaul should all be eased for maximum downwind power.  Twings It is critical to utilize the twings properly sailing both on the reaches and dead downwind. The windward twing should always be all the way down. It is critical to make sure the leeward twing is off during the set. If it is not, the spinnaker will fill prematurely, causing the boat to create weather helm and round up. When sailing downwind in light air, the leeward twing is completely released. In very heavy air, pull the leeward twing as well, on about halfway or 2’ away from the deck to help keep the spinnaker under control. READ MORE

Congratulations on your purchase of North Y-Flyer sails. We are confident you will find superior speed over all conditions. Your sails are designed to be fast, as well as easy to trim and handle. The following measurements are those we have found the fastest for your new North sails. After experimenting, you may find a slightly different setting may mean even better boats speed for you. We are anxious to help you go faster and win races! Onshore Adjustments Mast Placement – The mast step should be positioned so that the mast is near maximum aft position. In this position the back edge of the mast should be 16” to 16½” forward of the centerboard pin. Mast Rake – the best method for measuring the mast rake on the Y-Flyer is by hoisting a 50’ tape to the top of the mast and measuring the distance from the top of the mast to the intersection of the transom and the back deck. Just hook the tape on your main halyard shackle and don’t worry about adding or subtracting any difference for the shackle. With the rig tensioned properly (discussed later) this measurement should be 24’1” to 23’10½”. If you are trying to correspond this measurement to the older method of the bubble level on the top of the centerboard trunk, the measurement should be approximately 30”-31”. While the tape measure is hoisted to the top of your mast it is important to check that your mast is set up straight in your boat laterally. To check this, take the tape and measure the distance from side to side at the bottom of the chainplates. Try to adjust your shrouds so there is no more than ¼” to ½” difference from side to side. Rig Tension – We have found that the Y-Flyer performs best in medium winds with the rig set up fairly tight. It is best to use a powerful jib halyard adjustment system (a lever, magic box, block and tackle, drum, etc…) so that the leeward shroud just begins to go slack when it is blowing 10-12 mph. To verify the proper rig tension we strongly suggest using the Loos Tension gauge. When using the Loos gauge, and checking the tension on your 1/8” upper shrouds, the number should read approximately 34-36 (not lbs.). In light winds without changing the shroud position, it is advantageous to ease off the jib halyard slightly so the tension is reduced in the rig. This will allow the jib luff to sag slightly, making the jib slightly fuller. Using the Loos gauge to check the tension on the shrouds, you should find a number of approximately 28-30. If you still have your tape hoisted on your main halyard, you can check the rake number and see that it will become less (indicating more rake) by 1-2”. In heavy winds, when the boat is overpowered, it is fastest to rake the rig farther aft. If you set your mast up at 24’1” for medium winds, we suggest that you allow it to drop back nearly as far as 23’9” to 23’10”. Ideally, it is best to also drop the shrouds in their channel adjusters so that the rig, when raked farther aft, would still be close to the proper 34-36 Loos gauge number on the shrouds. However, if the breeze comes up during a race and since it is impossible (and Illegal!) to change the shroud tension it is still best to compromise and sail with a looser rig with the mast raked farther aft. Loos Tension Gauge – This gauge is a very helpful guide in tuning your Y-Flyer. Mast Bend – when the rig is properly tensioned with the proper rake and spreader settings, your mast should develop positive prebend, where the middle of the mast will move forward at the spreader and the top of the mast will come aft. In medium winds with the rig tensioned at 34-36 on the shrouds the mast should develop nearly 1” to 1½ of prebend. You can check this by pulling the main halyard down tight and holding it at the gooseneck so it will develop a straight line as a reference from the top of the mast to the gooseneck. In light winds with less tension in the rig, there will be less prebend of approximately ¾”. Listed below are suggested spreader positions for the various popular masts used the Y-Flyer Class. It should be noted that masts of a particular section may have slightly different bend characteristics depending on spreader height and rigging placement and differences in the extrusions themselves. Because of this, the following measurements should be used as starting points only with appropriate adjustments being make on the actual bend and tested while sailing. Spreaders for the stiffer mast (W2, H2) – We have found that the spreaders that are 19¼” long and are free swinging forward but lock up when pushed aft at a point where they are 35” to 36” tip to tip will give the proper desired bend. this tip to tip measurement can be found by pulling the spreader together with a tape from one spreader to the other at the tips. Also, check and make sure that the spreaders are angled evenly on each side. These measurements are for masts with spreaders that are 9’1” to 9’2” from the deck. Spreader that are higher on the mast will need to be somewhat shorter. Spreader for the bendy mast (DP1, C1) – These masts require spreader which are 18 ½” long and 38” measured tip to tip. These measurements are taken of masts when the spreader are approximately 10’ above the deck. To make adjustments to the bend, the “cant” in the spreader should be adjusted (forward for less bend-aft for more bend: or closer tip to tip measurement for more bend, greater tip to tip measurement for less bend). The Mainsail Look When the Mast is Properly Bent: Basically on all masts we are looking for very slight overbend wrinkles (diagonal wrinkles that will appear from the spreaders to the clew) showing that the mast is beginning to reach maximum mast bend. In light to medium wind these wrinkles should barely appear while in winds above 15-18 mph, these wrinkles will be quite noticeable and in above 20-25 mph winds, will be quite severe. If these wrinkles are not developing, your mast is not bending enough. Lower Shroud Tension – Your lower shrouds should be adjusted so that the mast is straight sideways when sailing upwind. Check this by sighting up the back of the mast, up the tunnel, and determine if the mast is sagging to leeward or bowing to windward at the spreaders. If sagging to leeward, tighten the windward lower shroud; if bowing to windward, loosen the windward lower shroud. Check both sides independently and when adjusted correctly the lower shrouds will be much looser that the upper shrouds with the jib up and the rig tension as described before. If you find that it is necessary to sail with your lower shrouds quite tight to keep the mast straight sideways, it could be a good indication that your spreaders are too long. Lower shrouds that are tight can severely impair the mast’s ability to bend properly and therefore harm the boat’s performance. Shorten your spreaders in increments of 1/4” to 3/8” and readjust the lower shrouds to match. Again, your goal is that the leeward lower shroud will be much looser than the leeward upper when sailing upwind in medium winds. The lower shroud should be considered just as a “tweeker” to help control lateral mast bend, but definitely not to be the primary control. The spreaders are most important. Jib Lead Placement – On your new North Y-Flyer jib you will notice a pencil line drawn from the clew grommet out towards the center of the sail. Use this “trimline” to position your jib lead by making your sheet a direct extension of this line. In heavy winds, move your jib leads 1” to 2” aft of your medium/light air extension of the trimline position to help depower the jib and open up the slot. Your leads should be positioned 13½” to 14” off centerline (27” to 28” lead to lead). Centerboard Angle – It is important that your board is lowered to the maximum, with as little of the board as possible showing above the trunk when sailing upwind. Sailing Adjustments Main and Jib Cunningham – For both the main and the jib, never pull tighter than to just leave a hint of wrinkle along the luff of both sails. On your main, these wrinkles will appear in the lower 1/3 to 1/4 of the luff, and on your jib, will appear as small wrinkles approximately 2” long, perpendicular to the luff. Note: do not attempt to pull out your overbend wrinkles by tensioning your main cunningham. Again, remember that the overbend wrinkles are a necessary guide in showing that the mast is vending properly and pulling the cunningham tight enough to pull these wrinkles out will pull the draft too far forward in your main, robbing your boat of necessary power. Outhaul – The outhaul adjusts the depth in the lower part of your mainsail. as the outhaul is eased, the shelf on the bottom of the sail opens and the seam that attaches it to the sail moves away from the boom. To gauge outhaul tension, judge the distance from the seam to the side of the boom at roughly the center of the mainsail foot. The outhaul will be pulled tight enough so that there is just a ½” to 1” gap between the side of the boom and the shelf foot seam in the middle of the foot. In breezes above 10-12 mph when the boat becomes overpowered the outhaul will be pulled tighter until the seam is snug against the side of the boom (max outhaul). When reaching, ease the outhaul until vertical wrinkles appear across the seam perpendicular to the foot into the body of the sail. Tighten your outhaul until the wrinkles are just removed. When overpowered on a reach, with the spinnaker, leave the outhaul set as you had it upwind. For downwind sailing, leave your outhaul in the tensioned position for maximum projected area. Jib Sheet Trim – Unfortunately, there is not an easy guide for jib trim. We are looking for a parallel slot between the exit of the jib and the entry of the main. A guide that has been used with some success is imagining a middle batten on the jib at mid leech. Set this “batten” parallel to the centerline of the boat, making the upper batten of the jib twist outboard slightly and the lower batten twist inboard slightly. In extremely flat water and winds of 8 to 12 mph, it is possible to trim the jib in slightly tighter so that the top batten is nearly straight back parallel with the centerline. This trim can be used for short periods of time when the boat is traveling at near maximum speed. In light winds, or when acceleration is needed, ease the sheet out slightly so that the top batten is angled outboard approximately 15 degrees from parallel with the centerline of the boat. The imaginary middle batten will be angled outboard just slightly from parallel to centerline, and the jib will be fuller and less apt to stall. Mainsheet Trim – The mainsheet on your Y should be pulled so that the upper batten is parallel to the boom. This is sighted underneath the boom looking up the sail, lining the batten and the boom parallel on a horizontal plane. In very light winds, it is usually impossible to keep the upper batten from hooking slightly to weather because of the weight of the boom hanging on the leech. In these conditions, ease the sheet out so that the top batten is parallel with the centerline of the boat. In choppy conditions in winds above 2 to 3 mph, ease your mainsheet approximately 6 to 8 inches to slightly open the upper batten out from parallel to the boom. This will make your mainsail fuller, more powerful, and like the jib, less apt to stall. In medium winds and flat water (ideal boat speed conditions) sometimes it is possible to slightly overtrim your main so that the top batten is looked to windward of parallel to the boom approximately 2 to 5 degrees for short periods of time. Picture the mainsheet as your accelerator. As your boat picks up speed, pull the main tighter and tighter until the upper batten is parallel or slightly looked to the boom, and in lights winds or when the boat is hit with a wave and needs to accelerate, ease the mainsheet so that the upper batten will angle outboard slightly, inducing “twist” into the sail. Boomvang – Upwind in medium to heavy winds the boomvang should be kept hard enough to keep the upper batten parallel to the boom. This may require a good deal of boomvang tension, but this will also help to bend the mast and flatten the sail. In light winds, never use any boomvang tension upwind. Downwind the vang should be tensioned only tight enough to maintain the upper batten parallel to the boom position. There may be a tendency to overvang downwind in light winds and undervang downwind in heavy winds. Basically, look for the main to set downwind as it does upwind. The traveler is used to help balance the helm of your Y and keep the boat upright. Upwind when the boat becomes overpowered, the traveler should be eased to leeward, with the boat slowly feathering up into the wind to help keep the boat level and the helm neutral. In the lulls, be sure to quickly pull the traveler back up to centerline, but be ready to ease back down to leeward in the puffs. Downwind – When sailing your Y downwind with the whisker pole up, it is best to ease off your jib halyard as much as 10” to allow the luff of the jib to sag greatly. A loose luff, when sailing with a pole, will allow the jib to basically “turn around” with the leech becoming the luff and the luff becoming the leech. We need to remember that we are trying to create airflow across the jib with the wind entering the jib from the actual leech of the sail. Not attaching your jib to the forestay with the snaps or Velcro’s will make this procedure much easier. Instead, you can set the forestay so that it is loose enough to just allow the rig to lean back to your heavy air setting of approximately 23’9”. There will be slop in the rig, but that is necessary for top performance downwind. A shockcord retainer can help minimize the slop in the headstay when sailing upwind. In addition, it is also suggested to sail with a longer whisker pole, which will help with better performance on beam and broad reaches. You will find that the pole will just barely fit in the cockpit of your boat! Once again, a powerful jib halyard adjuster is helpful to make it easy to adjust the halyard tension properly and easily before rounding the leeward mark when the pole is dropped. When sailing on a close reach, without the pole, be sure to use your barberhaulers and move your jib lead outboard. The proper position of your barberhauler lead, forward and aft, is determined by the trimline on the clew of the jib. This time, position the barberhauler lead so that the sheet is angled slightly forward of parallel to the trimline. This will make the jib slightly more powerful and help to support the upper leech. We wish you good luck and fast sailing! Do not hesitate to give us a call if you have any questions or problems. Please consider us your personal sailmaker. READ MORE

The following tuning guide is meant to be a good starting point in setting up your boat. Depending on your crew weight, strength, sailing style and local conditions, you may have to alter your rig slightly. As you read this, write down any questions you may have, and we will be happy to discuss them with you in more detail. We are trying to achieve a rig set-up that is fast in all conditions; upwind, reaching and running, and is very easy to adjust or change gears. Your new North Sails are designed around this all-purpose philosophy. INITIAL SETTINGS - The first item that should be checked is the mast step. It should be place at about 59-60” from station 0. Make sure that your mast is tight in the step and will not twist in the step. MAST RIGGING - The standard height for spreaders is between 104 to 106” above the theoretical top of keel. In checking the fleet, I have found some as high as 117”. While this is quite high, it seems to balance the mast bend nicely, and allow the jib to be sheeted inside the shrouds if you’d like and not foul on the spreaders. The length and angle the spreaders are set to determine the deflection that the shroud is moved away from a straight line between the mast and the chainplates. These factors control the stiffness of the mast. The spreader length should be set to deflect the shrouds about 2.5” to 3” outboard to restrict side bend and pinned to deflect the shroud about 1.5" to 2" forward which restricts fore and aft bend. These are checked at the light air rake settings. When measured from a straight line between the shrouds, the distance to the aft edge of the mast should be about 5" for a Kenyon “A” section, and 6.5” for a Proctor Lambda or Alpha Minus. Spreader length of about 15.5" from the surface of the mast works well with the spreaders at 106” and the chainplates inboard. With the spreader bracket at 117” above the keel, a length of 15.5” works well with the chainplates close to the gunwhale. These numbers will vary depending upon the location of the chainplates and height of the spreader brackets, but the overall deflection is the key. When sailing upwind in 8 to 10 knots, with the boom close to centerline the mast should be straight up to the forestay. If the spreader area goes to leeward, you need to either loosen the rig if it’s tight, or shorten the spreaders. It is also a good idea to have nicropress stops under the spreaders so the spreaders don't drop in angle. CENTERING THE MAST - Before calibrating your mast rake, check that the mast is even in the boat athwartships. You can do this by hoisting a jib and tensioning the rig until the shrouds are tensioned. Attach a tape measure to the end of the main halyard and raise it to full hoist. Check the distance to each chine directly below the chainplates, and adjust the shrouds until the mast is in the center of the boat. Next sight up the back edge of the mast to ensure that it's straight athwartships. If the measurement to the gunwales is even, and the mast isn't straight side to side, then either the spreaders are uneven in length or the mast partners at deck level are uneven and pushing the mast to one side. It is important that the mast is straight in the boat and nominally tight in the partners. Any side to side play in the partners depowers the rig too early. MAST RAKE - Mast rake and rig tension are the two very important tuning variables. We use a “boom band radius system” to measure and calibrate your rake, which uses your forestay. Hoist your jib without attaching the hanks to the forestay. Detach the forestay from the headstay fitting at the bow. Swing the headstay back to the mast, and mark the stay with tape where the wire is even with the top edge of the sail black band at the boom. This is your “zero point.” If your spar has two bands, use the upper band. If you are not confident that the band is in the right place, check the class rules and re- measure it. Now swing the wire back forward, attach a tape to the “zero point”, and measure down to the upper forward intersection of the deck and the bow. In light air and full power, this number should be about 34.5” An average light air setting would be 36”. For lighter crews or increasing breeze, rake back to about 37”. In heavy air rake back to about 38” To set the shroud tension, at your light air rake setting the shrouds should have about 150 lbs of tension, as measured on a Loos Gauge. If you don’t have a Loos Gauge, this is moderately tight where the shroud can be wiggled in a small circle without too much trouble. Heavier crews can use more tension to restrict mast bend, and lighter crews can sail with looser shrouds to allow more mast bend. As the breeze builds and you get more overpowered, just ease the jib halyard off to increase aft rake. This depowers the main through more athwartship and fore and aft bend. As a guideline, if you are pointing too much and going too slow, increase rake and loosen the helm up. If you are fast but not pointing, decrease your aft rake. With the mast in the 3’0” rake setting and the jib up, block the mast to have about 1/2” to 1” of pre-bend, that is where the middle of the mast bends forward. DAGGERBOARD - In my limited experience, it appears that the board should be as stiff as possible. It is also important that the board fit tightly in the trunk. The trunk can be shimmed within the WCA class rules with carpet, which will protect the daggerboard and keep it snug in the trunk. In conditions up to a full hiking breeze, keep the board all the way down and even forward in light air. As weather helm increases with the windspeed, you can balance the helm by either raising the board and/or angling the board aft. MAINSHEET TENSION AND BOOM VANG - Generally, the vang should just go slack when the mainsheet is at maximum tension. In light to medium conditions, trim your mainsheet so the top batten is about parallel to the boom. If you are sailing in very smooth water, trim hard enough to hook the top batten 5 degrees to windward. The boom vang is a powerful tool in that it will increase the mast bend and flatten the main. When sailing upwind, if you have speed with no pointing, try reducing aft rake, getting the traveller closer to the centerline, or vanging harder to tighten the leech and flatten the main. If you have pointing with not enough speed through the water, try increasing your aft rake, easing the traveller, bending more, or checking to see that you are not vanged too hard. Or just hike harder and sail the boat flatter! MAIN CUNNINGHAM - The main cunningham should be slack up to 10 knots. Above 10 knots, tighten enough to remove wrinkles along the luff. Always be aware that the cunningham pulls the draft forward and depowers the leech, which is not always good. OUTHAUL - Our sails are designed with a shelf foot, which makes the sail sensitive to outhaul control. Ease the outhaul 2-3” for power in a chop, and for offwind legs. Tighten in heavy air or overpowered conditions. JIB LEAD POSITION - As a starting point, your jib leads should be positioned so that the bearing point on the blocks is about 83” aft of the jib tack pin. Another guide is to set your leads so that the jib sheet lines up with the trim line on the clew of the jib. In choppy conditions it may be faster to move the lead forward from this point, and sheet just a little looser. If your sail does not have a trim line, you can install a line on the clew, defined by the center of the clew and intersecting the luff midway between the tack and the head. This is a good starting point. Move the jib lead aft as the wind increases, and/or more rake, to accomplish the same end result of twisting off the top of the sail. If you have speed with no pointing, try moving the leads forward. If you have pointing with not enough speed through the water, try moving the leads aft. Experiment with different lead positions, especially in stronger breezes, as changes are readily felt. The leads should be about 16” to 17” from the centerline. This can be adjusted by changing the length of the shackles which hold the ratchet blocks to the track slider. Generally, 16” is best for light air, and 18” or so best for heavy air. READ MORE

