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[Applause]
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mainsail controls there are four
controls that help us
control the mainsail while start sailing
the primary which is the main shape the
kicking strap
the cunning gun and finally the outhaul
let's take a look
firstly at what the main sheet does the
main sheet is the primary control
to go faster we sheet in and to reduce
the power we simply
ease out the sail but imagine we're
sailing in a force too
we pull the sailing because there's not
much uh writing moment on the boat
so we think oh we'll pull in and we
continue to pull the sail in and
continue to pull this alien
and continue to pull the settlement but
actually what's happening is the boat
isn't going any faster
why is that well that is because if you
just take a look at the leech
the more we pull the main sheet the more
we close the leech
and this has now got a hooked leech and
the leech for sale is visible but the
silver mast
isn't and that's telling me about the
leeches hop so the air won't flow across
this
sail because the wind is not strong
enough to do so it'll get halfway across
the sail
and then just not bother going across
the sail which is extremely slow so when
we're shooting in the mainsail
in a light bridge we really need to be
cautious of how much we actually sheet
it in
and the mast should be visible from the
nature of sail
like this one is now but that's
absolutely fine when i'm in the dinghy
park
but how am i going to achieve that when
i'm on the water
very difficult because at depth level i
just simply can't see
that very easily whereas as we're
looking at now from the camera
it's clearly very obvious so what can we
do well simply
what we can do is we can get some tape
and we can put a tape
datum on here and this is one i've
already pre-done and
what i've got is when i line those two
if i ease the sail and those two marks
line up
i know but the leak
isn't hooking the main cell so if i'm
not hiking in a force ii
which i'm not going to be in a boat such
as this then i just simply align my two
tape marks up and i know i'm going to
have smooth clean airflow which is going
to enter flow across
and exit the sale control when we
learned to sail and august came in we
were taught
to ease out the sale such as i'm doing
now as the gus went on we were then to
top
40 feet in how much do we actually need
to sheet out and how much
do we actually need to shoot in it's
actually
a very small amount and at debt level if
we ease the main cell by one to two
inches it makes
five to ten inches of difference at the
top of the sale
so a small adjustment at debt level
makes a much bigger
effect at the top for sale so just
consider when you're easing the sale out
how much do i
actually need to easy out in the gust
and how much do i need to sheet it on
and actually it's a very small amount
and if you look at those sailors who
appears to be setting them about
absolutely flat
all the time in really gusty days what
they're doing is exactly what i'm
showing you now
these very subtle constant movements of
the main sheets rather than big
ins and outs which provides or makes the
boat go very very
unstable so just remember small
adjustments
if the gus comes in ease the sail
slightly as the gust goes away
sheep the sail back on and both the crew
and helm
are starting to hike we'll quickly get
to a point where we're unable to keep
the boat flat and that's where
the kicker comes in so once we haven't
got enough body weight
uh to keep the boat flat we're going to
apply the kicker because what the kicker
does
is deep our vote so as the wind
increases and we can't keep it flat
we're going to feed on a little bit of
kick as i'm doing now
if we still can't keep the boat flat
we're going to pull a little bit more
kicker on
if the breeze decreases we're going to
ease the kicker
to put more power back into the rig
so on gusty days we'll find ourselves
putting the kicker on in the gust
and easing it as the gust subsides
so what does the kicker actually do
firstly it pulls down on the boom
it pushes forwards at the gooseneck it
bends the mast
at the spreaders it bends the tip of the
mast aft
tensions the leech and as a result of
all these
it it moves the sail cloth forwards
flattening it off and ultimately
depowering the rig so we only use the
kicker cautiously and
only in conditions when we're
overpowered and unable to keep the boat
flat
as i pull the kicker on notice the
tiffany mask goes back and watch how the
sail cloth
is dragged towards the mass therefore
flattening the sail
and de-powering as i take the kicker off
the fullness comes back into the sail
as i pull it back on again just watch
again the sail
is flattened so imagine sailing in a
force three to four and it's quite windy
and you have the kicking strap
set slack as indicated in the boat here
if i sheet out notice the boom goes up
and out so i'll just show you that again
so with the kicking strap
slack as i shoot out the boom goes
up and out so yes the boat
will depower because we're shooting the
sail out well actually that's not
correct
as i shoot out it powers up the front
part of the sail
so to reduce the power i have to sheet
out more and what happens now
is we end up having to shoot out much
more than we actually need to
so what the solution to this is is that
sure
the kicker is on the required amount to
keep the boat flat
so when i shoot the sail out the boom
goes
in and out not up
so it goes in and out and it makes the
boat much more easy
to sail so as the breeze increases
further and we've exhausted
the use of the kicking strap we now need
to consider using
the cunning gun we should only do so in
high winds
because it's going to depower the rig
substantially so what does the
cunningham
actually do so as i pull the cane go on
notice the draft of the sail being
dragged forward as indicated by this
diagonal crease
just in front of the first sail number
and then opening up the upper leech of
the sail so again as i pull the cunning
gun on
it flattens uh the sail by dragging the
left forward
and twisting open the upper leech
the final sail control we're going to
take a look at is the outlaw and the
outlaw
controls the bottom third of a sail so
in this 2000 dinghy
from the bottom grey batten down towards
the boom
is the area it's controlling so we're
going to look at two elements
how to set the outer going to windward
and how to set it for going on a reach
or a run
when we're going upwind we want the air
to fly across the sail as effectively
and efficiently
as possible and to do so what we want is
a flatter sail
and the best way to set up
how much out all you actually need is to
get your hand sideways
and put it in the center of a boom and
then just sheet
or pull on should i say
the owl so it's just touching my little
finger and this is a good
rule of thumb setting for most dingies
as i go downwind i'm going to ease the
out all
and now i'm going to put my hand
lengthways in the center of the boom
and it should be just touching my
fingertips and this is going to give
more camber in the sail and more return
in the bottom third of the sail just
what we're looking for
when we're going downwind just to recap
on the main sound controls
the primary control is the main shape
one inch to two inches at that level
makes five to ten inches of difference
at the top of the mast
so just be very careful when adjusting
the main sheet in those gusty conditions
the next control we have is the kicking
strap so remember when we're unable to
keep the boat flat
we're going to apply the kicking strap
and remember that flattens
the sail pulling the draft of the cell
forwards
therefore depowering the rig if the wind
decreases
firstly ease the kicker to power the rig
back up as the wind's got really
breezy and we're unable to keep it flat
and we've exhausted the
kicking strap option we're now going to
introduce the cunningham
and the cunningham pulls a draft of
herself forward
flatting in it twisting open exhausting
the upper leech
the next control is the outhaul
remember the outhaul should be from the
width of your hand to your little finger
for going to windward
as we go downwind remember
to ease the cunningham completely
reduce the amount of kicking strap and
put some camber in the sail
by easing the out hole to the tip of
your finger
so kicker mainsheet
out all and cunningham
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