rooster 8.1 rig

Cavi

Member
has anyone here tried the rooster 8.1 rig? I am not interested in racing so i do not care that it is not legal for racing. I am just a heave guy at 270lbs, and the lake I sail on typically has lighter winds so a standard laser , or even the banshe my son has usually goes but is very boring to me. I have moved up to a Hobie 16 but I still wish to have a monohull like a laser also and I am thinking the extra sail might just make it the ticket.
 
Yes, tried one at Minorca Sailing a couple of years ago for a light air pursuit race. (They didn't care it wasn't class legal. Just used a different Portsmouth Yardstick number for the handicapping.) Definitely made light air much more fun and more physical. Given what you say about your weight and where you sail, I think you would enjoy it.
 
I have and race an 8.1 in the UK under the handicap system (and switch to the standard rig when I fancy a bit of fleet racing).

For me it is great just make sure you have a XD style kicker as you need to use a lot of it!
 
Great fun in light airs & a handful in a breeze thats my experience with one,
the only downfall with this rig is as Paul said you need massive amounts of kicker upwind & a lot downwind
& if your a little rotund & struggle under the boom then this rig isn't for you.
 
I'm not that heavy 78kg and got one for light winds. Take this with a grain of salt as I am no expert, or maybe my sail is cut differently but I noticed that there was a big crease running along the luff (near the top to bottom along the mast) and the only way I found to get that out was to prebend the mast by putting on a little vang. This had the effect of hooking the leech leaving the sail looking quite cupped. If you're sailing in very light wind there might be a bit too much drag.

I feel it's better suited for heavier guys in moderate wind, where a hooked leech wont affect the flow over the sail as much and there's enough wind to blow it open up top.

That said, because it's such a big sail, you'll be moving when others aren't so not sure if that nullifies the baggy luff (if you don't pull on vang), or tight leech if you put it on. I don't sail it much these days as my feeling is that it sails differently than a standard or radial, and if you plan to race those in all conditions you might as well practice in one too.

Though I agree, it is fun, and a bit more of a workout in a drifter... anything more and for me it's too much work. Also not sure I like the idea that my mast step is under so much more stress. It's also a conversation starter :)
 
With regards to the hooked leech you can mitigate that by using cunningham to open the leech (this is what I do) so even in very light winds the boat is so much faster. I find I can keep up with boats that are 20-30 points faster than an 8.1 in the really light stuff then gradually losing out until it gets too much for me (about 15 kts) where I switch back to the standard rig.

As for tuning have you seen this: http://www.rooster8point1.com/html/tuning.html it is very useful and indicates just how much differently you need to trim the sail versus a standard rig.

Also I know there is extra stress on the mast step but my boat (currently 121821) has never shown any signs of stress and I know of not rig failures due to using an 8.1 on it. As the mast is so much longer is also becomes a lot more flexible so most of the 'sudden' gust loading tends to get taken away with the mast bending then the power being fed back through as the boat accelerates and the mast comes back to it's normal position.
 

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