The following tuning guide is meant to be a good starting point in setting up your boat. Depending on your crew weight, strength, sailing style and local conditions, you may have to alter your rig slightly. We are trying to achieve a rig set up that is fast in all conditions: upwind, reaching and running. Your new North sails are design around this “all-purpose” philosophy. As you read this, write down any questions you might have, and we will be happy to discuss them with you in more detail. MAST RAKE AND SHROUD TENSION Most boats have an adjustable forestay which allows the crew to change the mast rake for different wind velocities. Our rake is checked by measuring the amount of forestay that exceeds the mast length.Hold your forestay along the front of the mast and simply mark the forestay at the point where the bottom of the mast would be. We check our rake by measuring the distance from this mark to where the forestay intersects with the deck. We suggest you set the rake at 29” inches. After the rake is set, It is possible to make marks on the mainsheet, backstay, and jib clew heights for different wind and wave conditions. In light wind conditions (under 7 knots) we suggest a 30” inches rake. This will increase “feel” and make the boat easier to steer. Remember that every time you change the rake, all these control marks have to be changed. SHROUD TENSION Our shroud tension is measured with the shroud in the forward position, and the backstay on, so the headstay is snug at 29” inches of mast rake. Uppers should be at 700 lbs. at all conditions.Lowers should be set so the mast (when sailing), have 1 1/2” inches (one and half inches) of sag at the spreaders, for light air; increasing tension to 500 lbs. at 18 knots of wind. NOTES: The more upper shroud tension you have, the more pre-bend you will have. If you have a soft mast, and or the mainsail looks a bit flat, you may need less upper tension. SHROUD POSITION We have five settings for the fore and aft movement of the shroud position at the deck. The total travel is 12” inches. TRACK POSITION WIND WIND RANGE #1 - Full forward Light air 0-7 Knots #2 Light to Medium 7-10 Knots #3 - Middle track Medium 10-16 Knots #4 Fresh 16-20 Knots #5 - Full aft Strong 20+ Knots Be careful not to depower the boat too quickly, especially in waves. SAIL COMBINATIONS We recommend the following sail combinations: 0-14 knots: AP-2 Main and V-1 plus Jib 8- 20 knots: AP-2 Main and V-1 Turbo Jib 18+ knots: AP-2 Main and A-1 Jib BACKSTAY There are two things that the backstay does. Controls the fullness in the mainsail and also the forestay sag. This is probably the most important adjustment in the Soling. The more backstay tension, the flatter the main, and the less forestay sag results in a flatter jib. I have my backstay marked on every inch, so is easy to repeat fast settings and have the boat ready, quickly after mark rounding. Our mainsail is designed so that the mast bend and forestay sag are matched for the conditions. MAINSHEET TENSION The mainsheet controls the top part of the mainsail. The quickest and most accurate way to trim the mainsail is to watch the angle of the top batten. Sighting from under the boom, the top batten should be parallel to the boom most of the time, if not in overpowered conditions. In flat water, the top batten can point five degrees to weather of the centerline, and when overpowered, it should open from centerline until helm balances. BOOM VANG The rule of thumb, is to have the vang adjusted for the downwind legs, so the top batten is parallel to the boom.This control is also important when close hauled, by helping control the forestay sag and making the jib either more or less powerful. In smooth water, the vang should not be used, so the forestay is as straight as possible. In choppy waters, boom vang should be used, and by experimenting you will be able to find the perfect tension, which is normally when helm is almost neutral. MAINSAIL TRAVELER The boom should be about 4 to 5 inches above centerline until both crews are over the side and boat is overpowered. At this point traveler should be placed on the centerline (not very often the traveler should be placed below centerline). JIB TRAVELER A good starting position is 10 to 11 inches athwart ship centerline. In heavy air, it should go outboard 2 to 4 inches (20 knots and above), this will help stop the back wind on the mainsail under heavy breezes. CLEWBOARD POSITION This will vary from boat to boat, but the third hole for the V-1 jib and the A-1 jib will be a good starting point. When it is light and crew is inside or not fully hiked, make the jib fuller down low, by going to a higher hole (or just by moving the whole jib up). When crew is fully hiked and the wind is stronger, make the foot flatter, by moving to a lower clew hole (or by moving the whole jib down). For full power conditions, the jib should luff evenly from top to bottom. LUFF TENSION All jibs should be set with minimum luff tension, just enough to take most of scallops out; DON’T OVER STRETCH. Too much tension moves the draft forward, which is very slow. OUTHAUL In light air the outhaul should be stretched to about 1 to 1 1/2” inches from maximum out. As the wind increases, pull the outhaul all the way out so the sail is perfectly flat right of the boom. In reaching, the outhaul should at maximum ease (about 3” inches). RUNNING AND REACHING WITH SPINNAKER A lot can be done in terms of speed when running and reaching, and if you are faster than the competition, that could be the necessary edge you need to win.When sailing downwind, the fastest setting is by moving the mast as far forward as your backstay would allow.The other important controls are the pole fore & aft and up & down. For fore & aft adjustments try to have the luff of the spinnaker perpendicular right out of the pole.For up and down control, the pole should be adjusted so the clews are even height from the water. SAIL CARE Always store your sails away from the sun and make sure they are clean and dry.Be sure that you always “roll “ your upwind sails, this will help them last longer and stay wrinkle free.If you have any questions or comments about our Soling Tuning Guide, don’t hesitate to contact us. READ MORE

The following tuning guide is meant to be a good starting point in setting up your boat. Depending on your crew weight, strength, sailing style and local conditions, you may have to alter your rig tune slightly. As you read this, write down any questions you may have, and we will be happy to discuss them with you in more detail. Our main goal is to help you achieve a rig setup that is fast in all conditions; upwind, reaching and running, and is very easy to adjust or change gears while sailing. Your new North sails are designed around this all-purpose philosophy. It is important to mark all your shrouds, sheets, halyards, tracks, outhaul, backstay, etc. Keep records of your tuning setups, the conditions you sail in, and how your speed is. It is essential to be able to duplicate settings from race to race, and also to know exactly how the boat was set up when you were going fast. Experiment during practice races and clinics. TUNING AT THE DOCK Rake Setting: 51” Once the mast is up, attach your jib or spinnaker halyard to the tack and tighten. Disconnect the forestay and bring back to the mast. Pull the forestay tight along the front of the mast and with a black marker, make a mark on the forestay at the location of the bottom of the black band. This should be 22” above the bottom of the mast. Mark the 22” spot on the mast if your band isn’t in the right place. Re-connect the forestay, apply enough backstay tension to straighten the forestay and measure from the black mark to the center of the forestay pin. If you are sailing really light on crew weight, and the breeze is up you might want to go around 50” Why do it this way? Because it’s the most accurate way and the measurement is the same for new and old style decks. Next, make sure the top of the mast is centered in the boat. To do this place a pencil mark on the port and starboard rails at equidistant aft of the tack fitting at about 10” forward of the shrouds. Make sure your lower shrouds and aft lower shrouds are loose. With the upper shrouds hand tight hoist a tape measure on the Genoa halyard and measure from the Genoa halyard block to the pencil marks. Keep measuring side to side and tightening or loosening the upper shrouds until the tip is centered. Hand tension each forward lower until they are evenly tensioned. Sight up the mast track on the aft side of the mast to see if it’s straight from side to side. You’ll find it helpful to take the main halyard and hold it stretched tight centered just above the gooseneck in the mainsail track. Use the wire as a straight-line reference with the track. Tighten or loosen the forward lower shrouds until the middle of the mast is in column with the mast tip. We recommend investing in a Loos Tension Gauge Model PT-1. This gauge can hang on the shroud as it is adjusted and won’t stretch out like the Model A gauge. Using the tension gauge adjust the upper shrouds to the base setting of 25 and the lower shroud to 20. Once the mast is centered it is important to take the same amount of turns on the port and starboard shrouds while adjusting tension in order to keep the mast centered. If the port and starboard spreader tips are at different heights above the deck, the mast will not be straight side to side or the shrouds will have different tension from the port side compared to the starboard side. The aft lowers should be attached to an adjustable track, because adjustment of these throughout the race is essential. First make sure the backstay is released. If they are attached to a track make sure they are evenly set and when trimmed to maximum tension they invert the mast by at least 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 “. Rig Settings Apparent Wind Uppers Lowers   0-5 -1* -1* 5-10 – ½* – ½* 10-12 Base Setting 25 20 12-15 +1 ½* +2* 15-20 Genoa +2* + 2 ½* 15-20 Jib Base +2* 20-25 Jib +2* +2 ½* * Denotes one full turn of the turnbuckle barrel using standard open body turnbuckles. Set up the rig at the base setting before you leave the dock, adjust the rig as conditions change but remember to keep track of any changes. Just to make sure there is no confusion, all the changes reflect turns on or off from the base setting – not from the previous setting. Also, mark your deck with an arrow and a ‘T’ for the tightening direction and replace any cotter rings/pins with turnbuckle nuts – they’re much easier to adjust! UPWIND TRIM Light Air (0-5 Knots) In these conditions keeping the boat moving fast and not worrying about pointing makes bigger gains around the racetrack. Therefore set the boat up to maximize boat speed instead of pointing ability. The golden rule in all conditions is “If you want to point you have to be going fast first!”. In light air set your sails up for maximum power. Main First set the aft lowers at a position so the mast is perfectly straight yet there is enough tension that when the backstay is pulled the mast will not bend down low. Get in a habit of sighting up the backside of the mast to see how the mast is bending. Next, sheet in the main sheet so that the top batten cups slightly to windward. Now pull the backstay until the top of the mast bends enough to allow the top batten to twist to leeward so that it is parallel with the boom. Make sure the telltale on the top batten is not stalled. The small amount of backstay tension will provide the correct amount of headstay sag. The boom vang should be eased all the way and the traveler pulled to weather enough so the lower battens are just to leeward of the backstay. The outhaul should be 1-2” from maximum. The more chop there is, the looser the outhaul should be set. The cunningham should be pulled on just enough to remove major wrinkles from the luff. Genoa Tension the genoa halyard enough to remove the luff wrinkles. This will pull the draft forward and open the leech of the sail. With the draft forward the boat will be easier to steer. The open leech will help air flow across the sail without stalling. The foot of the genoa should be 3-4” from the shroud turnbuckle, and the leech should be 2-3” from the spreader tip. Make sure the leech lines are eased. Remember in these conditions keep your head out of the boat and sail towards better wind velocity on the course. Light to Medium Air (6-12 Knots) These conditions call for a good amount of power as well as the ability to point. Main The aft lowers should be set at their medium position which puts 1” – 1 ¾” inverse bend into the lower section of the mast. Determine the medium air backstay setting by using the same technique as described for light air. The traveler should be pulled to weather with the boom on centerline to help the boat point, but eased to leeward if too much weather helm is felt or if the boat starts to heel too much. The outhaul should be eased ½” from the maximum position. The cunningham should be pulled tight enough to remove all wrinkles from the luff. The boom vang should be pulled in just enough to snug up the line (preset for downwind). Start with the main sheet set with the top batten parallel to the boom. If your boat speed is good and you want to point higher, try pulling harder on the mainsheet and stall the top batten telltale 50-80% of the time. Beware, if your speed starts dropping off ease the mainsheet. Genoa Set the halyard so some wrinkles show in the luff of the genoa. This will flatten the genoa entry and move the draft aft in the sail, allowing for more power and higher pointing. Set the leads so the foot is 1” – 2” from the shroud turnbuckle and the leech is 2-3” from the spreader tip. Medium to Heavy Air (13-18 Knots) Once the wind has reached this level, it is time to start thinking about de-powering the sails to keep the boat from healing too much. Main The aft lowers should be set tighter with 3 ¼” – 3 ½” of inverse bend. This allows more backstay to be pulled on letting the top of the main twist to leeward, while at the same time placing more tension on the forestay which improves pointing and flattens the genoa. In order to determine backstay tension, pull the main sheet in enough so that the top batten twists to windward even while the backstay is at it’s medium setting. Then pull just enough backstay to let the top batten twist to leeward about 15 degrees. The cunningham should be pulled tight enough to remove all wrinkles from the luff. The boom vang should be tightened enough to hold the boom down at its sheeted height even without mainsheet tension. The outhaul should be at its maximum position. Genoa These conditions are at the upper wind range for the genoa. The decision to switch to the small jib will depend on crew weight, consistency of the wind and waves. Choose the size of your headsail based on the strength of the wind during the lulls. The larger the waves the larger a headsail needed to power through them. If the Genoa is used tighten the halyard to move the draft forward and open the leech. Set the leads so the foot is against the shroud turnbuckle and the leech is 4” – 5” from the spreader tip. To de-power twist the Genoa by easing the sheet 1” – 2”. Remember the tighter the aft-lowers and backstay are, the tighter the forestay is and therefore the flatter the Genoa. Jib The crossover to using the class jib can be found in this wind range. Lighter crews, or sailing in flatter water can allow you to go to the small jib and still be fast. Keep the leads forward and don’t strap the jib in! The S-20 likes to be rolled up to speed and a strapped headsail won’t get you there! We also recommend a 2:1 jib sheet system. The sheet should be dead-ended at the jib car, go through the jib clew, through the jib block then back to the Genoa ratchet and up to the weather side. This makes adjustments to the jib easy while trimming from the high side. Note: The 13-18 knot range of apparent wind can really separate the fleet. Make sure the boat is tuned for the conditions and the headsail. The key is to keep the boat moving fast and pointing high, you should roll the boat up to speed and keep the weather tell tales at about 45 degrees for maximum VMG to weather. Heavy Air (19+ Knots)  In these conditions the sails need to be flattened as much as possible and set up so the boat is as easy as possible to steer. Main Pull the aft lowers on to their maximum setting of 4” of inverse bend. Tension the backstay in the same manner as in the 13-18 knot conditions, except that 20 degrees of twist is desired. Begin vang sheeting by pulling the boom vang on hard, which bends the lower section of the mast thereby flattening the lower part of the main. The cunningham should be pulled in enough to remove all wrinkles and move the draft forward. Set the outhaul at its maximum setting. Let the traveler all the way down to the edge of the cockpit. If the boat is still overpowered with the top batten inverted and the main flogging it’s time to go into super twist mode. Pull the traveler all the way up past centerline and ease the mainsheet so the boom is on centerline. Keep the aft lowers, backstay and vang snug. The outhaul can be eased ½” for power in the lower section of the main. Jib The jib should be sheeted to tracks mounted on the round cabin top inside of the shrouds. The track should have a sheeting angle of 11° off centerline. To find this angle measure horizontally 19 ½” outboard from centerline behind the mast. This is where the jib track should be installed. Pull the jib halyard tight enough to remove the wrinkles in the luff. Set the jib so the top tell-tales break slightly before the lower tell-tales. If the boat need a little bit more power, move the jib lead forward to give the bottom of the sail some depth and sheet the sail so the leech is pointing straight aft. To de-power move the lead aft to flatten the bottom of the sail and twist the top off. The main and headsail need to work together. If the genoa or jib is twisting off at the top, so should the main. If the genoa or jib is sheeted hard, so should the main. When the wind is blowing hard, adding twist to the main and jib will help give the boat a larger groove to steer in. Aft Lowers Wind Speed (knots)                 0-5                               6-12                 13-18                           19+   Inches of inverse          Tensioned yet                          1-1 3/4”                        3-3 1/2”                       4” bend                            straight mast Outhaul Wind Speed (knots)                 0-5                               6-12                             13-18               19+ From black band                      1-2”                              1/2”                              Max.                Max. GENOA TRIMMING GUIDE Wind Speed (Knots)                            0-5                   6-12                 13-18               19+ Sail from spreader tip                          2-3”                  2-3”                  4-5”                  6” Foot from turnbuckle                            3-4”                  1-2”                  against             against Luff Tension                                        smooth——-><—-slight wrinkle—–><——-smooth Leech Line                                          <———-just tight enough to prevent flutter———-> Main Trim Run Downwind the main should be set at its fullest settings. The backstay should be eased. The jib halyard should be attached to the jib tack hook and tightened. This allows the mast to remain forward and stable at all times. In breeze over 15 knots it is a good idea to keep the backstay tensioned a little to prevent total mast inversion. The aft lowers should be released all the way immediately after the weather rounding. The outhaul should be 2” from maximum tension. The cunningham is always eased all the way on a run. Boom vang should be set so the top batten is parallel with the boom. Reach While reaching the main should be powered up most of the time. The backstay should be eased, aft lowers off, cunningham loose and outhaul eased. A little bit of twist in the top of the main is okay. Make sure the top telltale is not stalled. Once the boat starts to be overpowered on the reach it is time to depower the main. Pull the backstay on a little to keep the mast in column. Ease the vang to allow the top of the sail to twist off. Pull the cunningham on to open the leech of the main. Tighten the outhaul. Spinnaker Trim North’s full radial spinnaker likes to be flown with the spinnaker pole lower to project more area. A good starting point is for the pole to be connected at the mast 44 ½” up from the deck. The pole should be flown parallel with the horizon. The halyard should be raised as high as it will go to increase projected area and stabilize the sail. When running, square the pole so it is perpendicular to the apparent wind and make sure the sheet does not go past the headstay. The trimmer should keep a slight curl in the luff of the sail. Remember that an under trimmed spinnaker is much faster than an over trimmed and stalled spinnaker. Spinnaker trim needs to be constantly adjusted due to the changes in apparent wind caused by velocity changes, steering, waves and changes in boat speed. To help the boat accelerate faster be ready to ease the sheet 5” – 12” when a puff hits. The ease of the sheet will move the driving force of the sail forward instead of healing the boat to leeward. Never let the pole rest on the headstay; it should always be at least 2-3’ aft of the headstay. When running, concentrate on steering your optimum down wind angle. Good drivers are sensitive to small changes in boat speed. When the boat is going slow, head up a little to increase boat speed. If the boat is moving fast or in a puff, bear off to ride the puff longer and use your extra boat speed to sail lower. Good communication between helmsman and trimmer is important. Make sure one of the team (not the spinnaker trimmer) is constantly watching for puffs and velocity downwind. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about your new Santana 20 sails, we will be glad to discuss them with you. READ MORE

