Musings on how to sail an EC12…

Sailboat racing is much like a chess game. You can use the rules to your advantage, and it is a fine art

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Musings on how to sail an EC12…

Postby seanfidler » Sun Apr 03, 2016 1:04 am

I thought I would start a thread on some of the notes that I have been taking since embarking on the EC12 last fall.

Let me know if you have any ideas on where to start the discussion.

I was also thinking about a 1 or 2 day coaching clinic this fall in Michigan or somewhere to help others where I can.

More to follow...

Sean Fidler
Michigan
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Posts: 4
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Re: Musings on how to sail an EC12…

Postby steve h » Wed Apr 06, 2016 3:17 pm

Great idea, Sean! I'd say here would be as good a place as any. You could video your seminars and post to youtube, like Fran has done with rules videos from their club. Guys have done that with other classes of boats, and it really helps folks that are visual learners, rather than get the generic "Its on the website, find it" response. Rick's building site is great, but since it was created in 2009 or so, it would be interesting to see if there were valuable changes have been made to building since then. The Model Yachting updates were a great set of revisions, but there was only so much space available in the magazine. Those microknot changes that would save a newer builder/sailor a bunch of frustration, because all the holes they drilled should have been an 1/8 inch forward or rearward on the booms.

We are getting a lot of new members to the fleet, and those of us that have only been doing it only a few years still dont know if they (me) are doing it right. I know I get asked a lot of questions, and I try to relay what works for me and my boat(s), but that usually doesnt work for someone else.

I know a lot of these are boat and skipper specific, but heres some stuff that still confuses me at times:
1. Upper and lower shroud placements in various wind conditions.
2. How much curve in the jib in various air, and what would the best way to achieve that (topping lift, forestay tension, backstay tension,etc).
3. Balance on the boat. Currently I'm at 1 degree down in the tank, around 42 3/8. I'd love to see one of the repeat offenders in the Champions Regatta do a video on tanking a boat, and the various ways to help achieve the balance you want. This would be great for folks who pick up a boat second or third hand, as well as new builders.

Some tips that have worked for me, your mileage may vary:
1. When I finally get the boat tuned to where I like the way it sails, I use a sharpie marker to mark the bowsie location on the line. I use different colored sharpies for different air. This gets me into the ballpark for repeatable settings. Obviously, this goes out the window when a line breaks.
2. I have a LOT of travel on my jib trim servo, and I use the right vertical stick to control it (elevator servo for those who fly RC). I'm constantly moving the jib searching for power or spilling it out. I have enough throw that I can bring the jib boom to centerline to help with tacking and getting the boat wing on wing on downwind legs. The servo is fast enough to build momentum to help it flop over. I tried the left stick (rudder for airplane flyers), and a pot/knob, and kept going back to the right stick. My right thumb was more comfortable and accurate
3. I have a LOT of expo on my rudder on both low and high rates, to account for the movement of my thumb on the jib. Its also soft enough that it wont move much while walking over rough shoreline.
4. When rigging my sheets, I tie a bowline at the sail end of the sheet. The sheet is long enough to run up through the ring attachment on the boom, extending a couple inches along the boom. I tie short piece of line to a bowsie on the traveler on the boom to a duo-lock snap, and attach the bowline to the large end of the duo lock snap. I use a short piece of line to snug the duo lock snap to the boom. This keeps the weight of the snap from altering the boom angle in light air. This arrangement allows easy removal of the radio board and sheets.

Steve
#1988 and #1858...aka Frank's boat
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