Shortened pulley whips (5.5 specifically)

[K100]

It's a known performance advantage to shorten the pulley whip (350mm minimum) so you can induce additional rake but is this what you want with the 5.5 sail in light winds?

When I got into racing one of the first things I did was to chop all my pulley whips which works great on all sails apart from the 5.5, sheeting block to block makes it look bloody awful and it's only just occurred to me that I can't bring the boom right in to center without raking the mast more than is probably desirable.

Any thoughts?

[GeoffS]

[K100]

I'm talking about production racing so glass mast all the way with a turban up top, it's too bendy for such a large sail but that's the rules! Personally I don't like the sail, I have a great affinity with my 3 and 4 but sadly they haven't been out the bag at a race event this year. The trouble is I don't often venture down to the beach unless I know its going to be windy so I don't get a lot of light wind practice on the 5.5, I know I need more kart time to experiment in low wind conditions but to be honest I don't find it as exhilarating as sliding round a jybe at 40mph!!

As for the boom I've tried both loosening and tightening the strap, I know a few people say have it slack but I don't see an awful lot of difference to be honest? I usually tighten it up and then pull the buckle up and release about 10mm so it has a bit of room to move.

I find I can sheet in almost all the way and the sail looks fairly flat and it twists away fine but that last 5-10% where the whip is shortened just pulls it down as it comes across and I end up with diagonal wrinkles across the bottom 1/3 of the sail. Oddly I don't find pointing too difficult if I weave with the gusts but close hauled on a reach it just seems to stall too easily. I was watching people with full length whips and they didn't appear to have the problem, it's not a case of sheeting a bit less as it won't pull to center with the short whip. I want to try a full length whip again but that means buying one, I guess I need a spare anyway.

I don't know if I'm grasping at straws but I've just come back from an event where I had a fairly demoralising performance along with a few flat tyres and transponder issues (it fell off without me noticing). Just picking through the bones trying to find why I wasn't very competitive.

[GeoffS]

[GeoffS]

Aside: I sail Lasers and the old standard rig sail is notorious for developing over-bend wrinkles, so maybe I'm just more comfortable sailing with a crappy looking sail...

IMG_2759_screen_trim.jpg

[K100]

Some good tips there Geoff, I never thought I'd say it but I'm now eager to get out on my 5.5 in light conditions to have a play with the setup.

I'm also considering buying a carbon mast with a view to going down the performance route but I'm finding the recent price hikes prohibitive, I'll probably scour the classifieds for some used kit.

[GeoffS]

Let us know what you find out!

I'm also hoping someone else will add some observations/suggestions to the mix.

Cheers,

Geoff S.

[GeoffS]

An alternative to lengthening the pulley-whip would be to lower the sail on the mast by lengthening the line between the turban and the sail.

I'm a bit embarrassed that I didn't think of this right away (considering that the DN iceboat uses halyard adjustment as one of the primary leech-tension adjustments...).

[K100]

We've always hoisted them up as high as they'll go considering the wind is stronger higher up, saying that I'd imagine a nicer shape will outweigh any slight wind advantage.

I already have to duck if I'm not tucked down and using the footbar, I'll have a play and let you know but it won't be for a few weeks.

[GeoffS]