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Logga in Setting sails on the rig A conversation with my brother the other day got me thinking about how the IOM rig should work. We both used to sail on dinghies and yachts. Mostly we would sail on fractional rig yachts where the bottom of the mast was controlled by the shrouds, spreaders and runners. The bend was fixed up to the hounds and you increased or decreased that bend, using the runner, however once set the mast was fairly rigid. The trick was to have the mast work for you above the hounds on the un-supported section of the fractional rig. The ideal scenario went like this. If you hit a gust the top of the mast head would bend, flattening the upper part of the mainsail and opening the leech so the boat could accelerate into the gust. As soon as the wind eased the mast would straighten and power was restored. We once sailed on a boat which had the balance of the rig exactly right. It meant you could carry more sail in greater breeze and gave a massive competitive advantage. The boat won a lot of key offshore and inshore races. However the IOM rig is between a fractional and a masthead rig on a yacht where the forestay and backstay meet at the top of the mast and the bend and therefore mainsail leech control is managed entirely through adjustment of the runners. Of course you have other adjustments on yachts which are important, eg mainsail foot, cunningham, etc, all of which have to be adjusted through the wind ranges, but in this article I am just focusing on mast bend and impact on the mainsail. The IOM rig is somewhere between a masthead and fractional rigged yacht. .Our forestay sits above the hounds with a backstay at the top of the mast. The geometry is set up so that with prebend build into the spar, straightened out by the backstay, tension is put into the luff and leech line of the headsail. The position of the jib swivel line to the deck ensures that most of that tension goes down the luff of the jib and not the leech line. Mast bend and therefore mainsail leech shape is controlled throughout the mast ram, spreader rake and tension on the backstay. Jib leech tension is controlled by the leech line. We want a rig setup that will give a little in puffs so the boat accelerates and drives, rather than heels and stall. So how can that be achieved. If you read all the key advice on rig setup, you tighten your shroud tension just enough to stop the leeward shroud going soft when upwind. This allows the mast to flex a little in puffs providing acceleration. If the mast is too rigid, airflow will stall and the boat will not accelerate in the puff. Start your boats setup with the boat pointing as though on a run. Trim the back stay so the mast is straight fore and aft. Set the mainsail foot to a depth of 15mm or whatever your sailplane suggests. Set up the kicker tension so the mainsail leech is slightly twisted with the top batten just outside parallel to the main boom. Check both gybes to make sure the mast is straight vertically. The twist should be the same on each gybe. Then point the boat as though on a beat. I assume you have set the rake as per the boat plan using a measuring stick or tape measure. Our goal is to set the mainsail so the top batten is parallel to the centreline of the boom by adjusting the backstay and mast ram. Once set up there should be little need for change through the wind ranges other than 1mm tweaks on the backstay. In a recent zoom meeting with Brad Gibson for the Central Park MYG in the US, Brad talked about adjusting the backstay by plus or minus 2mm. I don't know about you, but in the past I was slightly more aggressive about the use of the backstay. Now I understand more about the precision of the setup and know what the top guys do, I am more careful. With any luck if you have done all this you will have a perfect looking rig, and if you have not overdone the shroud tension, the rig will work for you in the gusts. There is enough information available on rig setup up on the web, that you should be able to achieve the right setting first time and more important, recreate that setting every time you go sailing. Here are some pictures to show the impact of 1 mm changes on the B rig backstay. Start from the bottom Sätta segel på riggen Ett samtal med min bror häromdagen fick mig att tänka på hur IOM -riggen ska fungera. Vi brukade båda segla på jollar och yachter. Mestadels skulle vi segla på fraktionerade riggbåtar där botten av masten styrdes av höljen, spridare och löpare. Böjningen fixerades upp till hundarna och du ökade eller minskade den böjningen med hjälp av löparen, men en gång var masten ganska stel. Tricket var att få masten att arbeta för dig ovanför hundarna på den icke-stödda