Congratulations on purchasing a new Rebel sails. We are confident you will find superior speed over all conditions. Time has been spent to insure that not only are your sails fast, but that they are also easy to handle and trim. The following measurements are those we have found to be the fastest for your new North sails. After experimenting you may find slightly different settings may mean even better boat speed for you and your style of sailing. If you have any questions or problems, please don’t hesitate to call. We are anxious to help you go faster and win races! Adjustments on shore MAST BUTT PLACEMENT Place the butt of your mast between 54” and 55” when measured from the stern (excluding the molding) to the center of the mast step. MAST RAKE To measure the mast rake, hoist a 50’ tape on the main halyard and measure the distance to the intersection of the transom and the back deck. Without the jib up and the rig leaning back on the forestay the measurement should be 26’. Now grab the forestay and pull the rig forward until the shrouds are just taut. The rake measurement should become 26’ 3”. Sailing with the jib up and the rig set properly, your boom should be just about parallel to the deck in an 8 to 10 mph breeze. (Please see “Rig Tension” for the rake measurement after the jib is up.) RIG TENSION We have found that the Rebel performs best in moderate to heavy winds with the rig set up fairly tight. After hoisting the jib, tension the jib halyard so that the rake is pulled up to 26’ 1” – 2”. In very heavy winds (15 to 18 mph), it is advantageous to pull the rig up as far as 26’ 3” – 4” to help minimize luff sag that can develop and make the jib too full. In lighter winds, set your jib halyard so that the rake measurement 26’ 1”- 2”. As you tune your Rebel you will note that with the jib up, the forestay is always quite slack. This will put all the load on the luff wire of your jib. Your North jib is built with 3/32” 1X9 stainless steel wire, and is designed to withstand the loads of the entire Rebel rig. We feel your boat will perform better if you allow the rig to take this load. If you feel your jib halyard tensioning devices are not able to tension your jib halyard as suggested in the tuning guide, set your aft rake (the rake measurement taken when the mast is leaning back on the forestay) at 26’ 1”-2”. This way your rig will be set properly for all conditions. DIAMOND TENSION There has been a tendency over the past few years to set the diamond tension on the Rebel mast extremely tight. While this is perhaps beneficial in helping to control sidebend in the mast, it also greatly reduces fore and aft bend. In fact, in some masts it has been shown that excessive diamond tension can induce negative prebend. Obviously, negative prebend (where the mast bend is reversed with the middle of the mast going aft and the tip of the mast going forward) can be very slow as it will make the main much fuller than it is designed. We suggest loosening the diamonds on your mast slightly so that when sailing upwind in an 8-10 mph breeze and sighting up the back of the mast, the slot appears very straight.When the diamond are too loose the mast will sag to leeward in the middle. The diamonds should be just loose enough that the windward diamond wire should almost (but not quite) go slack when sailing upwind in an 8-10 mph breeze. Again, if the diamonds are too loose the windward diamond wire will actually go slack and the mast will sag to leeward in the middle. If, when sailing upwind in these conditions on both diamond wires seems nearly equal we suggest experimenting with loosing the diamond wire slightly. JIB LEADS Your new North jib has a “trim line” in pencil which runs from the clew grommet of the jib out into the body of the sail approximately 18”. This line is inscribed on your jib to aid you in setting your jib leads correctly in the fore and aft position. In moderate winds, you should set your leads so that the jib sheet is an extension of that line to the deck of your boat. In lighter winds, or in medium winds with heavy chop, set your lead position so that the jib sheet is angled slightly forward of the trim line. This should place your jib leads forward of the moderate wind spot about 1”. In medium to heavy winds in flat water, or very heavy winds, place your jib lead so that jib sheet angles aft the trim line. This will place your jib lead 1” to 2” aft of the moderate wind/perfect extension setting. As for the jib leads side to side, on new boats we suggest setting your lead positions so they are 3’ 6” apart when measured from bearing surface to bearing surface. This will place your leads on the inside edge of the seat. On older boats, place your leads as far inboard on the deck as possible. Even better, place them on a wood block so they are even closer together. CENTERBOARD LEADING AND TRAILING EDGE TAPERS We suggest that your board be tapered the full class maximum on both the leading and trailing edges. The trailing edge should come to a 1/16” squared-off edge. The leading edge should be a parabolic shape, coming to a near point, but carrying its roundness much farther forward than on trailing edge. A well-shaped centerboad can mean a great deal to the upwind speed of your Rebel in all conditions. RUDDER SHAPING AND ANGLE Like the centerboard, the rudder should be shaped to a 1 1/6” squared-off edge at the trailing edge, and to a parabolic, perhaps somewhat blunter than the centerboard, leading edge. There is no maximum on tapers, so a good faired- out rudder would help a great deal. The new rules allow the Rebel rudder to be angled straight up and down parallel to the transom. We suggest positioning your rudder so it is very close to this measurement, or at the most cocked up 15 degrees. TRAVELLER/BRIDLE MAINSHEET HEIGHT The traveller on the Rebel, like on most boats, is an important adjustment. Perhaps one of the most important adjustments to the traveller is that the height of the traveler be as high as possible. It should be set so that the V (the very top of the bridle running from the mainsheet sheeting to the back of the boom) should be nearly “two-blocked” in medium heavy winds. The closer you have the bridle to the mainsheet block, the better the boat will perform in light to moderate winds. It is as though we are pulling the traveller completely to windward for those conditions and pulling all from the windward side, it will then be much easier to trim the mainsail correctly and keep the boom closer to centerline. On new boats the measurement from the seat to the top of the block if we have a double purchase at the end of the boom, should be 2’ 1”. This should bring the mainsheet bridle within 2” of being two-blocked in medium to heavy winds. We suggest using the single purchase at the back as it allows you to make the traveller/bridle even higher, and the double purchase in the center of the boat near the mainsheet cleat. Introduced in 1993 a mainsheet bridle where the legs of the traveller are actually sewn into the mainsheet. Several sailors have experimented with this and this actually makes the bridle height much less critical. It allows you to carry the traveler/ bridle height a little bit higher because the two legs of the bridle will actually be sucked up into the mainsheet block when the main is trimmed hard in a breeze. This is an excellent traveler/mainsheet system for the Rebel and we strongly suggest giving it some consideration. Sailing Adjustments MAIN AND JIB CUNNINGHAM For both the main and the jib, never pull tighter than just to barely remove the wrinkles. It is best to leave just a hint of horizontal wrinkles from the luff of your main and jib to be sure you don’t have them pulled too tight. OUTHAUL Pull the outhaul to within ½” to 1” of the band except in very light or choppy conditions, or downwind when extra power is desirable. In these conditions it’s advantageous to ease the outhaul 2” to 3”. When the outhaul is pulled out tight, you will notice a crease just above the boom, which is normal. This crease represents the extra fullness designed into the sail for power when the outhaul is eased. JIB SHEET TRIM Unfortunately there is no easy guide for jib trim. We are looking for a parallel slot between the exit of the jib and the entry of the main. The guide that has been used with some success is that of imagining a batten on the jib at mid-leech. This batten should be set parallel to the centerline of the boat, which makes the upper leech of the jib twist outboard slightly and the lower leech twist inboard. It seems that 90% of boatspeed problems are due to faulty jib sheet trim. MAINSHEET AND TRAVELER The mainsheet should be pulled tight enough so that the upper batten is parallel to the boom when looking up the sail from underneath the boom.. In light winds, it is impossible to keep the upper batten from hooking slightly to weather because of the boom weight hanging down the leech of the sail. In these conditions, we suggest easing the sheet out so that the boom is approximately over the corner of the transom, and the upper batten will then become more or less aligned with the centerline of the boom. Please do not get this guide confused with the guide for most other conditions where the upper batten is set parallel to the boom. In choppy conditions, ease your mainsheet approximately 6” to open the upper batten slightly out past parallel to the boom. It has been found that the traveler is not as effective in depowering the boat in heavy air as is easing the mainsheet out. However, before easing the mainsheet it is important that the boomvang be applied quite heavily to keep the boom down. This allows the mainsheet to act more like a traveler, allowing the boom to travel in and out sideways rather than up and down. The boomvang is helpful because it helps bend the mast and flatten the sail out in heavy air due to increased pressure forward on the boom into the mast. BOOMVANG When sailing downwind the vang should be set so that the upper batten is parallel to the boom. Upwind in a breeze, we set the vang to keep the upper batten parallel to the boom when we ease the sheet in puffs. This will mean a heavy amount of vang tension and will allow the mainsheet to act like a traveler, the boom will just move sideways rather than up and down. JIB HALYARD TENSION DOWNWIND WITH WHISKER POLE If your boat is setup with an adjustable jib halyard, it is best to ease e halyard of when sailing downwind with the pole up so that the luff of the jib will sag and allow the jib to perform even better. Imagine the leech of the jib becoming the luff and vice versa as we put the pole up. We suggest pulling the pole back as far as you can when the halyard is eased off slightly, so that the jib will almost break like a spinnaker, that is, the leech (new luff) will almost become unstable. Always be sure to ease off your jib cloth tension (jib Cunningham) downwind, to allow the draft to move back in the sail, and not to hook the luff when the pole is up. Sail care Your North Sails are constructed out of the best materials on the market today. We make sure of this by testing every roll of cloth we use. Through proper care and maintenance your sails will give you the performance you have come to expect from a North Sail. The most important factor for a long life for your sails is to watch them for signs of wear and tear in high load and chafe areas. Be sure to wash the sails off with fresh water and dry the sails thoroughly before storing. A dry, mild climate is best. Excessive heat can cause sails to shrink. It is best to roll the mainsail and jib. READ MORE

Congratulations on purchasing your new Penguin sail. The following tuning guide is meant to be a good starting point in setting up your boat. Depending on your total crew weight, wind strength, sailing style and sea conditions, you may have to alter your rig slightly. Onshore Adjustments Set the mast butt position 21-23” from the Centerboard pin for older wood boats (Horners, Wrights, Beatons, Salentines) and 27-29” for newer Fiberglass or wood boats (Burtis, Freedom, Austin). Step the mast and hoist a tape on the main halyard to its normal locked position. Measure the rake of the mast to the top of the transom. This number should be close to 19’8” for the newer boats and as far forward as 19’ 10” on the older wood boats. Remember the goal to set the mast up in the boat so that when sailing with the main trimmed properly and the boat at the proper heel the helm should be nearly neutral. Too much weather helm would warrant moving the mast farther forward in the boat… too little, or lee helm would indicate a bit more rake. Set the shrouds and forestay “snug” so that just gentle pressure forward is necessary to hook the headstay. As a visual guide for proper rig tension, the leeward shroud should become slack at 4-5 mph. Once set this rig tension is proper for all wind strengths. Now put on the sail and go sailing. OUTHAUL There are a couple techniques used to gauge the outhaul adjustment. Perhaps the most precise is to measure from the back of the mast to where the aftermost edge of the sail would line up on the boom. For lighter winds or when more power is needed set your outhaul tension so this number is close to 99”. In more breeze, or flatter water set closer to 101” Another method is to measure the horizontal distance between the sail and the center of the boom. In all conditions set the outhaul tension so that this distance is about 6-8”. A “high-tech” double check is to use the width of the hand from the end of the pinky to the thumb as a guide. Note: If your mast is fairly bendy, easing the outhaul will allow the sail to maintain the necessary fullness as the mast bends and pulls the depth out. Inversion wrinkles (diagonal wrinkles in the lower ¼ of the main indicating the mast is bending and maximum bend has been achieved) should develop in all mains/masts in 10mph of breeze. If these wrinkles appear earlier, ease the outhaul slightly. If they seem to develop in wind above 10mph, pull more outhaul. CUNNINGHAM In lighter winds, be sure to leave slight wrinkles all along the luff from head to tack. Adjust as the breeze increases until in heavier breeze the luff is almost smooth. Be sure that your boom’s ability to be pulled below the band is restricted so that the luff wrinkles are easy to maintain in lighter winds. VANG In heavy winds pull the vang hard to help flatten the main and depower the boat. Tension the vang to the point where the inversion/ overbend wrinkles are evident and fall halfway back on the boom. Try to maintain the top batten parallel to the boom and the top telltale flowing. Downwind, and upwind when not overpowered, be sure to ease the vang so that proper mainsheet tension (and added “twist”) is developed. MAINSHEET Play the sheet to keep the leeward telltales flying in light air. Tighten the vang only in hiking conditions enough so that the boom doesn’t lift when the sheet is eased. When overpowered, play the sheet to keep the helm balanced and the boat flat. In choppy conditions play the sheet to keep the boat powered up. In conditions where acceleration is important, ease the sheet so that the upper batten is angled outboard from parallel to the boom (“twist”) and be conscious of driving the boat slightly lower. TRAVELER Set your traveler height so that the boom falls directly over the corner of the transom when the mainsheet is trimmed properly. The block should be close to 10-12” above the transom. The block will be positioned laterally about 12” below centerline except when overpowered at which time the traveler should be allowed to drop as far to leeward as possible. HEEL In very light air heel about 15 degrees. In winds above 3-4mph, try to sail the Penguin with the windward chine just clearing the water; about 5-8 degrees. Downwind, sail the boat heeled to balance the helm. With the board up dead downwind, heel the boat to windward until the helm is completely balanced. WEIGHT PLACEMENT UPWIND Ideally the fore and aft placement of the crew in all conditions will place the “knuckle” of the bow just kissing the water. Position the skipper and crew on opposite sides of the thwart and as close together when on the rail. When sailing in choppy, breezy conditions both should slide aft about 10”. In light winds with the crew to leeward, the skipper should slide forward a few inches to nearly on top of the thwart, still maintaining the bow just touching the water position. WEIGHT PLACEMENT DOWNWIND Maintain a fore and aft position to keep the boat on its lines. In breezy conditions, and especially when it is puffy, slide aft about a foot. In light winds, slide forward and again, be sure to heel the boat for proper neutral helm balance. When you have any questions please give us a call. Sail Care Your North Sails are constructed out of the best materials on the market today. We make sure of this by testing every roll of cloth we use. Through proper care and maintenance your sails will give you the performance you have come to expect from a North Sail. The most important factor for a long life for your sails is to watch them for signs of wear and tear in high load and chafe areas. Be sure to wash the sails off with fresh water and dry the sails thoroughly before storing. A dry, mild climate is best. Excessive heat can cause shrinkage. It is best to roll the mainsail and jib. READ MORE

