Hey Team,

I’ve been following the neophyte threads regarding F16 set up and thought I’d chime in…Here are some F16 uni lessons I’ve learned over the past three seasons of racing.(I’ve a Taipan, I’m 5’10" and 150 lbs.) :

1. Don’t fool yourself, we’re fast because we’re light. Nothing goes on my boat – no matter how trick or innovative- unless something else of equal weight comes off (example :I added a pair of blocks to add purchase to my spin system but approximated the added weight by buying lighter line for my sheets and trimming 8" off of my tiller extension).In my mind, every additional gram makes the boat slower by that increment of additional weight…
2. The F16 takes time on most everything else reaching w/ the kite. Practice douses and sets; helming with your leg on the tiller extension (don’t waste time developing a Rube Goldberg – self steering system- you have to keep control of the helm at all times !!) and an "on the water", adjustable system that allows you to move your block to spinnaker clew inboard (windy) and outboard ( incrementally less windy).
3. You’re already fast downhill ; devote yourself to making the boat fast to weather ! Here are some things I’ve found (much trial and error) :

A. Neutral Mast Rake! A straight stick is fast to weather and a raked stick is slow because raking encourages more "hobby horse" oscillation which creates incoherence in flow over the sails (kills the Coanda effect). But,primarily,raking on the F16 creates helm issues both uphill and down that culminate in rudder drag (= very slow).Oh, and by the way, if you’re raking as a strategy to prevent pitchpoling w/ the kite, you’re wasting your time. The "mine shaft" beckons all who fail to anticipate and adjust with the helm and more sheet tension…
B. Run as little prebend as possible on your SuperWing given the luff curve of your mainsail.A LITTLE extra Prebend forced me to derotate ALOT to keep my boat pointing (again, not sure why). Run your spreaders as long as possible (you can coax one more hole outward w/ the stock diamond wire length).This allowed me to run under 20 on my (old style) Loose guage setting and has made me faster (though I can’t figure out why).
C. Your boat weighs 225 lbs., windage and hydrodynamics are a huge factors when going to weather ! I take an extra 3 minutes rigging to tie small neat knots for my spin pole bridle ( every time your bow breaks deep w/ big knots and loops the drag slows you down). LOWER your spin pole !! The foot of your spin should be no more than 1" above the mast bridle if your pole is at optimal height! Set your luff tension with a stopper ball NOT with the height of your spin pole. After dousing take a second to pull on enough spin halyard to pull the halyard tight against the mast.All of your lines are too long! Trim everything so that nothing drags in the water as you sail. Don’t drop ANY mainsheet when tacking if you’re on the wire – instead move astern, grab the wire handle uncleat and start your tack. As you pass through the dead zone the sail will cross to the new tack and if you keep steering high and move fast and stay on the lee of the trampoline - the wind reattaches just fine and faster than letting off sheet and steering lower initially…This works even in waves. Don’t forget to keep the bows high though!! If you’re suddenly overpowered going to weather, try moving a foot or so forward on the wire before dropping sheet. This forces the lee bow to pinch just a little (again, don’tknow why), and depowers just a little without sacrificing any height (sounds nuts but try it !). Flat sails are ALWAYS faster in the F16! Even if you polished your hulls before leaving the house, take a paper grocery bag and sweep from bow to stern before unloading from the trailer on race day. Wear a lycra splash shirtover your PFD and harness. Trim any facial hair.

4.Buy a torque wrench and check cross beam bolts frequently. Be sure your diamond wires are EXACTLY the same tension and angle (don’t rely on counting the turnbuckle threads) or you’ll have eccentric wrinkles in your main and go crazy trying to figure out why.
5.You gain 3 hours of practice experience for every 5 minutes spent racing. Never miss a regatta if humanly possible…


Your Thoughts?

Paul

Point A = excelente! señor. I cant wait to try it. I know I am running substantial rake and I am learning through reading that it is NOT a good thing for our boats.

This post should be recorded elswhere. I know I am copying it into a txt file. Time to start writting an f16 tunning guide.

PAUL! you are da man, thanks for the post.

Thanks for the tips, Paul.

Lessee...here's my self-assessment:

-my mast is raked too far and I do have helm and lack of power issues

-I haven't checked my diamond tension in over a year and my mast looks bent by having more tension on one side than the other

-I have too much prebend and as a result am searching for power even when the downhaul is off

-my sheets are the heavy, stock, water-absorbing and now fraying variety

-my spinnaker sheet, downhaul line, and rotator lines are all too long and hang in the water or tangle my feet when I'm out in the trap

-my spinnaker pole is too high, has big knots on the bow, and I don't have any stopper balls on the halyard to guide me

-I have no slick, bright fluoro yellow lycra--like you--to wear over my PFD and I usally have a bunch of harness straps hanging off unkempt

-Oh, and my spinnaker has a lot of holes in it now from messed up blocks in my pole...but I did patch some of them

-as far as keeping the boat clean goes...well, you witnessed the guy blowing dirt on my boat a few weeks ago

Thanks Paul! I look forward to making some changes so I can sail faster.

Good write up Paul. I agree (but don't do all) with everything except the part about prebend. Maybe I do not understand the function of prebend.

I agree that flat sails are fast. Doesn't prebend flatten your sails out before adding any downhaul/mainsheet tension? It seems like my mainsail was/is too full and creating too much drag in light air and I cannot downhaul enough in heavy air to depower. I've added some more prebend (spreader rake and daimond tension), but not had a good chance to check it out.

Wouldn't it be advisable to follow the individual sailmakers opinion on prebend to get flat sails? and to take into account your crew weight?

OR - have I totally missed the point of prebend?

One of the things you need to consider in set up is how you sail also.

Pre-bend in the mast should be set to fit the cut of your mainsail. You can play around with it from there a small amount to fill or flatten the shape from the base point.

Keeping your mast in column while sailing is important and why there are diamonds in the first place. This is especially important when 2-up as a bendy mast will close off your slot and be very slow. Typically I look at the tuning: by adding more spreader rake, you can get more prebend with less diamond tension. Less tension more bend control with rotation, downhaul and sheet, less potential power. By increasing the width you get more latteral support I.e. the mast stays in column better.


I do agree and have been experimenting on spreader width. We started out following the 4.9 max allowable class rules, but are finding some amount wider is faster.

I do not know about the 4.9 or others, but on the Blade anyway, I seem to have been much faster sailing with more mast rake. I am currently running at a point where we are very close to block-block on the main sheet going to weather. When I have tried to move forward on my rake I found the boat did not accelerate nearly as fast up wind in the puffs or react nearly as smoothly when trying to power up for speed.

Keep in mind these are my observations and the pros may have a very differnt appraoch, so try and find what seems to work for you.

Matt

" Just Win Baby "

Al Davis
Oakland Raiders

Eric, your righting line is also too heavy. If it doesn't break when you try to use it like Paul's does, you need to downsize. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

the line failed due to generalized overuse ! See you at Rio Vista ?

PK

PK

Yup, I'll be at Rio Vista. This may be last time that event is held if we don't get a decent turn-out. That would be too bad as it is an awesome venue, one of the best in northern California, IMHO. On thing to watch out for is if you capsize and don't right fairly quickly you can wind up in the rip-rap which would could be hard on a Taipan. We have good chase boat coverage, but they can have a hard time keeping up with the cats if the wind is up.

You missed some wacky sailing at Eagle Lake this weekend. The wind would vary from 0 to 20 mph back to 0 several times during a single AC race. Tough conditions, but lots of fun.