Halyard and gooseneck positions

K

Kevin Pierce

New Member
It's a work day at the sailing club on Saturday. I'll have the job of checking all the Sunfish hardware, including the club sails and spars. To return halyards and goosenecks a common "starting point," I planned to use Scott Kyle's recommendations (Sunfish Bible, p 352-353). He advocates marks for the halyard at the 10th clip for light air, 1-2" farther down for medium air and 2-3" further down for heavy air. The goal, he said, was for all positions to have the goosneck 2-3" above the deck after a vang (light, medium and hard tension, respectively) was applied.

He also called for gooseneck markings at one-inch intervals from 17-23 inches

As these were written with the North racing sail in mind (albeit in 1991), are these still standard recommendations?

Thanks for any input.

Kevin
 
I meant to add that Wind Line sails tuning guide recommends a halyard position of 54" below the top of the gaff, with gooseneck marks starting at 14 inches; they recommend a goosneck range of 15-20 inches...

Kevin
 
Kevin Pierce said:
I meant to add that Wind Line sails tuning guide recommends a halyard position of 54" below the top of the gaff, with gooseneck marks starting at 14 inches; they recommend a goosneck range of 15-20 inches...
Click to expand...

The FAQs on the Sunfish Class home page also has tips from Eduardo Cordero (multiple World Championships to his credit):
http://www.sunfishclass.org/frequent/index.htm#Some general racing tip from Cordero

He prefers to sail with the gooseneck at 16". But it all depends (among others) on the wind strength, the condition of the water (flat, waves, chop), the person (weight, height, physical condition), and all the other variables that make sailing an almost eternal learning experience.
No doubt though that having markings on the boom and gaff is helpful as we learn how to play with our toy.
 
If you are looking for a good middle-of-the-road position for the gooseneck, try 18" (measured from the point at which the end cap meets the aluminum of the spar). If you're fixing club boats, I'm guessing they are not fitted with quick-release levers on the gooseneck, and that the position will not be adjusted frequently. Linda Tillman (excellent racer) swears she keeps the gooseneck set at 18" and that it works well in all conditions. Good luck!
 
18" is too far back to be "middle of the road." Follow the earlier suggestions - 16" is probably about right if the goosenecks lack adjusters and will just be fixed in place. The only exception is if this club is somewhere where it blows a steady 20 kts all day every day. Then 18" would be a good middle of the road position. Linda is a good sailor but I think you will agree she is not as good as Eduardo.:) BB
 
I guess I have to agree with Beldar that Eduardo is a better sailor than Linda. ;) But consider this: What one defines as a middle ground for gooseneck position depends a little on the weight of the sailor. If you're a lighter sailor (<150 lbs), it helps to move the gooseneck back sooner as the wind strength increases to counteract weather helm. Eduardo is able to keep his gooseneck at 16" in a wider range of winds because he is a little heavier, superbly fit, and able to keep his boat flat in all conditions. Above 10 knots of wind, I find I need to move the gooseneck back to 18" (or farther) to counteract weather helm. So for lighter (i.e. youth) sailors, a slightly farther back gooseneck position might help to get a more neutral helm.
 
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