delen av fraktionsriggen. Det ideala scenariot gick så här. Om du träffar ett vindbyst skulle toppen av masthuvudet böjas, platta ut den övre delen av storseglet och öppna iglen så att båten kan accelerera in i vindbytet. Så fort vinden lättade skulle masten räta ut och strömmen återställdes. Vi seglade en gång på en båt som hade balansen i riggen precis rätt. Det innebar att du kunde bära mer segel i större bris och gav en enorm konkurrensfördel. Båten vann många viktiga offshore- och inshore -lopp. IOM -riggen befinner sig emellertid mellan en fraktionerad och en mastheadrigg på en yacht där skogstaget och backstay möts på toppen av masten och böjningen och därför hanteras storseglskontrollen helt genom justering av löparna. Naturligtvis har du andra justeringar på yachter som är viktiga, t.ex. storsegelfot, cunningham, etc., som alla måste justeras genom vindområdena, men i den här artikeln fokuserar jag bara på mastböjning och påverkan på storseglet. IOM -riggen är någonstans mellan en masthead och fraktionerad riggad yacht. .Vår skogsstopp sitter ovanför hundarna med en ryggstång högst upp på masten. Geometrin är inställd så att spänningen sätts in i luff- och igellinjen i huvudseglet med prebend in i sparren, rätas ut av backstay. Jib -svängningslinjens position mot däcket säkerställer att det mesta av den spänningen går ner i jibben och inte igellinjen. Mastböjning och därför storseglformen styrs genom masten, spridaren och spänningen på ryggstödet. Jib leech -spänningen styrs av igel -linjen. Vi vill ha en rigguppställning som ger lite puffar så båten accelererar och kör, snarare än klackar och stall. Så hur kan det uppnås. Om du läser alla viktiga råd om rigginställning, stramar du din höljespänning precis tillräckligt för att förhindra att bottenhöljet blir mjukt när det blåser upp. Detta gör att masten kan böja lite i puffar som ger acceleration. Om masten är för stel stannar luftflödet och båten kommer inte att accelerera i puffen. Starta dina båtar med att båten pekar som på en körning. Trimma ryggstödet så att masten är rak fram och bak. Ställ in segelfoten på ett djup av 15 mm eller vad ditt segelflygplan föreslår. Ställ in kicker -spänningen så att storsegelbladen vrids något med den övre läkten strax utanför parallellt med huvudbommen. Kontrollera båda gyberna för att se till att masten är rak vertikalt. Twistningen ska vara densamma på varje jibe. Rikta sedan båten som på ett slag. Jag antar att du har ställt in raken enligt båtplanen med hjälp av en mätpinne eller måttband. Vårt mål är att ställa in storseglet så att det övre läget är parallellt med bommens mittlinje genom att justera ryggstödet och maststödet. När det väl är inställt bör det vara lite behov av förändring genom andra vindintervaller än 1 mm tweaks på backstay. I ett nyligen zoommöte med Brad Gibson för Central Park MYG i USA talade Brad om att justera backstay med plus eller minus 2 mm. Jag vet inte om dig, men tidigare var jag lite mer aggressiv om användningen av ryggstödet. Nu förstår jag mer om installationens precision och vet vad de bästa killarna gör, jag är mer försiktig. Om du har lyckats med allt detta kommer du att få en perfekt snygg rigg, och om du inte har överdrivit höljespänningen kommer riggen att fungera för dig i vindbyarna. Det finns tillräckligt med information om riggkonfiguration på nätet för att du ska kunna uppnå rätt inställning första gången och ännu viktigare, återskapa den inställningen varje gång du seglar. Här är några bilder som visar effekterna av 1 mm förändringar på B -riggen. Börja från botten Börja längst ner och arbeta upp uppsättningen bilder. De visar förböjningen inbyggd i masten och sedan den gradvisa effekten av upp till 5 mm tilläggsstöd. Du kan se effekten bäst på mjukningen av lakan. Prova detta på din egen båt och se hur din rigg ser ut. Ignorera inställningen av focken eftersom iglen är för tät och bommen kan lindras något. Nästa gång jag försöker detta kommer jag att sätta upp kameran på ett stativ så att vinkeln inte ändras mellan bilderna. Jag kommer att få en liknande uppsättning skott för A -riggen imorgon. Rigge setup - Effekten av 5 mm på A -riggen Bara ett kort inlägg för att återspegla min lek med A -riggen och tankar om inställningar för olika vind- och huggförhållanden. Se bilderna nedan. Självklart kommer seglet att se lite annorlunda ut i en bris. En rigg med 15 mm fotdjup och rak mast. Inställning för hackigt vatten. Det kommer att tappa vridning i en lätt bris för acceleration över vågorna Bilden visar hur man börjar med en rak mast, vilken inverkan det har att lägga 5 mm till bakstycket på en A -rigg. Över 10 mm ryggstöd orsakar segelförvrängning Next Section Weigh and check measure

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.

