Lost my crew this weekend on a N5.5 SL and am thinking about dropping the jib and racing it as a 5.5 Uni. What adjustments should be made? I figure to remove the jib halyard, blocks, guides, all the spin stuff, etc. Should I rake the mast back? Will this configuration be competitive? Any help would be appreciated.

Tom

I've sailed my 5.2 as a uni quite a bit due to high winds and solo sailing. It sailed fine with no noticable difference in the helm or the bow ride. I don't know how competative I would have been in a race. If the wind is not too heavy, why don't you just sail it as a sloop. You'd be super fast.

-Rob V.
Panama City
Nacra 5.2

It'll be Portsmouth based racing, fairly light air (7 to 10) but puffy/gusty. I wonder if the singlehanded Portsmouth knock (-2.0) is better than trying it as a Uni. I've been looking to sail it as Uni b/c consistent crew is tough to find and eventually I'll buy a true Uni-rig. Seemed like a good time to try it.

Tom

Tom, why don't you try it as a uni and post back to the board on how it works out.

Personnally, I would leave the boat rigged as a sloop, drop the jib and try it out. If your're not pleased with the results and the winds are right put the jib back on. You'll learn real quick for future reference.

I've sailed a uni for years feeling a jib boat was way too much. That was, until I had the opportunity to single-hand race a well setup Supercat with a self tacking jib. We had 20+mph winds....and it was a blast.

The fear is gone!

Sail fast, Tom G

PS. Do post back on what you learn.

Remember, a 5.5 uni has a taller mast and a bit more sail area in the main, so you'll have a tougher time sailing to the 5.5 uni portsmouth rating with the sloop no jib.

I sail my Nacra 6.0na solo a lot, with a jib and its a rocket ride..even been out in up to 15 knots of wind..lots of fun though..

How much do you weigh? I have thought about just taking my express out without the jib and just seeing what it would be like, but at 160 I don't think I could right it by myself (no matter how many bags of water I tie to the line

I weigh 150 pounds and I solo sail my 5.2 all the time sloop rigged. I have been out solo up to 10 knots very comfortably. My jib is not self tacking so I am butts and elbows on each tack. Once you get a set system to run through the tacks, it happens pretty smoothly. I know for a fact that I will not be able to right my boat solo. I only sail when I know there will be others in the area. On the one day I was pushing it in about 10-15 knots, I was on the wire solo and having a blast. But... I had a friend on a jetski hanging around and following me in case I got into trouble. I can barely right the boat on dry land, I know I will not be able to do it in deep water. I am still working on getting some kind of righting pole to help in that dept.

-Rob V.
Panama City
Nacra 5.2

If anything, I'd rake the mast FORWARD; you're losing sail area in front of the mast, and it would be favorable to move the main's CE toward where the original sailplan's CE was. On my Uni, I'd stand the mast up very straight if I was expecting light air. Your Sloop mast is 1 1/2 feet shorter than the Uni mast, so you'll be at a disadvantage against other unis until you are fully powered up. You may have a slight edge upwind, again, when YOU are fully powered up/trapping. In theory, they'll be depowering at that point. I suggest this because the Laser Radial is more efficient upwind than the full rig...so maybe? Anyway, good luck.

I am going to sail it sloop rigged. I don't want to give up the 1.5 feet of mast and sail to the Portsmouth number. It should be pretty light air anyway.

It would be cool if someone produced a high performance catamaran that was easily converted to/from single and double handed. Is the double handed platform for the Stealth F16 the exact same as the single handed version (plus jib). Now that would be cool. There is some great video on their web site....which I cannot seem to locate now....I'll be back...

Sailed as a sloop Friday and was overpowered. I couldn't get close to sheeting in fully before I had to pinch up (cranked downhaul, travelled out 4 to 6 inches). It was a lot of fun, but not very fast. Dropped the jib for the race, but the wind dropped to less than 5 and I got killed by an 18 square and solo 5.2 Sloop.

Day one, I sailed with the mast rake/rig exactly like it was a sloop (finished 3,3,3,4). Day two, dropped the mast rake/rig back some and got hammered in a low wind cr_p shoot (finished 6). Limited testing shows to stand the rig up. Thoughts?

Hi Tom,

this is Tami, your RC assistant last weekend. If you want to convert to uni, I have available a rather nice new uni sail that I was going to cut down for another guy, who prolly would sell the sail instead. All you'd need is to lengthen the mast at the masthead, and we have stuff to do it with and have experience in doing so.

email at vileine18sq @ hotmail.com

sea ya
tami

Tom,
I sail my 5.2 with the mast pretty far forward. It helps me to depower and reduces weatherhelm. I don't think it points as high as it could if I raked it back more, but I like the flexibility it offers me. I'm not sure what the measurements are but when it is parked next to the H16s, it looks almost straight up. The H16s are raked way back. I have it set on the forth hole from the top on the forestay. If you would like for me to measure, let me know and I will do so.

-Rob V.
Panama City
Nacra 5.2

Check what I said above.....on day one I had the mast one hole more forward than the sloop rig set up and on day two I had it where it normally is on the sloop rig. Day two wasn't a really good test because the breeze was fluky.