Alright boys and girls, got a few questions. My last boat was a Melges 24 and also done a lot of ayso skiff sailing so I'm drawing a lot from that with the set up of the new viper when it arrives. It's going to be one of those take delivery of boat and back it into garage for customization (as per class rules obviously), so here's what I need help with:
Sprit: can I put a bungee on the inboard end to help with retrieval (like you see in I14s)? I'm guessing the answer is no but I figure I'd ask anyway.
Kite sheets: can we do a luggage tag Y systems on the clew end like other sportboats?
Main halyard: I've read that the cam cleats often slip and was a big topic on it, but I didn't see anything regarding spinlocks. Are they legal? Seems like an efficient way to prevent the cam lock issue.
Jib halyard: I read in the thread about the 2:1 used by some Aussies at the mast where it halyard hooks up to the head of the jib. Can anyone clarify whether or not this is legal? I really like the idea and would love to do it to our boat when we get it.
I'm really liking how helpful everyone is on this forum. Night and day compared to the Melges group.
1. You don't need a bungee the tack line pulls the sprit in.
2. Kite sheet bridle is allowed but no tapering allowed. The pennant length is controlled in the class rules.
3. You can change to any cleat you like for the main halyard.
4. The Aussie setup is not class legal.
1. Got it.
2. Can I strip back the cover on the actual kite sheets just to put an eye splice in the core on either end that the dyneema pennant attaches to?
3. Got it.
4. Not legal, roger.
Thank you for the clarification.
2. The idea is that the minimum thickness 8mm is maintained through out the sheet. With that said if you taper out the cover and then add the eye splice so the transitions butt and the minimum thickness is maintained or as close as possible I think you are good to go.
Adding 2 cents:
1. The Rondar sprits come in really nicely during the dowse. You can blow the pole "outhaul " cleat early in the dowse and it will be pulled in during the dowse by the tackline. The early pre-Rondar boats use shock cord and the tack line is tied off differently. Its a bit more tricky in the dowse. If you release early, the pole will fly in, which sometimes twists the tack line around the pole.....and in a leeward dowse or Mexican can cause a shrimp. Avoid shock cord if you can.
2. Keep your luggage tag as short as possible. It doesn't make much difference in the blow thru/skiffy gybe, but if you are doing a light air "float" gybe, a long luggage tag means you have to float it that much further forward before the snap, which can be the difference between a smooth power gybe and the crumpled handkerchief gybe.
I did middle yesterday and discovered that my crew make the float gybe look easier than it actually is.
3. I am still searching for a good main halyard cleat solution. I tried spinlock (still have the cleat if you are interested) but I couldn't get a good angle. So Im back to replacing the jam cleats every 18 months.
4. If we change this rule ever, I'd rather see a better fine tune system down low, than simply "double up" the halyard up high.
Hi Jesse,
The Aussies are 2:1 on the Jib Halyard as they've broken a few. You gotta remember, they sail in LOTS of breeze, comparatively and this wears stuff out. Average Viperer doesn't have issues with this.
I think the double jam cleat solution works. There's nothing that can completely cleat a main halyard on most small boats other than a mast-lock, which I hate. The main halyard stretch has to be taken out anyways so it's just a quick pop in-between races. Takes 5 seconds.
I would't fuss with the spinsheets until you sail the boat. You're likely to find that KISS works best.
Fair enough on the jib halyard.
Rob has a pretty nice spin lock on #76, but I think I'll try the double cam cleat set up first and see how that works. Which seem to hold better, the aluminum ones or the carbon ones?
This is what I replaced the bottom jam cleat on my mast halyard. It's been holding well.
Quote from: Jesse Winterbottom on July 19, 2013, 01:12:55 AM
Fair enough on the jib halyard.
Rob has a pretty nice spin lock on #76, but I think I'll try the double cam cleat set up first and see how that works. Which seem to hold better, the aluminum ones or the carbon ones?
Zero luck with Carbon for me....if the main is hoisted through it once, that cleat is smoked.
The tin ones seem the best, until they start coating them with cobalt.
I get a season out of my tin ones . The carbon ones wouldn't last a day.
The main halyard cleat gets a lot of stress, there is no way around that.