VIPER VS VXONE IN 15 KNOTS PLUS

[brian partridge]

Hi team, im having some trouble with VXOne guys leaving us behind once it gets to 15 knots. is this normal or am i sailing my viper badly in the heavy stuff? we are pretty closely following the current norths sails tuning guide on rig setups etc, got a brand new set of sails from dave alexander in australia.  any help would be appreciated.
cheers BP

[Henry Amthor]

Hi Brian

Try soaking a bit after you start  planing.The VX sail plan calls for  hotter angles  at faster speed .
The Viper has a much larger kite so we can sail lower to VMG to the bottom w less miles sailed.

Hope this helps!

UH

[Peter Beardsley]

If the VX has an edge on the Viper in any condition, it may be downwind in big breeze.  That said, they should be nowhere near you at the weather mark since the Viper is much faster uphill in all conditions.  Let's maybe take this apart a different way and not focus on what the VX is doing but how you're doing around the course - what is the delta at the weather mark in those conditions (and how long is the leg)?  What is your speed downwind in 15-16 knots on your speedo?  As in nearly all boats that can plane (but even more important when sailing in a mixed fleet), if you can't plane 100% of the time, don't chase puffs trying to plane - if a puff allows you to plane, great - if not, stay in a lower VMG mode if conditions do not allow for constant planing.  15 kts you should be planing 100% of the time though and doing at least 12-13 knots downwind at nearly all times in those conditions.   

[brian partridge]

in 15-20 knots uphill we are getting up to 7.2knots uphill. and have hit 20+ downhill. but our local VXs i  cant seem to get near them uphill in anything over 12 knots.. ill rerun through all the stay measurements again and see if something has changed. thanks

[Carson Downing]

If your hitting 7.2 knots upwind, you are not pointing high enough.

[Peter Beardsley]

Those are impressive speeds - faster than most of us make our Vipers go - assuming the instruments are accurate, you're footing too much upwind and sailing too hot downwind, but I would question the instruments since 20+ knots downwind on a Viper is rarely seen.  What crew weight are you sailing with upwind in breeze?  How much tension do you have on the upper shrouds and how much headstay sag are you seeing? 

[brian partridge]

instruments i think are are accurate, as we are running speedpuck simultaenously with a novasail 360 and i carry a garmin forerunner. 1n 15 knots we run 260kg? i have had up to 330kg on a big day.
upper shrouds we have about 38 on loos guage. with main on hard and plenty of vang headstay sag is about 100mm?
https://www.facebook.com/PunisherViper640Racing/videos/739130776740602

[brian partridge]

so we tried a bit of an experiiment last week. th vxs run pretty tight lowers.. so we tightened ours up a bit for our usual slack  as buggery!. tightened them up just enough to pull slack out, without any sails up and then went for a bit more mast chocks.. nope.. that didnt work. went like a dog. no point, couldnt even keep up with flying fifteen uphill. next week.. will try a touch more rake in spreaders.. i was at 290mm setback.. drill more holes and set them to 300. the spreader length is bang on the NORTH SAILS. and forestay was about 5mm short. see how we go!

[John Learmonth]

We have a fleet of 4 Vipers here in Qld and are all nearly the same speed, only seconds apart at the finish some days. Your speeds are so much quicker than us and we have raced VXs at times , downhill they fly but we usually catch them up to windward and pass them easily,depending on courses. Your outboard is dragging in the water, a no no. We race with outboards here as a club rule sailing offshore but get them out of the water. At our recent State Sportsboat Titles the Vipers were very competitive under SMS and we won 2 heats beating The Stig, Australian Champ, a Shaw 650.Vipers placed 4,5a and 2 tied 6th only a couple of points between the 4 boats. Get more Vipers in your club and forget the VXs, they are more of a Dinghy.