Viper pointing question

hi All,

I have an 09 Viper which is pretty new to me and have a few questions I am hoping someone can help me with. I sail the boat fairly light 125 Kg in 2-up mode and 75Kg in 1-up Mode. I sail in a mixed fleet F18’s, F17’s, Taipans.

In either mode I can’t seem to point very high and am wondering whether it may be due to the mast setup. I have fairly good boat speed but due to the fact I have to foot off am falling behind. My mast rake is about 2” above the upper pintel which is way off what is in the owners manual but I am at the top hole on the forestay connector so I would have to change it out for a longer one or add an extension. Also have quite a bit of lee helm sailing downwind. Also managed to pitchpole it on a reach ( no Chute ) in conditions I didn't expect to. Just mentioning this as they may be symptoms of something.

can one of the Viper sailors give me a good starting point for

Mast Rake
Spreader Rake
Diamond tension (avg 10 kt )

For the weights above


thanks

You are focusing at the right problem, mast rake.

I agree that your mast rake setting do not make sense relative to the prevailing Viper wisdom and I don't even have a Viper but many of my colleagues do. There is even talk about raking to the top of the lower pintle as the "standard" setting and filing the rudder casings to move the blade tips forward slightly if there is too much helm.

When you are raked too far forward, you will experience everything as described - too much helm downwind and too much pressure on the leeward bow when reaching.

Since you are not the original owner, I would make sure that the correct forestay and bridles are installed. Asking the obvious, the forestay and shrouds are connected to the lower hound point?

Good Luck

I sail the Viper UNI 99% of the time and quite frankly, I don't know what my mast rake is. I think it's close to the upper pintel.

I weight about 175'ish or 80kgs.

Here are my settings...

Spreader rake about 1 1/8th or about 32 mm
Tension is about 34 on the Loose gauge, the black one. I think that comes out to about 600lbs...not sure.

Sometimes I seem to go upwind with them, sometimes not. It's probably because there's a loose nut on the tiller.

Sorry, I can't help you much more than that.


Mike

Check out the support page on the AHPC website. You may pick up some tips.
AHPC Support

At the same time as I posted this i also sent an email to AHPC. Brett mentioned that the forestay and sidestay lengths have changed since 09 which explains why i couldn't rake the mast back to the settings in the manual so i will just add an extension to see if it helps.

It's nice to work with a company who respond so quickly and to realize help is just an email away. Thanks Brett

/ Aidan

I have been struggling with this problem myself, I also own an 09 Viper that I sail uni 99% of the time. A couple of weeks ago, I bit the bullet and bought a chain plate extender and raked my mast back to the new recommended settings from AHPC. I'm currently at the top of the retainer clip above teh lower pintle. It certainly seems to have helped some as the boat seems to squirt out of the puffs better and I'm able to point better than I was. However, I still don't feel like I can out point anyone which is a little disappointing. On of the main things I've discovered is that the boat is really sensitive to weight placement on the boat. In light winds you have to make sure the leeward bow is in the water, if it's not (sitting back to far will cause it to ride high)you seem to loose a lot of pointing ability. So in our light wind races on the Cheseapeake Bay, I find my self sitting on top of the front beam a lot.

I extended the chainplate with a turnbuckle which should make it easier to adjust and fit the jib so we'll see how that goes.

I have also noticed that it is very sensitive to weight placement but ever since i sent my 12 yr old crew around the forestay he gives me the "are you friggin nutz" look when I tell him to get forward on the wire.

We have a youth team sailing the Falcon at the same weight and they can point as any other F18,16,...

If your mast setting is correct, get forward on the boat and sheet in hard + get low in the trapeze, especially at that weight, you need adjustable trapezes.