Doyle sails have won the Rhodes 19 National Championship for theseventeenth time in twenty-two years! We have continually upgraded ourdesigns and cloth selection to make our sails even better year after year!
SETTING UP YOUR RHODES 19 FOR DOYLE/CRESSY SAILS
BEFORE STEPPING THE MAST:
- Clean and lubricate turn-buckles.
- Check your mast step location fore and aft with a tape measure; run the tapefrom the intersection of the center of the transom and the deck to the aft edgeof the mast step. This dimension should be 12 feet 6 1/2 inches.
TUNING YOUR MAST:
- Center mast with upper shrouds, check it by measuring to port andstarboard chainplate with a tape measure attached to the jib halyard.
- Tension uppers and lowers for existing wind conditions. We use a LoosTension Gauge, Model A, for consistent settings.
- Tension uppers to 150 lbs. Tension lowers equally to 80 lbs. Sighting up aftface of the mast to check for straightness. It is essential that the mast isstraight.
SHROUD TENSION:
| WIND | 0-4 | 4-8 | 9-14 | 15+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowers | 0 | 0 | 80 | 80 |
| Uppers | 110 | 110 | 150 | 200 |
An increase in overall rig tension results in greater headstay tension.
TRIMMING THE SAILS
It is important to mark all your shrouds, sheets, tracks, outhaul, etc. Keeprecords of your set-ups, the conditions you sail in and how your speed is. It isessential to be able to duplicate settings from race to race and to know exactlyhow the boat was set up when you were going fast. Check to make sure thesoft end of the battens are inserted first.
MAINSAIL:
- Trim the mainsheet hard enough to make the top batten parallel to theboom. Once the boat has accelerated and you want to point higher, trim harderand cock the top batten slightly to weather. If the mainsheet is too tight(evidenced by top batten hooking way to weather) you will stall the main andslow down.
- Set the traveler car up to the inner edge of the windward seat so that theboom is on or just below center line. As the breeze increases, gradually dropthe traveler to de-power the main.
- Use the outhaul for balance. Adjusting the outhaul changes the depth of thelower 1/3 of the main which affects helm, speed and pointing.
KNOTS OUTHAUL TENSION
0 – 5 eased 1 1/2″ 6 – 10 eased 1″ 11 – 14 eased 1/2″ 15 + maximum - The cunningham is used to position draft in the main. Your goal should be tokeep the maximum draft point 50% back in the sail. We use no cunningham upto 10 knots, enough to remove most of the wrinkles 11 – 15 knots andprogressively tighter in higher winds to remove all wrinkles.
- Applying the vang. Upwind the vang is lose in most conditions, off the wind,however, we apply the vang just enough to make the top batten parallel to theboom. Be careful! Rhodes 19 booms are not that strong, so in a breeze, watchhow much the boom is bending.
JIB:
- Luff tension is one of the most critical parts of the boat. In 0 – 10 we sail withmedium wrinkles in the luff, 11 + set luff progressively smoother. If you feel youare not getting enough power in chop, try easing luff tension.
- Jib leads. In every up-wind breeze condition, the jib lead should bepositioned so that the jib luff breaks evenly when you luff up slowly into thewind. Moving the lead forward will make the jib break quicker down low whilemoving the lead aft makes the luff break quicker up top.
- Telltales. Keep both windward and leeward yarns streaming aft.
HEADSTAY SAG – LIGHT AIR:
To increase pointing and upwind speed in light air you must carry a looseheadstay. With mainsheet tension and backstay tension you can adjust theamount of headstay sag. With the backstay loose the headstay should be ableto make a 12″ circle.
BACKSTAY:
Pulling on the backstay has two effects. First, as the mast bends, the upperhalf of the main flattens and the leech opens up – which relieve helm andheeling. Second, it makes the forestay tighter which flattens the entry of the jiband eases its leech, thus increasing pointed ability and reducing heeling.Whenever adjusting the backstay, you should adjust the mainsheet.
| WIND STRENGTH | 0 – 6 | 7 -10 | 11-15 | 16-18 | 19+ |
| BACKSTAY TENSION | none | 1/4 | 1/2 | 3/4 | max |
HEAVY AIR TECHNIQUES
WIND: 18 – Up Everyone hiking hard.
Sheet mainsheet and jib hard. When the breeze gets to be much over 20, thetraveler should be dropped to leeward full time and start playing the mainsheet.Outhaul should be maxed out. The cunningham should also be on hard.
Backstay between 1/2 and maximum playing it in the waves and puffs. If youhave some chop, it is all right to have some wrinkles in the luff of the jib.However, you’ll probably need to tighten the jib luff and move jib leads aft. Ifyou get to the point where you have heavy weather helm and you are doing allof the above, move the jib lead even further aft and ease the jib sheet to putsome twist in the upper third of the sail and apply more backstay. Objective in18 – up: Keep boat flat and punching through waves. Feather the boat throughbad waves.
DOWNWIND GUIDELINES
- Set the vang so the top batten is parallel to the boom.
- Ease cunningham, outhaul and release backstay.
- Raise spinnaker pole until spinnaker clews are level.
- Trim the spinnaker so there is 6 – 12″ of curl in the luff.
- Keep the pole perpendicular to the apparent wind.
- While reaching, keep your speed up by heading higher in the light spots orchoppy water. Head off only in the puffs and don’t sail unnecessarily high earlyin the leg.
- On the runs, jibe in the windshifts to stay on the headed tack.
OTHER HELPFUL HINTS
- When in doubt, let it out.
- Shim mast tightly where it goes through the deck.
- Keep keel, rudder and bottom in the best shape possible.
- Get a good start.
- Do not overstand marks or sail in another boats bad air.
NOTE: These are guidelines, not gospel. What is fast for your boat may varyslightly from our charts. Remember this is only a game we are playing. Havefun and good sailing!