I wouldn't say that after a year of spin sailing that I'm an 'experienced pilot' but I'll have a go:

Is a turning block under the tramp at the eyelet a good idea?

If you're taking the halyard back onto the tramp at all then a turning block is a good idea, I have mine lightly tensioned with bungee.

What's a good method for getting the halyard/retrieval line through the sock when rigging?

I use my tiller extension to simply push the downhaul through after tieing it round the flexi joint.

Are all windward / leewards port courses?

Not necessarily, although that would be ideal. If the RC are doing a good job you'll have a leeward gate rather than a mark so you can round either way. In bigger fleets you'll also get a spacer buoy at the A mark.

What's the best tack to be on going into the a. top mark, b. bottom mark, when sailing port hand windward / leewards?

I have always preferred to come into the A mark on stbd unless there is some major overriding reason not to (such as a huge lift <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />). Coming into the bottom mark it'll depend entirely on the race situation at the time. The obvious tactic is to come in on stbd again, but if there is a leeward gate rather than a mark then your options are much more open. With a single mark it can pay handsomely to come in on port if you think you've got the room and the ability to douse at high speed.

What downwind angles give best VMG with a kite and how best to judge without a compass?

It depends on your boat and the wind/wave conditions at the time. I have found that the optimum downwind angle is generally a lot higher than you'd expect (getting that apparent wind going makes such a HUGE difference). I will usually heat it up to get a hull flying and then bear off while trying to keep the hull just off the water - in other words as low as you can go without the hull dropping back into the water. In light stuff when you can't fly, it's just a case of 'feel'.

I have a 2/1 tack line which gets the tack out easily but puts a bunch a excess halyard on the deck when the kite is out. remedies?

As you're soloing I'd recommend you change to a single line system. That'll get rid of the excess line and give you only one rope to worry about.

How are knots to keep the patches apart in the retrieval line tied in during rigging?

One of the neatest systems I've seen is a series of small plastic tubes strung onto the line like beads. The patches eyelets were too small to allow the tubes through, so when the downhaul was used these spacers (about 6 threequarter inch long tubes) kept the patches apart. This does away with the need for spacer knots which I've never been a fan of. I currently don't space the patches on my latest kite and it seems just fine.

What's a good measure setting luff tension?

Ahhh, now I've been playing around with this a lot lately, and I've been doing some research. The current trend with the flatter kites, seems to be toward tightish luffs. The old rule of thumb was; set up your kite and then, grabbing the luff with your hand, set the tension so that you can just turn your hand through 90 degrees. The latest thinking from T's and F18s seems to be 45 degrees or less.

Best jibing procedure?

My personal preference: In off the trap, bringing the sheet with me (spin starts to collapse, but semi fills again as I turn further downwind), sheet under knee as I pull the tiller toward me, grab the mainsheet block and heave the main over slightly early, throw the tiller round the back, blow the spin sheet completely by moving across the boat (sheet is released from under my knee), grab the spin sheet again, hook on, out on the trap bringing sheet with me and sheet in at same time. Whole process takes maybe 3 - 5 seconds and kite is collapsed for only a second or so (Hopefully <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />)

Best bailout if the kite gets stuck up? Knife?

Strangely enough this happened to me last Saturday <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />. My solution; a deliberate capsize followed by working my way to the hoist point where I discovered that the Ronstan ball block had collapsed and the halyard was jammed between the remains of the sheave and the cheek. I managed to free it and get the spin back into the sock before righting the boat. If I couldn't have freed it, I'd simply have untied the halyard from the spin head. I really can't see an occasion where you'd need to resort to a knife with these smaller cats.

Best righting procedure in a ditch with kite up?

Well, basically you've got to get the kite back into it's sock. This is simple enough to do, and I've set mine up so that it can be doused from above or below the tramp. Most boats are the same I'd have thought.


You're not going to regret supercharging the 430 Berny, in fact you're going to have a ball! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />