Sail I can warp around my mast

[tweeky]

Yvan, its hard to know what your needs are because we don't know where you are sailing, or what kind of gear... here in the Gorge, there are some guys who want to get out on anything from a light puffy breeze, to a full-on gail. I think that requires a bit of a different mindset, as you have to carry a lot of gear, and be prepared to rig it all on any given day.

Then there are the people who sail only a specific wind range, and on very specific gear. They may only have one or two boards they use, and maybe three or four sails, if even that. Some people would call them "windsnobs" but that's not the point... the thing is, they do have some little tricks up their sleeves that help them get on the water very quickly. Some of this stuff Douglas has already mentioned:

1) They know their gear, inside and out. So should you. For every sail, make sure you know what mast it takes, and what the downhaul & outhaul settings are. Write it down if you have to. Make sure all your masts are clearly marked, maybe even using colored electrical tape to identify the two halves of any given mast length.

2) Use skinny masts. These rig so much easier than regular diameter masts, you'll wonder how you lived without them.

3) Keep your toolbox clean and simple. Bring just what you need to rig up your gear. Having backups like extra fin screws or whatever is great, but don't have a pile of bits and pieces that you don't even know what they are for.

4) Try to get that gear off your roof, and into your car. To my mind, this is probably one of the biggest time savers. I've seen people loading up boards on their roof racks, switching from side to side adjusting tie-downs, while a "Hatch-Rat" just sticks their board right in the car and is done.

5) When rigging your sail, first make sure you have your downhaul tool, your mast extension & boom all within easy reach. Put the mast together, add a piece of tape at the joint as already suggested, then pull out your sail from its bag, let the wind unroll it while you hold on to the bottom, then slide the mast in and if you need to bunch up the sail to get it on there, bunch up the area around the boom opening. This works equally well with Iso's method of "plant & pull", but you shouldn't need to with a skinny mast.

So the idea here is getting it down to a routine that you can repeat without really needing to think about it too much. That's the benefit for people who sail the same gear most of the time, but they may also miss out on sessions if they are waiting for the perfect wind to come along. At Swell City or the Hatchery here in the Gorge, its pretty amazing how quickly some of the sailors can put their gear together and get out on the water. I've seen plenty of people who pull up, and easily in less than 10 minutes are walking their board out to the river.

Another little trick I've found really useful is to use a large piece of grey shower liner for protection from the ground to rig my gear on. Its thick, plastic, very tough, doesn't tear, and folds down to nothing. That way I don't necessarily have to look for a rigging spot, I can just rig right beside my car.

Hope this helps you a bit!

[swchandler]

Great advice tweeky. However, I would question the following note in your comments.

"2) Use skinny masts. These rig so much easier than regular diameter masts, you'll wonder how you lived without them."

After using SDMs for years, I made the change to RDMs. Quite honestly, in so far as rigging, I don't find any notable advantages with RDMs. The reason why is that modern luff curves are such that it's difficult to easily shove any mast straight to the top. The method that you cited in the first part of note 5 is exactly what's required, no matter what your mast type. If there is another process that clarifies things, think about putting on, or taking off your full wetsuit.

On the other hand, at least in my view, the "plant of pull" method is not the way to do it, especially since you will highly stress the luff shelve and any stitching on it. Also, by "planting" the mast against something, you risk introducing sand, dirt or other junk into the base of the mast.

The same advice applies removing your mast from the sail, since you want work the mast through the sleeve to limit stresses in the process. By doing that carefully, the mast will come out complete without separating. The key to things is concentrating on the bottom, top, and boom opening sections as needed to finesse the insertion and removal of the mast.

On the RDM versus SDM thing, one other thing I find that complicates putting a RDM into the sail is the fact that the battens don't necessarily stay below the mast in the initial part of the insertion. That means that you have move them around while rigging. No big deal really, but I didn't have to do that with SDMs. Same sails, so it's not about using different sails. When it comes down to it the rigging difficulties or issues between SDMs and RDMs things balance out overall. Now, if things were based solely on durability, RDMs totally rule.

[tweeky]

[yvanboniec]

It is getting better:

I have a starboard 245 cm. 2008 model. I am sailing on an artificial lagoon (flat water, but very windy)

I found a shortcut to my favorite beach (even my GPS did not know it).

I found a parking space that it is always empty. There is only 20 meters between the parking space and the water. . Don’t have to worry about parking.

