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Craig Richards Tuning guide (Page 2) A Rig forestay tension: The A rig is the only suite where I change forestay tension. The rest have the forestay as tight as I can get it until I start worrying about breaking the boat or having the mast go out of column. You never want the forestay to pump or flog upwind, so for each increasing wind condition you go just a bit tighter so that you get a bit of sag, but no pumping. At the very top of A, the tighter the better and do not let it sag. The sag and a loose jib cunnigham seem to put a bit more fullness into the front of the jib and with very sensitive telltales you can see that the fuller the jib entry the longer the flow seems to stay attached to the leeward side of the jib. This is particularly helpful in very dirty air with lots of wind switches etc. The forestay length on my boat varies from 1138 to 1132mm from the lightest to strongest conditions. My go to setting when I am unsure turns out to be 1135 just as the rigging guide suggests. It will also depend on how much your backstay stretches, I use the below on my backstay: As Per Krabbe has kindly pointed out, dyneema lines are prone to shrinking. I have marks to quickly put the rigs into the boat (last minute change before heat etc), which I do check before each regatta, but over a few days the lines may still change length. I have a fairly good feeling now for what the rig should look like, but it's probably a good idea to check the lengths regularly. This is how I set up my main sheeting angle on the A rig: I put the palm of my hand against the aft quarter of the boat and when sighting from astern I have my fingers parallel to the backstay. With my hand in this position the main boom just touches my fingers. No measurments, no confusion and very easy to repeat. Yes it's wider than just about every tuning guide suggests, but at this point I am just setting up consistent sheeting angles of the main and jib (to follow in next post) With the main sheeting angle set, the jib is then trimmed such that the hole in back of the jib boom fitting is over the first knuckle on the deck. It's close to 60mm between the middle of the mast and the inner edge of the boom. In my case its also exactly the width of my three middle fingers. I posted some pictures Sue Brown took, but the posts seem to have disappeared. I seem to have put the link on my main profile and not this group ..lol. http://www.flickr.com/.../in/album-72177720308506905/... I do sail with the setting I posted. Here is my go fast mode: I run 20mm foot depths on the main and jib as a starting point. In this mode I want the boat to run with absolutely neutral helm. It can hunt the breeze slightly, but must never luff up and slow down. I never want to be pulling the bow down with the rudder. I may trim in and and push the bow up. This is absolutely the best VMG mode in the absence of other boats. You will go faster and end up higher than a boat that sails only in pinch mode. I use the bottom draft strip a lot. I want to see the maximum depth at 50% and a clean straight entry after the mast. If the fullness is further forward I flatten the foot of the mainsail further If the boat is running with a bit of weather helm as the breeze increases I will first flatten the main off to about 10mm and if that does not work I will change the trim to let the main out slightly further, but leave the jib the same. I will also flatten the jib down to 10mm at the very top end of A, but only after the main is already down to 10mm. The neutral helm also has the advantage that when I am unsighted and cant see the boat it is still sailing flat out without my input. This is also a big advantage when the boat is too far away to see clearly. That lower tell tale on the main is a great trim indicator. It should fly at a slight up angle on the weather side of about 20 degrees. In this photo it says I am sailing a fraction lower than optimum and I should push the boat up with the rudder. The neutral helm has one further huge advantage. As I tack, once I am on the new heading I seldom need to keep on some weather helm until the boat gets its speed up again and starts tracking. The boat also tacks much more cleanly as a result and I stall less when I make a mistake. I.e. its much easier to get the boat going again from a bad tack. And a great picture of John. He sheets the main in a bit more than I do, but the jib is still quite wide. This is probably his pinch mode though and if he dropped the main slightly so the jib is over the deck knuckle we would be quite close in setup. One difference is that the entry angle on the main on Johns boat at the first draft stripe is a bit wider than mine, so he would need to sheet a bit closer. My entry looks a lot flatter, so I can sheet the boom out a bit and still have a similar entry angle. This could be because I have a bit more mast bend coupled with less luff curve. I actively set my mast bend so that the luff at this height moves behind the mast. I.e. the luff sits on the centre line, not to leeward of the mast. Notice how flat he now runs his