Hi all,
I was wondering where the best places are to have tell tales, and what materials work best. In the past I have used wool, but that tends to stick to the sails a lot, so I was considering using thin slivers of spinnaker nylon.

I'm thinking of using one 1/3 and 2/3 up the LE of the jib, and one at 1/3 up about 1' (30cm) from the luff.
On the main I'd want to put them at 1/3 and 2/3 up the luff, just over 1' (40cm) from the mast and at 1/4 1/2 and 3/4 up the leach.
In stead of an expensive and fragile "windex" I was thinking of simply tying a slightly bigger strip to the forestay, where it joins to the bridle wires (to save me a lot of neck strain).

I have no idea how to stick the spinny nylon on the sails though, would some repair tape do the trick?

Any ideas on whether this sounds logical or not? I'm not worried about aesthetics, it's just got to work. (For insiders: In my NZ days people would have called my boat a "Maori boat", but these days that would probably not be PC!)

regards,
Dennis

You can them ready made at any decent sailshop, or you can make them yourself out of strips of spi nylon.
To attach them to the sail get a sticker and cut it round, then cut a small slot in the middle. Remove the back of the sticker, put the nylon through the slot and stick it on the sail.
For the forestay or bridle (if you have a jib) cassette tape works best.

No use re-inventing the wheel. We sell them right here on our www.OnLineMarineStore.com
Here is the link
https://store.catsailor.com/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=8165
For sidestay and bridle wire I think cassette tape is too light and dithery. Best is old 8-Track. It is light enough to respond to even the lightest winds, yet doesn't jiggle all over the place like cassette and make it hard to read. I have some really fast stuff -- Abba! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Or you can go to Radio Shack and get reel to reel tape very cheap and it is the same size.
Rick

Rick, I'm really sorry to say this, but I've wanted to buy from your store before (your book of course!). Only the shipping costs deterred me at the last moment (to the Netherlands). Maybe you could negotiate a better deal with whomever you are using for a carrier. I am sure that would put your international sales through the roof!

I sold the 8-track waaay back... Now if only my boat had a speed selector switch like that deck, then maybe I could go faster ;-)

Dennis

Whats an 8- Track? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Whats an Abba? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Rick, you're very, very lucky my wife doesn't read this forum <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Knowing you...Knowing me

Get the black ones, especially with dacron sails, easier to see the lee side.

What's the point of having them on side stays? How do you read them? How long do you make them?

Now i know why there was an old shortage in the 70's... look at all the polyester!

i LOVE the ballon machine in the back... i want one

I found tape on my side stays completely useless...

i NEVER look up there... it requires you to look away from the water, the sails, and into the sun on occasion..

I find tape on my bridal perfect... they are great for seeing apparent wind and shifts both up and downwind.

If you run a spinnaker with a mid pole snuffer, you may have to use the spinnaker bridal and not the forestay one as the snuffer changes the airflow and will provide false readings... At least it did on my rig

I've found the Davis Wind-Tels to be helpful in super-light, shifty air. They attach to the shrouds with a wire that corkscrews around the shroud (I taped over them to be sure the end of the wire didn't tear my main).

This is really only needed when you're out in wind so light that you shouldn't be racing in it anyway, such as is sometimes found in a distance race or on the way back in after the wind quits, etc.

A mast head indicator would be even better, but I have yet to see one for a Hobie 16 with the rake we carry.

Mike

YES

I prefer woolies as my telltale material of choice. It just settles down and flows better than the nylon strips (these get creases in them and thus always end up flapping constantly).

Woolies usually don't stick if dry. SailKote or similar products can be applied to the wool & surrounding sail area to reduce/prevent wet sticking.

One of the best tips from Rick's book is to place the port tales a few inches above the starboard tales...that way you can easily know which side is out of trim, even when you can't see the colours (if different) clearly (like at dusk or when your glasses fog up).

We needed this setup during our last race on Afterburner (52 ft beachcat)...as the sun went down it became very hard to see which telltale was out of trim, even using flash lights!

Rick,
I've got to call you on that choice...there is no way ABBA is faster than my choice..."Air Supply" <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Mike.


Mike.

I'm currently working through an old 8-track of Buddy Guy and Miles Davis Live. It may not be the fastest, but I'm the smoothest cat on the water. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

http://www.murrays.com/archive/19.pdf

Rick will have to give you his number for these, but I like the Telocat if you don't have a spin pole and the Windex below if you do. I used the Windex on my Mystere 4.3 and except for stiff neck from looking up it worked great.

Doug

I am looking for some Duane Eddy's Album "Twang's the Thang" <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I had an 8 track in my car. One morning I discovered someone had broken in and left me ten tapes.

If you can't find an ABBA 8 track tape at a yard sale, you can also use a VHS tape, I've found Barbarella to be a good choice...or any old Jane Fonda workout tape. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

I'm alternating between ZZ Top's Eliminator and Urban Hymns by the Verve on cassette tape - I think we need to do some more boat for boat pacing to establish which is faster.

I tried some gentleman's art films on VHS but find the large width of video tape off putting.

Chris.

My favorite was a cassette tape of Bob Marley's "RHASTA VIBRATIONS" ... when the wind was light and you listened really close ... you could hear Reggae on the breeze ...

Harry