Radial Outhaul Downwind

R

RJ Graef

New Member
Im lost on my outhaul. On the radial I have seen people pull their sail completely flat and I have seen people realy sag their sail.:confused:
 
I too have noticed this phenomenon. Some people tend to ease right off. Others seem to leave on tight. My best guess is that Radial sailors are watching what full rig sailors do, and are either copying their technique, or adjusting for the differences in the two rigs. Full rig sailors will ease their outhaul to give their sail more depth on the downwind. Most radial sailors also use this technique. The Radial sail, however, is deeper in the bottom third than a full rig. Perhaps some sailors have decided that, as the sail is already deeper, they don’t have to let off as much outhaul?

I like to ease my outhaul on the downwind. It looks, and feels, fast, and I’ve yet to see anyone walk away from me with it on really tight. The only time that I would not ease the outhaul on the downhill is when it’s seriously blowing. Then I would leave it on as for the upwind.
 
well this summer i did a lot of racing with 2 other kids.
One would realy sag his sail. I would keep my sail in the middle.
And the other kid would flaten his sail. And we would all win regattas.
 
RJ Graef said:
well this summer i did a lot of racing with 2 other kids.
One would realy sag his sail. I would keep my sail in the middle.
And the other kid would flaten his sail. And we would all win regattas.
Click to expand...

There wasn't any Baby Bear who kept his sail juuust right?

Did anyone have an older sail that was stretched out? Did someone weigh a lot more than the others? Obviously, there are other factors to winning, but there's still an optimum sail depth for each person. Did you check out the link? One fist, two fists. Rick Rothenbuhler reminded me.

RJ, I do not either have cooties. ;)
 
If you're sailing downwind correctly, then there should be some semblence of flow over the sail. Therefore, it shouldn't be trimmed to be optimal for catching air, but rather for creating pressure. I would treat it just like it is upwind, but with a little more let off because you're not overpowered downwind even if you are upwind.
 
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