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Justerbart uthal på vågsegel? YOU BET!
Läste lite intressanta erfarenheter av att sätta justerbart uthal till och med på vågsegel…
HI,
I was just reading some older posts on the adjustable outhaul subject. I gather that many people think these are mainly for racing and big sails. I can’t say enough how an on the fly adjustable outhaul has improved my sailing for all my sail sizes, and I don’t even race, nor use a sail above 7.8.Here is what I’ve found:
– All of my sails from my Ezzy Wave 1997 3.2 to my Pryde Rx2 7.8 respond wonderfully to even small changes in outhaul tension. I don’t know how a person would be able to fully explore the potential of a new sail without being able to adjust the outhaul many times. To do this by coming in or flopping around in the water is crazy in my opinion. The feel of a perfectly tuned sail who’s center of effort is solidly positioned is so easy to attain when I adjust the outhaul a little bit. Once I’ve come to know this feeling I don’t want to settle for anything else! (Since 1996 or so, sail design has made outhaul tension much more of an adjustable thing for sail tuning, rather than the downhaul specific tuning of older sail designs.)
– For wave sailing in shorebreaking waves like the Oregon coast there is great benefit from being able to snug that outhaul once past the break to get me upwind. I can than back it off in preparation for riding the waves on the inside in the fluky winds.
– For Gorge sailing where often I’m way upwind of the launch site (e.g. at Three Mile) on a tiny 70 liter board with a 3.7 or 4.2, it’s great to have that little bit of extra security of being able to instantly loosen the outhaul if the wind drops so I can get back. I think of this as ”popping the chute” to get back downwind quickly, as sailboat spinnaker sailors will be familiar with. Sometimes the elapsed time from that initial sense of the wind dropping to when the bottom falls out can be only a few minutes. Flounder around to adjust the outhaul and you lose precious time that you could’ve used to get back easily if you could’ve popped off that outhaul.
– When sailing in Massachusetts sometimes the big winds are sudden and only last a short while (and this is the one chance you’ll get for weeks or months!). Many times I’ve been on a 4.7 and a small board and I can stay out during the really good stuff because I can adjust my outhaul while I’m sailing. Others are typically rushing in to rig their 4.0 or 3.7. Then when the wind backs off again I just let out the outhail and I’m still sailing. In this way I’ve gotten an appreciation for what my sails can really handle, rather than getting caught up in rigging frenzy every time the wind changes.
As far as the practicality of having every sail rig with an adjustable outhaul I’ve come up with a ’recreational’ setup that is actually easier to rig than the normal non adjustable way, and much easier than the racer’s double sided adjustable systems. I use a single side outhaul strap setup. The straps I like were made by Visual Speed, which velcro to the boom. Visual Speed is out of business now, but many sailmakers have similar adjusting straps available. I use a Chinook double clew grommet pulley on every sail, and the pulley stays with the sail. I get that one extra change in direction for my outhaul line, to get it up to the strap, by installing a Harken ultralight ’airblock’ 16 mm ball bearing pulley onto the boom end (Available at a marine supply store for around $7). I bolt the Harken pulley on with a stainless 8 X 24 machine screw and some red ’Loctite 271’ for the nut so it will never come off. For my system the Fiberspar (or older Pryde) all carbon rears with the ’loop and go’ system (straight carbon cross piece at the back) adapt the best. I first hacksaw off and file smooth that protruding post that the line is supposed to loop around and substitute my pulley, bolted to the boom end cross bar, alonside the cleat collar. (See threading instructions below to understand exactly where the pulley is to be bolted on–it is diagnally opposite form the cleat.) (Note: I DON’T remove the cleat collar assembly, as in the official Fiberspar method of installing a two sided adjustable outhaul which would bolt two, not one, pulleys to the rear cross piece.)
THREADING INSTRUCTIONS: Looking from a vantage point BEHIND THE BOOM, as if the boom were attached to a sail that is standing straight up in the air, here is how the line threading goes: I have the rear end inserted into the boom body so the cleat is on the underside/left. Starting at the cleat, the line goes around the left side sail clew grommet pulley, then around the curved channel at the top side of the boom rear, then around the right side sail clew grommet pulley, then around my Harken pulley which is at the upper right of the rear end cross bar, then to my adjusting strap which is on the right boom arm (starboard tack side). Once threaded the first time, the two loops around the sail grommet pulleys can just be popped on or off for rigging or unrigging; no rethreading necessary! My system allows me to set the adjusting strap to the middle, outhaul the sail from the cleat at the rear to a setting that I think is correct for the wind, and I can then vary the setting on the water from there by using the strap. I like this single strap setup because I still retain a cleat at the back of the boom (no fiddling with two adjustable sides like the racers do when they rig). This is a very easy and streamlined system that pays off big time once you have set it up the first time. The mechanical advantage I get is pretty good for my needs, but admittedly not up to a racer’s needs. But then I only adjust when the wind strength changes so a few extra seconds doesn’t matter to me at all.
Good sailing. –Bob A.
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1 Svar
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Ja jag funderade på detta förra året.
Byggde av ett par gammla justerbara hängsele tampar, (typ on the fly variant)
//F.B
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