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Good work ... dunno how you resist the temptation to pop the kite on the runs, that is the best bit ... just get it up and see what happens

The Stenhouse video is great, but I found the tacking section a bit too advanced.
Wire to wire tacks is way advanced.. When starting, I got the most out of the bit on safety tacks with Ian Renilson in the K16 video. Letting off a bit of main before the tack makes the whole thing easier to start off with. I'm interested that the recent youtube video of Dans tack http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6HPuHoPWEw shows him dumping a bit of main before the tack. Good video, great feet, but thats what I am concentrating on just now.

I have been out another couple of times now and getting the hang of the safety tack. Going from on the wire directly to sitting on the opposite wing then hook on and go.

Rick,

I can see what you mean about the kite being addictive!

I got this kite up on Saturday in about 15 knots, following a scheme similar to the one on the K-16 video and it worked well:
- Bear away - main out to knot (by shroud)
- Get stable steering no hands.
- Hoist kite.
- Get Kite filling, then over sheet a bit.
- Pull in a handful of main so that the boom is over the corner of the rack - drop sheet over wing.
- Hook on an get foot in loop.
- Head up and ease kite to full power
- head up, then when the boat starts to heel, bear away until it comes flat.
- Trim kite and hang on!!

I was flying, skipping waves - it was awesome!! As I was trying to come to take the kite down by the bottom mark, I lost a bit of power and my bum it the water and I went over to windward in a pile of spray, but it was great ride up until then.

Since we were racing quite close to shore my fiancee was able to get a couple of photos of me upwind, any comments on trim or sail setting appreciated.



In the photo below it seems to me like I should have more kicker on, or does this look about right?

Comments from above

1. Great photos and nice blue water!
2. You need to try to pull down harder on the main halyard prior to launching. If possible, put the sail up and leave it for a few minutes, then pull on the halyard again.
3. Agreed, you need more kicker and I'd say in those conditions somewhere between the red tape that forms the back edge of the reinforcing panel and the mast. I'm not sure what others think, but I personally think you can over kicker, so never go to the mast...
4. Its a little tricky to tell, but I'd also say the mainsheet strop is too short. To be honest, you cant really set this until 2 and 3 above are correct. When they are, you should just be able to pull on the mainsheet block to block.

These should all then allow you to put the bow down and go proper fast upwind. The way the rig looks at the moment, I'd say you are probably dumping quite a bit of mainsheet when a gust comes through. Set correctly, you might need to move the sheet 150mm or so, but the rig should just spill the excess wind. You'll see this as the top batten floating from being set to going straight or even waving to windward like a windsurfer.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the tips.

Looks like it is time to "Pimp my Skiff" so that I can "put a bit more welly" into pulling up the halyard. So I will set this up on Saturday...
http://www.mustoskiff.com/pimp-my-skiff/main-block.htm

I am getting better at maintaining the boat balance while pulling on sail controls, so will put more kicker on this weekend and keep an eye on the top batten, I understand what you are describing, it worked in a similar manner on the Tornado when we had the sail set correctly.

Yes, I do have to dump quite a bit of main in the gusts at the moment so will try the new settings this weekend and see how it goes, will see what the traveller length looks like once I have the other two sorted. I have shortened it as the first time I went out I had it block to block and needed to pull it on more.

I was checking over my gear after sailing and it looks like I put a rip in my kite during the underwater kite retreival. Is a rip of this size something that can be fixed with a piece of "sticky back" sail repair tape, or should I take it to the sailmaker for a few stitches?



BTW - My membership pack arrived today, thanks for sending that

Musto Musto Man wrote:Hi Paul,

Thanks for the tips.

Looks like it is time to "Pimp my Skiff" so that I can "put a bit more welly" into pulling up the halyard. So I will set this up on Saturday...
http://www.mustoskiff.com/pimp-my-skiff/main-block.htm

Rather than add a eyelet to the mast you can tie a block to the gooseneck instead. The is a hole though the mast fitting and the block is then a little more free to rotate, it also means when you are pulling sail up the main halyard stays out of the cleat until you want it to.

If you can get the kite patched - will last much longer and is less likely to get caught again. Most new kites come with a small patch of new fabric for the inevitable repair.

Yeah, I agree.

Take it to the local loft as a long term repair.

FYI, you should have a piece of the correct colour sail cloth with the spinnaker (in a clear plastic tube).

As a hint, rather than using self adhesive repair tape, scrape a very thin layer of clear silicone mastic over the cloth and then stick it over the damage. This lasts a lot longer

Hi Guys,

Thanks for that, I have taken the kite to the local sailmaker for a proper repair. So used my second kite yesterday. I have found some of cloth that you were talking about for repairing the kite, what sort of silicone mastic do you use? Have you got a brand name that I could track down?