IMPORTANT NOTES We recommend not exceeding 350 lbs total crew weight as this puts excess stress on the mast and the boat. When sailing, the boat performs best with the board all the way down in all conditions upwind. Downwind it is best to pull the board up 8” to 10” on the control line except in light air it will be best to leave the board all the way down. It is important to always keep the ends of the spinnaker halyard tied off. It is difficult to re-lead through the backbone to the transom, so it is important to maintain control of both ends of the spinnaker halyard at all times. The Roller Furler should furl counter clock wise when furling up the jib. So, it is important to roll it up clockwise before putting up the jib. The Spectra outhaul line coming out of the thru-deck pulley on the end of the boom is meant to go through the clew of the sail and through the hole in the side of the boom and then tie a slip knot to make a 2:1 purchase. The bow eye is suitable for tying the boat to the dock or towing the boat itself, but not suitable for towing multiple boats. When towing multiple boats tie off the tow line to the base of the mast, and tie off boats behind off the base of the mast as well. McLube the mast track and the mainsail bolt rope to allow the mainsail to go up and down more easily. You can also Mclube the spinnaker to make it easier to pull in and out of the chute launcher. Keep in mind that the standard spinnaker is made from silicone impregnated material so it is already very slippery. When stepping the mast, tie off the bow sprit so that when tension is pulled on the spinnaker halyard, the bow sprit does not extend. The red boomvang line comes up through the deck in the aft fairlead hole, the Cunningham comes up in the next forward hole in the center of the mast step, and the spinnaker halyard comes up the starboard hole on the side of the mast step. After leading the chute retraction end of the spinnaker halyard through the lower grommet in the spinnaker tie a doubled up knot in the halyard about 12”-18” from the end before putting the end thru the top grommet belly patch and knotting off. This allows the spinnaker to go into the chute tube without a large bunch up of spinnaker cloth at the end of the line. Make sure you tie big enough knots so they don’t pull thru the grommets. If the kite will not pull all the way into the chute launcher the knots are too far apart. When tying the tack line to the tack of the kite, tie a very short loop and keep the knot tight to the sail to prevent the knot from jamming in the block at the end of the pole. Open tank drain plugs after sailing to check for water. Also, open forward inspection ports to check for water and air out when not sailing. Even condensation can add up to a considerable amount of water over time. The diamond shrouds are pre set with 4” of pre bend in the spar. Be sure to keep the turnbuckles tied off. Do not sail the boat with less than 3” of prebend in the mast and sufficient tension on the diamond shrouds. These shrouds support the mast head spinnaker and prebend the mast to fit the mainsail in light air. Make sure that the ties remain on the sidestay turnbuckles as well to prevent the turnbuckles from changing settings or losing turnbuckle parts. Check the spreader angle on the lower spreaders by running a straight edge across the tips resting on the shroud and measuring to the aft side of the mast tunnel. The measurement should be 10”. Also, make sure the tips are extended so there are 3 holes showing in the spreader tips. When launching on a hoist, pay special attention to the mast and spreaders to prevent damage on the hoist. Also, make sure that the lifting bridle is secure and not caught under any deck fittings. Do not walk on the foredeck while on the trailer unless the transom is secured to the trailer. The MELGES 17 is very light and it takes very little weight to have the bow go down and hit the trailer. The trailer bunks are set up to support the boat under the mast bulk. RIG SET UP Untie the mast, untie the upper shrouds off the base of the mast and attach to the aft most hole in the chainplates. Be sure to tighten the shackle with a wrench and it is a good idea to use a plastic wire tie through the shackle hole and around the shackle to prevent the shackle pin from coming loose. The lifting bridle then attaches to the shackle on the upper shroud turnbuckle. Attach the lower shrouds to the forward most hole in the chainplate. Keep the rear hold down secured to prevent it from tipping over when rigging the mast, and keep the trailer latched to the vehicle. Slide the mast aft so that you can latch in the mast base to the deck plate, be sure to push the mast forward to hold the base in place and take care not to knock the base out by moving the mast aft or bumping the mast as this could damage the mast and boat if the mast drops to the ground. Be sure the boat is positioned to avoid any electrical wires or trees or other boats when stepping the mast. Also, be sure the boomvang lines (RED) and the Cunningham line (YELLOW) are pulled straight aft to prevent pinching under the mast base. And, the spinnaker halyard goes on the starboard side and you should place the line in the cutout on the starboard side of the mast base before stepping the mast. Run the spinnaker halyard (yellow/ white fleck, or gray) starting at the deck, go inside the boomvang bail at the base of the mast, up the aft starboard side of the diamond shroud turnbuckles, lead it on the starboard aft side of the starboard spreader, but in front of the spreader turnbuckle adjuster, lead it aft of starboard upper spreader, lead it thru the pivoting eye along side the main halyard cleat, thru the swivel block at the mast head and back down to the base. Run the Jib halyard, start by attaching the 1/8” spectra line to the becket block at the hounds. Slide the spectra loop thru the block and then the other end of the spectra thru the loop and pull tight. Attach the small 3mm blue jib halyard puller line to the lower end of the spectra line, run the small spectra line thru the becket block from front to back. This forms a 2:1 purchase with the jib halyard, secure both the tail and the loop of the spectra where the blue line is tied to the shock cord or gooseneck area. Run the main halyard from front to back on the mast head, keeping the snap hook on the front side, pull the halyard thru so the snap hook is at the top, the other end is tied off at the shock cord and the main halyard puller is attached to the snap hook and pulled down and tied off at the base. Attach any mast head Windex fittings. Make sure that all halyards and shrouds are run clean and free of tangles and twists. Make sure the turnbuckles are lined up and not kinked. Making sure the trailer is properly latched to the vehicle, stand in the cockpit just forward of the rear mast hold down and start walking up the mast, be sure to always push forward on the mast and keep the mast centered to make sure the base does not pop out of the mast step deck plate. The mast only weighs 22lbs so it is very easy to step. Once up, take the spinnaker halyard and tie off on the top of the trailer mast stand, make sure the bow sprit is tied in, make sure the other end of the spinnaker halyard is tied off, then cleat the spinnaker halyard and put a safety knot in it to hold up the mast. Putting up the jib; take the jib out of the bag, pull thru the jib forestay wire if it is not already installed, attach the top furling swivel to the top of the wire, shackle the head of the jib to the shackle on the top furling swivel, install the two jib battens, make sure the roller furling drum on the boat is furled up clockwise enough turns to completely furl the jib when up. Attach the tack of the jib to the roller furling drum, lead the tack line through the pulley on the shackle and up to the cleat on the jib, lead at least one side of the jib sheet system, attach the top swivel to the spectra line above the loop in the bottom end. Note: The Spectra goes right over the pin in the furler, there is no other fitting. Now, raise the jib with the small blue jib halyard puller line, ease the jib halyard adjuster purchase all the way out, snap the end of the jib halyard to the becket block and snug up the jib halyard purchase system. Pull on the jib luff so that it is snug and the jib will furl properly. Furl the jib. Finish leading the continuous jib sheet. Jib sheet starts in the cockpit, lead thru each ratchet, lead down through each pulley on jib clew, lead back to eye strap on jib car and tie a figure 8 knot. Mast rake and shroud tension; Set up the mast rake at 26’10”.When the shroud tension is set at #25 on the Model A Loos tension gauge. This equates to 210lbs and this is the base setting. Put a mark on the mast rake adjuster line at this setting. This is your reference point. Once you have the rig tuned at base, you can put the boom on the mast. Slide the boom onto the gooseneck pin, shackle the vang becket to the vang bracket at the base of the mast and shackle the other end to the boomvang bail on the boom. Careful, the boom can slide off the gooseneck pin. If you put the mainsail on, hook up the tack and the outhaul this will help keep the boom on, or, snug the boomvang slightly. Shackle the 40mm double pulley to the forward mainsheet eye strap; use the locking plate on the top of the pulley to keep the block from spinning, position the block fore and aft. Shackle the 40mm single on the aft eye strap and let it swivel. Lead the mainsheet, tie off on the 40mm double becket on the mainsheet bridle and lead thru the blocks appropriately. Now it is time to set up the asymmetrical spinnaker. Start by gathering the spinnaker on the port side of the port along side the chute launcher opening. Tie off the spinnaker halyard, look up and ensure there are no bad leads. Then tie off the tack line to the tack of the kite, make sure the tack is tied to the bow eye, goes up through the bow sprit pulley around the outside of the jib headstay and aft to the tack of the kite. Next you should lead the end of the spinnaker halyard that comes out of the chute launcher under the foot of the kite up through the lower belly patch grommet, then tie a large knot about 12”-18” from the end of the line. Then lead the line from the inside out on the top grommet and knot off with a large knot. Then lead the continuous spinnaker sheets starting in the cockpit, going through the 57mm Harken auto-ratchets shackled onto the eye straps just behind the chainplates, make sure that you look at the arrows so the ratchets will ratchet when the sheet is pulled in. Take the port sheet out around the port sidestay and tie off on the clew of the spinnaker. Take the starboard sheet out around the starboard shroud, around the outside of the headstay, stay inside the tack line, and go over the top of the spinnaker retraction line, then tie off on the clew of the spinnaker. Using the spinnaker retraction line, pull the kite into the sock helping it in at the same time, make sure the lines stay free and untangled. Launch the boat Pull up the mainsail; it is best to tie a bowline to the head of the mainsail to pull evenly off the top of the sail, keep the loop short and leave a bit of tail on the knot to make sure it does not come untied. Pull the main all the way up until the sail stops at the top of the tunnel, cleat the main in the mast head cleat and pull down on the luff to seat the line in the cleat. Lead the Cunningham up to and thru the mainsail grommet and back down to the eyestrap at the tack and tie off making a 2:1 Make sure the outhaul is lead with a 2:1 purchase at the end of the boom. RIG CHART WIND SPEED 0-10 knots 6-12 knts 10-18 knts 15-25 knts SHROUD TENSION Loosen 2 full turns from Base Base Base Tighten 6 full turns from base MAST RAKE Base Base Base mark Base mark LOWER SHROUDS Loosen 3 full turns 1/2” of sag at spreader No sag, lowers will be snug No Sag Tighten lowers 4 turns JIB LEAD 4 holes showing behind car 4 holes showing 3-4 holes showing 3-4 holes showing SAILING TIPS Angle of heel; heel the boat to reduce wetted surface in light air, keep the leeward board vertical in medium breeze and heavy air, work to keep the boat flat. Only snug the boomvang unless you need to depower the rig, the vang will blade out the mainsail. Only pull on the Cunningham when you are overpowered. Trim the mainsail with more twist than a lower roached mainsail, the larger roach mainsail likes a bit more twist, watch the leech telltales, keep them flowing. Going fast upwind requires only trimming the mainsail properly and trimming the jib properly with the correct lead. Do not over-tension the boomvang or the Cunningham. If possible the helmperson should help either drop the board or raise the board. If the waves are big, keep the boat flat, keep the jib leads forward and try a soft jib sheet tension. Always pull the wrinkles out of the jib luff. Downwind, sail with pressure, but don’t sail too high in the medium stuff. In light air, sail with weight to leeward, and the apparent wind forward. In medium breeze sail with pressure and weight in and try to get low on the course. In the bigger breeze hike hard and sail with pressure and the mainsail in. Raise the leeward board 8”-10” on the control line downwind in a breeze over 8 knots. Keep it all the way down in light air. Furl the jib after the kite is up. Unfurl the jib before you take the kite down, the headstay will have more sag in it when you are unfurling the jib, uncleat the furler line and pull on the jib sheet a bit to get the jib to unfurl, do not force it, let the wind blow the jib out if possible so as not to damage the jib while unfurling. Take out all of the slack of the kite retraction line before you uncleat the halyard. On a windward take down, trim the windward sheet and clew around to the port side of the boat and strap the foot, hand the sheet to the skipper and retract the kite. On a leeward drop, which is the hardest drop to do safely, you need to head straight down wind, strap the foot of the kite on the port side of the boat, heel the boat to windward(skipper and crew) and retract the kite while keeping the boat heeled to windward. The Mexican takedown is the same as the other take downs, you simply trim the kite tight on the port side and gybe into it and retract it. Skipper may have to tail the halyard down to help prevent the kite from dropping in the water. Speed on the retraction line is key. When gybing, get the board down and go right into it, trimming the kite thru on the gybe as quickly as possible. Practice all take downs, leeward and windward. Both take downs will require bearing away to unload the kite to more easily pull it in. In very heavy air, keep the main trimmed in to help support the rig and to go really fast. If you ever have rudder stalling problems in heavy air, at very high speeds, raise the board slightly. Keeping the front of the boat organized: Try leading the spinnaker halyard over the top of the boom or through a caribbeaner attached to the boom vang bail on the boom. Also, leading the board up line through a caribbeaner on the forward mainsheet bail works well to keep the board line clean and easy to grab. The MELGES 17 is a brand new, fast, exciting boat to sail. The above information is what we have learned so far about the boat. These are generalizations and will be a good starting point. It is good to experiment outside the range of these numbers slightly to see what works best for your team. Be sure to take good notes so you can refer back to fast settings. Sail fast and have a blast! READ MORE

Knowledge is power. We see this in every sport throughout the world. Racing sailboats is much different from the other sporting events. Sailing requires tuning for different wind and water conditions. Many of these tuning adjustments are very small, yet critical. We have outlined for your information tuning information for many different boats that we race on a regular basis. The measurements achieved have been tested through countless hours on the water in a variety of conditions. What is truly unique with this booklet is the fact that we have simplified the tuning process for all of these classes in order to make the process easy for our customers. You will be able to achieve newfound speed in your class. These measurements coupled with the fastest one-design sails in the world will give you the knowledge for speed. In sailboat racing this is a combination for power and speed! North Sails will continue to bring you the very best in sailing service and technology. Additional knowledge can be learned from the North Smart Book. Our objective is to allow you to set the pace in your racing class. Mast Rake In order to set proper shroud tension, the order in which to proceed is as follows: Attach a measuring tape to the main halyard and hoist to the peak (the upper black band) and lock the halyard ball into the latch at this point. Measure to the intersection of the deck at the transom 28′-4″. Make the shrouds snug when the mast is raked in this manner. In light and medium winds set the rake using the jib halyard so that the rake measured in the same manner as in number one is 28′ 4″. This is your sailing mast position. In heavy air the rake should be 28′ 2″, when sailing to windward you will find the boom to be quite close to the deck, the main sheet blocks on the boom and traveler will be near to touching. If you are using a magic box put marks on the spar at the junction of the magic box wire and the jib halyard as a reference point. If you are using the ball and latch or the sharks teeth, make notes on the spar to correspond with the rake measurements given above. Make certain that when you measure rake that the mast is not bending. Mast Bend Most new mains require a considerable amount of mast bend to set right. After setting the rake as described above, tighten the backstay until the measuring tape shows 27′ 10″. This is a good starting point for bend. Generally in medium airs when you sheet the boom to the center of the boat, tighten the backstay until the upper batten is 12″ to 18″ off the backstay. Trimming harder tightens the leech as does easing the backstay. In no event sail with the leech closer than 12″ to the backstay at the top batten. Other Mast Adjustments Your spreaders should be 17″ long when measured from the mast to the shroud and should be angled so as to deflect the shroud forward of a straight line from tang to chain plate by 1 1/2″. This can be accomplished by laying a board across the spreaders from tip to tip and adjusting the spreader angles so that the distance from this board to the mast is 2 1/2″ to 3″. Cut wood chocks to fit into the mast well alongside the mast so that absolutely no side bend is permitted at deck level. Sail Adjustments Jib: 0 – 7 Knots Attach sheets to 2nd hole or corner in clewboard. Tension luff only barely enough to eliminate horizontal wrinkles. Jib car from centerline 14″ Sheet tension: sheet until the third batten from the top is parallel to the centerline of the boat. Jib: 8 – 15 Knots Attach sheets to the second hole (corner). Tension luff to eliminate horizontal wrinkles. Jib car 15″ off centerline. Sheet tension: sheet until the second batten from the top is parallel to the centerline of the boat. Jib: 16 – 30 Knots Attach sheets to third hole. Tension luff to eliminate horizontal wrinkles. Jib car 15″ from centerline in rough water, but eased out as necessary to avoid backwinding the main if you are in smooth water and have eased the main traveler. Sheet tension: sheet until the third batten from the top is parallel to the centerline of the boat. Main: 0 – 7 Knots Sheet tension: Sight top batten parallel to centerline of boat, or about 12″ to 18″ off backstay. Traveler carried 12″ to windward at 0 mph, to 3″ to windward in 7 mph. Vang only snug. Very soft Cunningham tension. Outhaul in 1 1/2″ from black band. Main: 8 – 15 Knots Sheet Tension: More firm. Sighting top batten, maintain it 12″ off backstay. Traveler on centerline. Firm boom vang tension. Cunningham eliminate horizontal wrinkles. Outhaul 3/4″ in from black band. Main: 16 – 30 Knots Sheet Tension: Very firm. Top batten 18″ off backstay. Traveler on center to all the way out in big puffs. Very firm vang. Very firm Cunningham. Outhaul to black band. All these generalizations are norms and averages that have proven fast over many years. Some experimentation by your part may be necessary to fine tune your particular rig and sailing style. Good luck with your new sails and please feel free to call us with any questions you may have. Sail Care Your North Sails are constructed out of the best materials on the market today. We make sure of this by testing every roll of cloth we use. Through proper care and maintenance your sails will give you the performance you have come to expect from a North Sail. The most important factor for a long life for your sails is to watch them for signs of wear and tear in high load and chafe areas. Be sure to wash the sails off with fresh water and dry the sails thoroughly before storing. A dry, mild climate is best. Excessive heart can cause problems with the sails due to the possibility of shrinkage. It is best to roll the mainsail and jib. Mainsail When hoisting and lowering the sail try to minimize the amount of creasing or wrinkling of the sail. Every time the sail gains a crease the cloth breaks down that much faster. Always have someone contain the leech and luff during these procedures. The battens can be left in the sail without any problems. Be sure to roll the sail down the leech so that the battens will not twist. This could cause damage to the battens. Jib When rolling the jib keep the battens perpendicular to the leech. Pay special attention to the battens and batten pockets for wear and tear. Spinnaker The spinnaker is fairly straight forward. Be sure to repair all tears and pulled stitches. Folding the sail when storing is best. READ MORE

