I guess if he thinks his spin is not cut right to have that twist then he is trying to induce some.... but a well cut spin shouldn't be set like that.
going back and rereading- said he set it like that on purpose. That suggests to me that his spin is cut wrong IMO
PTP - Assuming the kite is cut wrong could be used. But in this case i can tell you (because I made this spinnaker)that the kite was cut for a specific luff length & the photo does not reflect the original design.
Gill - letting out luff actually flattens the kite as you are effectively allowing the luff to "lay off" & therefore flatten the sail similar to bending the mast for the mainsail.
FYI - The photo of gary's boat shows luff let out as he is attempting to depower the kite (flatten the shape) for his 75kg weight, myself on the otherhand prefer the fuller kite for my heavier weight & setting the luff where the kite was designed for. There are many people these days setting their luff loose, but the forget the flow on effect - ie twist. The line of the leech should never fall inside the line of the luff & the more luff that get let out the closer the two become effectively choking the sail.
At the end of the day its a balancing act & utlimately the skippers chooses where to set the kite for the conditions, not particularly a designers fault.
Tim Sheppard has confirmed what his kite was designed for & he is utilizing that design to the max. Obviously a happy fellow who knew what to ask for. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />
I suggest when ever anybody buys a kite, some simple questions up front will save a lot of tuning time on the water.