main foot depth. I was running 20mm, but John looks to be even flatter. It's also a great picture for showing the twist in the sails and a perfect example of how the twist in the jib parallels the back of the main. Active trim: My high mode has the jib width at 45-50mm, about 1cm - 1,5cm in from my best VMG mode. I have the ratchet set for the mainsail trim on my radio. I Move the trim/throttle stick on the radio so that it is two ratchet clicks up. This is the radio setting that I want to see my VMG sail setting at. I use the subtrim buttons on my radio to move the sails to that setting. With the trim all the way in I now want the jib to be at 50mm or perhaps even 45mm in very flat water. Depending on the radio, two clicks may move the trim in more than the desired 1-1.5cm so you would need to change your throttle curve. The radio I used at Fleetwood did not need it, but my newer radio moves the sheet too far and I have set a throttle curve. If there are boats around me and I need height, I will start with the boat at two clicks out and then once it up at full speed, I start to bleed the boat up as I trim in. Often you can carry a high fast mode for a length of time, but if I hit a bad wave or header and the boat slows then its immediately trim to the two clicks position, get the speed back and then work the boat up again one or two clicks. If I am in clear air and chasing then I found the boat very fast at two clicks out and did not trim in much The higher trim mode is also very useful if you get THAT boat below you that is racing only you and the fleet disappears into the distance whilst they try and luff the heck out of you. Your race is still toast, but at least it does give you some time to find a gap to tack away in. If you do have some space to leeward, then even with the wider trim you may be pleasantly surprised to see that you don't lose height and will roll over them quite quickly. I'll try and do a bit on twist, but here is a hint that I do not have enough twist in the top of my jib. Camber stripes are your friend. The bottom windward telltale is running at the angle I like, but the top one suggests I have mucked up the trim. It should match the bottom as closely as possible. Mains twist. Finicky beast. Half a turn on the vang can make a surprising difference. I can only suggest a starting point and then fiddle with small changes until the boat looks and behaves to your preferences. Looking at the boat from behind when the boat is on the water and using the picture of John's boat as a template would be a good start. Looking down the backstay from behind the boat, I want the main leech to parallel the backstay between the top two battens. It was difficult to take a photo, but fairly obvious in real life Jib Twist. I like the jib leech to parallel the back of the main for as far as possible. The upper third of the jib should also parallel the main entry angle as far as possible. Top of jib and upper third of main should start to luff at the same time as you head up into the wind. Earlier I posted a near perfect picture of John Tushingham and now I hope he forgives me for posting one a bit more ugly This was taken a month before the Globals and I think I had an edge on boat speed in this race. I never saw his boat look like this in the Globals and want to use this to point out how top sailors like him are prepared to adapt and experiment. In this photo we have similar rake, but I am running a more bent mast, with flatter sails. A much finer entry for the main as a result, which should result in a cleaner and wider slot between the back of the main and the jib. The difference in speed was very small, but even a cm or two of extra speed helps get your nose out in a crowded start and makes you look like a better sailor. Compare this to his globals setup B-Rig Quick reminder that these are my settings and opinions and are not the only way to do things. I was not very fond of the B-rig, but took the opportunity to go out and sail whenever there was enough wind in the evenings. After a few sessions of just buggering around with silly settings I started to really enjoy these sessions as the B-rig has such brilliant contrast between just sailing and sailing fast and once you found the faster settings the boat itself became increasingly easier to sail. I went into the first B-rig race at the Globals not knowing if I had got it right as I have had nobody to sail against. In short it was a very pleasant surprise and I had speed to burn. As the regatta wore on I made a few mistakes (getting off the lee shore etc) and started to second guess myself and changed the setting to trim a bit narrower, which was a mistake in retrospect, but I was not too stessed as I could still hang in for a top 3 in most races. The fastest boat was probably sail number 121. A bit inconsistent, but when he got it right had a definite edge towards the end of the regatta. There could be some advantage to the icarex sail material in these conditions, but if anything this boat was sheeting the jib wider than I do when it was flying. If you set the B-rig up anything like the A, the first