Första benet på framsidan Vad du behöver veta Utför din plan Vad ska man se upp för Planera för markavrundning långt före inflygning Vilka samtal kan du ringa Detaljen Utför din plan. Det förutsätter att du har en. Så vad anser du att du ska gå med i din plan? Vi diskuterade detta i avsnittet "Segling innan start" HÄR Försök att få en översikt över banan från olika vinklar och testa dina observationer när du seglar din båt före start och tittar på andra båtar. Ta reda på vilken sida av vindvinden som är gynnsam, antingen genom observation från stranden eller när du går ut och seglar. Ser vinden starkare ut på ena eller andra sidan. Finns det några hinder (träd, byggnader, stora båtar), som kan påverka vinden över banan. Hur kommer vindbyarna ner på banan, gynnar de ena eller andra sidan, växlar vinden betydligt i dem och vilken tack är gynnsam som kommer in i vindkastet. Finns det en betydande strandlinje som kan få vinden att böja. Om du kan, arbeta med en annan båt för att testa vinden genom att segla upp motsatta sidor av takten. Hur du än gör det, lägg en plan och följ den tills villkoren ändras och bevis tyder starkt på ett annat handlingssätt. Håll dig mitt i kursen om det inte finns en uppenbar anledning att vara någon annanstans och titta på lokalbefolkningen för att se vart de går. Du gör mål på första takten Undvik folkmassor och bli inboxade Dra nytta av alla vindböjningar Fortsätt leta upp kursen för skift Undvik inga vindzoner orsakade av hinder Minimera tackling När du försöker komma till banans gynnade sida, offra 1 eller 2 båtar genom att duka i stället för att krossa och eventuellt dras till fel sida av banan. Planera i god tid för framåtgående markering. Om du är nära framsidan, har du viss flexibilitet i ditt tillvägagångssätt och kanske kan du utföra en sista -minuten -tackling om det gynnas, men om du är i en folkmassa, se till att du ställer upp på styrbord tidigt, åtminstone utanför 4 -båtzonen så att du kan segla runt i klar luft med hastighet. Se till att du vet vilken sida av loppet du vill ha och placera din båt därefter. Gör hagel på banan Vid denna tidpunkt är det värt att nämna några av haglarna du får göra vid starten och segla runt banan. Reglerna anger några tillåtna samtal nedan Av en konkurrent ”24 Room to Tack” vid ett hinder eller för båt i rätt väg - valfritt svar du tackar Inbjudan till protest - 24 protester 15 Båt 33 utom kontroll (och blir därför ett hinder) Taktiska haglar Styrbord Stanna uppe Inget utrymme - att klämma inåt vid vindmärket Överlappning Ingen överlappning Markera rummet Av kommittén Individuell återkallelse Allmän återkallelse Kod U flagga återkallelse Återkallande av svart flagga Hagel av observatören t.ex. 59 träffade. Kontakt mellan 45 och 67 Allt annat är bara förvirrande. Det är meningslöst att ange ett argument när alla dina konkurrenter och åskådare lyssnar. De kommer inte att tacka dig för det. Exempel på video med förvirrande samtal

Checklistor Vad du behöver veta Checklistor är viktiga om du vill ha en konsekvent inställning och inte vill lämna någonting bakom dig, resa en bit till ett möte i en annan klubb. Detaljerna Min pappa var flygbolagspilot och han kunde inte flyga ett flygplan utan att köra igenom flera checklistor. Jag började använda dem under mina jolle -dagar, främst för att kontrollera att jag hade all min utrustning innan jag gav mig iväg för ett öppet möte med en dunkande baksmälla. På det sättet har jag aldrig glömt någonting. Det var tider. Nu använder jag dem av olika anledningar. 1 För att kontrollera att jag har all min utrustning innan jag lämnar hemmet 2 Kontrollera att allt finns i husbilen 3 En redogörelse för min båtinställning, t.ex. mastrake, ryggspänning, bladinställningar etc etc. Det finns många variabler som seglar en radioyacht och när jag började segla min båt brukade jag flyga den. Jag skulle dyka upp, ställa upp båten så den såg rätt ut och segla. Men vissa dagar var det inte riktigt rätt och jag kunde inte sätta fingret på vad som var fel. Ett fel i skolpojken var att kroka no 2 jib -bommen på no1 -kroken. På goda dagar började jag spela in mina inställningar och strukturerade gradvis min checklista. Om du tar detta till det yttersta finns det cirka 24 datapunkter för varje rigg. Naturligtvis behöver du inte gå in på denna detaljnivå men ju mer du mäter, desto mer kommer du att vara säker på installationen av din båt. Min original- checklista finns här. Min reviderade checklista är mycket förenklad

Sista takten Vad du behöver veta Ha en plan i åtanke för det sista böjda benet Löst lock Bo mellan båtarna bakom och målgången Segla snabbt och gratis Detaljen Det är troligt att båtarna är spridda och det finns inte mycket att vinna eller förlora, men om du är opportunist, håll alltid utkik efter ett vindskift som kan förändra dig några platser. Det händer inte så ofta men när det gör det kommer du sparka dig själv om du saknar det. Ha en plan för sista takten. Behåll ett löst lock på båtarna bakom och håll dig mellan dem och banans fördelaktiga sida. Om båtarna bakom delas, täck lösa de som är på väg mot den gynnsamma sidan. Fokusera på att placera din båt i mitten av banan om det är möjligt så att du kan dra nytta av plötsliga växlingar åt båda hållen. När du korsar upp det sista slaget, fastställ vilken ände på mållinjen som är närmare och sikta på det målet. Spänning leder till klämning och förlust av hastighet. Kom ihåg att andas och slappna av. Segla snabbt och fritt och du kommer att behålla din position och vem vet, kanske få ett par platser på dem som tappar koncentrationen och tar bort ögat från båten.

Innan ett evenemang Bestäm vad som är ditt mål i segling Veta din tävlingsregler och taktik Hantera din investering med de försiktiga båtunderhåll Segla snabbt med höger båttuning och inställning Känn dina radiokontroller Effektiv båtövning Säkerställ konsekvent installation med checklistor Vet hur vädret hjälper dig Användbar referenser

The Marblehead Project Here is the story of my entry into the world of Marbleheads.

