Seems like this simple (ha !), system could be a real advantage to F16 one up sailors ! I've a friend who does billet fabrication ; thoughts...?

check it out :

(http://user.tninet.se/~zdt420t/barcelona/fittings4.htm)

Guy at my club has a very similar system, although he attached the diamonds to the other side of the pivot point and has the tackle above the lever arm. Below the lever arm and on the front of the mast he has a single swivel cleat with a split line running through it. The mast will rotate towards you anyway so a single swivelcleat is enough. He say he adjusts it regulary but hardly ever during a race. Pretty much he sets it before the race start and after a few test legs and then runs with it during the race.

But it is yet another line running across the tramp. I decided against it personally because I wanted to keep the boat simple. But at one time this system was on my drawing board, as was the case with many other gadgets that went to the dustbin for reasons of cutting cost and complexity.

Wouter

hi phil!

interesting to see (also on the other images) all the A-stuff which was up 'captured' 2001 during the WC in spain.

Surely ahaed of its time was Nils BUnkenburgs prototype Nikita which only got into serie production this year.

Regarding the adjustable set up of the diamond tension, this is a long 'come and go' story in the A-cat scene. It hat been a wide spread tool with the Alu-spars, disapeared mostly in the last couple of years with the carbon spars (which are already more than a decade a standard in the class) and just currently found some new fresh air due to again modifications of the mastcharecteristics as well as (and even more important) the sailshapes with the bigger heads.

you can build up an argument who efficient it is or (like Wouter) prefer simplicity and you will find very successful represantatives for both ideologies.

It's anyhow only a tool for those who perfectly understand how a mast/sailcombination should work and how to achieve exactly this. if you don't have this theoretical knowledge you can surely slow yourself down till even damaging your rigg by using the wrong setup under not suitable circumstances...

if however you want to go for it (and i see this system also joining my taipan 4.9 mast soon) than maybe nowadays systems are worth a view and scott andersons system is sold by fibrefoam, so either yo order it there or it can give you a good estimation what to do!

take a look at the item:
Adjustable Diamonds Part A44
http://www.fiberfoam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=94

kind regards

dirk

Did you notice the on the fly combination diamond wire and downhaul adjuster?
http://user.tninet.se/~zdt420t/barcelona/fittings3.htm
I believe some of the BIM "A"'s also have incorporated a system that automatically increases downhaul with increased mainsheet tension- I believe it worked along the lines of the "headknocker" system on the boom recently discussed in another thread here except the tail of the mainsheet fed into the downhaul so increasing tension on the mainsheet pulled the downhaul on.
I've attached a photo of the system on my old 18sq. A modification of the system on the A's with a single swivel cleat with double-tailed line (cheaper and lighter).

Kirt

the bim stuff with a combination of downhaul and diamond tension adjustment seems reasonable, although I think it takes you some time not only to find the best setting but also to find a proper relation between how much more diamond tension you want with how much more cunningham pulled... so maybe a little tricky! I think in general these bim-technologies were not really catching attention because anyhow, as soon there was wind, the bims with their fuller cut sails did not really go fast... and some more diamond tension alone could not changed that disadvantage of a less good performing mast-sailcombination into an advantage over the saarberg/godall combination ruling the game at that time...