Nacra 6.0 NA tuning stuff.

I thought I would offer some input on tuning the Nacra 6.0 NA. These are my own guidelines and others may have differing opinions.


Hulls. Bottoms well prepared. Boat waxed carefully with carnuba wax. Hull’s parallel (within 1/16th inch). Ignore the blather about not waxing, keep the boat clean.

Daggerboards Trailing edge tapered to ~ 1/16 inch, leading edge carefully sanded. All mold lines sanded and filled. Boards trailered carefully to prevent damage.

I also measure how parallel the Daggerboards are when they are all the way down in the trunks. If they are not parallel, I shim them to bring them into parallel.

Rudders. Adjustment screw in rudder casting removed.. Lets start with the basics. If it is a Nacra 6.0 we are talking about, the first thing you should do is redrill the rudders. Fill the pivot hole in the rudder with west systems and microballons. Redrill the pivot hole aprox 1 pivot hole diameter farther towards the front of the blade. This allows you to balance the helm by toeing the rudders much farther under the boat. This seems to give about the right rudder rake for my tastes

Replace the plastic clam cleats on the pivomatics. They cost about 3 $ each. Just drill out the rivets in the old ones and reuse everything else. Make sure the rivet that sticks up through the cleat is not too long or the cleat won't work.
Consider changing to a 2:1 mechanical advantage for the kick up mechanism. This lowers the load on the line in the cleat by a factor of 2. Experiment with lines. You want a soft spun knobby polyester line with moderately low stretch. Generally I find 1/4" is best.

The rudders should be parallel. Within 1/16”


Mast and rigging

First, replace your diamond wires every 2 years, shrouds every year if you are sailing a lot. IF you have a mast that is less then 2 years old check the spreader adjustment mechanism. There is a threaded Al piece that has a slot in it. Make sure the threads stop 3/16” before the slot or it will be too weak. Call you dealer and make him replace them.
I run 1 7/8th spreader rake, 500 lbs outer diamonds 160 lb inner diamonds. These are good ballpark settings. While you are at it, sailcoat the sail track on the mast

As far as mast rake goes, I run 18” of rake in most all conditions. If it is blowing over 20 knots I knock the mast back to about 30” rake. I run the same mast rake with the chute up as without. I used to run a lot more rake with a big Smyth chute ~440 ft^2 but don’t need it for the class 350 ft^2 chute.

I know a lot of people who use a lot more mast rake then I do. Some are very fast, it kind of depends on you sailing style. Pick a setting and learn to sail it.

I also remove the plastic coating on my wires and trap lines. This is just useless weight. I don’t use a furler, I have had bad luck with them exploding and they are useless weight anyway. The only time you need to furl is running the spinnaker in less then 3 knots of breeze and if you are racing in more then 30 knots of wind when you should be drinking beer at the bar anyway.

Change the stock system to a cascading 16:1 downhaul. Don’t be afraid to crank it in heavy air. You know you are down hauled enough in heavy air if the mainsail is board flat and the leach is fluttering between the first and second battens. Once you hit this level, more downhaul just decreases sail life.


Sails, Main sails last ~1 1/2 years competitively. Buy a Smyth batten set for it is much better shape then stock battens. Sailcoat the luff of the main.
Jibs last about 20 days competitively. Buy a new one and only sail it in major events.
Spinnakers I have sailed about 6-7 different spinnakers on the 6.0. The best all around chute is the Smyth New England class chute. IMHO. You can use it with a snuffer or deck launch it, your call.


As far as running rigging goes, Main blocks ratchamatic 57 mm triple with a Becket and 57 mm Carbo quad. Jib blocks Carbo single ratchamatics. These blocks need to be washed more often to keep clean. Jib sheet 5/16 Yale lite Mainsheet 3/8-1/4 tapered I use SD3 and taper it myself. Main traveler car bolts need to be replaced regularly. You can use titanium or necked stainless bolts. If the bolt is threaded all the way up to the top of the bolt it will shear eventually. I replace bolts every 5 days of heavy air. Buy a dozen. Keep a spare traveler car on the rear beam in case you blow one. Replace the bearings in the traveler car yearly also.

Anywhere you can trim weigh, do it. Lines, blocks, etc.