Knowledge is power. We see this in every sport throughout the world. Racing sailboats is much different from the other sporting events. Sailing requires tuning for different wind and water conditions. Many of these tuning adjustments are very small, yet critical. We have outlined for your information tuning information for many different boats that we race on a regular basis. The measurements achieved have been tested through countless hours on the water in a variety of conditions. What is truly unique with this booklet is the fact that we have simplified the tuning process for all of these classes in order to make the process easy for our customers. You will be able to achieve newfound speed in your class. These measurements coupled with the fastest one-design sails in the world will give you the knowledge for speed. In sailboat racing this is a combination for power and speed! North Sails will continue to bring you the very best in sailing service and technology. Additional knowledge can be learned from the North Smart Book. Our objective is to allow you to set the pace in your racing class. Boat Setup 0 – 5 Knots Mast Rake: 24′ 7″ Sidestays: Just loose enough to let mast rotate. Cunningham: Leave wrinkles in luff. Vang: None. Traveler: Leave on center line. Boards: Full down. Blocks: Set for 45 degrees rotation of mast. Jib Leads: 4″ back from front of cockpit. Jib Luff: Leave wrinkles in jib for fullness. Trim: Ease main sheet so that upper batten is parallel to the boom. Allow loose trim on jib so that upper batten twists off. 5 – 15 Knots Mast rake: 24′ 6″ Sidestays: Tight. Cunningham: Remove most wrinkles when becoming overpowered. Vang: As soon as boat is hard to hold down, tighten vang and work the mainsheet in the puffs to keep the boat relatively flat. Traveler: Center line. Boards: Full down. Blocks: Set for 45 degrees rotation of mast. Jib Leads: 4 1/2″ back from front of cockpit. Jib Luff: Tighten to remove wrinkles, but not any tighter. Trim Main: Harder as wind increases to keep the upper batten parallel to boom. Trim Jib: Generally harder with increased wind, but careful trim is necessary to help the skipper steer properly. Do not allow the top batten of jib to curl inward. 15 Knots and UP Mast rake: 24′ 5″ Stays: Very tight. Cunningham: Remove all wrinkles. Vang: Hard. Ease your mainsail in large puffs to keep the boat on its lines. Traveler: Down to rudder posts (18″). Boards: Up 2″. Blocks: Set for 45 degrees rotation of mast. Jib leads: 5 1/2″ back from edge of the cockpit. Jib luff: Tighten down hard. Trim: Very hard trim on the main, but easing with any puffs to keep the boat on its lines. The jib will have to be eased or trimmed in order to steer the bow around the waves. Racing Techniques 0 – 5 Knots The first objective here is to get plenty of heel on the boat so the windward rudder is just out of the water. This will account for less surface area in the water and will make the boat go faster. The skipper and crew must sit very still on the boat so there is no disruption of wind in the sails. The skipper must steer smoothly, not pushing the rudders across the boat. Adjustments in steering and trim must be smooth. Downwind the crew weight should be together and slightly forward. If your combined weight is over 290 pounds you should be sitting forward downwind in all conditions. Here the skipper must build up speed and then head the boat down, when the boat starts to slow again, the skipper should head up and gain speed again. This process must be continued the whole downwind leg. 5 – 15 Knots These are optimum winds for the M-16 scow. The boat performs best with smooth steering and consistent crew work. The angle of heel should be flatter now. The windward rudder should be skimming the water. Once you have two on the high side hiking the rudder should be 3/4 of the way in the water. Crew weight should be together with crew hiking at an angle back towards the skipper. In choppy conditions both should shift back slightly. Downwind the crew weight should be placed together and on the windward side if there is enough wind. This however, will only be effective if you lean out and heel the boat. Weight again should be forward. With the leaning out of the crew the boat will not nose dive. Just lean the boat, steer down and increase your momentum for the next set of waves. 15 Knots and UP The main thing in this amount of wind is keeping the boat on its lines and not letting it stall out in the waves. If this happens this increases your chance of getting a big puff and having it tip you over. This is because your speed is not up to where it should be for the wind velocity. The crew should have the jib sheet in hand so if this does happen a simple ease of the jib sheet will allow the boat to head up and stay on its lines. The skipper must constantly be working the mainsheet so the boat stays flat. Easing in the puffs and a trim back in with the lulls will give exceptional speed. Your boom vang should be very tight so the mainsail does not get fuller when you ease the sheet. With this process and hiking hard, you can be a very competitive boat regardless of your combined weight. All these generalizations are norms and averages that have proven fast over many years. Some experimentation by your part may be necessary to fine tune your particular rig and sailing style. Good luck with your new sails and please feel free to call us with any questions you may have. Sail Care Your North Sails are constructed out of the best materials on the market today. We make sure of this by testing every roll of cloth we use. Through proper care and maintenance your sails will give you the performance you have come to expect from a North Sail. The most important factor for a long life for your sails is to watch them for signs of wear and tear in high load and chafe areas. Be sure to wash the sails off with fresh water and dry the sails thoroughly before storing. A dry, mild climate is best. Excessive heart can cause problems with the sails due to the possibility of shrinkage. It is best to roll the mainsail and jib. Mainsail When hoisting and lowering the sail try to minimize the amount of creasing or wrinkling of the sail. Every time the sail gains a crease the cloth breaks down that much faster. Always have someone contain the leech and luff during these procedures. The battens can be left in the sail without any problems. Be sure to roll the sail down the leech so that the battens will not twist. This could cause damage to the battens. Jib When rolling the jib keep the battens perpendicular to the leech. Pay special attention to the battens and batten pockets for wear and tear. Spinnaker The spinnaker is fairly straight forward. Be sure to repair all tears and pulled stitches. Folding the sail when storing is best. READ MORE

In this tuning guide we have tried to introduce a healthy dose of “why” we do certain things and what we are looking to accomplish with certain settings. You will find that the settings on your particular boat will vary a bit from the numbers given here. The important thing is to keep an open mind and a sensitive touch on the tiller. With a bit of practice and by following the principles outlined on the next few pages you should find yourself going faster and getting the best performance out of your boat and North Sails. Good Luck and Good Sailing!! Basic Rig Setup With the mast down, we want to adjust our spreader length and angle. These two things determine how much the mast will bend, and how easy the boat will be to power up in light air and depower in heavy air. Before stepping the mast check the following items: SPREADER LENGTH This dimension, measured from the side of the mast to where the shroud intersects the spreader. For most boats this length is 17 1/4”. The length of the spreader affects the side-to-side bend of the mast primarily. After stepping the mast and going sailing you will want to sight up the back side of the mast and make sure it is straight side to side from the deck to the hounds. This is very important: if the mast is sagging to leeward in the middle, shorten the spreaders until it is straight. If the mast bows to windward in the middle make the spreaders longer until the mast is straight. SPREADER ANGLE The angle of the spreaders affects how much the maximum mast bend will be. Heavier crews will want a stiffer mast and lighter crews will want a softer mast. The starting point for the adjustment on this setting is where the shroud is not deflected out of straight between the chainplate and the hounds. Heavier crews may set their spreaders so the shroud is slightly deflected forward (1/4 -1/2 ”)while lighter crews may deflect the shroud aft (1/4”). Check to make sure that the sweep aft on each spreader is the same so that the mast bends consistently from side to side. Another good check on spreader sweep is the spreader tip to tip measurement from shroud to shroud. This measurement should be close to 32”….. farther apart for heavier crews and closer together for lighter crews. MAST BUTT LOCATION The mast butt position is measured from the center of the centerboard pin to middle of the mast. The best starting point is 19 3/8”. Moving the mast butt forward will reduce prebend while moving it aft will induce prebend ( important in “encouraging” proper mast bend in light winds.) We strongly suggest using the keel stepped mast as it makes the development of proper prebend/mastbend much easier. SHROUD ATTACHMENT LOCATIONS For most boats position the shrouds close to 72” aft of the jib tack. This will help the main go out further downwind and allow the mast to bend easier fore and aft while providing more sideways stability. Different shroud positions will require different spreader settings to achieve the same mastbend from boat to boat. MAST RAKE AND RIG TENSION SETTINGS To start, attach a 25’ tape measure to your main halyard and pull and lock the halyard in the position where the main would be hoisted to the top band. If it is pulled all the way up the measurement will be too long. Measure down to the top of the transom. In medium winds ( 5-10mph) with the rig tensioned to 150 lbs ( by the jib halyard and measured on the shrouds), we suggest setting up your shrouds so the rake is close to 20’ 8”. In winds of 10-15mph, tension the rig to 180lbs and check that the rake is close to 20’ 8 ½”. In winds of 15 plus tension your rig to 200lbs. In winds below 5mph set your rig tension to 80lbs. Lighter rig tension in lighter winds will allow more headstay sag and therefore make the jib a bit more powerful. Check your Prebend: At your medium wind setting your mast should develop approximately ½-3/4” of positive prebend. Sight up your mast’s luff slot to check this. Pull your main halyard ( or the tape measure if you’re checking your rake) along the backside of the mast and view the distance between the halyard and the back of the mast. Block your mast, or set your restricting lines to lock the mast in place at this ½- 3/4” prebend position. Sight up the backside of the mast and make sure the mast is perfectly straight side to side when the rig is tensioned in medium winds. If it is not you will need to check that the mast is centered in the boat…or more important centered through and above the mast partners at the deck. You may find it necessary to adjust the shrouds on one side and add to the other to make the mast straight. The mast should be shimmed snugly side to side at the deck (yet still able to move freely fore and aft). Now you are set up to go sailing in moderate breeze. The first thing to do when you go sailing is to again doublecheck the mast bend side to side. Sight up the back of the mast on both tacks and make sure the mast is straight from the deck to the hounds. If it sags to leeward shorten the spreaders. If it pops to windward lengthen them. This is critical to good boat speed. With the boat hiked flat you want to have an absolutely neutral helm in the boat. You should just need finger tip pressure to hold the tiller. If the boat has lee helm consider raking the mast back. If it has weather helm raking the mast further forward may be in order. Main trim MAINSHEET The mainsheet is the throttle on the Jet and must be adjusted regularly to keep the boat going at top speed. The idea is to keep the top batten on the main parallel to the boom at all time and in under 7 knots of wind have the top telltale flying 70% of the time. If the telltale flies constantly the main is too loose. If it stalls all the time it is too tight. Trimming the main is a constant exercise in easing and trimming as the wind increases and eases. In above 10-12 knots of wind the top telltale will fly all the time and the top batten should be nearly trimmed parallel to the boom. CUNNINGHAM The main cunningham controls the fore and aft position of the draft in the sail. Keep it loose until you begin to be overpowered and then tighten it to open the leech of the main by moving the draft forward in the sail. In light winds there should be 6-8” wrinkles perpendicular to the luff from head to tack. As the wind velocity builds the cunningham will be tightened until the wrinkles are minimized to just the lower ¼ of the main. In breeze above 18mph the luff should be nearly smooth. OUTHAUL In all but the very lightest conditions the outhaul should be tight when sailing upwind. In very light winds the outhaul will be eased until the foot is smooth and the shelf foot open about 1” in the middle of the boom. Downwind ease the outhaul about 2-3” to make the bottom of the main more powerful and to open up the shelf foot in the bottom of the sail about 3-4” in the middle of the boom. BOOM VANG The boom vang is used to hold the boom down when the mainsheet is eased and to bend the mast and depower the main in a breeze. Leave the vang completely slack until overpowered. Then take the slack out of it so that when a puff hits the main can be eased slightly with out losing leech tension. As the breeze picks up more (until constantly overpowered and the sheet is always eased) trim the vang much harder. This bends the mast and flattens the main and lets you play the mainsheet in the puffs with out loosing main leech or jib luff tension. The idea is that in very heavy winds, the vang is set hard enough that the mainsheet acts like a traveller and the need for an actual traveller is eliminated. Downwind, you want to use the vang to keep the top batten parallel to the boom. Ease the vang substantially before reaching the weather mark to make sure you don’t break your mast or boom in a breeze. In some conditions, mostly light air and flat water, the vang can be quite loose with the top batten outside of parallel, which allows you to sail a bit by the lee. However be carefull! In heavy air this makes the boat unstable and can result in the dreaded “death roll”. TRAVELER Many skippers in the Jet have eliminated the traveler, relying on vang tension to keep the main trimmed properly. With vang sheeting you tighten the vang to keep the boom down and the tension on the leech when the mainsheet is eased. For sure vang sheeting eliminates another the need for the traveler…just be sure you have a powerful, easily adjusted vang. For those boats using a traveler, as the breezes builds and the boat gets overpowered it is helpful to drop the traveler until the helm of the boat is neutral and the boat is flat. Jib trim SHEET AND LEADS To help judge the trim of the jib your North Jet jib has a leech telltale 1/3 of the way down the leech. The sail also comes with a trim line on the clew. To start set the jib lead so that the sheet is lined up with the trim lime on the clew of the jib. From there you will want to fine-tune the lead so that the telltales on the luff of the jib break evenly (watch through spreader window). Move the lead forward if the top luffs first. Move the lead back if the bottom luffs first. In heavy winds move the lead aft up to 2”. Although many Jet sailors measure and set their leads by measuring from the tack to the sheet bearing point on the lead ( should be close to 82”), remember that slight differences in rake, jib lead position vertically and actual lead fittings make it difficult for this measurement to be accurate. The trim line is always accurate. If it practical for you to move your leads laterally so they are 32” apart you will find better performance. Some Jet sailors have moved their leads as close as 29” apart. Tighter inboard leads allow the jib to be trimmed more eased at times without sacrificing pointing. This trim is more forgiving to steer yet still high and fast. After getting the lead position correct, we want to trim the jib in so that the telltale on the leech is just on the verge of stalling. You will need to adjust the tension on the jib sheet constantly as the wind builds and eases to keep the telltale just on the edge of stalling. JIB CLOTH The jib cloth tension should be tightened just enough so that there are always very slight wrinkles in the luff of the sail. In very heavy wind you will want to add tension and make the luff of the jib smooth to open the leech of the sail. Spinnaker trim Always sail your North spinnaker with a 6″ to 12″ curl in the luff. Careful concentration is necessary. Use short, smooth, in and out motions on the sheet to keep the spinnaker trimmed correctly. Try to keep from jerking the sheet when the spinnaker begins to collapse! Set the pole so it is nearly perpendicular to the wind. A telltale on the topping lift a foot up from the pole works great as a reference. Keep the clews even at all times through adjustments to your topping lift (pole). If the top of the spinnaker breaks high first, lower the pole. If the bottom luff breaks first raise the pole slightly. In light puffy conditions the pole height will be adjusted nearly as much as the sheet and guy! Sail Care Your North Sails are constructed out of the best materials on the market today. We make sure of this by testing every roll of cloth we use. Through proper care and maintenance your sails will give you the performance you have come to expect from a North Sail. The most important factor for a long life for your sails is to watch them for signs of wear and tear in high load and chafe areas. Be sure to wash the sails off with fresh water and dry the sails thoroughly before storing. A dry, mild climate is best. Excessive heat can cause problems with the sails due to the possibility of shrinkage. It is best to roll the mainsail and jib. MAINSAIL When hoisting and lowering the sail try to minimize the amount of creasing or wrinkling of the sail. Every time the sail gains a crease the cloth breaks down that much faster. Always have someone contain the leech and luff during these procedures. The battens can be left in the sail without any problems. Be sure to roll the sail down the leech so that the battens will not twist. This could cause damage to the battens. JIB Roll the jib keep parallel to the seams. SPINNAKER The spinnaker is fairly straight forward. Be sure to repair all tears and pulled stitches. Folding the sail when storing is best. This tuning guide was compiled with the help from many National Champions’ assistance and represents the latest thinking on sailing a Jet 14 fast. Thanks especially to Brent Barbehenn. Please give us a call if you have any questions. We look forward to helping you get the most from your new North sails. Good luck! READ MORE

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North Sail’s philosophy has always been to make tuning sails easy. We feel that it is very important to spend your time on the water sailing, and not thinking about your sail, rig and boat settings. When Oakley Jones and I sailed in the 110 Nationals, we wanted to be able to set up the boat quickly and concentrate on making the most of the wind and current conditions. The following measurements and concepts are those that we found to be the fastest for the North 3DL RM sails. MAINSAIL TRAVELER Keep the traveler in the middle third of the traveler range. In light air (0-9kts) keep it pulled up to the top of the middle third (about 9-11” above center). Once the wind increases to marginal hiking/trapping (9-13 kts) keep the traveler in the middle region of the track. In stronger winds (above 13 kts) utilize the bottom of the middle third (about 9-11” below center) of the track. MAINSHEET Light air or whenever the boat needs power, ease the mainsail until the top telltale is fully streaming. The last thing you want in light air is for the sail to be stalled. When the telltale is streaming aft this ensures that there is an even flow of air across the sails two surfaces. Heavier air or once the wind increases to 9 kts or greater the main can be sheeted in hard. OUTHAUL In boats with an overlapping headsails, like the 110, it is important to have the bottom third of the mainsail flat. The outhaul should be pulled on very hard in most conditions. The only exception to this would be in 0-5 kts where it can be eased to create a little bit of pocket in the sail. BACKSTAY The backstay should remain off (no tension) until the winds reach approximately 18kts or stronger. When the winds reach this level the backstay should be used very sparingly. However, if you find yourself wanting to “foot” pulling on the backstay (a bit) can increase your power through this type of move. CUNNINGHAM Pull on the Cunningham until there are only very small horizontal wrinkles along the luff of the sail. In heavier winds 18kts and over the Cunningham should be on full and the luff should be wrinkle free. GENOA SHEET TENSION Light air or 0-9 knots: sheet in the sail until the foot is slightly touching the base of the shroud at the chainplate. Medium air or 9-13kts: make sure it is pressed up against the shroud base. Heavy air or 13kts or more: trim the sail until the foot is aggressively rubbing against the shroud base. LEADS Our boat did not have adjustable leads so we set them up at the start of each day and never changed them from then on. We use the age-old technique of making the telltales break evenly from the top to the bottom. HALYARD TENSION / CLOTH Tension the halyard until no horizontal wrinkles appear on the sail. If the wind increases to heavy, 13knts or more, then you can pull it till vertical wrinkles JUST START to appear along the luff of the sail. RIG Adjusting the tension on a 110 can be a hassle so it is a good idea to choose just two settings. Light air: In the light stuff we adjusted the shourds till the leeward shroud just started to show some dangling. Heavy air: From the light air setting, we put turns on enough to keep the leeward shroud taught and not dangling. We used the light setting on the first day approx. 4-9kts and the heavy air setting on the last two days with winds 10-18 kts. MAST BEND Light air: 3” of prebend in the mast is most effective. Heavy air: 2-3” is best in order to keep the mast straight so that the forestay does not sag. SAILING TECHNIQUE 110’s, like most racing one-design sailboats, sail faster when they are flatter and kept inside the “groove”. Being in the “grove” can be described as a balancing act between maximum pointing ability and stalling the boat. Most boats perform their best within the “groove” and maintaining it involves a certain amount of concentration. Once the boat is in the groove you will have to do very little adjusting, don’t over steer. While we cannot guarantee immediate victory by following this guide, we can assure you will be taking a major step in the right direction. After experimenting you may find a slightly different setting that may mean even better boat speed for you and your style of sailing. If you have any questions or problems, please don’t hesitate to call. We are anxious to help you go faster and win more races! Good sailing! READ MORE

