First thing is to apologize for the long winded post.

One thing I haven’t been able to figure out is how to get my Main trimmed properly when close hauled (it’s a stock Hobie sail, about 4 months old). My problem is to get the lower leeward tell tail flowing back, the upper windward telltale is jumping around. I’ve tried all sorts of combinations of mast rake, downhaul and main tension with no luck. I even setup a line to adjust mast rotation, which only made things worse. I just can’t find the right combination to have all leeward and windward tell tails flowing at the same time.

After doing some reading on the subject, I decided to add leach tells tales to get some more feedback. I added 2, one at the second from the bottom batten pocket and the other at the second from the top batten pocket.

What I’ve found is I can get the top leach tell tail flowing with no problem, the bottom one is usually wrapping around the leeward side of the sail, adjusting the main sheet tension doesn’t seem to make a difference.

As I gradually bring the boat more to windward, the top windward tell tail is really spinning around, and the bottom windward telltale is starting to dance, The lower leach tell tail finally starts to flow back. However, I’m right on the edge of luffing the sail and losing power, which usually happens.

What I’ve read is that when the lower leach tell tale is wrapping around to the leeward side, it means the main is to full and should be flattened. Looking at my sail, the second and third battens are curving more than the lowest one and upper ones. Meaning it has a full curve (belly) in that area.

So my question is how to flatten that part of the sail so the curve matches the top of the sail? Or is this due to how the sail is cut and there is not much I can do about it?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Charlie

Hi Charlie,
First thing you need to do is start sailing with other Waves. You just missed the Wave Nationals here in the Keys in December, but the next best thing is coming -- the Tradewinds Regatta, where we expect about 100 boats and about 20 Waves, of whom there will be several past National and NA Champs sailing. They will get you dialed in faster than anything else. Here is the NOR for the event.
http://www.catsailor.com/Tradewinds2010.html

You might be way over-thinking the subject.
Here is my take on sailing the Wave:
1. use a 10-hole forestay adjuster. This rakes the mast aft to load up the rudders and allows them to act as daggerboards. If too much helm feel, rake them under the boat a little bit more. This will make the shrouds pretty loose, so I usually take off the sidestay adjusters and simply use a shackle. However, you DO WANT pretty loose shrouds -- as the sail goes out on reaches you do not want it to bump up against the sidestay and invert. Rather, push the loose sidestay out and keeps its shape.
2. With the boat on the beach and decent wind coming from the the side, sheet the sail in. Standing back a bit, line up the mast base on the main beam with the sheeting point on the aft beam.
Then look up at the leech of the sail. If it hooked to windward, you are oversheeted. If it is way off the mast to leeward, you are undersheeted. You want the leech to be slightly off the mast.
Once done, mark the sheet with a laungry pen somewhere midway between the blocks -- this will be you normal sheet setting. Every time you tack, start, round a mark or do whatever maneuver and you want to be sailing close-hauled, you can simply sheet in until your mark is in the right place.., no more guessing.
Then in reality, when you get a little puff, you might want to sheet in a tad, or if in a hole, ease out a tad.
3. Rip off the leech telltales and use them somewhere else. Perhaps as a second set located 9" behind the first set on the upper part of the sail.
4. Put 8Track Tape or Reel to Reel tape on the bridal wires, on each side about a foot and a half from the top, and some on the side stays, while you are at it.
5. Dial in first, getting the bridal flies to point just to the other side of the mast, and then use that and the sail telltales to get the best performance. In light air front and back should flow, in heavier air, the windwards might dance a bit, but always keep the backside telltales flowing.
On my Calvert Sails in heavy air I notice my lower windward telltales will dance a bit, but my upper windward is always flowing.
If you are already familiar with cats, as opposed to monohulls, you already know you need to sheet harder. However, with the Hobie sail, you cannot sheet as tightly as you can with a Calvert. They are just as fast, but need to be sailed a bit differently.

Rick,

Thanks for the tips, yea I was over thinking it a bit, I do that a lot.

I added the tell tails you suggested and removed the ones from the leach. I only have a 7 hole chain plate but added a shackle between the top of the chain plate and main stay, so its equivalent of a 9 hole. I already had a mark on my main sheet based on the "feel" of the boat. Setup the boat on-shore and took a look at the main, the new mark isn't that far off from my original one.

The wind was shifting quite a bit today so I couldn't really dial the sail in, so have to wait until next weekend.

Back in the day I used to race Windmills and Lightnings, then purchased a Solcat 18 and raced that for a few years. Even with all the mono hull experience I never got the Solcat working until I started to race it.

I really purchased the Wave for recreation, but I do feel the racing bug creeping back, so my next project is to work on transportation. Neither car has a hitch and I need a trailer. Right now I launch off my backyard.

One more question while/if you're reading. My Wave seems to sail better and is more responsive on Port Tack, and sluggish on Starboard tack. I checked the lengths of my shrouds and mast is straight, is there anything else I should check?

Charlie

Probably rudders. Depending on the year and rudders supplied by Hobie, they may both bend the same direction. Best bet is to see if you can find some EPO rudders off an old TheMightyHobie18. Totally legal for racing and much stiffer and dependable.

