There is a slight contradiction in my understanding of the spanner ( mast rotation arm ) setting whilst downwind.
Whilst sailing the A it was very important to let the spanner off fully and if possible have it parallel or even beyond the front beam to get the main to really start to power up. Looking at most A sailors they all seem to have this setting with some of the top guys even having setups to lock the mast rotation arm some degrees in front of the beam.
Now if we did that with our F16's, technically we would have the mast in its weakest axis if we flew the kite, ie the smallest least stiff section would be supporting the spinny and could be prone to mast breakage.
Am I correct in thinking this and should we be ignoring the optimum mast setting and just aligning the strongest section of mast with the direction of most load ?
Comments please.
Wayne,
the mast is stiffer in the left - right direction than in the fore - aft one. Only the part above where the diamonds ends is stiffer in fore-aft direction. Hence for structural reason the mast should rotate to the beam (spreaders pointing in fore and aft direction). Anyway as long the mainsheet is reasonable tight, there is no risk of breaking. For aerodynamic reason you should watch the tell tales of the main.
Cheers,
Klaus