I found the most efficient way to lay out my gear in the car (I leave most of it in the car even when I go to work). The mast is put sideways on top of the sail rather than the other way around.

As one mention earlier “So the idea here is getting it down to a routine that you can repeat without really needing to think about it too much

Any skinny mast brand you can recommend ?

[jingebritsen]

oh god, here we go again about skinnies vs regular. don't sink money into an RDM simply for ease of rigging.

the good: ease, early planing, tough.

the bad: lack of top end stability at higher tensions, more money better applied toward something else? you'd need another base extension too. the sails with all the seam shaping in them require softer masts. so, my 4.0 and 4.7 in tons of wind with lots of tension look and handle better with the SDM. if i wanted to buy yet another mast, a 370 RDM, things may be different. again, i've better ways to use my money.

when i'm in the gorge, i'd rather have standard masts. they allow me to pull down haul harder for those really gusty dayz. sure, in surf, i would rather have RDM's, most of the time. if the wind is 35 mph+ i'd rather go back to my 400 SDM though. smallest sail i have is a 4.0, and when down hauled all the way, it is way too flat with my 400 RDM vs the SDM. never broken a 400 SDM in the surf yet....

very important with RDM's to get the right bend too. powerx, epic, NP, and gun have one type. Ezzy, nolimitz, fiberspar, have another.

[techno900]

In the beginning, life is simple. One board, mast, boom extension and sail. No thinking, just rig.

When you have a bunch of stuff, trying to decide which board, sail & fin to use given the current conditions, is always tough, and we all frequently get it wrong, especially for inland lake sailors.

If you use the same extension and boom for different sails, you have to adjust accordingly. WRITE it all down (the specific adjustment points) for booms, extensions and harness lines (also which mast goes with which sail). Also boom height, know where to attach it for each sail (most use a tape measure to get it right). Grab the right stuff, adjust accordingly, THEN rig. Eliminates frustration, because you won't have to take the extension out and adjust after you already did the downhaul. Or you won't have to sail back in to the beach to move your harness lines to the new location on the boom or raise your boom, etc., etc..

We would all like to be sailing rather than rigging, so figure out the easiest & quickest way to get on the water.

[jamieinnyc]

OP still hasn't told us what kind of sailing he wants to do, so not really possible to make recommendations. Interesting to read all of the rigging philosophy - hey, I just do it, has to be done. No biggie - but I do choose my sails with rigging in mind (so I no longer use cammed sails). I agree with poster who said modern sails are a marvel - they are (I would also vote that clamp-on boom head was one of the most important developments in the sport). But it remains true that unless you are into hardcore formula sailing, which is also great, but not for everyone, modern sails do a poor job below 12mph of wind compared to their precursors. Despite equipment getting more advanced, participation in the sport has dropped precipitously. To a certain extent the "advanced" equipment is to blame, since it replaced the "basic" stuff instead of complimenting it.

For 12-and-under, by far the best sail I have used is nearly 30 years old (but is full batten, so no mast rolling, sorry). And if you haven't sailed with the original Windsurfer Sail (the old one, full Dacron, not the new mylar one someone suggested - if you roll mylar around your mast, one season only) on a longboard, I can tell you that one works great too. But now some low-tension sails are starting to appear (thanks to SUP). So far, they are all off the mark for me. There will be more coming, and I welcome them (I have a 7.5m batten-less sail on order - will roll up for sure).

[isobars]

[techno900]

In the beginning (80's more or less) everyone (inland sailors) had a longboard and the more advanced added a shortboard. Everyone was on similar gear with limited choices, and the difference between the skill of the advanced sailors and the beginners wasn't that much.

Those new to the sport weren't intimidated by the "skills" of the advanced sailors, and we were all pretty happy just to be on the water even in light winds.

However, as equipment improved along with sailor skills, plus we started to get the excitement and adrenaline rush of sailing faster and faster, cruising on the old longboard became somewhat boring for many of us. At that point, new potential windsurfers were mostly exposed to the higher wind sailors and were more likely to pass on the sport unless they were into the excitement side rather than the cruising side.

I think the SUP has now replaced the old longboard, so the type of windsurfer that was happy with just cruising, is now back for the SUP boards (some with sails). It's a little like the 80's all over again, which is a good thing.

[yvanboniec]

I sail in a lagoon, flat, no waves, steady light wind.

Having windsurfed for 25 years, there is difference between a 20 years old sail and a more recent one when winds are light.