There are boats here for charter, by the way. Love to have you join in the fun down here and get the bug. I will be running races and have an extra boat and it has a trailer.

Rick

Windmill! Thought no one on the planet still lived who had been in one. My father had one.



In that club too; but the Wave sail is a riddle to get control of.

JJ,

Don't count the Windmill Class out just yet, its still active.

http://windmillclass.org/

Charlie

Again, I believe the Wave sail is pretty simple, as is the boat. What I love about the class is not so much the HORSE, but rather the RIDER.
Having your sail set perfectly at all times will help your speed. And as I like to stress when I teach my sailing seminars, speed does help, but not as much as one might think. Folks pay a few hundred dollars to me for those seminars, and so I point out that instead of paying me, if you instead went to www.OnLineMarineStore.com or West Marine, and spent that money for a "Go-Fast" item.
And suppose it made your boat 4 boat lengths faster over a mile (probably not, however).
What good would it do if you were:
1. Not on the start line in good position (lose 15 Boat Lengths)
2. Unfavored end of the start line (lose 7 BLs)
3. Sailed to the unfavored side of the course (9 BLs)
4. Overstood the layline (25 BLs)
5. Tacked on lifts, and held headers -- out of phase (25BLs)
6. Blew a tack and went into irons (20BL)
7. Did not enter wide, exit close at mark (30 BLs)
8. Finish at the unfavored end of the line (6BLs)

And the list goes on and on.

In other words, rather than worry so much about the sail and trying to fix every little thing, you might want to fix the "...loose NUT on the TILLER."
Rick

Rick,

Those are very good points and I'm not going to disagree with you. I will say that my wife has been trying to fix that "nut" for 30 years and hasn't been able to so far.

Charlie

OMG! I did not know...

Don't trust that shackle you added to the forestay. They have a habit of working themselves open, or breaking.

I just broke a side stay shackle last weekend racing, while in the lead, I might add. Finally got ahead of Leah and Dave.

My fault, however. I sailed Mary's boat and when I got to the club there were no sidestay adjusters or shackles, so I dug around in my box of goodies and found a couple that "might do!"
They didn't do.

So, I went to my very own store and ordered a bunch of Wichard Shackles (best on the market) so I am good to go now.

Rick

That's why all my shackles are drilled and safety wired.

I'm with Jack, I safety wire all my shackles and tape all split rings (have them come apart also). The Shackle was a temporary work around to experiment with raking the mast back a bit more.

Looks like my rudders do have a bend/warp in them, looking for some EPO's, now for the dumb question, do they have any markings to tell them apart, or will it be obvious?

Last Item: Rick, I have to pass on your generous offer of the use of your boat during the Tradewinds Regatta (I do appreciate it). Hopefully next time.

Charlie

We do sell the new EPO rudders on our site, but they are not cheap.., and we make hardly any money on them.
Rick

Hmmmm

I love it when Rick tells racers to take off the leech tell tales because some day they may race against me. There is no way to know how hard to sheet the main w/o the leech tales, so everyone w/o them racing against me will probably be under trimmed (most common) and therefore under powered or stalling the sail by being over trimmed. If you put those leech tales back on your sail the way you had them (or at least the top one) then the top one will let you know how hard to sheet in while going upwind. The bottom one is more useful on a boat with a traveler and would let you know when to slide it in or out. SInce the Wave does not have that control then the lower leech tale is less useful.

You may have noticed by now that while sailing on the water you cannot get out of the boat and look at the leech to see how it looks like you can on shore (the way that Rick described). Well that's what the leech tales do for you - give you clear guidance on trimming the leech while on the boat. The wind direction twists from the water level to the mast head because it accelerates with height due to less friction. While the Wave mast is not very high, there can still be a significant wind angle variance, especially if the breeze is lighter and the water is bumpier. The leech tales will provide the visual indicators you need to see this and adjust the sail correctly. Without them it is like sailing blind.

It is O.K. to let the leech tale curl around the sail (or at least not stream straight back) up to about half the time. You are just trying to maintain attached wind flow across the sail and you maximize drive by bending the wind as much as you can while doing that. The only way you know if you are at maximum is to overdo it a little and that is when the tell tale curls behind the main. Then just ease a little to regain the streaming tell tale more of the time than it curls.

I hope this helps.

Curious. Drilled where? Wired?

Since I don't have photo abilities, I will try to describe it.

You simply pass the safety wire though the eye in the shackle pin...some you may have to drill yourself, then wrap it around the shank of the shackle and twist it together. Don't forget to bend the end over so you don't poke yourself with the needle sharp end of the wire. Or...you can tape it.

Ah, so would a Wichard Bow Shackle with the self locking captive pin do the same? Or not?

BTW, I appreciate points above made by Rick and Mike both about sail shape.

The leech and the sail pocket are two things I have trouble "seeing" well on the water.

Yes. Another easy solution to shackles that normally remain attached but that may need to be removed is to use Loctite on them. There are at least two types; one that allows removal with tools (the type to use) and the type that is intended to make a permanent bond. I use the removable Locktite on the hound shackle - those like to come off and cause the rig to drop. Locktite prevents that and is quick and easy to apply.