Thread: GIS sail tweaking

Dave - That looks stout but the long exposed bolt is going to be a wood eating motha. I'd trim it down and put an acorn nut on it.

Originally Posted by davlafont

I'm doing it. (Or, will be doing it soon that is...)

Do you think that's strong enough? )

Originally Posted by warm beer

Do you think that's strong enough? )

Depends on how big a downhaul you set up

Originally Posted by SimonLew

Dave - That looks stout but the long exposed bolt is going to be a wood eating motha. I'd trim it down and put an acorn nut on it.

Actually, I've attached an eye nut instead that will anchor my bleater. Sadly, it's alittle chunkier than I had hoped. Good news is I can also remove it and go the acorn route if I want.

Originally Posted by SimonLew

Paulie - I've only used the bleater with a vertical downhaul and that was fine. I can see how it will get super tight when you move the downhaul back. What about using a piece of flat webbing (like on a tie-down ratchet strap) for the bleater? Should distribute the pressure on the mast over a nice wide area.

I'm thinking of trying that very thing. When I bought flat webbing for my hiking straps, I found that a 100 foot roll was about $2 more expensive than the 30 feet I wanted. So now I have LOTS of extra webbing lying about. Might as well give it a try as a bleater.

Yay! Two more GIS videos! Am I crazy?

SimonLew, I wonder if it would help to pull the boom slightly more aft in your case, as you have a bit of lee helm on the good tack. That would decrease the performance on the "bad" tack a little bit, but I really wonder if the performance gain on the "good" tack would not justify it? Lee helm is still the worst kind of helm to have. Maybe MIK has a good answer to this?

Melonseed skiffs are really beautiful, I think. I suspect MIK could get them really to fly by calculating good foils for them. Imagine a such one built with light materials and really good foils. Too bad that the sides are so low that some spray has to be accepted. After reading a bit about them, I find those boats really interesting. If I would be purely out for racing, I would consider a such one built from light material (the astethic aspect is important for me when it comes to a home made boat). Now I think the GIS is a better choice for me as it is more an all purpose family boat.

Melonseed

I have accomplished some extensive bleater testing, and so far so good, I think I like it. I was more aggressive at getting it shorter in length to position the tack of the sail where I like it, and I used two bowlines to hold it in place, one on mast, one on boom. The downhaul was moved aft appox. 8" and it definitely gives it a "vanghaul" look. The end of the boom definitely stays down nice when running downwind, and there is much more control.

Keep in mind:

1. Watch it when you raise the sail so it doesn't bind on the mast and inhibit raising, just scootch it up.
2. Watch the end of the boom and make sure it clears the traveller. (don't ask me how I know this)
3. When reefing, for some reason I cannot fathom, sometimes it will restrict vanghual tension-- I thought I had the vanghaul tight as it could go, but the sail didn't have the same tension-- scootch the bleater up and viola! much more vanghauling was accomplished.
4. When reefing I moved the vanghaul forward a bit to help set the sail where I like it and not drag the boom down as much, especially on the 2nd reef. Individual preferences may vary.

No tacking/gybing/binding issues otherwise.

Originally Posted by engblom

SimonLew, I wonder if it would help to pull the boom slightly more aft in your case, as you have a bit of lee helm on the good tack. That would decrease the performance on the "bad" tack a little bit, but I really wonder if the performance gain on the "good" tack would not justify it? Lee helm is still the worst kind of helm to have. Maybe MIK has a good answer to this?

I normally have the sail pretty far forward because I think it helps off the wind so that very well may be the culprit. I moved the sail as far back as I could with the two vang setup which is a few inches back from where I normally rig the sail and it did not eliminate the lee helm. The next thing to try is to move the whole sail a bit further aft.

I want to emphasize that the lee helm is very minor and the boat responds fine to gusts etc. By nature I like to understand what's going on around me so I will keep playing with it and report what I find but I don't consider this a problem that needs fixing. The boat is bloody fast and a joy to sail as is.

Originally Posted by engblom

Melonseed skiffs are really beautiful, I think. I suspect MIK could get them really to fly by calculating good foils for them. Imagine a such one built with light materials and really good foils. Too bad that the sides are so low that some spray has to be accepted. After reading a bit about them, I find those boats really interesting. If I would be purely out for racing, I would consider a such one built from light material (the astethic aspect is important for me when it comes to a home made boat). Now I think the GIS is a better choice for me as it is more an all purpose family boat.

Melonseed

The Melonseeds just fly, old fashioned foils and all.

Originally Posted by callsign222

I have accomplished some extensive bleater testing, and so far so good, I think I like it. I was more aggressive at getting it shorter in length to position the tack of the sail where I like it, and I used two bowlines to hold it in place, one on mast, one on boom. The downhaul was moved aft appox. 8" and it definitely gives it a "vanghaul" look. The end of the boom definitely stays down nice when running downwind, and there is much more control.

Keep in mind:

1. Watch it when you raise the sail so it doesn't bind on the mast and inhibit raising, just scootch it up.
2. Watch the end of the boom and make sure it clears the traveller. (don't ask me how I know this)
3. When reefing, for some reason I cannot fathom, sometimes it will restrict vanghual tension-- I thought I had the vanghaul tight as it could go, but the sail didn't have the same tension-- scootch the bleater up and viola! much more vanghauling was accomplished.
4. When reefing I moved the vanghaul forward a bit to help set the sail where I like it and not drag the boom down as much, especially on the 2nd reef. Individual preferences may vary.

No tacking/gybing/binding issues otherwise.

Are you running the bleater below or above the halyard cleat? I have mine below right now, and am thinking above is better. If you have it above, does it scoot up between the mast and the boom, or otherwise become a bothersome bleater?

I noticed, now that I have a pseudo vanghaul, that it was much harder to tighten when the sail was under tension. When it was straight down, I could adjust it whenever. Makes sense, and also proves that it is providing some substantial vanging force.

The bleater runs straight back to the mast, slightly below the boom. The tensions is tight enough that it does not ride up unless coaxed. It stays well clear of everything.

You are correct on the second point.

I also absolutely love my new outhaul system too, works a treat, but it's absolutely murder on the boat when trailering-- I'm about to glass my second giant hole one of the cheek blocks rubbed into the side of my boat.