I added a block to the base of the mast for the halyard, as you can see below and it worked really well.


Awesome day sailing yesterday, standard UK sailing conditions for a change, just like in the K-16 DVD, flat water and hardly any wind perfect.

About 2 knots for the start and wierd angle using fixed marks so it was between close hauled and a tight reach, so I headed off on close hauled above the layline, the popped the kite and reached down to the mark, just sitting on the rack. On the first real downwind, more breeze now about 8 knots and a bit puffy, I waited until I was clear of traffic then popped the kite. It all went to plan, kite up, sheeted in, sheeted main until boom was by the end of the rack, then on the wire, playing the kite wiring off the gunnel. (Did not seem enought breeze to get out on the rack.

I was playing with the angle a bit, just like Kit said on the K-16 DVD, I headed up until it started to heal, then I bore off until I was flat then trimmed sails to suit - it was fantastic.

I got to the layline then went for the gybe, did it by the book (well DVD really), and it worked well. I kept the boat dead flat, left the main cleated where it was, crossed under the boom, did the whole "superman" punch thing and the kite filpped through no worries, and before I knew it I was on the wire again on the new gybe.

The drop was easy as well, I just let the main full out, oversheeted the kite, then pulled a handful of retrieval line and uncleated the halyard - sweet

The wind had changed and was building now, so learning from last week I put more luff tension on and more kicker than I had previously. The top batten of the main started to blade out nicely, and the boat was going really well. Until I was almost at the top mark, looking forward to another kite run to the finish line, when pop! The main halyard broke, so I had to carefully sail downwind in building sea to get home with a least some sail up.

With regard to the traveller position that was mentioned this week. I was unsure of how to measure it so I took this photo. Next week I will see how much gap there is when I have full luff tension and kicker on.


In summary, Saturday felt like a normal day sailing, and I left the club thinking "I want to do that again!" It was great to get the kite up and really working in a light wind, so that in a normal breeze I have more idea of how it should all go. It was also my first Zero Capsize Day since I purchased the boat So I was well pleased.

Any DIY shop household silicone mastic is fine. The stuff in the tube you'd use to seal bathroom sinks etc.

Mustoman, if you are on Facebook you would be welcome to come and see some of the videos posted on the Chanonry Skiffs page.

"The wind had changed and was building now, so learning from last week I put more luff tension on and more kicker than I had previously. The top batten of the main started to blade out nicely, and the boat was going really well. Until I was almost at the top mark, looking forward to another kite run to the finish line, when pop! The main halyard broke, so I had to carefully sail downwind in building sea to get home with a least some sail up."

Hi,
Its great to see you progress and helpful to other new MPS sailors who read your posts, Regards the above, when you purchase your new halyard add 1m to the length so you can cut 2cm off the top every 6 sails or so, this way you will never have it break again and stops the ware on the rope at the cleat as well as it moves up. keep up the good work.

Chris

I have re-threaded the halyard now, but I have no idea of the correct way to tie it off at the top, and here is no photo of it in the rigging guide.

I have seen this http://www.mustoskiff.com/sub-pages/S3-Carbon-Head-Crane.pdf

Will that work for my older mast head crane, or do I need to do something different. If I should do this, does the mast head crane just tap out?

PS - Beginners tip
- those little black bits on the end of the spreaders DO come off once you loosen the screw to release the side stay so that you can separate the mast.
- I did not know this, and one side fell off somewhere, so I need to get a new one before I can hit the water again -

The new crane is different to the one you have.

This is what I would suggest:

1. Check the inside face and edge of the casting where the halyard exits onto the top of the sail. As the sail swings from one tack to the other, the halyard lays against this edge. Some castings have burrs which can wear through the halyard.
2. If it's not there already, move the sheave to the forward pin hole. Then add another pin and ring through the back hole. The halyard then comes up from the shackle and over the pin across to the sheave and down the inside of the mast.
3. The dead end then ties off by putting it through the remaining hole on one side and tying off.

Hope that helps!

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your tips, that helps heaps. I went over to the yacht club last night to have another look at it, and you were right the masthead crane is quite different.

Here is a photo of mine with a few notes on it.



I can see that putting the second pin in the back hole would give the halyard a much better line of action (pull) from the head of the sail, and keep the halyard away from the edge of the mast and crane casting.

Here is how I rig mine.
its more fiddly to thread but having the tail of the halyard central gives the same on both tacks for the head of the sail.
I think I put the extra pin to stop the shackle being twisted.