Comments on this site are not necessarily the opinion of the Dart 15 committee.
Comments are not moderated and people's screen names may not be accurate.
There is a good article by Brian Phipps in the latest issue of DSM about single handed catamaran sailing. I don't think it is all about Sprint 15s but the majority applies to our boat. Good food for thought. (Only reservation is about the wind flow diagram which is a little dodgy)
That picture just won't go away - will it? It was good fun, though.
I count myself now as something of a capsize expert - tuition offered at very reasonable rates!!!
Sail Fast - Live Slow
George Love 1825 'Fly-by-Wire'
This reply is a little late but never mind. When I said the diagram was a little dodgy, I meant in terms of accuracy, regarding the statement air travels faster round the leeward side as it has further to travel
Sails work because the pressure on the leeward side is less than that on the windward side and that is because the airflow over the leeward side is faster. What is not fully understood at the moment (if my reading of books and listening to Radio4 is accurate) is actually why the airflow is faster on the leeward side. It is, however, not thought to be because it has further to travel.
But I am being unecessarily pedantic here and should shut up so I will.
Still the article was good and helpful to me - that is a fact. One statement I did not understood was downhaul attached but not powered up. I thought the object of the downhaul was to depower the sail
Hi Robin,
Always good to talk and share ideas and info. My way of thinking is the mast starts stright and the sail is cut with a curve in the luff so they do not match. When you apply down haul you force the nast to bend to the shape of the sail luff and produce maxium power by matching the two. If you then apply more down haul you bend the mast further and starve the sail of luff shape by pulling it forward and start flattening the sail and de-powering it.
You could suggest by releasing the down haul you can do the same thing and indeed Ian Fraser has done just that in a get you home situation , but to my mind if you ease down haul you will depower but the rig is a bit more power on poer off to control.
Any way something to think about I guess.
Thanks
Brian
I understand the point you are trying to make. Coming from a dinghy background and sailing where boats where mast bend is governed by rig tension and other controls, I have still to get used to these tree trunk floppy rigs.
All interesting stuff though, making me want to get out there and try things. And isn't that why this sport stays fresh for so long - there's always something else to learn.