thing you will most likely notice is lee helm and the first attempt to fix this would be to pull the main up to the centreline. It does balance the boat, but the groove becomes very narrow and it's hard to keep the boat going fast and tacking can become a bit harder. What worked for me was. As much aft rake as possible to take out some of the lee helm. I wanted the flattest entry angle possible with the maximum camber back at 50% in the lower third. So I bent the mast to take out all the luff curve. All 5mm of it. The tightest forestay possible, just short of breaking the boat. It makes the boat easier to tack and also takes shape out of the jib keeping the entry flatter. I wanted the widest main I could get away with and to keep things consistent I start with the main boom against the palm of my hand when my fingers are parallel to the backstay as normal. Most of the other boats do sheet a bit closer. Good, I feel I am faster. With the main boom in this position the jib boom is now over the side of the boat. 65-70mm between the mast and jib boom. I do have a 'point' mode where the jib may come in to 55-60mm, which could be used off the start line, but once clear I am sheeting out again. The jib is flat, 10mm-15 mm foot depth. The jib twist is still parallel to the back of the main, but you can twist it off a bit more at the very top of B rig conditions. The main is flat. I run 15mm, but JohnT is even flatter at 10mm or less. There is a fair amount of twist in the main, which you can get away with as with the luff curve taken out by the bent mast the slot is already very wide. The more twist you have, the faster the boat, but the limit is when the top third starts to backwind. I start with the main twist setting as follows. With the main at the VMG setting, sighting up the backstay a line drawn through the bottom two mainsail battens is parallel to the backstay. Run out of time. Will add a bit more later In the meanwhile here is a nice picture of John, over the start line , but a nice example of a fast setup B rig Sheeting Angle: More detail to follow, but its wider than you think. Three fingers will no longer do the trick. B rig: Backstay and mast: Bend that baby. Luff curve matches back of mast the entire length. Standard or 'stock' luff curve. Flat sails. Jib down at less than 15mm foot depth. I run 15mm on the main. JohnT was flatter. B-rig: More mast curve: B-Rig Main twist: Phone camera perspective mucks thing up, but a line through the ends of the bottom two battens is parallel to the backstay B-rig: Mast Curve

A directory of championship races from around the world Videor från hela världen 2021 Region 5 IOM regatta Corpus Christi Texas 27 februari - 1 mars 2020. VM 2019 Brasilien Heat 6 Fleet A Heat 6 Fleet E Heat 6 Fleet B Heat 8 Fleet A Heat 8 Fleet B Heat 9 Fleet A Heat 9 Fleet B Heat 14 Fleet A Heat 17 Fleet A Heat 19 Fleet A Heat 19 Fleet B Heat 20 Fleet B Heat 22 Fleet D Heat 23 Fleet B Heat 24 Fleet A Australiens nationella mästerskap 2019 Dag 1 2: a seeding race Race 4 A Fleet Race 2 A Fleet Race 10 A Fleet Race 5 A Fleet Race 5 B Fleet Race 3 B Fleet Race 13 A Fleet 2018 Australien Sunshine Coast regatta Dag 4 Lopp 1 Heat 2 Dag 4 Lopp 1 Heat 1 Race 4 B Fleet Seeding Race 1 Seeding Race 2 Race 2 B Fleet Dag 1 Race 3 D Fleet Queensland State Champs Race 2 A Fleet Race 2 B Fleet Race 15 A Fleet Race 18 A Fleet 2017 öppnar IOM Masters Holland 2017 LEIPZIG CUP 2017 Australian IOM Nationals Kogarah Bay I OM Worlds 2015 Foster City Sista dagen 2012 brittiska medborgare på 2 Island RYC Dag 1 Race 1 A Fleet 2011 VM West Kirby Race 18 A Fleet Race 23 A Fleet - Strålande matchlopp mellan Peter Stollery 39 och Brad Gibson 42 Dag 1 Dag 2 Dag 3 Dag 4 Dag 5 Dag 6 Lite nostalgi

A directory of associations, boat builders, sail makers, fitting suppliers, building, tuning and racing tip sites. The Project I have sailed an IOM for two years and think I am beginning to understand how the boats are fitted together and pimped for speed. My challenge with racing the IOM is dealing with speed in a breeze so a sensible solution to developing my skill was to buy a faster boat and get used to the speed as well as understand how another boat design work and could be optimised. In looking into the Marblehead designs, I note that the Grunge is the boat of choice but unfortunately there were none available when I looked. The were a few Starkers designs available built by Dave Creed which seemed to be a good platform to get me started and one in particular took my eye so I took the plunge and bought it. Over the autumn and winter this year, my plan is to optimise the boat. It has a standard A rig, B, C 1,2,3. The A is a standard swing rig and the others conventional. All will need re rigging as the cord is over four years old and whilst not used cannot be considered to be reliable. The next section looks at the jobs list on the new boat.

