Check out this picture from the last day of the Tybee 500.

You can't do that to a Nacra 20 or Infusion mast without folding it - but the Tiger mast takes this punishment in its stride. 16:1 downhaul full on, Mast rotated back, main sheet cranked. That mast is bending off to leeward like crazy spilling air and letting us carry the kite 15 degrees higher than an Infusion can. You can use the downhaul on the Tiger like a rudder - keep the hull flying and vary your heading by 15 degrees by putting it on and off.

This is why I love the Tiger - it is tough as old boots. The rudder failures on Carrie/JC's Tiger were where someone had converted an older boat to the new rudders with the gudgeons spaced out. The bolts used were too small and kept shearing off. We've got the latest stock system - no issues.

Chris.

This spot for rent.

only because this discussion can get interesting.

I'll have a go.....

There is no difference to the height or speed you can sail an Infusion, tiger or capricorn with a shy kite. The method used on each boat differs but the outcome is the same.

So what is the secret for the wing mast boats then? There are some Infusion sailors who would like to know. I think one team tried a few settings on the last day of the Tybee that resulted in a folded mast.

That mast looks so wrong, but it sure does look like the boat is flying. it was a N20 that dismasted on the last day, all the f18's finished.

Dazz,

It was an F18 Infusion that dismasted - Team Mooseburd. They jury rigged the boat using a spin pole as a mast to fly the kite. They sailed 35 miles like this - finishing after dark. I took a look at the jury rig on Sunday morning. They carried the folded up mast on the tramp back to the beach. It creased up to an acute angle between the spreaders and hound.

The Nacra 20 that failed to finish suffered a failure in the cross beam attachement in the hull. I heard the plate tore lose from the glass. This is the second failure like this I've come across. I repaired Team Poison Girl's hull in the rear beam socket 2 years ago on the Great Texas race. This could be a good place for owners of high mileage Nacra 20s to inspect for stress cracking.

Chris.

By the way, I'm not talking about sailing for max VMG on a windward-leeward course - I agree there are lots of ways of skinning that cat and it varies boat to boat. I'm talking about spinnaker reaching while distance racing - the ability to make the kite work for as long as possible on a close reach with building wind.

As long as you have the rotation off and enough mainsheet tension to support the mast its all good. I cleat the mainsheet in this position and then play the traveller car to control angle of heel if I am trying to sail a high lane.

You can carry luff tension, but I wouldn't carry full max luff tension (its slow anyway). You need to balance the sail plan and if you are trying to depower the mainsail so much then you are usually carrying too much drag in the rest of your sail plan.

There is a crossover between shy kite and 2 sail reaching. many will be surprised that this occurs earlier than you think, So my advice is: if you are struggling to keep the boat upright with a shy kite and two on the wire, you are very close to that crossover.

Also, you need to run the kite halyard lower if you want to sail a high lane.

Over the last few years I have done some pretty silly things with the Infusion mast in some quite extreme conditions and I am yet to break one. and not for lack of trying!

Chris, I will stand corrected.

Chris:

The videos of you on SA were amazing!!!! The outboard boat could not catch you, LOL You made TCDYC proud. There will be a day when you win it.

Way to go,

Doug

Well done Chris, nice looking sail as well.

I felt a bit sorry for the N20 who's spins all fell apart, not something you want on a race like this (or any race for that matter!).
Wonder what the result would be had they been sailing the new Wildcat, with its higher volume of would probably been even better at the the light stuff.
Looked like JC/Carrie where carrying a Wildcat spin though.

Thanks for your advice on painting sails Tony - it worked out really well.

Misha had a Wildcat spin - I didn't notice if Carrie/JC were using one as well.

Painted sails, now that is interesting!
Is the sail in the picture really painted? Wow! Any information to share, like cloth in the sails, how to clean them, how to apply the paint and what paint to use? Durability?

It was a Mylar sail painted with automotive paint with a plasticiser added (the same type of additive they put in the paint when they paint plastic bumpers and what-nots). They've had some trouble with the solvents in the paint weakening the stitching in the sails - but seem to have resolved that.

I'm convinced that the tight, double trapped spin reaching is what might have caused the spin failures on the N20's. I know that we really had that thing cranked in all week.

Clean asked Pattison what going on with his sail, here is his response:

"At this point I really don't know too much about it. I did get a call Friday afternoon from a person that told me it had happened. All I can tell you right now is that we switched the tape we use on them a few years ago after one sail failed with the old style tape. Since switching we have not had any failures, however it is obvious from this regatta that this tape is not strong enough either. We will certainly stand behind any of the sails that failed.

In the mean time I need to get more information on those sails so I can trace back to when they were built and see if they were all done with the same batch of tape or see if there were any other similarities or differences. If you have one of these sails please call me at the loft on Monday. I will need to know the serial number that is stamped on our logo on your sail.

Harry Pattison
Elliott / Pattison Sailmakers
949 645-6697 "

I'm going to find out what he plans to do about the head of my spin that pulled out.

Did the luff tapes tear? Do the N20 spi have a luff line inside the tape for trimming?

Any pics of the damage to the spis?

The tapes held on mine. I think on Todd's they tore.

My hole started small, so small that I didn't notice it until I saw a weird reflection on the jib coming from behind the spin (which should have been blocking the wind) Over time it got bigger and bigger until it stretched across the whole mid-horizontal seem and down to the middle snuffer patch.

Two days later, during a double trap spin reach, the head grommet pulled out of the chute.

While they are addressing the issue of quality, they should be made aware of the size differences as well. I was told there has been as much as 18" difference in luff measurements. I'm glad I had the inclination to have mine totally stiched before the race.