Rigging the Gaastra 2X

[Lim Wee Seng]

Hi,

Does anyone owns a Gaastra 2X out there? Could you please provide me with
some tips in rigging this sail? When I rig my sail, it doesn't seem right
to me. There seem to be too much draft on the sail, whereas my RAF sail
feels right when rigged almost flat. What I got from my local windsurfers
here was that I should not follow the manufacturer rigging instruction.
They suggested I use less of the mast extention so as not to outhaul to the
recommended luff length. What I did was to give an extention of 30cm. Is
this a correct thing to do? Thanks in advance for any help.

Regards,
Wee-Seng Lim

PS: The sail is a new one and I've not use it on water yet.

Gaastra 2X 6.5 97 model
Fiberspar Reflex 3000 460/25
Naish Slalom Boom 170-220
Naish Mast Extention 35cm++

Sail/Rigging Specs:
Luff 495cm
Boom 195cm
Mast 460/25

[FyG©]

first you do need to follow the manufacturers instructions then fine tune to
the conditions, ie: less downhaul no more than 1.5 to 2.5cm max for
lightwinds along with just slightly negative outhaul this will give thae
sail a little more draft than when rigged for true wind setting ( if its say
a 6.0m the wind for this sails true use will be in the 16 to 28 knot range)
the more downhaul you add the flatter the sail will become, a simple
guideline is look to the leech of the sail and downhaul till it is loose to
the 2nd batten for low wind, 3rd batten for ideal wind and 4th batten for
stronger wind, as the leech get looser you will need to adjust the outhaul
accordingly, for lighter wind you will want it to be maybe 1.5cm to 2cm
negative for higher wind maybe 1cm negative.
All these setting will also depend on the mast you are using, if it is
softer in mcs than recomended the sail will flatten out with less down haul
than on a stiffer mast, what you will find is a softer mast works best in
choppier bumpy conditions and go stiffer for flatter conditions.

Hope this helps

Cool to Ya

FyGŠ
Lim Wee Seng wrote in message <01bd254d$7ce90f40$0b5aa8c0@esp-lws>...

[Charlie Escher]

Lim Wee Seng wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Does anyone owns a Gaastra 2X out there? Could you please provide me with
> some tips in rigging this sail? When I rig my sail, it doesn't seem right
> to me. There seem to be too much draft on the sail, whereas my RAF sail
> feels right when rigged almost flat. What I got from my local windsurfers
> here was that I should not follow the manufacturer rigging instruction.
> They suggested I use less of the mast extention so as not to outhaul to the
> recommended luff length. What I did was to give an extention of 30cm. Is
> this a correct thing to do? Thanks in advance for any help.
>
> Regards,
> Wee-Seng Lim
>
> PS: The sail is a new one and I've not use it on water yet.
>
> Gaastra 2X 6.5 97 model
> Fiberspar Reflex 3000 460/25
> Naish Slalom Boom 170-220
> Naish Mast Extention 35cm++
>
> Sail/Rigging Specs:
> Luff 495cm
> Boom 195cm
> Mast 460/25

I sail a 5.5 '96 Gaastra 2X , and find it to be a very versatile and very
tunable sail.For me it rigs best with the leech floppy to the third batten for
light air and floppy to the boom for powered conditions, it should look really
ugly rigged on the beach. Outhaul is slightly negative to neutral, but I use a
carbon boom so your settings may need to reflect the added flex in your boom. I
usually have to outhaul just a bit more when using aluminum booms. My Gaastra
sails all had about a five day break-in period; the first day or two with any
new sail, I stop every hour or so and retension everything as the luff sleeve
stretches.Luff and boom measurements reflect more on what size equipment to rig
your sail on rather than on exactly how to tune it, so don't be surprised if
your actual settings are a bit different than those listed. The 2X should not
exhibit a very deep static (unloaded) draft, I rig mine at maybe 8-10%. Think
race sail in terms of rigging, use plenty of downhaul, and only use outhaul for
fine tuning.Hope this helps...I think you'll really like that sail when you get
it figured out.If the spec says 495cm, but you're at 490cm right now, you may
want to think about a longer extension, since it may be a bit of a risk to your
mast to use full extension, and it sounds like you need a good bit more
downhaul...is the sail really spec'd for a 460/25?

good luck,

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Charlie Escher // Beautiful Bingen, Washington
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