Leeward -märket Vad du behöver veta Ha en plan. Det är inte nödvändigtvis hur du närmar dig märket, det är hur du avviker från det. Placera båten för att ta den önskade sidan av takten. Detaljen Ha en plan för avrundningen av märken. Ditt mål är att vara den inre båten vilket kan vara svårt om det finns ett gäng långsamma båtar framför dig och du måste vidta undvikande åtgärder. Om du är osäker, med ett gäng långsamma båtar på märket och du inte kan komma in, segla runt på utsidan av dem, men om du behöver tacka tidigt kan det vara bättre att låta båtarna gå och följa rundan bakom dem så att du ha frihet att tackla. Om du är fri från andra båtar eller har "Mark Room" på båtarna runt dig, gå in bredt och lämna stäng så när du startar beatet är märket längs dig och ingen kan komma in i dig. Placera helst båten så att du kan klämma om det behövs och självklart segla till vald sida naturligtvis på nästa vindsträcka. Tack för klar luft omedelbart om det finns en båt nära dig. De kommer bara att sakta ner dig och du kommer så småningom att behöva ta tag när du faller för att komma in i smutsig luft från båten framför. Det finns ett förbehåll här att tacket tar dig till klar luft och inte tillbaka genom flottan. Ibland är det bättre alternativet att äta smuts tills du kan ta dig in i en klar fil eller gå ut i klar luft om det alternativet är tillgängligt. Allt beror på hur många båtar som ligger framför dig. Kom slutligen ihåg när överlappning i zonen vid märket, babord och styrbord inte längre gäller. Videoexempel 1 3 båtar i rad, bättre vara insidan Video exempel 2 Undvik att fastna som utanför båt. Det kommer att sluta med tårar

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.

Lägg upp skrovet Med pluggen vaxad var jag redo att bygga en båt. Slutresultatet efter målning med högbyggd primer och mycket slipning visas på bilden. Den här är redo för passform. Klicka på vilken bild som helst för att expandera bilden. Build the hull on the male mould What you need Glass cloth. 2*135gm E cloth and 1x124gm S cloth. Slow cure epoxy East Coast fibreglass 2 pack high build epoxy primer. SML Paints Roller Paint brush Mixing pots Safety glasses The process Making the hull and components My first question was what layup to use. Looking at the boat builder sites, I guessed my layup would provide a strong but not too heavy boat however I tried a few layups on a test mould to see what I would get. In the end I used 2*135gm E cloth and 1x124gm S cloth. I am going to build a new boat and use 3 layers of 124gm S cloth which is stronger and will use less epoxy. At the same time as laying up the hull, I made the hull components using the same layup. I needed a mould for the deck area just aft of the foredeck. The picture shows the mould under construction prior to rubbing smooth. Components for the bow, stern and bulkhead, simply a glass and epoxy sheet laid on a flat board covered in packaging tape which is a great release agent. For the rudder and servo supports, I laid glass over strip wood wrapped in packaging tape to create a light rigid beam to bond across the boat. The hull is laid up in the same way as the plug. Pre cut the cloth and mark a centreline on the hull and the cloth. Allow for an overlap of 1 inch on the foredeck. I used West systems slow cure epoxy resin which in the Summer gave me about half an hours work time. Stop work when the epoxy starts to go stringy and clean your tools with Acetone before mixing a fresh pot of epoxy. I use Nitril gloves which I wash in acetone to remove any sticky epoxy. I also use a full face filter mask although this is not needed. Unlike Polyurethane, epoxy does not smell too bad To begin the layup, paint the hull with epoxy. Add the first layer of E cloth and saturate the glass with epoxy using the aluminium roller. Take your time and make sure you get rid of all air bubbles. I worked on the hull first and then turned the mould over to work on the deck. Allow a 1 inch overlap on the deck and cut any excess cloth away with scissors. Keep a jar of acetone handy to keep the scissors clean. I added more epoxy over the first layer of E cloth prior to adding the second layer. Roll out and finish as per the first layer. Repeat for the final layer of S cloth Wrap the finished hull tightly in Peel ply. When I built the hull in about 75 degrees, I had to mix a second lot of epoxy for the final layer of S cloth as the first lot started curing. Once hardened, remove the peel ply, then add 2 coats of high build epoxy primer. Like the plug the hull will look a mess but will look great once sanded. Sand the hull so you can see through to glass but do not cut any fibres. This will make the hull as light as possible and ready for a top coat of 2 pack polythene which is done after fit out. Fix any faults/holes as necessary. Once happy with hull finish cut through the centreline of the the foredeck and stern deck. Brad suggested a knife but I used a fine cutter on a Dremel. Prise the hull off the mould. This process was much easier than I thought it would be. The whole structure is flexible so once off the mould so put in a jig to keep the designed shape. Avsluta huvuddäcket Så snart skrovet är av formen lägg den direkt i en jigg för att stödja skrovet. Jag klippte ut ramar i plywood med hjälp av planerna och fixade dessa till en stark platt skiva Jiggen kommer att användas för att rikta in fenan och rodret