Mast rotation
Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 2:08 am
Just joined, my first post here.
I live in Canada, & though there are a decent number of Dart 18's around, I have only come across 3 Spark/Dart 15's.
I have had a hankering for a smaller performance Cat that is easy to solo right,(without aids) for some time.
I currently own a Nacra 5.7, Nacra 5.0, & a Hobie 18 Magnum. I sold my Mystere 6.0XL, (20' x 10' equipped with spinnaker, basically a modern copy of the famed Tornado) because I solo most of the time, & found it very difficult to right, & with me weighing only 79kg, I was constantly overpowered.
Two weeks ago I purchased a well kept Dart 15, sail #1461. I was told a gentleman originally brought it over from England. It came very well equipped, with road trailer, trolley, 2 sets of rigging,(one for unirig, one for Sport mode), 3 furlers, several boxes of spares, & 2 complete sets of sails, one the original purple/teal/white sail, the other a Hyde sail that is almost brand new. I assume it was the "race day sail".
I put the boat together using the manual I obtained here. I'm pretty sure all is rigged correctly. (One person told me to install the mast hound fitting upside down, but the manual says "wine glass stamp facing towards top of mast". That makes sense, in the "catch rain" position, with the larger part of the fitting upwards. I've only sailed it once,(Wind speed varied from 6kph-16kph), & noticed two things that did not seem to be right.
The mast seems to want to fully rotate, on any point of sail, in fact it will rotate fully just sitting on the lawn. I initially had the side stays in the 4th hole,by hanging on the trapeze wire, (I could still rotate the mast by hand), but loosened them to the 3rd hole. I have the jib with furler installed.
My 2 Nacra boats utilize a similiar boomless, skeg hull design, the N5.7 has a rotator to induce mast rotation,(used downwind), otherwise they tend to automatically rotate where they need to be.
Pinching, the mast was still fully rotated, when it should be pointing more towards the end of the front beam. Can anyone give me some advice as to what I might be missing as far as setup etc.
I watched some of the video here, & it seems none of the boats exhibit that amount of rotation.
2nd item, mast rake. My mast is verticaI, I can't find any information with regards to mast rake. I'm not sure how the previous owner could have rigged it, as I had to add a 10 hole adjuster between the furling drum & forestay in order to allow the forestay to reach. I did notice some of the boats in races seemed to have a short bit of wire between the mast hound & the swivel. Maybe I'm missing a part?
I also thought the batten tension was quite tight, in light wind, the sail didn't want to assume the new shape after tacking, it stayed in the previous curve. I loosened the battens, but have not sailed it again.
I think it is going to be a fantastic little Cat, but I know I am not getting laminar flow over the sail, & thereby losing power when going to weather with the mast fully rotated.
I live in Canada, & though there are a decent number of Dart 18's around, I have only come across 3 Spark/Dart 15's.
I have had a hankering for a smaller performance Cat that is easy to solo right,(without aids) for some time.
I currently own a Nacra 5.7, Nacra 5.0, & a Hobie 18 Magnum. I sold my Mystere 6.0XL, (20' x 10' equipped with spinnaker, basically a modern copy of the famed Tornado) because I solo most of the time, & found it very difficult to right, & with me weighing only 79kg, I was constantly overpowered.
Two weeks ago I purchased a well kept Dart 15, sail #1461. I was told a gentleman originally brought it over from England. It came very well equipped, with road trailer, trolley, 2 sets of rigging,(one for unirig, one for Sport mode), 3 furlers, several boxes of spares, & 2 complete sets of sails, one the original purple/teal/white sail, the other a Hyde sail that is almost brand new. I assume it was the "race day sail".
I put the boat together using the manual I obtained here. I'm pretty sure all is rigged correctly. (One person told me to install the mast hound fitting upside down, but the manual says "wine glass stamp facing towards top of mast". That makes sense, in the "catch rain" position, with the larger part of the fitting upwards. I've only sailed it once,(Wind speed varied from 6kph-16kph), & noticed two things that did not seem to be right.
The mast seems to want to fully rotate, on any point of sail, in fact it will rotate fully just sitting on the lawn. I initially had the side stays in the 4th hole,by hanging on the trapeze wire, (I could still rotate the mast by hand), but loosened them to the 3rd hole. I have the jib with furler installed.
My 2 Nacra boats utilize a similiar boomless, skeg hull design, the N5.7 has a rotator to induce mast rotation,(used downwind), otherwise they tend to automatically rotate where they need to be.
Pinching, the mast was still fully rotated, when it should be pointing more towards the end of the front beam. Can anyone give me some advice as to what I might be missing as far as setup etc.
I watched some of the video here, & it seems none of the boats exhibit that amount of rotation.
2nd item, mast rake. My mast is verticaI, I can't find any information with regards to mast rake. I'm not sure how the previous owner could have rigged it, as I had to add a 10 hole adjuster between the furling drum & forestay in order to allow the forestay to reach. I did notice some of the boats in races seemed to have a short bit of wire between the mast hound & the swivel. Maybe I'm missing a part?
I also thought the batten tension was quite tight, in light wind, the sail didn't want to assume the new shape after tacking, it stayed in the previous curve. I loosened the battens, but have not sailed it again.
I think it is going to be a fantastic little Cat, but I know I am not getting laminar flow over the sail, & thereby losing power when going to weather with the mast fully rotated.