Chinook Sail curling around mast. Cant get curl out.

[mudobber]

Is this normal?

I am new to windsurfing and am about to give it up because this I can't figure out this sail. Maybe I am doing something wrong but I don't think I am. I watched the video of rigging this sail carefully seven times. The experience I am having is nothing like the video. The video talks about tuning the sail so the breach gets soft... Heck I just want to get the curl out so the sail will pop after a tack. So I downhaul with all my might just to get the curl to 180 degrees around the mast, then I pull the outhaul with all my might to get the curl to 90 degrees around the mast. That's the best I can do but its still a trick to get the sail to pop without crashing. I bought this as a complete Chinook 6.5m rig and it came with the Chinook Carbon 40 - 50m, 460cm mast. I ordered Chinook a downhaul tool... another $50. Maybe that will help.[/img]

[outhaul]

Looks to me like you need more downhaul. The battens, except for the bottom need to be pulled away from the mast.
Make sure your extension is set correctly, looks like it calls for only 2cm of extension with the 460 mast, and buy a downhaul winch, it will make life so much easier. They're $50 bucks but worth it especially when learning to rig.
I had the 5.5 version of that sail, they're made by Ezzy and very well made and perform well.

I'm also wondering if the mast tip is protruding up too far. If that's the case you'll need to adjust the head strap to force the mast down a bit.

Good luck

[cgoudie1]

Nope, that's not normal. I hate to bum you out, but that sail needs at least
2 more inches of downhaul(maybe 3). If you've really exhausted all
your strength, perhaps the mast and the sail aren't compatible.
I've never heard of a Chinook sail, but that sail looks a little like an Ezzy.
Some sails just require a lot of downhaul.
You can mitigate some of the friction by making sure the downhaul
line is not cross threaded, but I couldn't see
a problem in the picture. Just wrap that downhaul line
around a screwdriver or something like that (after you've
threaded it through the pulleys), put 1 foot on the mast base, and use
your legs to draw that sail down farther. The battens will pull free of the
mast, and rotate much better. You shouldn't need to add much in the way
of outhaul after that, the sail should have most of it's shape before you
even put the boom on, and the "leech" of the sail will be floppy down to
the second batten. If you can, get someone who has rigged windsurf
sails before, to rig it for you, just as an experiment.

I can rig my sails by hand, but it saves my back to apply downhaul with a
crank.

You seem pretty frustrated, but it does get a lot easier with some practice.

Good luck,

-Craig

[jingebritsen]

yes, the sail needs more tension. i'm not a fan of so much tension as outhaul is, but i live in a not so windy spot.

a cheaper alternative to getting a winch could be a hook for the bottom grommet on the sail. this hook should have 2 or 3 pulleys on it that match the pulleys of the base extension. then, all one would need is a pipe as a handle, or the screwdriver. i like a pipe or a stout stick as a handle for down hauling. they provide more comfort on the hands than smaller handles. quite often, i use an older standard diameter base extension as the best tool for the job.

[beaglebuddy]

Something is not right, there appears to be plenty of mast curve, too much DH?

[mudobber]

[mudobber]

[pete1111]

get one of these

http://www.murrays.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=27-5628&Category_Code=W-D&Store_Code=MS
and a new down haul line

http://www.murrays.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=39-1309&Category_Code=W-CO&Store_Code=MS

this should make down hauling much easier

[Sailboarder]

I have Ezzy sails, Chinooks are built by Ezzy, and this design has similarities to my Freeride sails. You can take a look at his rigging videos on www.ezzy.com. Let's assume they rig the same way.

1-Downhaul. The sail asks for about 462 cm of luff. Your headcap looks like it could be 5 cm tighter. (On my sails, I don't see the mast at the top with the cap at it's tightest). So you may need 467 cm. If your extension was adjusted to 2 cm, you are way off since you needed 5 cm. Also, if you rig by numbers, you have to know that the bottom grommet should be touching, or be very close, to the extension pulleys to be at the right lenght. It is not the case in your pictures.

The numbers are a good start point but it is better to adjust downhaul by looking at the leech, without boom tension. It should be floppy (not tight) between the first two battens. The exact loosness is quite sail dependent.

2-Applying downhaul. My 7.5 has a pulley at the bottom grommet. Even with the pulley, I need a stick to downhaul. Do 2 loops with the rope on the stick, go over the section attached to the extension, and do 2 loops on the other side of the stick. (Not a knot, but 20 loops in the same direction don't work well) Put 1 foot on the extension, 2 hands on the stick and pull! I can do it without a stick, but it hurts and the rope will leave it's trace on my hand for a few minutes.

3-Outhaul. My sail need to be "stretched" by 4-8 cm from it's neutral position, AFTER, downhaul is applied. With the rope properly laced (2 times in the clew), you need to pull, but not hard at all. You can adjust your sail from more baggy and powerfull with less outhaul, to flatter with more outhaul. It cannot be used to correct battens that are not rotating. However, with less outhaul, it is possible that your sail will need to be popped to the right side if you use it in low winds.

Hope this helps!

[Sailboarder]