Klicka på vilken bild som helst för att expandera bilden. Bond the foredeck and stern deck What you need 5 minute epoxy Slow cure epoxy Bent piece of wire as long as the foredeck 1" glass tape Bow and stern plates The process Tape the the top of the previously cut foredeck and stern together with masking tape prior to bonding below. Sand the underside of the foredeck to provide a key for the 1"tape you are about to apply Bond the underneath of cut foredeck and stern deck with 1" fibreglass tape. Allow to cure and remove the masking tape. I put the glass tape underneath the deck and on top but I think you only need to bond underneath and fill the gap on top. To get the tape all the way up the foredeck, wet the tape with epoxy and roll up. Using the wire with a 1" bend at the end, to support the roll and unroll it right (with the hull upside down) to the end of the foredeck. Once unrolled it should sit flat and use the wire to move the tape if necessary. See image 4. Remember to put some peel ply over the top of the tape on top of the deck. Image 6. (This was probably an unnecessary step as I think the tape only needs to go on the underside.) The foredeck will be very strong because you will have 6 layers of glass including the overlay and the 1" tape. Slightly over engineered I think. Repeat the process on the stern deck. I had to put a plate across the stern and the next bridge as I had not finished the original layup properly. Image 8 and 9. Having taped on top of the foredeck I had to re apply 2 coats of high build epoxy and sand down. There is no need to do this if you bond underneath the deck only. I fitted 2 perpendicular end plates onto the jig so I could shape the bow and stern on the hull to be, one, vertical and two, at 90 degrees to the centre line of the boat. Image 10 Trim the bow and stern plate and fit with 5 min epoxy. Spot glue in place initially and then seal and fillet with epoxy and micro balloons. Bind framdäck och akterdäck Vad du behöver 5 minuter epoxi Långsam bota epoxi Böjd trådbit så lång som fördäcket 1 "glastejp Bog och akterplattor Processen Tejpa upp ovansidan av det tidigare skurna fördäcket och aktern tillsammans med maskeringstejp innan limningen nedan. Se bild 5. Slipa undersidan av fördäcket för att ge en nyckel till det 1 "band som du ska applicera Fäst undersidan av det avskurna fördäcket och akterdäcket med 1 "glasfibertejp. Bild 4. Låt härda och ta bort maskeringstejpen. Jag lägger glastejpen under däcket och ovanpå men jag tror att du bara behöver binda under och fylla luckan ovanpå. För att få tejpen hela vägen upp på fördäcket, blöt tejpen med epoxi och rulla ihop. Med tråden med en 1 "böjning i slutet kan du stödja rullen och rulla ut den rätt (med skrovet upp och ner) till slutet av fördäcket. När den väl är rullad ska den sitta platt och använda tråden för att flytta tejpen om det behövs. Se bild 4. Kom ihåg att lägga lite skal över toppen av tejpen ovanpå däcket. Bild 6. (Detta var förmodligen ett onödigt steg eftersom jag tror att bandet bara behöver gå på undersidan.) Fördäcket blir väldigt starkt eftersom du kommer att ha 6 lager glas inklusive överlägget och 1 "-tejpen. Lite överkonstruerad. Upprepa processen på akterdäcket. Jag var tvungen att lägga en tallrik över akter och nästa bro eftersom jag inte hade avslutat den ursprungliga uppläggningen ordentligt. Bild 8 och 9. Efter att ha tejpat ovanpå fördäcket fick jag åter applicera 2 skikt av högbyggd epoxi och slipa ner. Du behöver inte göra detta om du bara binder under däcket. Jag monterade 2 vinkelräta ändplattor på jiggen så att jag kunde fora fören och aktern på skrovet för att vara, en, vertikal och två, 90 grader mot båtens mittlinje. Bild 10 Klipp fören och akterplattan och passa med 5 min epoxi. Plocka lim på plats först och försegla sedan och filéera med epoxi och mikroballonger. Fig 8 visar initial passform. Ta slutligen bort överflödigt däck så att hålen är synliga enligt planen. Se bild 7 och 8. På bild 5 är bara akterdäcket på plats. På nästa båt ska jag färdigställa däcket upp till pluggposten. Nu kommer vad jag tycker är den svåraste delen av byggprocessen. Märkning upp och skär ett hål i skrovet för fenan och limning i ett inriktat fenhölje och binda det till däcket och framåtskottet. När jag bygger min nästa båt lägger jag till bilder på finnens placering. Klicka på vilken bild som helst för att expandera bilden. The fin case, bulkhead and forward aft deck What you need 5 minute epoxy Slow cure epoxy Fin Fin case Rudder Rudder stock brass tubes Cross bars for rudder stock and rudder servo mount. Prepared forward part of the aft deck Cut out bulkhead shape to fit under fordeck 1"glass tape Various fittings, jib tack bolts, mast ram, mainsheet post, back stay bolt, mainsheet pulley blocks, fairleads to allow the endless mainsheet to go through bulkhead The Details Tape the hull into the jig so the shroud points on the deck are parallel to the base of the jig. Everything will be aligned to this. Measuring from the stern datum, mark the front and back of the fin hole on the outside of the hull. Then mark a centreline which you will have marked on the frames of the jig. This will get the correct alignment for the fin hole. Remove the hull and using the fin, mark the contour of the fin. Cut out the slot for the fin using a Dremel or similar being careful to cut well inside the line. Use sandpaper to open the slot