A summary of the build process and cost Bygga en IOM Introduktion och kostnad År 2020 byggde jag min första IOM utan tidigare erfarenhet. Jag funderade över byggmaterialet och bestämde mig för glasepoxi efter att ha sett Brad Gibsons göra en plug -video. Jag köpte bara material under tiden, bara om jag misslyckades i min strävan. Jag kunde inte föreställa mig slutet resultat vara en stark konkurrenskraftig båt i lokala lopp. Här är historien om bygget. Sammanfattning och kostnad för bygget För att ge lite färg till min byggnad. Jag är en tidigare jolleseglare och yachtsman och har använt glas lite tidigare men inget som att göra en modellyacht, så jag är en förstagångsbyggare. Min största utmaning - det finns mycket information tillgänglig men den sprids mycket över internet. Du kan se på denna webbplats mina källor och länkarna till varje webbplats som det refereras till. Det började som ett covid -projekt förra våren och jag inspirerades av Brad Gibsons video om att bygga en hankontakt och insåg att jag kunde bygga i etapper utan att engagera mig ekonomiskt för hela projektet, bara om jag blev besegrad i något steg i processen. Jag hade kunnat gå ner på trävägen som hade varit mycket billigare men jag kände att jag kunde få ett starkare ljusare resultat med Epoxy och jag har inga verktyg för trä eller epoxi för den delen. Så jag började med 5 min epoxi, ett par rör UHU POR, lite rött kort, Brad Gibsons planer £ 22, en låda med 600x600x100mm blå frigolit £ 76, några balsaslipbrädor och lite sandpapper. Det första steget var att bygga ett rättvist skrov i skum som jag till min förvåning uppnådde. När jag väl kom till den punkten kunde jag sedan beställa glasmattan och epoxi och snart hade jag en hanform. Att göra skrovet över formen var relativt enkelt men ta hand om hörnen vid fören och akterna eftersom du kan få luftgap. En fråga var att avgöra upplägget. Det finns några ledtrådar från båttillverkarna men jag är inte säker på om jag ska tro dem. Jag vet att du behöver en uppställning på totalt 10 till 12 oz per kvadratmeter. På min nästa uppläggning kommer jag att prova 3 lager 124g s glas som är en smidge lättare än min första båt När skrovet väl har dragits av formen är det viktigt att ha en jigg där skrovet vilar och för att mäta den totala längden exakt, centrera kölen och rodret och göra vinkelrätt mot mittlinjerna. Sedan handlade det om att lägga till de inre bitarna och bygga riggen. Det enda stora misslyckandet. Jag glömde förstärka skrovet under masten och tryckte nästan masten genom botten av båten, vilket inte hade sett bra ut på vattnet. Annat än att allt var hunky dory. Re riggen. Jag köpte ett kit från Housemartin segel för riggar, segel och beslag. Det fanns inga instruktioner med bitarna, men det finns bra dokumentation om hur man sätter ihop en rigg på Salesetc och jag kunde lösa allt därifrån. Seglen är billiga och mycket trevliga att sätta upp. Du behöver förmodligen bara köpa en A- och B -rigg till en början. Jag köpte finröret och glödlampan och fenfodralet från Dave Creed som jag tror är bäst i den branschen. Sedan båten var först på vattnet har jag gjort en hel del anpassningar och jag tror att jag nu har en slutkonfigurerad båt. Gyllene regeln är ju enklare desto bättre. Båten är konkurrenskraftig men jag är säker på att den aldrig kommer att vara så snabb som de bästa produktionsbåtarna i en stark bris. Mitt mål är att se hur långt upp på stegen jag kan komma när rankinghändelserna startar. Båten är en vanlig vinnare vid Frensham -dammen och vid ett besök i Emsworth slutade jag 4: a efter 10 tävlingar av 15 i en flotta bestående av produktionsbåtar som drivs av några mycket erfarna seglare. Hälsningar kostnad och tid. Jag har spenderat ca £ 400 på skrovet (inklusive verktyg) och £ 900 på beslag (riggkit A, B, C £ 300, rmg vinsch plus switch £ 235, Radio kit £ 108, finnlampa och roder £ 110). Jag gjorde min egen båtlåda och riggbox för mindre än 50 £. Jämför detta med att köpa hela satsen (inkl A - C rigg, riggbox, båtställ, båtlåda) för 3-4000 £ beroende på var du köper. Om denna information inspirerar dig att bygga en båt blir du inte besviken och jag är alltid glad för att kunna ge råd. Du kan göra det med tålamod och framför allt mycket noggrann planering och kom ihåg att det finns massor av människor där ute som är villiga att hjälpa.

How I chose a design and built my IOM Building an IOM. (Click on a heading) Introduction and cost Acquire the plan Build the plug First Alternative Build The Optimised Alternative build Build the rigs Add the sails Weigh and check measure The end result

Here is what you get in the Alternative plan Skaffa planen Efter att ha tittat på alla olika mönster drog jag slutsatsen att allt nära en Britpop måste vara det bästa alternativet med tanke på min totala brist på kunskap. Så jag köpte den alternativa designen utanför BG webbplats och det gav mig allt Jag behövde bygga båten inklusive rätt rigg uppstart mätningar. Vad får du i planerna Design anteckningar Däcklayout Däckplan med utrustningspositioner Sidovy med all mätning från akterdatumet Skrovramar Ramar i fördäck Skrovöppningsmallar Mast riggning layout Jib boom layout Huvudbommens layout En ytterligare del på BG -webbplatsen är inställningarna för rake för alternativet När jag väl hade alla planer var jag säker på att jag hade all information som behövs för att konstruera båten.