Here is an overview of the current and future tuning recommended for the Interclub Dinghy to the current standard model North Sails RadIC. These principals have been used to win the Nationals and Wharf Rat Challenge in 2007, 2008, and 2009 not to mention lots of regattas, races and fleet championships. MAST STEP The mast step is measured on the diagonal from T1 at the center of the deck and transom to the back of the mast in the step. The Vanguard style keelson and mast step height is the standard and used here. Baxter: 66 / 110.25 inches Benj: 50 / 110.50 inches (add 0.25 inches due to high keelson on 50) so use 110.75 inches Dowd: 81 / 109.75 inches (very fast in light winds) Max forward / 111 inches The step should be adjusted for conditions. Aft in light air and forward in heavy. MAST PARTNERS The Class Rules state the aft side of the mast partner from T1 must be between 8 feet 10 inches and 9 feet, or between 96 and 98 inches. The aft side of the mast partner should be set up as far back as legal, therefore at 96 inches from T1. The mast is adjusted in the partners by blocks. One inch of adjustment is allowed. There should be 8 mast blocks, each of these should be 1/8 inch thick. In light air all blocks are used behind the mast. In heavy air four blocks are used behind and four in front. The mast partner rule was the subject of typos and discrepancies in the Class Rules. Some documents say the minimum from T1 is 8 feet 10.5 inches but these documents are incorrect. You can rely on 8 feet 10 inches to be correct. The mast partners should have the custom rectangular plastic fitting of the Benj design. SHROUD TENSION The shrouds should be adjusted by Stamaster turnbuckles to make the mast straight side to side. In light air the shrouds should be almost slack. In heavy air the shrouds should be very tight. Never the less the leeward shroud will still go slack. FORESTAY AND RAKE Once the step and partners are set up then the forestay and shrouds control the rake. The rake is measured by locking the main halyard in the halyard lock with the tape measure shackled as though it were the head of the mainsail. Measure to T1. For light air the rake should be reduced to 19 feet 0 inches, or less rake (greater measurement). 19 feet and ½ inch seems to be a fast setting. Some boats are trying 19 feet 3 inches or even 19 feet 4 inches (very little rake, mast is nearly vertical, but powerful!). The rake should be measured with the headstay on, and off. In light air since the headstay is slack the headstay will not affect the rake measurement. In heavy air the rake should be increased to 18 feet 5 inches. This can be accomplished by moving the mast step, the partner mast blocks, and tightening the shrouds. The rake with the headstay pulled on to its sailing position should be 18 feet 8 inches. CENTERBOARD The centerboard must be positioned carefully with this tuning system. First locate the pin. These dimensions may help: T1 to center of pin on the diagonal – 79.25 inches. Height of center of pin above inner surface of hull – 1 and 7/8 inches. Distance of center of pin aft of intersection trunk bottom forward corner and inner surface of hull – 4 inches. These two measurements are from Baxter’s Vanguard #66. T2 (center of transom and bottom) to absolute tip of the centerboard when maximum raked forward – 100.5 inches. T2 to leading edge of centerboard at hull bottom when maximum raked forward – 80 and 1/8 inch. T2 to absolute tip of the centerboard when it is perpendicular – 89 inches. T2 to leading edge of centerboard at hull bottom when perpendicular – 79 and 1/8 inch (when the board goes from perpendicular to max forward rake this dimension increases by one inch). The centerboard should be positioned at maximum forward rake in flat water and medium winds, but not when tacking or accelerating to start from slow speeds. Therefore it must be raised for tacks, and slow speed starts, and then lowered again once at full speed (by the crew). The centerboard will stall easily in this tip forward position and must be raised immediately when stalled and in waves. In heavy winds the centerboard should be perpendicular. In light winds the centerboard should be half way between perpendicular and maximum forward. OUTHAUL AND LUFF TELLTALES The RadIC responds well to a loose outhaul in light winds. The distance from the side of the boom to the center of the foot should be more than a hand spread or 8 inches. In heavy winds the outhaul should be quite tight. The RadIC, and the Benj design Interclub sail before it, both exhibit a tendency for the bottom leeward telltale to stall in light air. During the development of the RadIC, and before that the RadIC06 we had the goal of eliminating or reducing this feature. The RadIC is the latest version of a fully re-faired Benj design. The RADIC06 is fuller in the bottom and flatter in the top than the Benj design, which is no longer produced. The RadIC is another step in that direction. If you are seeing your bottom leeward telltale stall try easing the outhaul, increasing the forestay tension, dropping the travelling car lower, reduce bend in the mast, and or sheet less hard. CUNNINGHAM The RadIC likes a loose cunningham and wrinkles in the front of the sail in light winds and flat water especially when new. In heavy winds use the cunningham to remove all the wrinkles along the luff. Be sure to ease the cunningham in lulls and slack completely downwind. VANG The RadIC when set on a Kenyon mast can use a hard vang to advantage in heavy winds. The Zephyr mast can not withstand as much vang tension but some can be used. In light winds the vang should simply keep the boom from lifting while tacking. TRAVELER In heavy winds the traveler should be all the way to leeward. In light winds and flat water the traveler can be as high as 7.5 inches up however 4 or 5 inches is a more normal setting MEDIUM WINDS Many of the techniques above apply to light or heavy winds. In medium winds a compromise will have to be found among the variables, tending toward the light wind settings until fully hiked. READ MORE

Congratulations on your purchase of North Highlander sails. We have worked hard to design and produce the fastest sails available. We are confident you will find superior speed over all conditions. Our sails are designed to be fast, easy to handle and trim. BOAT PREPARATION The following measurements are those we have found to be the fastest settings for your new North sails. After experimenting, you may find that a slightly different setting may mean even better boat speed for you. If you have any questions or problems, please don’t hesitate to call. We are anxious to help you go faster and win races! J MEASUREMENTS The J measurement (the measurement from the forestay to the front of the mast) should be a minimum of 67″ RAKE OF THE MAST To measure the mast rake on the Highlander, hoist a 50 foot tape to the top of the mast and measure the distance to the intersection of the transom and the back deck. With the rig set to the proper tension (very tight), this rake measurement, with the tape on the main halyard, should be 30’5″ to 30’7″. RIG TENSION To help control the rig and reduce jib luff sag, we suggest you set the rig up very tight. A good gauge for this is that the leeward shroud should not go slack until all three people are on the high side and starting to hike. If you have a tension gauge (we suggest the Loos, Model A Tension Gauge), it should be set at 25 to 32 on the forestay. DIAMOND TENSION ON THE MAST We suggest you set your lower diamond tension very tight. It should be possible to squeeze the diamonds to touch the mast no further away than 4″ from the attachment points to the mast. We suggest setting the upper diamonds so you can squeeze them 8″ from the attachment points. When using the Loos tension gauge, the number should be 15 to 18 for the lower two diamonds and 4 to 6 for the higher one. On the older gold aluminum masts and wood masts, set the diamond tension slightly lower (about 4 to 5 numbers lower on the Loos gauge). SHIM THE BACK EDGE OF THE BUTT OF YOUR MAST We suggest placing a 3/16″ to 1/4″ spacer under the back of your aluminum butt casting. This will help reduce the usual reverse bend common in light winds and it will allow the mast to bend more easily in heavy winds. RIG TUNING & SAIL TRIM JIB CLOTH AND MAIN CUNNINGHAM ADJUSTMENTS In both of these adjustments, just enough tension should be applied to barely remove the wrinkles. In fact, it is best to leave very slight wrinkles along the luffs of your sails to be sure they are not too tight. On the jib, we watch for slight “crow’s feet” from the hanks, on the main we watch for slight horizontal wrinkles from the luff on the lower quarter of the sail. JIB LEAD – STANDARD INBOARD For the standard jib (not clewboard) the lead position should be placed 15″ to 16″ off centerline. For a rough set of the fore and aft placement of your leads, measure from the jib luff wire attachment point at the stem plate to where the sheet, if extended through the jib lead block, would intersect the seat. This measurement should be close to 9’4″ at the intersection of the sheet and the seat. In heavier winds of 15 to 18 mph, move your jib lead back 1″. In winds above 18 mph move your jib lead back 2″ from the standard position. In the standard position, the luff of your jib should break just a little bit earlier up high than the lower section of the jib. As the lead is moved farther aft, the upper sections of the jib will become flatter and the luff will break slightly earlier than the lower sections. JIB LEAD TRIM LINE Your North standard inboard jib is built with a “trim line” penciled in from the clew grommet out towards the body of the sail. As a final check (and most accurate) when your leads are positioned properly, your jib sheet should appear as an exact extension of the trim line. In heavy winds with your leads aft, your sheet should angle aft slightly off the trim line. JIB LEAD – CLEWBOARD On the clewboard jib, a good starting point is to place your sheet in the middle clewboard hole. Move the shackle forward to flatten out the foot of the jib and open the upper leech. Move the shackle aft to tighten the leech up top and make the bottom of the jib fuller. As with the standard jib, you want to set your clewboard so the jib luff breaks slightly earlier up top as the boat is luffed into the wind. In heavy air, it is best to see more break up high, so move the jib sheet forward on the clewboard as the breeze picks up. Laterally, the clewboard lead position should (where the sheet turns through the sheave of the block) be 16 1/2″ to 17″ off centerline. JIB SHEET TRIM The spreader window allows the skipper to line up the leech of the jib with the lower spreader for use as a trimming guide. The upper batten should be positioned out from the centerline approximately 5 to 10 degrees. The jib sheet will have to be altered constantly to adjust to the puffs and lulls, and to keep the correct twist. In light to medium winds, with the leads and sheet trimmed correctly, you should experience very little to no backwind in your main. In heavy winds, slight “breathing” of the lower 1/3 of the mainsail luff is not unusual. MAINSHEET TRIM An excellent guide to trimming your North Highlander main is to line up the upper batten parallel to the boom. This is viewed by sighting directly underneath the boom. Use this upper batten setting in all conditions, except in very light or very heavy air. In light air, the upper batten may hook due to the weight of the boom. Pulling the traveler to weather and easing the sheet helps to reduce this problem. We are, however, still trying to reach the position in which the upper batten is parallel to the boom. In very heavy winds, it is necessary to ease the sheet to keep the boat balanced and tracking well. It may be eased out past parallel by as much as 20 degrees. THE BRIDLE TRAVELER Play bridle traveler, easing it down in puffs and back up in the lulls to keep the boat balanced. The bridle height, measured to the top of the block from the back deck is 22″. If your bridle is easily adjusted in height, ideally the bridle height should be 26″ in very light winds and 20″ in very heavy winds. However, if the bridle height is fixed, again 22″ is the best all-around position. If you need further information on rigging the bridle traveler, please contact us here at the loft. OUTHAUL TENSION Your North mainsail is constructed with a shelf foot so it is possible to make the lower half of the main deeper when sailing downwind. Usually the outhaul is tight enough upwind so that there will be only a 1 1/2″ to 2″ gap between the side of the boom and the shelf foot seam in the middle of the foot. In heavy winds, pull the outhaul tighter to close the shelf and flatten the main. In extremely heavy winds, above 18 mph, the outhaul should be tight enough so there is a hard crease from the tack to the clew. In lighter winds or choppy seas, ease the outhaul until the gap between he side of the boom and the shelf seam is 2 1/2″. When going downwind, ease the outhaul until the gap is a full 5″ and the shelf is open. BOOMVANG The boomvang is used downwind to keep the upper batten parallel to the boom. In puffs, when the boat is overpowered and heeling, the vang is “dumped” to keep the end of the boom from hitting the water. Upwind, the vang is also used in moderate to heavy winds to keep the boom and leech controlled while easing the sheet in puffs. Heavy vang tension upwind will also bend the mast and flatten the sail, which will help keep the boat under control in heavy breezes. SPINNAKER TRIM Always sail your North spinnaker with a 6″ to 12″ curl in the luff. Careful concentration is necessary. Use short 2″ “ins and outs” on the sheet to keep the spinnaker trimmed correctly. Keep the clews even at all times through adjustments to your pole topping lift. Another guide is to adjust your pole height, keeping the center vertical seam in your spinnaker parallel to the mast. Note: Skipper/crew teamwork is important for good downwind speed. It is important that the crew ease the spinnaker sheet as much as 3″ in a puff, so that the skipper can bear off and keep the boat under the chute. Of course in lulls, the spinnaker must be retrimmed quickly. Note: At times it is difficult to fly the spinnaker when the wind comes forward of the beam. If in doubt, don’t fly it. SAIL CARE Your North Sails are constructed out of the best materials on the market today. We make sure of this by testing every roll of cloth we use. Through proper care and maintenance your sails will give you the performance you have come to expect from a North sail. The most important factor for a long life for your sails is to watch them for signs of wear and tear in high load and chafe areas. Be sure to wash the sails off with fresh water and dry the sails thoroughly before storing. A dry, mild climate is best. Excessive heat can cause problems with the sails due to the possibility of shrinkage. It is best to roll the mainsail and jib. MAINSAIL When hoisting and lowering the sail try to minimize the amount of creasing or wrinkling of the sail. Every time the sail gains a crease the cloth breaks down that much faster. Always have someone contain the leech and luff during these procedures. The battens can be left in the sail without any problems. Be sure to roll the sail down the leech so that the battens will not twist. This could cause damage to the battens. JIB When rolling the jib keep the battens perpendicular to the leech. Pay special attention to the battens and batten pockets for wear and tear. Since this sail is manufactured from yarn tempered Dacron, problems can arise due to mishandling. At North Sails we are constantly striving to make our products better. If you have any comments on this tuning guide and how it could be improved for your purposes we’d love to hear from you. Please give us a call or drop us a line. Rev. Q05 READ MORE

Proper boat speed depends mostly on constant and consistent adjustments to your rig and sails. The following measurements are those that we have found to be the fastest settings for you new North sails. We have brushed and tested different tuning settings to be sure that we have the fastest and easiest measurements available. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call. MAST BUTT PLACEMENT The back edge of the stock butt plate should be 111” from the inside of the transom when measured along the floor of the boat. The back edge of the mast, when sitting on the forward pin in the step, should be 114” from the transom. MAST RAKE To measure your mast rake, hoist a metal tape measure on your main halyard, lock it, and hold the tape tight at the top of the transom in the middle of the transom. The measurement is always taken with the jib up, and with all the load on the jib halyard and luff wire. This measurement should be 23’ 5” in heavy air and 23’ 6” in light air. RIG TENSION AND SHROUD PLACEMENT We suggest setting your shrouds so that the rig will be tight enough that the leeward shroud will not go slack sailing upwind until the wind is blowing approximately 10 mph. An excellent method to determine a more precise tension is to use a Loos Tension Gauge Model A on the shrouds. The reading with this smaller tension gauge will be 18. In light air this reading should be around 200 lbs., in heavy air it should be around 300 lbs. (over 15 knots of wind) SPREADER LENGTH AND CANT Your spreaders (with the standard mast) should be 19” long, with a 6” sweep. Spreader cant will be determined by your crew weight. Heavier crews will sails with shorter numbers (spreader tips farther apart.) MAST PREBEND With the proper rake, rig tension, and spreader set your mast should develop approximately 1/2” of positive prebend when sighted up the back of the mast. MAST BLOCK At this point, the mast should be blocked at the deck in order to limit mast bend. This will insure that the mast will not overbend and overflatten the mainsail in heavy winds. NOTE: It is suggested to remove this block downwind to avoid any undue strains on the mast at deck level. MAIN CUNNINGHAM AND JIB CLOTH For both the main and jib, never apply more luff tension than is necessary to just barely remove the wrinkles. Most times it is actually better to leave a hint of horizontal wrinkles in the lower 1/4 of the luff of your main and jib to be sure you haven’t pulled too tight. JIB LEAD TRIMLINE Your North jib is built with a “trimline” penciled in from the clew grommet out towards the body of the sail. This is the most accurate check in determining proper jib lead position. When the jib lead is positioned properly, your jib sheet should appear as an exact extension of the trimline. At this point both telltales, tip and bottom, should break evenly as the boat is luffed into the wind. In heavy winds, when the boat is overpowered, move your jib leads aft as much as 2” at which point your jib sheet will angle slightly aft of the trimline and your jib will become flatter up top with the leech more open. JIB SHEET TRIM Unfortunately, there is no easy guide for trimming the jib sheet. We are looking for a parallel slot between the exit of the jib and the entry of the main. The guide which has been very successful is that of imagining a middle batten on the jib at mid-leech. This “batten” should be set parallel to the centerline of the boat which will make the upper half of the jib leech twist outboard slightly, and the lower half twist inboard slightly. In light air, 1-2” off shroud base, in medium air the foot should be curled to just touch the chainplate and in heavy air there should be a horizontal crease appearing along foot. It is important to be careful not to overtrim the jib and hook the imaginary batten tighter than parallel with the centerline of the boat. It seems that 90% of the boat speed problems experienced are due to faulty jib sheet trim. MAINSHEET TRIM Trim the main through use of the mainsheet and the boomvang so that the last 1/3 of the upper batten is parallel to the boom (sighted from under the boom, looking up the sail.) In light winds it will be impossible to keep the upper batten from hooking slightly to windward due to the large roach of the C-15 main. In these conditions set the upper batten parallel to the centerline of the boat (instead of parallel to the boom.) This will position the boom farther off centerline which is acceptable since in light winds the boat is driven much harder and not pointed near as much as it is in medium and heavy winds. It is also important to try to keep the leech telltales flying in all conditions. In heavy winds, maximum mast bend will open the upper leech so that the upper batten will be angled 5 to 10 degrees out from parallel to the boom. BOOMVANG Downwind we trim the vang just enough to keep the boom down and the leech “set” on the mainsail (the back 1/3 of the upper batten parallel to the boom.) Because the shrouds are swept aft preventing the boom from going out on a run, ease the vang to allow the top batten to be perpendicular to the wind when running. Upwind it has become popular to use the vang to keep the upper batten parallel and force more bend into the mast. In puffs, when the mainsheet must be eased out quickly to help balance the boat, easing the mainsheet in a puff would actually allow the mast to straighten up, causing the sail to become fuller. In effect, keeping the vang set tight upwind in a breeze will actually set the tension down on the boom, allowing the mainsheet to control the angle of the boom to the centerline. TRAVELLER The traveller is used to further depower the main. The skipper should be able to easily reach the traveller controls while hiking. This way, when a puff hits, it is easy to drop the traveller to leeward to keep the helm and boat balanced. When the wind lightens, the traveller must come back up. In very light winds, pull the traveller to windward to help keep the boom closer to centerline and still maintain the aft 1/3 of the upper batten parallel to the boom. Be sure to pull it up to windward as quickly after a tack as possible and not leave it to leeward for any length of time. Boom end sheeting with a bridle traveler is becoming more popular in the C-15 class. The height of the bridle should be determined by the mainsheet almost being able to “two-block” in a medium (12 to 15 ) mph wind. If your bridle and mainsheet blocks touch before proper mainsheet tension has been applied, the boat will not develop top speed or pointing capabilities. Many C-15 sailors are now using a “split mainsheet” boom end system which makes trimming the mainsheet much easier. Basically a purchase is reduced at the end of the boom so that the traveller bridle legs can be sewn into the mainsheet where it enters the boom end block. Call us if we can help you set this up. OUTHAUL Pull the outhaul to the band except in very light or choppy conditions when extra power is desired. In these conditions it is advantageous to ease the outhaul 1” to 2”. When the outhaul is pulled out tight you will notice the beginning of a crease just above the boom. This crease is normal as it is the extra fullness built into the sail for power when the outhaul is eased. North C-15 sails have been designed to be fast and easy to adjust. If you have any questions or problems please don’t hesitate to give us a call. READ MORE

