Pointing and Gooseneck Position

S

squash

Member
I was out sailing yesterday in 5-8 mph, fairly steady wind. I was also trying to figure out how the tacking angle of my Sunfish compares to the pre-set tacking angle on my Ritchie compass. Then I remembered I had heard that the gooseneck position affects pointing ability.

Does anyone here know how this works? Can you actually sail closer to the wind by adjusting the gooseneck?
 
The following is from http://www.sunfishsailboats.com/tuning_guide.pdf

In general, the lighter the wind and the flatter the water, the farther forward the gooseneck. Having the gooseneck at 17 inches in these conditions will help pointing. As the wind picks up and the waves increase in size, move the gooseneck back. A pair of wrenches or pliers and a couple of turns are all you need to loosen the bolt which
keeps the gooseneck in place. For those who want to minimize
the tools you bring on the water and thus the weight in the boat,​
invest in an ”adjustable” gooseneck fitting.
 
Moving the gooseneck forward will generally allow the Sunfish to point higher unless the wind and seas are so high that the boat is stalling at the higher pointing angle. However, the Sunfish is somewhat unique in that the lateen rig makes the boat point higher on starboard tack (with the sail plastered across the mast) and somewhat less high on port tack with the sail billowing away from the mast. This is an important racing consideration
unlike most small sloop or cat rigged boats that point about the same on both tacvks..

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
Alan is correct, but he has port and starboard confused. The sail is plastered against tbe mast on port and billowing free on starboard (at least if you rig the boat correctly with the sail on the port side of the mast.) BB
 
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