Working up the Alioth. Boat 2 First of all thank you to all those who have bought a coffee to support the web site for the long term future. This is not a commercial site and I make no profit from it but I do need support to ensure its longevity. People tell me that it is a great source of information and the only site of its kind, so if you do enjoy it and get value from it why not pop over to Buymeacoffee . It takes any currency. If you do thank you. If 10% of the 5000 plus visitors bought 1 coffee, I could do so much more with the site This is a story about going backwards to go forwards. Move from a well set up boat to one that had to be developed and optimised. I am not a designer so some of the steps could be seen as labourious but every stage was tested and each change offered improvement. Spoiler alert, the story is still ongoing. None of this would have been possible without the help of Paul Barton. He is probably one of the most experienced 3d printers of the Alioth in the UK and is a brilliant ideas man. Of course we would not be doing this had it not been for the creative thinking of Juan Egea. Not only has he come up with a great design but opened the door for home building once again and allowed IOM’s to become freely available to new owners (for a reasonable licence fee of course). At the MYA AGM last year, I had a chance to buy an Alioth. It was a completely standard boat, sprayed with clearcoat but un sanded, with an old Alioth fin and bulb. I thought what better way to rest the Britpop than to buy the Alioth and sail it over the winter with the Britpop rigs. When I started to sail it, I was hooked on the design but my boat setup had some issues. I sailed a bit with Craig Richards but he was months ahead of me and truth be told a better sailor. My boat needed to sail with the rigs at zero degrees rake for balance which meant the booms pointed upward and it all looked rather ugly. Having the boom band 150mm from the step meant the boom was too high. I also had a poor A rig with prebend that occurred mostly around the 600mm mark, more of a kink than a bend which was created with rollers. The end result was a poor performing boat. The first thing to do was to rake the fin aft 2 degrees so I could put some rake on the mast. Unfortunately this moves the bulb back over a centimetre so the transom dropped in the water. Then I lowered the boom band to just off the foredeck above the mast ram. I had to the rakethe fin a degree forward to get the fore and aft balance better and that resulted in weather helm which to be frank was slow. With the Britpop it was easy to power off upwind and drive hard. With my set up I had the opposite and every time I took my eye off the boat it slowed. Craig had moved his fin aft so he could rake the rigs and achieved a balanced boat and was quick from the start with his V3. Eventually after struggling at the the ranking event at Eastbourne, I bit the bullet and moved the fin leading edge rake to a full 2.5 degrees (the aft edge was dead perpendicular to the waterline and then I moved the bulb forward 1.5cm to achieve balance and keep the stern just out of the water. I was then able to test the following week and had a balanced boat with the bow and stern just out of the water. To measure things accurately (see the instruction at the bottom of the article), all you need is paper, pen and a right angled set square. Once you have the dimensions, it is easy to replicate on a new boat. The boat came with under deck sheeting which gave me some issues, tangles and restricted range of movement which took a while to sort. Since trying it out I would prefer on deck sheeting in another boat as you can see any wear on the sheet and quickly repair any fraying cord. Having sorted all of this I ended up with a boat on weight but a bulb 25gm lighter than my Britpop. So after 6 months I got the boat set up that I wanted it. Remember I am not a designer and have to work by trial and error. I also get nervous about moving things around although my confidence is building on this as my knowledge builds. In a way it is good to fiddle as you learn on the journey whereas sailing a setup boat with instruction is quick but ones learning is limited. So what to do next. We heard a rumour that Juan was going to release a file for a 2 piece boat which would make it lighter and stronger. After some gentle persuasion we got the file and printed the boat which I could put together just before the nationals. I wanted a Craig Smith fin which is the lightest available and a Robot bulb. I could not fit a Smith fin to the current boat as I had glued the fin insert for the Alioth fin into the fin box but it would fit nicely in the new boat with a customised insert and this would allow us to vary the rake from zero to 2 degrees. The only thing we lacked was time. Putting an untested boat on the water 3 days before the Nationals was fraught with risk and so it proved. Other things we did to the new boat were to fit on deck sheeting, put the pulley in the centre at the back of the boat to minimise drag in the water, move the shroud base in a few mm as the eyes had the potential to damage other boats when healed over and it would not hurt to bring the shroud base in a bit. As a consequence I shortened the spreaders on the A and B rig and modified the jib tack fitting on the boom so I can get the jibs booms as close to the deck as possible. Then it was a case of going over the boat and minimising windage as far as possible. There was a structural change. After Juan had cracked his boat near the shroud area having been hit by a Venti without a bow bumper at an event earlier this year, Paul changed the aluminium posts that provided triangulation strength at the mast and shroud area replacing them with wires so that if there was impact in this area, the boat could flex and not split although the Polymax is extremely robust. I have hit a piece hard with a hammer and seen no damage or even a mark for that matter. It was a race against time especially as we had a couple of issues with the gluing. While Paul was sorting the boat I went through my rigs and did everything I could to and make sure the setup was good. New Cunningham design, lower the bottle screws, get the booms as parallel to the deck as possible. One mistake I made was to try 80lb fishing line to attach the jib luff to the mast. Unfortunately, the bowsie kept slipping the day before the Nationals so I went back to my trusty thicker cord. I had put the same on the backstay and had to replace that as well. One of the challenges I had was running the sheeting system under the deck using PTFE tube bent through 180 degrees. The winch could not handle the friction but then it was suggested I apply silicon grease to the cord and that solved the problem. So I picked up the boat on the Saturday before the Nationals, with the biggest job, fitting the fin and