Thank you for choosing North Sails for your Catalina 22. We hope using this tuning guide will help you get the most from your new North Sails. Please feel free to call us if you have any questions. Our goal is to give you a rig set up that is fast in all conditions and easy to adjust. Some relatively minor modifications are necessary to the standard Catalina 22 deck layout in order to get the most from your boat and sails. General GENOA TRACKS We have found it a huge advantage to install inboard genoa lead tracks. These should be 2-3’ long centered on the aft edge of the cabin. The track should be 2” out from the intersection of the deck and the side of the cabin. Before drilling make sure you have access underneath the deck for bolting down the track. Be careful of wiring for deck lights. SHROUD ROLLERS A good idea to improve tacking is to install shroud rollers on the upper and forward lower shrouds. Install 36” rollers on the forward lowers and 12” rollers on the upper shrouds. ADJUSTABLE BACKSTAY In order to properly control the shape of the genoa and mainsail it is a big help to have a easily adjustable and fairly powerful backstay. Give us a call or refer to back issues of the “Mainsheet” for ideas how to set one up. Mast Tuning BEFOR SAILING First loosen shrouds until they are somewhat loose. MAST RAKE The mast rake is probably the single most important element of tuning your boat. Note the mast rake should vary from fixed to swing keels with swing keels having slightly less rake. Start with boat sitting on its lines in the water. Hang a weight from the end of the main halyard and cleat off halyard with weight and shackle 12” below the boom. Measure distance from the aft face of the mast to where the halyard crosses the boom. This measurement should be 8” for fixed keels, 6-7” for swing keels. Adjust the headstay turnbuckle to achieve desired measurement. Tighten backstay until snug, no slack. Remove weight from halyard, attach a tape measure to halyard and haul to top of mast. Measure from side to side tightening or loosening upper shrouds until mast is centered. Now start tightening upper shrouds until they have show 28 on the gauge. Tighten forward lowers until they show 24 on the gauge. Tighten aft lowers until they are 24 on the gauge too. To measure shroud tension use a Loos Model A Tension Gauge. The end result here is to have the mast straight fore and aft with a small amount of rake to give the boat some “bite” upwind. Now you’re ready to go sailing! On the Water Sailing upwind with moderate backstay on, sight up the backside of the mast checking that it is straight. Tighten or loosen lower shrouds until mast is straight side-to-side. Your mast is now tuned for moderate winds. The reason for checking the mast while sailing is that the shrouds will stretch slightly under load. We want to make sure the mast is straight, especially side-to-side, under sail. SAIL TRIM LIGHT AIR (0-8 knots) Main Outhaul should be tensioned so clew is 1-2” in from band. Cunningham/halyard should be loose so there are horizontal wrinkles coming off mast. Traveler should be centered or slightly to windward. Adjust mainsheet tension so top telltale is flying 90% of the time. Note: Top batten will be slightly outboard of parallel to boom, this may be impossible in very light wind. Genoa Tension genoa halyard so that there is a hint of wrinkles in the luff. Be careful not to over tension. Adjust genoa lead fore and aft so luff breaks evenly (roughly 30” forward of deck drain). If top telltales luff first, move car forward. If bottom telltales luff first, move car back. Backstay should be adjusted so you have about 6” of forestay say. Upwind, trim your sail so it is approximately 4-6” away from the end of the spreader. MODERATE AIR Main Pull foot out to band-traveler in center. Tension mainsheet so top telltale flies 70% of time; top batten will be parallel or slightly in board of parallel. This helps to generate power. Tension main halyard/ cunningham to just remove horizontal wrinkles in luff. Genoa Trim sheet so sail is 2-3” from end of spreader. Tension backstay to medium setting. This will straighten headstay and slightly flatten sail (3-4” of sag). If sailing in waves and chop, move genoa lead forward 1-2 holes to generate more power. HEAVY AIR Main Outhaul out to band – max tight. Tension halyard or cunningham hard to keep draft forward. Tension aft lower shrouds to keep mast from bending too much. Backstay on very tight. Top batten should be outside of parallel. Traveler should be dropped to leeward all the way. Tension the vang tight enough so that the boom does not go up when the mainsheet is eased. This will allows you to “vang sheet” to keep boat on its feet. Remember, flat is fast. Play the mainsheet aggressively in the puffs to keep the boat flat. Genoa Tighten halyard quite tight to keep draft forward. Move lead 1-2 holes aft of light air position. Trim sail so it is 3-4” off end of spreader. Tighten backstay very tight to make headstay as straight as possible and flatten sail. * Please note that the above trim settings should be taken as starting points only. These are meant to show the range of settings from light to heavy air. We have found it useful to keep a logbook every time we go sailing to note fast settings or ideas. READ MORE

Thanks for your purchase of North Sails for your Capri 22. We have designed these sails to be fast, easy to use and long lasting. The following tuning guide is meant to be a starting point for setting up your rig. We have developed these settings and instructions in order make your C 22 easy to sail and fast throughout the wide range of conditions. MAST RAKE Factory head stay length is 25’5”, Gibb hook to end of stud. Attach toggle on bottom of turnbuckle to the farthest forward stem hole, and extend turnbuckle to max ease setting. This is your light-air rake/tension setting. (Be sure to remove any additional toggles, as these will induce too much weather helm.) Wind Speed Upper Shroud Tension Lower Shroud Tension Head Stay 0-5 28 18 Max rake 6-9 31 20 Max rake 10-14 +2 Turns +1 Turn +10Turns 15-20 +4 Turns +2 Turns +20Turns 21+ +6 Turns +3 Turns +30Turns Using Loos Model PT1 Go out and sail this setting to ensure the main sets up smoothly to the rig. If it doesn’t, you may need to make some minor lower adjustments to fit the main sails luff curve with your mast. Be sure to remove the spinnaker pole mast track and substitute a fixed ring. This will allow more flexibility in the lower sections of your mast and allow for a wider range of settings. HEADSTAY TENSION These numbers are flat water and steady breeze only. The more wave/swell and breeze fluctuations, the less turns you should put on. GENOA LEAD POSITION Remove stock genoa lead tracks and replace with race tracks. These have more holes and provide finer adjustment. Place the car all the way forward for the light air setting. The turning block should be on the trim in until the foot of the genoa touches the upper shrouds with increases in windspeed. If the mainsail starts to over back-wind the mainsail, drop the car back one hole at a time until this problem stops. Be careful not to move the lead back too far as you can lose necessary leech tension and also your ability to point. BACKSTAY “A little bit of a properly rigged one of these, goes a long way.” Since the mast of the Capri is relatively soft, applying backstay can depower the sail plan thus reducing helm related drag and increasing your ability to keep the boat tracking. A 16:1 purchase system is recommended. Synthetic line is not only class legal, but much softer on your mainsail than the factory wire and recommended. The backstay and mainsheet work together between your standard rig settings to handle the inevitable fluctuations in sea state and wind velocity. CREW WEIGHT Since there are no limitations on number of crew, or their combined weight, sail with at least three crew to maximize maneuvers. As the breeze builds into the 10-14 range and up, try to sail with additional crew members, or heavier ones. A good minimum racing crew weight is 600 lbs. You may want to be closer to 700 or more if you anticipate winds in excess of 15 knots steady. Try to accomplish this with four to five crew, as any more gets crowded. AFTERMARKET RUNNING RIGGING IMPROVEMENTS Recent changes to the Capri 22 Class Rules now allow for changes as long as they are “not used in such a way as to change the fundamental sailing characteristics of the Capri22.” Some of the bases include: Windward Sheeting Traveler Car Racing Genoa Tracks Adjustable Backstay Ratchet Spin Sheet Blocks Ratchet Genoa Sheet Blocks Adjustable Twings Main Cunningham Light Weight Aluminum Spinnaker Pole Tapered Synthetic Sheets/Halyards/ Control Lines/Backstay Electronic Mast Mounted Compass READ MORE

Thanks for your purchase of North Sails for your Capri 14.2. We have designed these sails to be fast, easy to use and long lasting. The following tuning guide is meant to be a starting point for setting up your rig. We have developed these settings and instructions in order make your C 14.2 easy to sails and fast throughout the wide range of conditions you will encounter on the racecourse. Setting up the Rig Since the rig on the C-14.2 is pretty simple, tuning it is very easy. Our goal is to set the boat up so that the boat will have practically “neutral helm” when sailing upwind. We need this neutral helm so that we do not have to use the rudder too much upwind. MAST RAKE To achieve a neutral helm we need to set the boat up with as much rake as permitted. The forestay length should be the maximum allowed (15’3 3/4” per class rules). If the forestay is short either buy a new one or add shackles until it is the right length. SHROUD TENSION The one thing that has the most effect on the shape of your jib is the tension on the shrouds. Because we want the sail to be flatter upwind than downwind, the shrouds are set quite loose on the C-14.2. This allows the mast to tip forward down wind and get fuller. To check your shroud tension, pull a tape measure to the top of the mast and measure to the middle of the transom while your crew is holding the mast forward by pulling on the forestay. The measurement should be 21’ 10 1/2” to 21’11”. Adjust your shroud pins up or down as needed to achieve these measurements. Sail Trim JIB Because the leads on the C-14.2 are set so far outboard, it is important that the jib be trimmed quite tightly compared to other boats when sailing upwind. In light to medium air you will want a slight curve to the foot. However when the breeze is up and both skipper and crew are hiking trim the sail hard so that there is a slight crease running between the clew and the tack. Always sail with the jib lead all the way forward. Your sail is cut with this in mind and having the lead forward will make the sail trim correctly. Jib halyard tension is also very important and the halyard tension needs to be adjusted for changes in wind speed. Basically we are looking to have a slight hint of wrinkles in the luff of the sail at all times. As the winds picks up you will need more halyard tension and as it decreases it will be necessary to ease off the halyard. Downwind it pays to let off the jib halyard a bit to make the sail fuller and more powerful. MAINSAIL The mainsail has a few more adjustments than the jib and is actually a much more versatile sail because of that. Follow these guidelines for trimming the different main controls. BOOM VANG The vang is used primarily to control the boom so that it does not rise up and release power from the main when the sheet is let out. Downwind tension the vang so that the top batten is parallel to the boom. Upwind in light air the vang can be kept loose. However, when you need to start easing the sheet, to keep the boat on its feet, it’s time to tension the vang. In moderate air trim the mainsheet in, to it’s correct upwind setting, then take all the slack out of the vang. As the wind picks up more you will need to put more tension on the vang to de-power the lower part of sail and keep tension on the main leech as the sheet is eased. CUNNINGHAM The cunningham controls the fore and aft position of the draft in the main. Generally the cunningham is kept completely loose until the wind reaches about 8 12 knots, from there we tension the luff of the sail so that it is just smooth. OUTHAUL The outhaul is used to control the fullness in the lower part of the sail and is kept tight upwind except in the very lightest of winds. Downwind, let the outhaul off about 3” to fully open up the shelf foot in the bottom of the sail. Be careful not to let the outhaul off too much as you can reduce the mainsail area projected to the wind. MAINSHEET The mainsheet is the throttle on the boat and needs to be adjusted constantly. The best sailors rarely cleat their mainsheet. They are continually playing it to optimize their boat’s speed. We start by making sure that the main traveler is set up so that mainsheet block stays in the middle all the time. You will need to tie knots in the traveler to restrict the block’s movement. Next set the height of the apex of the traveler to 28” above the top of the transom. This will insure that when you trim the main in all the way the blocks in the back come together. Trim the main as tight as you can to keep the boat on its feet and sailing flat. Use the mainsheet to control the heel of the boat and keep it tracking upwind. Be careful not to over-trim the sail as this will cause the boat to go slow and be prone to tipping over quickly in a puff. We hope this guide will be a good starting point for you as you get to know your new North Sails. As always, please feel free to give us a call if you have any questions. READ MORE

The following tuning guide is meant to be a good starting point in setting up your rig and sails. We are trying to achieve a setup that is fast in all conditions. Your new North Sails are designed for all around sailing performance. MAST RAKE The Cal 20 sails best with one or two degrees aft mast rake. While the factory stepped the masts in different fore and aft positions, we still need some sort of reference starting point. First, check that the black bands are in the correct position on the mast. Make sure the top of the bottom band is 30 inches above the deck and that the top of the upper band is 23 feet above that. Step the mast and then slide a 5/16 slug into the main sail groove and raise a tape measure up 23 feet to the top band. Pull on just enough backstay to make the head stay snug and measure back to the top edge of the transom on the centerline of the boat. 28 feet seems to be a universally acceptable starting point for the rake. Sometimes a toggle must be added to the forestay to achieve this much rake. If your boat has consistently too much helm upwind, the rake should go probably forward. SHROUD TENSION One fairly unique feature of the Cal 20 is the lower shroud placement. Since they are well aft of the mast base, they have a huge effect not only upwind on the side bend of the mast, but downwind as well since they restrict how far forward the mast can go. With the backstay snug, I measure down from a fixed point on the backstay bridle to the top of the transom. Then I let the backstay off and make sure that my measurement reference point on the backstay can rise up at least 18 inches. This seems to be far enough forward downwind to be fast. At this point the lower shrouds should be tight. If the mast won’t go this far forward, the lowers must be eased and if the reference point goes past 18 inches, tighten the lowers till snug. The next step is to make sure the mast is straight sideways. Mark your main halyard and swing it to a common reference point from one side of the hull to the other. Adjust the uppers shrouds so the measurement is even side to side. The side shrouds are adjusted while sailing to windward. The mast should be straight in winds below 3 knots. From 5 knots up until the boat is overpowered, the mast should have a slight sag in the middle. Once overpowered (usually above 10-12 knots), the uppers should be eased to straighten the mast and help flatten the main. Sighting up the aft mast groove with sail pressure on the rig and making slight adjustments to the turnbuckles is the easiest way to obtain the results desired. JUMPERS Especially on larger, stiffer mast sections, the windward jumper should be loose when going upwind with no backstay on. The reason for this is that since the lower termination point of the jumper is at the spreaders, any tension on the jumper won’t let the mast sag to leeward and will depower the main if too tight. As the mast bends fore and aft from the backstay tension in the windier conditions, the jumper will start to take load and keep the tip from falling off too much. BACKSTAY The backstay should be tightened just enough to keep the headstay from bouncing too much. This requires constant attention. Too much backstay tension tends to bend the mast too much and open the main leech too much. A common symptom of too much backstay is not being able to point upwind. In puffy conditions it is best to play the backstay constantly to keep the boat both powered up in the lulls and flat in the puffs. BOOM VANG The boom vang bends the lower part of the mast allowing the main to be flattened. Once the boat is overpowered and you have to ease the mainsheet to keep the boat on its feet, the vang must come on pretty hard upwind. Note: Remember to ease the boom vang after rounding the windward mark because considerable stress is put on the middle of the boom when the sheet tension is released. LUFF TENSION Both main and jib should have just enough tension to maintain maximum draft position as follows: Main 50% aft of the mast Jib 35% – 40% aft of the headstay Don’t overstretch the sail! Too much luff tension moves the draft forward, which is very slow. BARBER HAULER – JIB SHEET Probably the most controversial adjustment on a Cal 20 is the barber hauler or jib traveler positioning. We have prepared a chart to give you a good starting point for different wind and water conditions. The percentages relate to how far inboard from the outer rail to the hatch the positioning should be. Wind Water Conditions Barber Hauler Position 0-5 smooth 90% inboard 0-5 rough 75% inboard 6-11 smooth 98% inboard 6-11 rough 85% inboard 12-15 smooth 95% inboard 12-15 rough 85% inboard 16-21 smooth 75% inboard 16-21 rough 50% inboard   Be sure to watch that the leech is not hooking to windward due to excessive boom vang or mainsheet tension. Also, mainsheet must be eased when the boat heels more than 15 degrees. A Cal 20 must be sailed “on her feet”. DOWNWIND SAIL TRIM A few tips that will be helpful: Ease backstay and jib halyard so they match each other. Try to balance crew weight so there is a neutral helm. Watch that the boom vang is not on tight enough to hook the leech to windward. Keep crew weight as low as possible to avoid pitching from side to side. SAIL CARE Rolling your sails is very important, not just because they will last longer, but also to avoid getting permanent wrinkles. Rinse sails with tap water to remove salt and keep out of hot enclosed areas. READ MORE

