TUNING AND SAILING TIPS
Cunningham
Increasing the cunningham tension progressively bends the mast, flattens the sail and opens the leech. In lighter
airs keep it fairly slack and progressively increase the tension up the wind range
Kicker
The more wind there is, the more kicker you need. It powers up the leech helping pointing upwind and
maintaining power on the reaches. In very gusty conditions, easing it will make the rig more forgiving. Ease it
substantially down wind.
Daggerboard
Upwind -The daggerboard should be fully lowered unless it is very windy, when it can be raised about 6 inches.
Downwind – Raise the daggerboard about one foot when sailing downwind with the mainsail only. Leave the
daggerboard fully lowered if you are sailing with the spinnaker.
Tacking
Make sure the boat is level and sailing as fast as possible when initiating the tack.
Be prepared to ease the mainsheet enough as the boat comes onto the new tack so that the boat does not heel
or be blown back into irons.
Gybing – mainsail only
Always gybe with the boat sailing as fast as possible. In breezy conditions the helmsman should steer back into
the gybe as the boom comes across, so that the boat is travelling straight downwind as the sails fill on the new
side.
Very light winds
In sub planing conditions it pays to keep your weight well forward in the boat. Try to eliminate the ‘wash’
generated by the rudder as a guideline to trim. You may find that the battens are easier to tack if the tension is
gently eased in the sail.
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