bulb in the afternoon but I had my map/diagram laid out on the floor with the optimal positions from the previous boat so I could position the fin and bulb accurately knowing the boat would be balanced and with the fore and aft weight distribution correct. What I did not realise at the time was that the bulb cant to the waterline was at 2 degrees when hand fitted but when I secured it with the nut the bulb cant increases to nearly 4 degrees. I only realised this after the nationals. One little check would have shown me the issue with the bulb. One thing I was able to do was accurately measure the bottom of the bulb in relation to the waterline and calculated I would have a 2 mm gap in the tank. The on-deck sheeting was a pleasure to set up and worked well although the way I had set the winch up meant that you had to move the stick a long way to ease the sheet making precise adjustment upwind difficult. Also the mix for a high mode was not working properly. I did not have time to fix that. I did drop the shroud bottle screws to the deck to get them out of the slot and that meant fitting longer shrouds Also checked the mast was a firm fit where it entered hull at the deck and happy to say it is rock solid. One final tweak was to the transmitter rudder control. I have a habit of over steering just after the start so I have introduced 20% of exponential to the steering. I had a quick test sail on Monday to check the sailing balance and that the boat sat in the water correctly. The transom was just out of the water and the bow 25mm out. I had 200gm of correctors to play with which I would position when the boat was measured. The boat was measured in Gosport on the Tuesday. It was exactly 1m long and the bulb 2mm above the limit and the rudder just inside the perpendicular from the transom. I had got something right. We had time to precisely locate the corrector weights. Wednesday was spent practice sailing at Frensham and then Thursday I raced at Gosport. That is when I got concerned about speed. The boat was just not powering off the start line. Yes it was shifty but I was getting rolled by boats around me. Not much I could do but live with it and take it to the Nationals. On the Friday at Poole there was a decent breeze and this is where I learnt that 8mm was not enough prebend in the mast. The jib luff sagged, the leach opened too much and the result was a boat slightly off the pace. I could have increased the prebend for the weekend but if I snapped the mast I would be off home. Thankfully the forecast was for light winds. The first day of the nationals was difficult (a polite way of saying bloody frustrating). After the seeding race I was put in C heat and progressed to B the A and stayed in A for two more races. The things unfolded. I was demoted to B then C and took 3 attempts to get out of C and then two attempts to get from B back to A where I stayed for the rest of the regatta. In summary, I was getting great starts but lacked pace and dropped back into the fleet but once back in A fleet after my excursions was always able to find a way to stay there. The result from the Nationals was not what I wanted but I was going through a commissioning process, so 14th is OK. The boat was not as quick as I would like, and I was able to nail down the reasons why and quickly fix on Tuesday. So, what was the list of things to do after the Nationals On mast bend, 8mm of prebend proved to be too little to support a firm jib luff and leech when sailing upwind. I wanted to use the same mast but with more prebend without using my rollers. I have found with the rollers that you have to get the roller settings to a certain point before the mast bends permanently. It is very easy to get hard spots, so I thought it time to bend the mast by hand. Surprisingly it is not that difficult to achieve a smooth bend by bending the mast carefully around my middle. So my 8mm turned to 15mm over 600mm and I put a gentle reverse bend into the whole mast. Only a few mm. The result when rerigged was stunning. Complete control on the jib leech and the ability to set any bend I liked and no hard spots on the mast. I will not be using rollers again. I also discovered the bulb cant was nearly 4 degrees rather than the two I thought I had. I took the bolt off, and the hand fitted bulb was 2 degrees but what I had not realised was there was a high spot in the slot on the bulb and when the bolt was tightened the bulb rocked and increased the cant. I also need to increase the weight of the bulb by 15gms. There is a hole in the slot which I can fill with lead shot so should be able to get the bulb and fin to full weight. I fiddled and reprogrammed the winch, so I was able to have full control sheeting when sailing upwind. That also restored the mixing which gives me high mode. I will put a blog up on that later. Those three things alone will surely increase the performance of the boat. All this done, I am ready to test the improvements. The journey continues. 5 months to the worlds. How to measure fin and bulb position (see picture below) After a ranking event where the weather helm caused me issues, I ended up raking the fin 2.5 degrees and moved the bulb just over a centimetre forward. This required careful trimming of the slot in the bulb but with a Dremel you can do a neat job but how to get the bulb in the right place Take 2 A2 sheets of drawing paper and tape them together along the shortest edge. Lie this on a wooden floor and place the boat on it. Use the top side as the waterline. The bulb draft limit is 3mm below the bottom or the A2 sheet. Using a right-angle triangle or T square, put a mark on the water line of the boat at the bow at the point where the designer says the bow should kiss the water. Align the boats water line with the top edge of the paper marking the exact bow and stern position. If you do this right, you will be able to move the boat and relocate with precision. Once you have the waterline established, raise the fin so it is parallel to the floor (3 dvd boxes should do it) and recheck the boats position. Also it is worth checking at this stage that the boat is 1m long. Once the boat is in position, you can mark the four corners of the fin, then mark the tip and back point of the bulb so you can measure the cant. Each point is marked on the paper using the adjustable right-angled triangle which also allows me to measure precise angles. This Alioth design requires the bottom of the leading edge to be a certain distance from the bow by drawing that line with the fin in that position and marking the front point of the bulb is, I had my starting point for the bulb position. I then marked where the centre of gravity of the bulb should be so I can line up the C of G of my new bulb in the same place with a raked fin. When I changed to a bulb with a different length, I was able to position its centre of gravity with ease.