to fit the fin exactly. Tape the hull back in the jig. With the fin in the slot, push the fin case over the fin so that the bottom of the case is lying on the hull. There are two measurements on the plan to align the fin, one shows the tip of the fin where is enters the bulb. This should be 330mm from the bottom of the hull and the other measures from the same fin tip to the bottom of the bow of the boat. If set up correctly the leading edge of the fin should be perpendicular to the waterline. Shape the bottom of the fin box and fin until this is achieved. Ideally the fin should fit all the way into the fin box. I used some string to determined the position of the tip of the fin. Reinforce the shroud bolt locations with half an inch of 1" tape and once dry fit the shrouds. There is a huge amount of strength with this design in this area and no further reinforcement is needed. Fit the shroud bolt now while you have access to the underside of the deck. Once the base of the fin box is shaped and the fin aligned, now is the time to dry fit the forward part of the aft deck and trim the top of the fin box until the deck fits snuggly. Spot glue the fin box in place with the fin in the box and support in the right position. Once fixed seal the fin box to the hull with 5 min epoxy and microballoons with a small fillet. Finally reinforce the fin box to the hull with 1"glass tape and epoxy. With the fin box in place, dry fit the forward part of the deck with the fin box and forward bulkhead. Once happy with fit, do a final check that the forward bulkhead is in the right place from the stern datum. Get this wrong and you will have issues with your mast ram. Spot glue with 5 min epoxy and micro balloon. With 5 min epoxy and micro balloon seal the bulkhead and seal where the fin box connects with the deck. Finally reinforce the top of the fin box with fin one inch tape. Finally glue the radio pot holder under the deck and seal with epoxy. In my first build I glued the pot on top which looks messy. Bond in the cross beams for the servo and rudder stock with one inch tape See image below for positions. Remember to sand the inside of the hull to create a good keyed surface. Drill the hole in the deck for the fin bolt and mast. Now is the time to check for leaks. Fill the depressed area of the deck forward of the radio pot with water and see if there are any leaks. Drill a 4mm hole in the hull for the rudder, with the central point located from the jig and distance from the aft datum measured off the plan. The rudder stock is 2 tubes of brass, one 5mm o/d and one 4mm o/d. The two tubes slot into one another and the rudder post goes inside for a very tight fit. Mark on the rudder brace bar a line which when a hole is drilled for the stock ensures the trailing edge of the rudder does not extend beyond the stern of the boat. The rudder stock will project a couple of mm above the cross bar. Drill a hole in the centre and ream it wide perpendicular to the hull. Fit the stock in place on the rudder and in the boat. Apply some 5 min epoxy with micro balloon to fix the top of the stock with the rudder exactly aligned with the keel. Leave to set, then seal the stock in the hull and reinforce the top if necessary. The worst is over. My first cross beam was so strong I saved weight by cutting it in half. The next cross beam will be much lighter. Paint the whole boat in 2 pack polyurethane top coat and lightly rub and t-cut to desired finish Fit the mainsheet post, backstay bolt, aft pulley for mainsheet, fairleads for sheet control through the bulkhead, setting these as low as possible so they don't interfere with the kicker on a run on port gybe. Fit the 4 jib sheet leads in the foredeck and the 3 tack bolts. Finally, drill a bung hole, push a needle through the centre of the bung, thread a chord and tie to the backstay. Drill two bolts to hold the winch bracket in the forward bulkhead. Align the winch with the fairleads. The bracket was just a 90 degree moulding cut to shape around the winch and enough flange to brace it securely to the bulkhead. Drill a hole for the mast ram and fit. Bond a strengthening post in the foredeck around the jib tack area to stop foredeck lifting under load. Don't fit the radio pot until correctors have been fitted. Det sista monteringsjobbet på båten Vad du behöver Roterarm för roder Anslutning från rodret till servon Servo Mottagare Batteri LiFeP04 batteri 1600mA (mer än ett helt dygn). Du kan använda så lite som 900mA om du behöver spara vikt. Vattentät strömbrytare RG vinsch och stödfäste. Processen Borra ett hål i det främre skottet på vänster sida för den elektriska på/av -omkopplaren och passa. Montera vinschen på stödfästet och lös passform på skottet. Gör ett hål i tvärfästet för servon och montera och dra kabeln till radiokärlet. Gör ett hål i ovansidan av radiokärlet strax under dess stödram och för servo- och omkopplingskabeln för batteriet till insidan av grytan genom hålet. Anslut roderservot till kanal 1 på mottagaren. Anslut vinschkontakten till kanal 3 och montera den tredje lösa vinschkabeln på en redundant mittstift, säg kanal 5. Anslut omkopplaren till vinschen. Använd XT30 -kontakter där det är möjligt eller om du vann får du tillräckligt med kraft till vinschen. Om du slår på strömmen, med någon tur kommer en påslagen sändare att flytta rodret och vinschen. Det finns ett helt avsnitt om inställningen