Date: 12/29/2005
Name: Joe Downing
email: joedowning@aol.com
subject:Shroud tension and sail configuration
Hello to all my San Juan 21 Buddies - Happy New Year to All!Shroud tension: Tom Mills, former Geary 18 Natl Champion, out of Coos Bay Yacht Club, and 2001? Western Natls Working sail class winner, told me when I asked him about shroud tension: the looser the better. He said, if I remember correctly, that loose shrouds hurt a little going to windward. But Downwind, they help a lot! Reason is that tight shrouds limit the amount the mast can bend forward, even with backstay totally off. More mast bend forward means a faster boat. I tried this in a regatta, and quickly became a believer.
Sail configuration: As an "all sails" sailor...have been since I bought the boat back in '96, I much enjoy the excitement of racing with the spinnaker. But more and more, we go to national events, and there is a small turnout of "all sail" boats. Rob Anderson alluded to this in his trip to North Americans this year. I am feeling pulled to join another fleet where there are moe boats to race against. A solution to this could be a compromise sail configuration such as Mike Foster suggests: Change the San Juan fleet to one sail configuration: Jib, Main, and spinnaker. No genoas. In this way both existing fleets are affected equally. One fleet gives up their genoa, and the other fleet adds a spinnaker. I'm not saying this will cure the ills of falling membership...but it may help some sailors stay with the fleet. How do others feel about the "dual fleets", and how did this start in the first place?
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