A checklist of everything to do before and event Some notes on measuring your settings I put this section in, because as a newcomer I was confused over how to measure some of the settings. e.g. was the jib foot measurement from the foot of the jib to the side of the boom or the centre of it. So just for clarity I show the measurements for a Britpop. All measurement are from the BG web site. Different designs will have there own measurements to achieve perfect sailing balance. To emphasise the importance of this, take a lesson from Zvonko Jelacic who won the 2023 Europeans. Every morning he would be seen with his boat fully rigged laid horizontally on a table and measuring all his rig settings before he went sailing. To get the mast rake accurate I use a a measuring stick. There are two measurements, one from the deck to a measured point on the mast. A second from the bow (at the back of the bumper to the aforementioned measured point. The marks on the rig stick are the same for the Alternative plan. See pictures below Measuring main/jib foot depth, jib boom angle and leach twist, mast ram, main boom angle Jib foot and the mainsail foot are measured from deepest part of sail to the side of the boom. Jib leech twist is measured from the topping lift wire. Jib boom angle is measured from the centre of the mast to the inside of the boom. Golden rule is the A rig should be just inside the shroud, B rig centred on the shroud and C rig pointing outside the shroud. Mast ram is measured from the 1st sheet loop. Measure the main boom angle from the centre of the post to the side of the boom ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, start with the base measurements recommended for your design. Only with experience and talking to the experts will you learn how to fine tune from there for the wide and varied conditions we experience. A couple of mm adjustment here and there can make a huge difference to performance. Lastly and there is probably some debate on this in some circles, measure your rig tension. I bought a rig tension device recently and was amazed to see the impact of one turn of a bottle screw on the rig tension. Of course once you have it right, put locking nuts on the thread into the bottle screws and you will achieve the same tension when you rig the boat. It is only worth checking again from time to time in case the wires stretch or the boat appears to slow. They are available from johngill1003@gmail.com . I thoroughly recommend these to you and no, I am not on commission.

Tuning tips from one of the worlds greatest sailors, Ken Read at the Newport Model Boat Club Dragonflite 95 Spring Clinic 2024 `(Good to see he has studied the tuning tips from our 2023 Global Champion, Craig Richard s) VIDEO Synopsis For a simple one design boat, who would have thought there was so much to think about. Measure the rake multiple times a week. Rig and setup the boat at home away from any wind to make sure balance is right A rig average rake 1135. Set the backstay before measuring the rake Use a rig stick Set the mast right back at deck level. Keep the backstay the same and tighten the jib luff bowsie slightly as wind builds. Moves rake from 1135 to 1132. Only 3mm. In light weather ease backstay 2-3mm Mainsheet bridle - glue in place so ring is level with boom eye. Makes sure it is centred Jib sheet eye on boom is well forward of deck sheet eye. Main boom out just under 90. Jib boom at 90 degrees. On a windy day sheet in slightly Main halyard. Use a single line so it can swivel and set just below silver band so the sail can pivot Use cord instead of the metal sail ties Making changes. Do down wind and behind yourself. Static loads are so much higher on shore than on the water. Learn where the max bend is on the backstay and mark as a reference. When on the water if you have heavy weather or lee helm you have not got the original set up right. If you change the rake you have to change the topping lift. 2marks on topping lift, 2 marks on headstay and 1 mark on the backstay. With these marks setup is quick and easy. Jib tack. Get as close to the deck as possible Jib cunningham - never used because the sails are board flat. Deck measurements 3 marks on the deck for sheet locations. The marks run down the boom. Make a mark with the boom and then draw 3 1 inch lines on starboard side with a ruler in line with mark to jib tack. Set up consistently to those marks. Use for course tune to get rid of weather or lee helm and a repeat reference if boat is fast. Foot measurement. Use fingers. 1 to 1.5 fingers. Measure and check with your fingers Check vang sailing downwind on the water. Taping a hatch. Start at the back and work forward so you create a water ramp. It is possible to roll gybe the boat. Jib weight pushed right in to avoid getting hooked up in a crash. Tacking in a breeze, you have to let the sheets out. High mode fast mode - Ken just uses the throttle

A directory of associations, boat builders, sail makers, fitting suppliers, building, tuning and racing tip sites. The Starting Point and references My plan for the boat was to sort the rigging and sails so that I have a reliable package which I can put on the water and race with confidence. The boat was only sailed a few times times by the previous 2 owners since 2016 so there is a lot of work to do. Here is a starting jobs list. Fair top of rudder so it fits flush to the hull. Fit Futaba Servo and new 1000mA Lifo battery Check all the electrics are working smoothly and calibrate winch Replace endless sheet cord and adjust lead approach to drum so there is a direct line with no friction Replace all sheets Replace backstay and jib leech topping lift with wire. Check weigh boat Calibrate sheeting angles Check all mainsail heads are set to just below top band. One or two of the fittings may need replacing as they look a bit dodgy Tune all rigs and calibrate and log settings Test sail and check boat is waterproof Buy more