av radiosändaren HÄR . Om allt fungerar är du redo att passa den ändlösa arkjusteraren. Det oändliga arket är ett jobbigt jobb. Jag köpte vinschen med en självspännande returrulle, dvs den är försedd med en fjäder som hindrar plåtlinjen att släppa. Hitta vinschens slutpunkter genom att flytta kontrollpinnen på sändaren helt upp och ner. Jag använder upp för ark helt ut och ner för helt in. Lämna kontrollpinnen nedåt (ark in). Ta två rader och trä igenom skottets ledare och spring till vinschen. Den yttre linjen drar in arken och den inre släpper ut arket. På vinschen är den nedre remskivan ark in, den övre fjädrande remskivan är ark ut. Med den yttre linjen, bind av på den nedre remskivan och linda 5 gånger runt remskivan. Knyt den inre linan till den övre remskivan men använd bara en och a halva varv. Håll linorna lätt spända så att du inte tappar omslag på vinschen, du kan nu säkert montera vinschen. Den yttre linjen löper längs däcket och genom den bakre remskivan nära ryggstödet på styrbordssidan, gängas ut till in och knyts sedan till en 5 mm rostfri ring 2 "från remskivan. Den inre linjen (ark ut) kan spännas, du kommer att känna motståndet hos den självspännande remskivan och bindas till den rostfria ringen så det ändlösa systemet är rimligt tätt. Huvud- och jibbladen knyts till ringen. Det ändlösa huvudarksystemet är komplett. If you turn the power on, with any luck a switched on transmitter will move the rudder and winch. There is a whole section on the setup of the radio transmitter HERE . If all works you are ready to fit the endless sheet adjuster. The endless sheet is a fiddly job. I bought the winch with a self tensioning return pulley, i.e it is fitted with a spring that will stop the sheet line going slack. Find the end points of the winch by moving the control stick on the transmitter fully up and down. I use up for sheet fully out and down for fully in. Leave the control stick down (sheet in). Take two lines and thread through the bulkhead fairleads and run to the winch. The outer line will pull the sheets in and the inner will let the sheet out. On the winch the bottom pulley is sheet in, the top sprung pulley is sheet out. With the outer line, tie off on the lower pulley and wrap 5 times round the pulley. Tie the inner line to the upper pulley but only use one and a half turns. Keeping the lines lightly tensioned so you don't lose wraps on the winch, you can now securely mount the winch. The outer line is run along the deck and through the aft pulley near the backstay on the starboard side, threaded out to in and then tied to a 5mm stainless ring 2" from the pulley block. The inside line (sheet out) can be tensioned, you will feel the resistance of the self tensioning pulley and tie off to the stainless ring so the endless system is reasonable tight. The main and jib sheets will tie off to the ring. The endless mainsheet system is complete. Slutresultatet Next Section The optimised Alternative build

Radiokontroll Storbritannien RC Yachts, Mike Weston Komponentbutik North Wales Smartwinch Storbritannien Kbits Servobutiken MX -komponenter USA Börja här på American Model Yacht Association Nya Zeeland NZ Radio Yachting Association

Working up the Alioth. Boat 1 This journey with the Alioth is not about 3d printing but about working up a boat to make it competitive. My objective with the Alioth project was to work the boat up in stages and see how speed developed. There was no speed edge to start with in fact the opposite was true to start with as there were some deficiencies in the set up, but confidence is building as I optimise the boat and I see it get faster. First a caveat on the story below. If I was to do the same again, I would have bought the fins from Juan and fitted them as standard. This would give me a balanced boat. I saw the new fins fitted on a new Alioth at the end of 2024 and I have to say I was totally impressed. Save yourself a lot of trouble and go with Juan for the full boat and foil package. You won't regret it. The kit on the boat Alioth hull in Polymer PLA assembled by Paul Barton. The hull is so strong you can give it a good punch with a fist. Alioth standard fins (these were early generation fins) Winch is RMG fast 290 H1 with 45mm spiral drum Spars are PG 11mm Roller bearing gooseneck on A rig Coreless 20g Digital Metal Gear Dual Bearing Mini Rudder Servo - DFMGD1 BG Sails The Journey Now the boat is close to full race mode. It has been an interesting journey to race a vanilla standard boat, no finishing on the hull just a clear coat or 2 and no sanding. All the rigs were set with the boom band at 150mm from the step which made for a rather ugly look with the booms high and pointing up in the air slightly. The look wasn't improved on the A rig with a prebend in the mast that was more like a kink than a smooth bend and made the boat very hard to set up and sail. It did not have an edge as you can imagine. After the Hampton Court charity day, I trashed the A rig and converted it to a B rig. Then I carefully prebent a new A mast and set it up with 62mm spreaders. The result was an impressive looking BG mainsail which could be set twisty and deep for a chop or flat for a breeze on flat water. There were no hard spots causing any creases in the luff as the mast bend matched the luff curve. The challenge with prebending devices is that you can get an immediate bend at the 600mm