Adjusting Gooseneck mid-race for Run

[Buscemi_Steven]

Hi Everyone -

Was recently racing in very light, shifty small lake winds (between 3 and 8 knots, only occasional gusts). As a 6'2, 180 pound guy against mostly lighter competition I tend to go with an aggressive a gooseneck setting - yesterday was at 12" with the halyard dropped to 104". Felt great on the beat, definitely more helm but was able to keep her flat to minimize and ease in puffs. Which is to say that 12" felt tuned right when beating to windward.

On the run was a whole different story. Naturally had way more helm even with aggressive windward hike. Definitely not maximizing efficiency.

My natural reaction is to start adjusting the gooseneck on runs. Is this common at the higher levels? Any of you all have tips/suggestions/warnings?

Love this forum - thank you!

 

[beldar boathead]

While you are probably fine with the sail an extra 2-3 inches higher than normal, the gooseneck is pretty far forward at 12". I know Eduardo says you can put it that far forward, but he doesn't put it that far forward. With the high sail and the gooseneck so far forward, you have a whole lot of sail behind the mast, and you have moved the center of effort way far back, resulting in your running problems. Derrick Fries in his book claims due to his long arms he can move the gooseneck while underway, asa practical matter most sailors cannot, and therefore choose a happy medium for upwind and downwind sailing, and 12" is not a happy medium. I also don't see how Derrick did that with a vang in place. So if you can manage to adjust while underway, that is great, but if not, I'd put it further back.

 

[tag]

I agree with Beldar. I'm not sure how you could do it with a vang tied on. Plus, it always seems if I try to adjust the gooseneck with the sail already raised, it has a tendency to want to slide forward as soon as the gooseneck is loose - so it'd become a 2-handed affair, one to loosen/tighten the gooseneck, and the other hand to keep the lower boom in the proper position. that sounds pretty tricky on the water, and even more so if you were in the middle of a race.