deck patches. The jobs were straight forward and I had loads of spares so no additional cost. If the hull is competitive which I believe it should be then I think an order for new sails will be on the cards as well as a lightweight swing rig and maybe a gismo to control leech tension upwind. For now I will work with what I have and assess whether the investment will be worth while. Looking around on the web I found the following references Marblehead section on the MYA Web site. This provides links to all the relevant Marblehead web sites Pimp my Marblehead by BG on the MYA web site Great information on how to pimp up older designs. More from the man himself on pimping. Here is the web link but have put extracts of the text below because it adds to the jigsaw. Its well worth reading the full article HERE Originally Posted by Brad Gibson on RC Groups.com Weight - Anything with a designed displacement upwards of 5 kg ready to race will struggle in light winds. The current competitive parameters for an all round design live between 4.4 - 4.8 kg with the most recent winning designs sitting in the 4.7- 4.8 range. - Any hull weight with radio and rudder installed ready to sail, less rig and fin/ballast, should not be more that 900 - 950 grams. The better boats live within the 780 - 840g region. - Beam Waterline should be no greater than 160mm. Current designs are as low as 130 -150mm Hull weight is 840 grams, less rig and keel. Overall designed displacement is 4.9kg. - With a newer thin profile stiff fin we go a fraction deeper on the fin and shave 100 grams off the lead. Lighter boat, similar righting moment with less drag. Win win! - The original Bantock rigs are stiff as hell for their weight so very little to do there other than modernise the sail plans to modern ratios if you desire, and replace sails accordingly. The original rigs were set some 85mm off the deck to the lower mast bands, so we follow what works on our IOM's and modern M's in cutting down the goosenecks to get things as low as we can. These last points are more fine tuning but give us a little more from the boat across the wind range. Sailsetc/Bantock swing rig plan How to program an RMG Smartwinch

DF 95 Tuning numbers If you search on the web for DF 95 tuning you can get similar images to the one below. I use it as a guide (ignoring the mast gate positions) to establish some starting points and then adjust as I feel fit. As I get comfortable with my setting I will mark up the cords so I can achieve similar setting on each outing. But the best way to set up is to copy Craig or find the fastest boat on the day and set up similar to that. How do I set the boat up Having raced twice now at a TT and the first day of the Nationals at Poole with top 2 results, I can conclude my light weather set up is OK. The following pages show how Craig sets his boat up and there are many useful tips there. However whilst I have copied quite a bit from his work the are some things I do a little different. I use the table above for foot depth and boom angle. So I start with the mast 2 notches forward from the back. I do this because my luff curve on the main is not shaved like Craigs so I need a bit more mast bend. This sets the mast rake so there is no need to measure bow bumper to the crane. With the jib luff slackish, I adjust the backstay to put in about 5 mm of bend so the mainsail sits nicely agains the mast. Then I apply enough forestay tension to keep the top of the jib is stable in the strongest gust of the day. This will stop the top of the jib wobbling which we all know is dead slow. Then I check my boom angles and foot depth from the chart and make sure the rudder is straight. The last thing I do is holding the boat, sheet everything in to make sure the setup looks OK and then gradually head the boat up into wind to check the jib tell tale and the tell tail I have at the top of the main react in unison. Then I know the boat should be balanced. I put the boat on the water to see how it sails upwind. If I have lee helm, I apply a tiny bit of kicker until the balance is relatively neutral and the reverse if there is weather helm. That is pretty much all there is to the set up. It is very easy to over complicate. Far better to go with your setup and focus on the sailing. These are one design boats and there is much to be gained by sailing smart. How do I sail the DF In summary, I think lower and faster upwind is my mantra usually with the sheets eased a notch or two to get better VMG. I do have a high mode for getting off the start line and sailing in the stronger gusts but rarely use it. Starting In a one design boat I have become more aggressive on the start line. In the past I have hung back but find you lose too much distance if the line is biased like it was at Poole. So on a very port biased line I want to be the pin end boat but this does require a level of skill and timing. If the line is squarer and there is no advantage to go left I want to be one of the starboard end boats so I have positional control on the fleet and always look to find a gap on the start so I can tack when I like. On the first beat I will try and stay to the right of the fleet so I do not get forced left by starboard boats and have to take pot luck coming into the mark on port. Of course if there is a favourable left side shift or more pressure I will head that way. On the reach or run in lighter conditions I find the boat does like heading up in the lulls and bearing away in the puffs as this maintains a better overall speed. I have used the technique in dinghies, yachts and model yachts. It all comes down to manipulating apparent wind. There is a lot more on tactical sailing round the course in the section "Racing and IOM". This winter I will rearrange the site so it covers IOM, DF and Marblehead and have racing as a separate section. Overall message is keep everything simple and focus on sailing fast when your boat is on the water.