sailing asymmetry

[Greg]

Hi,

I have had my Bahia since 1 July and have quite enjoyed it, sailing it
on 7 occasions so far with a complement of 2-3 people under different
weather conditions. No big problems so far (I will be watching that
pintle cap now though). However, I have noticed, that some days it is
quite a bit faster on one tack than another, especially downwind. The
mast does not look bent (I haven't checked the boom yet), and all
stays are under some tension when reaching on both tacks. The other
day I tried making sure the short stays were pretty tight, which
seemed to improve things. However, the longer port stay was still
pretty loose when close-hauled on starboard tack, looser I think than
the starbord stay was on port tack. Any thoughts on what I am doing
wrong?

Thanks,

Greg

[Jeff Fedor]

sounds like shroud tension still. Are you using a Loos or something similar to set that?

Personally I've found the lower shrouds to be a real pain in the butt to get tensioned properly and if I had to bet, I'd say that is your most likely culprit.

Having sailed with a meticulous skipper for a couple of years, other stuff to check...
1) you said downwind only but check your shroud tension with your jib up vs forestay
2) check the boom (and mast again) for any curvature
3) look at the jib, are you getting similar sail shape/behaviour on both tacks?
4) did you tape your chainplates? that can add extra/unwanted tension to shrouds if overzealous (like my taping jobs)

For the department of stuff to watch for after heavy sailing, we've also bent the pins on the chainplate pretty darn well too, only on the starboard side for some reason. Our previously mentioned acceleration moment happened where the starboard side would've been loaded up so I'm assuming that's when we bent the pins

j

[Jeff Fedor]

Also check your spreaders, make sure they're set the same.
j

[Greg]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the pointers. The mast and the boom look straight. I have
the spreaders and the upper shrouds per the rigging manual. After I
raise the jib, I then tension the lower shrouds. The last few sails I
have tried to get them under a bit more tension than I was doing
earlier, and made sure that they are under roughly equal tension (by
feel, not with a gauge). The boat sails much better now. However, I
still think maybe the top of the mast is a bit too far aft with the
sail up. I don't see much of a way to rectify that except by
adjusting the upper shrouds. Any thoughts on the rigging manual
settings for the upper shrouds and spreaders?

Cheers,

Greg

On Jul 14, 7:15 pm, "Jeff Fedor" <jeff.fe...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Also check your spreaders, make sure they're set the same.
> j
>

> On Mon, Jul 14, 2008 at 10:09 PM, Jeff Fedor <jeff.fe...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > sounds like shroud tension still. Are you using a Loos or something similar
> > to set that?
>
> > Personally I've found the lower shrouds to be a real pain in the butt to
> > get tensioned properly and if I had to bet, I'd say that is your most likely
> > culprit.
>
> > Having sailed with a meticulous skipper for a couple of years, other stuff
> > to check...
> > 1) you said downwind only but check your shroud tension with your jib up vs
> > forestay
> > 2) check the boom (and mast again) for any curvature
> > 3) look at the jib, are you getting similar sail shape/behaviour on both
> > tacks?
> > 4) did you tape your chainplates? that can add extra/unwanted tension to
> > shrouds if overzealous (like my taping jobs)
>
> > For the department of stuff to watch for after heavy sailing, we've also
> > bent the pins on the chainplate pretty darn well too, only on the starboard
> > side for some reason. Our previously mentioned acceleration moment happened
> > where the starboard side would've been loaded up so I'm assuming that's when
> > we bent the pins
>
> > j
>