Thread: GIS sail tweaking

Originally Posted by warm beer

The "old style" laser setup looks like it has the disadvantage of not being easy to ease on a run, as reaching the cleat would require leaning over on the lee gunwale. )

You should have two stoppers on the outhaul, max on and max off. As for the OLD laser outhaul, the loop handle is well forward, so very easily reached on a run. If you go with the stopper knot system, even easier, but you could also have the cleat fixed well forward on the boom. If you have a crew, even easier, but if not, you're sitting on the mid-seat right?!

That should be reachable.
With my kids, they sit on the midseat and I usually sit on the gunwale just behind the mid-seat. In the ocean by myself I sit on the floor just aft of the mid-seat - low CG, good vision, and less chance of going swimming while my boat sails away. Besides, with a boat cushion, and full wrap life jacket, it's like sitting on a cozy lounge chair. I have my downhaul and halyard rigged through clamcleats and strung aft so that I can reach and adjust them easily. I added a ronstan adjustable length tiller extension awhile ago that I really love.

... and sometimes I stand, which interestingly gives a completely different perspective on the sail trim.

This is a good link for laser rigging - http://www.abclubhk.com/download/Laser1_USARM.pdf.
I think I'm going in a different direction. Independent downhaul, and outhaul, with the outhaul off boom hung block close to the mast that I can slide aft, then down to the deck - in effect like a boom vang. So it's still a combo, but a vang/outhaul combo instead of a downhaul/outhaul combo.

Howdy,

I think you need more independence than this. For example in medium plus or minus a bit winds and flat water you need a flattish foot and reasonable vang force .. the vang should just lose its tension when the mainsheet is trimmed to full power. This would mean the outhaul would loosen and bag the foot too much.

Also in strong winds and rough water you need a deep foot and heaps of vang.

Crosswind you usually need lots of depth at the foot (1:7 - set up your system so you can just throw all tension off the outhaul and it goes straight to this setting) and vang can be light medium or strong depending on how much wind there is.

Sometimes you see people comboing adjustments ... but I've seen them come and go too often. I don't think it stands the test of time.

HOpe this helps a bit

Best wishes
Michael

Ok, I bought the blocks and tested the new rig. I now have a standard downhaul, and a new outhaul which from the clew passes through a boom end block and back to a second block lashed to the boom about two feet aft of the mast. It then is attached to the butt end of a ronstan orbit 40 ratchet block which, similar to my downhaul, pairs with a matching orbit 40 single block with a becket and built in cleat. I cheated and mounted the butt end of the cleat block to the becket of my downhaul block. So that the outhaul line cannot sag down between the boom lashing and the boom end, I added a simple loop retainer at my sheet block lashing location.

Ten knots of wind, me on the gunwale and my son on the mid seat, it worked great. Very easy to adjust as the downhaul and outhaul/kicker lines come from the same spot. The only bummer is the expected increased boom bend - which takes me way back to the discussion of a stiffer boom, which is now a must rather than a maybe.

As there was a nice breeze we decided to sail explore the docks a bit. There are a few nice restaurants cranking Jimmy Buffet, and a few nice sailboats. Sure enough I get the usual "nice boat, did you build it?" shouts, but one guy shouted, "who designed the boat?", I answered "Michael Storer", and the guy shouted back "Storer, yeah, I knew it". So, there you go, Mik, you're famous even in a city with one GIS.

I learned a lesson today. Do not go too far by-the-lee in a tight harbor with kids paddling rented kayaks. If they nonchalantly head to cross your bow from the downwind side, you have few options other than a really long gibe to avoid making their parents really mad that you just sank jr.'s kayak.

Sink the kayak, already! What kind of pirate are you?!

I added a Davis spar fly wind indicator to the mast head, using the quick release. It worked great ... but, the tail was a tad too long, and touches the gaff. I trimmed off about 1.5 inches from the tail, and rebalanced the adjustable nose weight to fix it. I have to sadly admit, the spar fly was a good bit more accurate and easier to see than my original bow mounted parrot feather and lego indicator.

Originally Posted by callsign222

Sink the kayak, already! What kind of pirate are you?!

Two kids about 6 years old playing follow the leader, oblivious to the fact that they are squeezing my options, but having a great time kayaking. They were too cute. I just couldn't sink them!

Originally Posted by callsign222

What kind of pirate are you?!

Originally Posted by warm beer

They were too cute. I just couldn't sink them!

WB, this update is USELESS without pics. You should go out right now and start snapping'. We all know the sun never stops shinning in Socal...

Originally Posted by davlafont

WB, this update is USELESS without pics. You should go out right now and start snapping'. We all know the sun never stops shinning in Socal...

What, you want to see how much I can make my boom bend without snapping? OK, OK, I'll take some more pictures .. next weekend.

So, should I make a hollow box boom, or a fatter solid round boom? I want it to be pretty dang darn stiff.
Any recommendations on the best wood for either the box or solid?
If you make a box boom, should there be?
(1) internal cross members
(2) sealed compartments

Originally Posted by warm beer

So, should I make a hollow box boom, or a fatter solid round boom? I want it to be pretty dang darn stiff.
Any recommendations on the best wood for either the box or solid?
If you make a box boom, should there be?
(1) internal cross members
(2) sealed compartments

You can make a box boom very stiff and quite light. I made mine this way and I'd go that way again. It doesn't need to have internal bits or sealed compartments, but if you use station blocks it helps the glue up.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f169/g...ml#post1390944

BobWes has experimented a bit with hollow sectioned booms for his GIS, so you might get some ideas from him.

Originally Posted by davlafont

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f169/g...ml#post1390944

BobWes has experimented a bit with hollow sectioned booms for his GIS, so you might get some ideas from him.

And here: https://www.woodworkforums.com/f169/b...ml#post1255149

The is some stuff on the WIKI as well, but I've lost the link. These dims provided a quite stiff enough boom, but you could go to 70mm if you want super stiff.

Hope this helps.