point. The bend needs to be progressive and other than bending by hand I know of no device that can achieve this. If anyone knows a way, please advise me how it is done. The A rig mast bend matches the luff curve with no hard spots. This is the limit of bend before the sail breaks down. This Mainsail was first use in 2020 and used for practice over the last year. Pretty impressive duration and still looks superb. All three rigs had 15mm taken off the bottom of the mast to bring the boom band to the deck. It is still 70mm or so from the measuring point on the deck. I needed to shortened the gooseneck housing to lift the kicker adjuster off the deck so I could get my fingers in to adjust. Here you can just see the rake of the fin and mast and how the boom band sits just above the deck. FIngers crossed it will be perfectly balanced The jib attachment point was lowered so the jib boom is as close to the deck as possible. There has been quite a bit of discussion about end plate effects which I do not buy into because as soon the boat heels or gets into chop, the wind is blocked and disturbed by the hull turbulence. However with the jib boom low and the main boom low and parallel to the deck, the centre of effort of the sails is as low as possible. The look is good and a good looking boat is often fast. Time will tell. You cannot achieve a main boom parallel to the deck on the standard Alioth settings. The mast is too upright and if you try raking the mast you just create weather helm. To achieve the mast rake the fin has to be raked back approximately 2 degrees. Using a standard Alioth fin I shaved 2 degrees off the aft edge of the fin where it enters the fin box and added a front edge fillet using Isopon car filler making for a nice secure fit. The 2 degrees was measured with a protractor acquired in my university days. Remember to adjust the bulb angle, 2 degrees up from back to front should do it. Of course if you rake the fin 2 degrees, you move the bulb back 8mm relative to the hull which will effect the position of the correctors. When I first launched with this configuration, I removed the correctors to see how the boat would sit and was delighted to see it sat on its marks, so I added the 70gm of correctors back on the aft side of the fin box, considerably forward of their original position. The final job was to finish the hull. I had two choices. Either sand the 2 pack clear coat on the hull which was recommended by my builder, 3D printed RC Yachts, who is a licensed builder or go the whole hog and take off the clear coat and thin the hull to reduce weight and paint again. I chose the former as it was a lot quicker. The hull finish is superb with just a hint of evidence of the the two hull joins. I filled any groves with Isopon car filler. To sand the hull I started with specialist finishing paper. It has a lubricant coating which prevents clogging and saves a lot of time over wet and dry sanding. The main advantage is you can easily see the high and low spots. I used 320 grade specialist finishing paper and then polished with 1500 grade wet and dry and T cut car polish. The other minor job was to add an additional fairlead for the jib sheet. The boat only came with two fairleads so I reposition one for the B rig and added the 3rd for the C rig. Each jib boom now goes out 85 degrees on the run. I had to drill a new set of holes forward on the jib boom for the A rig. The boat is now in a position for me to check the balance which I am hoping to do tomorrow if I can find an ice free lake. What is left to do Consider the right fin, rudder and bulb shape. My early generations Alioth blades have a reverse camber at the aft end of the chord. I believe the new clades are good. The bulb has the max chord 25% from the front. There are a few choices for the rudder, e.g. John Gill (UK) who makes a nice product as well as a rig tension meter, Robot,Yachts (UK), Dave Creed (UK), Craig Smith (Australia). Need to do some two boat testing before making any decisions on this front. Once I have checked the balance and got the boat footing nicely and we get near some meaningful regattas , I will bend on some new sails as the final stage of optimisation. Of course all this work is combined with as much practise as I can fit in. It is the nut on the end of the tiller that gets the boat round the race course and all the speed in the world won't make up for bad starts and poor tactics. The sheeting set up - Feeding the main and jib sheet through the small guide hole in the upper left of the radio pot holds any loose sheets away from the winch and drum. Here you can see the 3 sheet lead positions. The numbers on the deck were hand drawn and cut. If I was to build another Alioth what would I do In constructing the hull, remove as much redundant plastic as possible and sand the hull well to reduce weight as much as possible before painting. The printed hull is approx 1mm thick. There are two options for sheeting systems. On deck sheeting where the sheets enter the deck behind the foredeck bulkhead. This will keep the boat dry. The other method is under deck sheeting with the deck entry points on the centreline of the boat. They let a tiny amount of water in although nothing significant even in wild weather. The boat does need rinsing inside after salt water sailing. Personally I like the latter set up. Other than that I would do the same as above.