The stable, safe Bullseye provides wonderful racing. Since it is a fairly heavy under powered boat, to get the best upwind performance the sails need to be trimmed so they are full and twisted in most conditions. MAST TUNING Spreader length and angle Free Swing? Yes, should pull the shrouds in ½ to 1” from the straight line. STEP POSITION Is there any choice? No HEADSTAY AND SHROUD TENSION General, tight or loose: moderate to loose MAIN TRIM To trim the main to best advantage rig a bridle. The object of the bridle is to enable the boom to be trimmed close to the centerline, without over tightening the leech of the mainsail. Rig the bridle by attaching a single block fixed at the center. Tie or run the ends of the line through the normal mainsheet blocks on the aft deck. When properly adjusted the length of the two bridle lines (equal on both sides of the boat) should hold the sheeting block just below the boom, over the centerline of the boat when the mainsheet is trimmed to make the top batten parallel to the boom. MAINSHEET TRIM To judge proper mainsheet trim, sight from under the boom, and trim sufficiently so the top batten is parallel to the boom. We recommend installing a head knocker type mainsheet cleat forward of the skipper’s position. Too little trim will reduce pointing and trimming too tight will increase weather helm and slow the boat. This allows the helmsman to adjust the mainsheet while keeping the boat on course. MAIN OUTHAUL Your North main has a lens shaped piece of light material fitted to the bottom of the sail. This allows easing the outhaul to make the bottom of the sail much fuller. In under 16 knots of breeze, ease the outhaul until the lens foot is completely open. Sometimes, easing a little more works well too. When it blows hard tightening the outhaul flattens the main sufficiently to sail easily in 25 knots of breeze without excessive heeling. CUNNINGHAM Allow the lower half of the main to develop significant wrinkles. Tightening the cunningham to pull the wrinkles completely out pulls the draft in the main too far forward, and reduce pointing. JIB ADJUSTMENT There are two important items here. Set the wishbone between the bottom hank and the second hank instead of the 2nd one. Use a light piece of line to support the wishbone at the half way point. This allows the top of the jib to twist properly, because the clew can rise up as the sheet is eased. The other point is there should be a telltale on the top batten. JIB SHEET The jib trimmer uses this telltale to determine proper jib trim which is just as critical to good speed and pointing as mainsail trim and needs to be adjusted more often. When the jib is trimmed correctly, the telltale will just be flowing. To determine this trimming point, while the helmsman steers the boat on the wind, the crew pulls the jib in until the telltale flutters then eases it out until it flows again. It is helpful when speed drops coming out of tacks or when sailing into bid waves, to ease the jib sheet. Paying close attention to the leech telltale helps determine how much ease is best. The helmsman needs to steer the boat so the weather telltale on the luff of the jib lays down, but when the leeward telltale flutters, the sheet should be eased until the boat can be headed up again. CLEW POSITION Clew position is determined by the wish-bone setting. JIB HALYARD Be careful not to over tension the jib halyard. Set it so there is a slight hint of horizontal wrinkles in the jib luff. In a breeze these will show up at the hanks. In lighter air they should show evenly along the luff tape. READ MORE

Congratulations on your purchase of North Buccaneer sails. We are confident you will find superior speed over all conditions. Time has been spent to insure that not only are your sails fast, but they are also easy to handle and trim. The following measurements are those we’ve found to be the fastest for your new North sails. After experimenting you may find slightly different settings which may mean even better boat speed for you and your style of sailing. We have found that neutral helm is a good goal of the tuning process. If you have any questions or problems, please don’t hesitate to call. We are anxious to help you go faster and win more races! Onshore Adjustments The two key tuning adjustments, mast rake and centerboard position, differ greatly for low mast step pre 1980 Buccaneers and high mast step boats built after that date. MAST RAKE The Nickels Buccaneers are set up to sail with neutral helm at 4.5 degrees of rake. To set up the mast with the proper rake the simplest method is to run a tape measure from the main halyard shackle pulled to the sheave at the top of the mast to the transom. With the “standard” mast length of 23’5” (281”) the distance to the outside edge of the transom will be 24’7” (295”). As a rule of thumb, 2” represents 1 degree of rake. This must be done with the jib on and the rig fully tensioned. You increase rake by moving the pins on the shroud adjuster down. Some Cardinals and Gloucesters have a mast that is 2” longer (283”) – use 297” to 299” to determine rake. Chrysler masts are 3” shorter so use 293” to 295” to set the rake OR add blocking to raise the mast higher). If this causes too much weather helm – rake the mast forward until the helm is neutral. On pre-1980 Buccaneers with low mast steps, less rake is needed. With the longer mast, the same amount of rake would move the center of effort aft more than on post 1980 high mast step boats. If the rake is increased as much as suggested above, the centerboard may need to be moved aft (see below). It is best to set up the mast rake on your older Buccaneer so that with the correct amount of rig tension (less rig tension than on newer boats) the mast will be 1/4″ to 3/8″ away from the forward edge of the deck partner (on boats where the mast is stepped below deck level). This is important as it will allow the mast to bend adequately in heavy air with the boomvang tension on tight. As a final check the boom should be drooped slightly below parallel to the horizon at the outboard end when trimmed in and sailing upwind in a 10-15 mph breeze. In winds below that (8-10 mph) the boom should just be level with the horizon. Two tables help to determine mast rake, either from a plumb bob measurement (Table 1) or from the masthead to transom measurement (Table 2). The plumb bob method uses a plumb bob (or other suitable weight) attached to the main halyard. This method must be performed with NO wind and the boat carefully leveled on its waterline to be accurate. The foredeck is sloped forward at 0 to just over 1.0 degrees, but a useful quick method of leveling the boat is to level the fore deck just in front of the mast and deduct 1.0 degree from the value from Table 1. Because of the variability of the deck angle this is only an approximate level. Measure aft from the mast base to the plumb bob and read the angle from the table for the appropriate mast length. The second method uses a long measuring tape hoisted to the mast head on the main halyard. The measurement should be taken from the mast head to the transom inboard of the of the hull-deck joint. Use Table 2 to determine the mast rake for the appropriate mast length. A more complete discussion of mast rake and boat leveling is contained in Spira and Twombly’s Buccaneer Tuning Guide. RUDDER POSITION The rudder must be capable of being set to vertical so that the leading edge is approximately perpendicular to the waterline. Any significant rake aft will lead to a tug on the helm and cause excess drag. CENTERBOARD LOCATION Newer Buccaneers are equipped with pivot hangers mounted on the centerboard cap. The ideal location is 7.5” from the center of the hangers (pivot point) to the bulkhead. This is the placement on the Nickels boats. Many older Buccaneers have come from the factory with the centerboard over 1” forward of where it is located on the newer boats. To take advantage of the full 4.5 degrees of rake you may consider relocating the centerboard further aft or the additional rake will simply cause excessive weather helm. The stopper can also be removed from the tip of the centerboard so it can be used in its full down position while going upwind effectively moving the board forward, while the pivot has been moved aft. RIG TENSION We have found that the Buccaneer performs better with the rig set up very tight. Measured using a Loos gauge, a minimum of 250 lbs will barely keep the lee shroud from sagging in light air. We recommend 350 lbs for most conditions. This will keep the jib stay tension so that the leeward shroud does not go slack when sailing upwind until it is blowing 10-12 mph. This rig tension can be tuned in with the jib halyard through the use of a 16:1 cascade, magic box, a lever, or a series of balls on your halyard hooked to a plate assembly. Up to 400 lbs can be used, if necessary in higher winds. More tension than that can damage the boat so be careful. To set up this amount of rig tension without a magic box or lever, ease off your spinnaker halyard enough so that a person can stand at least 10’ in front of the boat and hold onto the spinnaker halyard. Then, recleat the halyard and pull on it hard enough so that the correct amount of rig tension can be “tuned in” with your jib halyard. JIB LEAD POSITION Your jib lead angle should be 8 – 10 degrees off the centerline. This corresponds to locating the jib track near the inside edge of the seat – about 1.5”. Unfortunately there are several different jib lead positions on the different model Buccaneer boats built. We suggest measuring out 10 degrees and try to set your lead accordingly side to side to meet the adjustment. As for fore and aft trim, set your jib leads so that the jib luff breaks evenly from top to bottom in light to medium winds. In winds above 10-12 mph it is best to move the leads back 2″. In winds above 20-25 mph it is best to move the lead back another 2″. With the rake at 4.5 degrees we have found that the median jib lead position is 34” aft of the bulkhead, measured along the front edge of the seat. This position moves further aft with less mast rake. Sailing Adjustments MAIN AND JIB CUNNINGHAM For both the main and the jib, never pull tighter than to just remove the wrinkles. It is best to leave just a hint of horizontal wrinkles from the luff of your main and jib to be sure that you don’t have it pulled too tight. Your North Buccaneer jib is fitted with a small plastic clam cleat so you can easily adjust the cloth tension on your luff wire. As on the main, it is a good idea to set the cloth tension so there is just a hint of wrinkles coming off the luff of the jib. It is better to err toward the loose side than the tight side of luff tension on your North Buccaneer sails. OUTHAUL Your North Buccaneer main is fitted with a shelf foot which, when eased, will give the main incredible power. We suggest pulling the outhaul tight enough to close the shelf (so that the top seam is parallel with the boom) when sailing upwind in all conditions except very light winds with extreme chop. In these conditions it is advantageous to ease the outhaul 1 1/2″ to open the shelf up approximately 1 ½-2″ at the center of the boom. When sailing downwind or on a reach it is a good idea to ease the outhaul off so that the shelf is open and the sail is close to 4” open in the middle of the boom. However, never ease the outhaul to the point where vertical wrinkles appear. JIB SHEET TRIM An easy guide for jib sheet trim on the Buccaneer is to trim until the foot skirt of the jib is even with the line where the spinnaker sheets, pulled tight, lay on the deck. Basically, we are looking for a parallel slot between the exit of the jib and the entry of the main. The guide that has been used with success is that of imagining a batten in the jib at mid-leech. This imaginary “batten” is usually set parallel to the centerline of the boat which makes the upper leech of the jib twist outboard slightly and the lower leech of the jib twist inboard slightly. It seems that 90% of the boat speed problems on the Buccaneer are due to faulty jib sheet trim. MAINSHEET TRIM The mainsheet should be pulled tight enough so that the last 18″ of the upper compression batten on the main is set parallel with the boom. This is sighted from underneath the boom and lining the batten and the boom parallel on a horizontal plane. In light winds it is sometimes impossible to keep the upper batten from hooking slightly to weather because of the weight of the boom hanging on the leech of the sail. In these conditions and in choppy water we suggest easing the sheet out approximately 6″ so that the upper batten will then become more or less aligned with the centerline of the boat. In choppy conditions ease the mainsheet approximately 6″ to open the upper batten slightly to or past parallel to the boom. This is a “power” gear which will allow the mast to straighten slightly and the main become fuller. Picture the mainsheet as your accelerator. As your boat picks up speed, pull the main tighter and tighter until the upper batten is parallel to the boom. In light winds or when the boat is hit with a wave and is slow downwind, ease the mainsheet so that the upper batten is angled outboard slightly inducing “twist” into the sail. Use the Cunningham as the wind increases to keep the draft from moving to far aft. In light air put on only enough Cunningham so that there are wrinkles along the luff in at least the bottom half of the sail. In heavy air pull it tight so the wrinkles are nearly removed and the sail is smooth ( no tighter!). Make certain that the main halyard is up as far as possible and mark this position on the halyard so this setting can be repeated easily. The halyard should be made from wire or no- stretch line such as Spectra. UPPER COMPRESSION BATTEN Your North Buccaneer main is fitted with a full-length upper batten that fits into plastic protectors along the luff of the sail. The Velcro adjustment allows you to change the tension on this batten as the conditions change. However, 90% of the time we set the upper batten in the pocket just tight enough to barely remove the vertical wrinkles along the pocket. To overcompress the batten will induce more fullness into the sail than it is designed for and will tend to hook the leech to windward in all but the heaviest conditions. It is best to slide the batten into the pocket, putting very little tension on the batten and pocket before setting it in the Velcro. BOOMVANG Downwind the vang should be trimmed tight enough to keep the boom down and the leech set on the mainsail so that the upper batten is parallel to the boom. Basically we are looking for the main to set as it does when sailing upwind in a medium breeze. Upwind in medium to heavy winds the vang is set just tight enough to keep the tail end of the upper batten parallel to the boom. In heavy breezes this may require a great deal of boomvang tension as this will also help bend the mast and flatten the sail. In light winds (below 8 mph) never use any boomvang tension upwind. SPINNAKER TRIM Sail your North spinnaker with a 6-12″ curl in the luff. Careful concentration is needed. Use short, smooth ins and outs on the sheet to keep the spinnaker trimmed correctly. Try to keep from jerking the sheet when the spinnaker begins to collapse. Keep the clews even at all time through the adjustments on your topping (pole) lift. In some conditions it is difficult to see the leeward clew behind the mainsheet so you can use another guide of adjusting the pole height so that the center vertical seam in the spinnaker is parallel to the mast. The pole position to the wind should be set so that the pole is nearly perpendicular to the wind. TABLE 1: Mast Rake from Plumb Bob Measurement, for different mast heights Note 1 2 3 4 MAST HEIGHT 278 281 283 288 Rake Offset In Offset In Offset In Offset In 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1 4.9 4.9 4.9 5.0 1.25 6.1 6.1 6.2 6.3 1.5 7.3 7.4 7.4 7.5 1.75 8.5 8.6 8.6 8.8 2 9.7 9.8 9.9 10.1 2.25 10.9 11.0 11.1 11.3 2.5 12.1 12.3 12.3 12.6 2.75 13.3 13.5 13.6 13.8 3 14.5 14.7 14.8 15.1 3.25 15.8 15.9 16.0 16.3 3.5 17.0 17.2 17.3 17.6 3.75 18.2 18.4 18.5 18.8 4 19.4 19.6 19.7 20.1 4.25 20.6 20.8 21.0 21.3 4.5 21.8 22.0 22.2 22.6 4.75 23.0 23.3 23.4 23.8 5 24.2 24.5 24.7 25.1 5.25 25.4 25.7 25.9 26.4 5.5 26.6 26.9 27.1 27.6 5.75 27.9 28.2 28.4 28.9 6 29.1 29.4 29.6 30.1 7 33.9 34.2 34.5 35.1 8 38.7 39.1 39.4 40.1 9 43.5 44.0 44.3 45.1 10 48.3 48.8 49.1 50.0 Measure aft from the mast base. Notes: High step Chryslers-after 1980, Starwinds, and early Gloucesters Standard Height-Nickels and adjusted earlier models Later Gloucesters and Cardinals Low mast step Chryslers TABLE 2: Mast Rake from measurement from masthead to stern for different mast heights Note 1 2 3 MAST 278 281 283 MB TO T 123 123 123 Rake MH to T MH to T MH to T 0.00 301.3 304.1 305.9 0.25 300.8 303.6 305.4 0.50 300.3 303.1 304.9 0.75 299.8 302.6 304.4 1.00 299.3 302.1 303.9 1.25 298.8 301.6 303.4 1.50 298.3 301.1 302.9 1.75 297.9 300.6 302.4 2.00 297.3 300.1 301.9 2.25 296.8 299.6 301.4 2.50 296.3 299.1 300.9 2.75 295.8 298.6 300.4 3.00 295.3 298.1 299.9 3.25 294.8 297.6 299.4 3.50 294.3 297.1 298.9 3.75 293.8 296.6 298.4 4.00 293.3 296.0 297.9 4.25 292.8 295.5 297.4 4.50 292.3 295.0 296.9 4.75 291.8 294.5 296.3 5.00 291.3 294.0 295.8 5.25 290.8 293.5 295.3 5.50 290.3 293.0 294.8 5.75 289.8 292.5 294.3 6.00 289.2 292.0 293.8 6.25 288.7 291.5 293.3 6.50 288.2 290.9 292.8 6.75 287.7 290.4 292.2 7.00 287.2 289.9 291.7 7.25 286.7 289.4 291.2 7.50 286.2 288.9 290.7 7.75 285.7 288.4 290.2 8.00 285.1 287.9 289.7 8.25 284.6 287.3 289.2 8.50 284.1 286.8 288.6 8.75 283.6 286.3 288.1 9.00 283.1 285.8 287.6 9.25 282.5 285.3 287.1 9.50 282.0 284.7 286.6 9.75 281.5 284.2 286.0 10.00 281.0 283.7 285.5 Notes (table 2): High step Chryslers- after 1980, Starwinds, and early Gloucesters Standard Height-Nick- els and adjusted earlier models Later Gloucesters and Cardinals Table not useful for Low Step Chryslers-different geometry READ MORE