Speed Tips from Jud Smith
In spite of races being cancelled due to a lack of wind, Jud Smith treated the fleet to a comprehensive de-brief. Thank you to Jud and to JP Zonnenberg for lending out his inflatable as an observation platform. Some of Jud’s observations included:
In General
- Establish a loose, medium and tight setting for forestay, uppers, jib cars
- Tighten everything in a breeze
Rig
- Forestay Some are too tight, very few are too loose
- Loosen lowers Keep them loose and adjust depending on the conditions. Sight the mast and adjust for some, but not too much, side sag.
- Pre-bend Mast should have 1″-1.5″ of prebend
- Jumpers are recommended in all but light conditions
- Backstay should never be flopping around. If you feel the need to back it off all the way, keep it just barely snug to keep the rig from shaking around.
- Center the rig in the boat
Sail Trim
- Jib car should have a max of 2″ of range fore and aft
- Many sailors were on the edge of sailing with their cars too far forward, with too much depth in the jib. Car further aft and tighter sheet were recommended.
- Point mode Jib car aft, tight jib sheet; high traveler, tight mainsheet
Pictures from the day can be found here: https://r19fleet5.org/2014/08/tuning-pictures-jud/