Re: Genoa tracks

Bill Combs (ttursine@gnt.net)
Wed, 03 Mar 1999 23:11:15 -0500


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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> I could point higher, but I'd be pinching and stalling the keel in that
> situation, so i wouldn't actually get anywhere any quicker. I've done a lot
> of research on racing and whatnot, and its so important to have boat speed
> that you should often trade it off for pointing anyways (e.g. better to be
> going 3 knots at 50 degrees relative to true wind than 2.5 knots at 45). I'd
> REALLY like to race Jerry or Judy sometime to test some of these theories of
> mine.

My thought exactly. I'm sufficiently convinced of the efficacy of
speed vs angle that I use the genoa almost all the time. One simply
cannot sheet that baby in to tight angles, but it makes you go like
stink upwind regardless! A vmg comparison on the water *would* be
interesting -- though, with apologies to Jerry, I don't think BS has
anything to do with it. My own comparison using the lapper and jib,
and barber-hauling the clew to achieve tighter angles, led me to
believe that falling off a bit to gain speed is preferable. As usual,
however, I could have been wrong; self-fulfilling prophecies and all
that.

> For my lapper the ideal all around sweet-spot lead location seems to be just
> about under the aft corner of the aft-most cabin window, which is a foot or
> so forward of the fixed block that is (well, used to be until i removed it)
> on the deck.

I find it to be just a tiny bit aft of that: just ahead of the
foremost point of the cockpit rail mount. Fore and aft adjustment of
no more than 6" or so to account for wind speed is the full range.

> I haven't really tuned my genoa yet to determine its ideal location for most
> wind conditions.

Try the aftmost point of your forward track as a centerpoint. I can't
go any further aft than that (I have no 2nd track), so usually just
leave it there. Works just fine.

Regards,

Bill Combs WWP 19 #439 (Aug 1987) "Ursa Minor" Fort Walton Beach FL
ttursine@gnt.net