Hot Sails Realwind edition

mchaco1 · Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 645

I have a Hot sail/Realwind powerwave 5.7 that I am having trouble with. before I toss it in the trash I was wondering if anyone has experience with them and can point out if im rigging it wrong somehow..

Its an early 2000's model (and in great shape so I hate to toss it). It seems to have a weird leech, the top loosens up with the slightest downhaul and im having a hard time figuring out how much downhaul to put on it. Im rigging it on a powerex Ztaper 430 btw.. I tried it with lots of downhaul and out haul and it was gutless and twitchy.

I tried it with moderate downhaul and decent outhaul but enough to leave a good curve yesterday. When I got it on the water it seems to be a catapult machine. Every gust makes it want to pivot forward and across me and it generally feels very top heavy and pushy in general. Is this just the way it is or am I rigging it wrong?

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Having already contact both Realwind AND Hot, you asked here....
Final sail tuning is always personal. Some like lots of downhaul for a spongy, super wide wind range, springy feel. Other's like a solid immediate "pull me" feel. For example, Sailoworks makes Retros and Huckers.
Could you have put too much downhaul FOR THE WIND in your first instance, then overcompensated and used not enough downhaul, FOR THE WIND, the second example?
Too much downhaul, for the given wind, would give you a gutless feel that should be stable enough, have decent topspeeds, then barely get you onto a plane without tons of pumping.
Too little downhaul should be twitchy like the sail wants to pull out of your hands in the puffs.

westender · Joined: 02 Aug 2007 Posts: 1288 Location: Portland / Gorge

I wouldn't give up until you tried it on a couple other masts. Maybe yours is too soft.

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Then there's the visuals....
Main batten directly to the side of, or just behind the mast, but NEVER in front of the mast.
Loose leech down half way from the tip of the mast to the clew.
On non cam sails, you have to PUSH on the sail with your palms to determine correct outhaul. I try to push on the battens themselves, about 18" behind the mast.
MOST non cam sails do not rig with a "curve", or draft. They need that hand push to fill the sail as wind would. If you had too little outhaul, the sail would look fine on shore, but would drap over the booms when the wind filled it.
OK OK, I know you already knew this.

keycocker · Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 3598

I can ask Tom at Hot for you but why not write the sail designer yourself on the site.
Very bright very helpful guy easy to approach .
All of us combined know less about your sail.

mchaco1 · Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 645

I tried to go into real wind when i was in HR yesterday, but the door was locked and no one answered the phone. Ill try the Hot sails forum, since its a henderson sail. I was mainly looking for people who have used the same sail regularly and know what its like.

spennie · Joined: 13 Oct 1995 Posts: 975 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

Switch to Sailworks, best handling sails I've used in 22 years!

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

I have Retros and Revos.
They handle about the same as every other sail on the market, from Norths to Naish's, to NeilPrydes, to Ezzy's, to Hots, to Gaastra's, to Hansen's to Windwings.

Sailboarder · Joined: 10 Apr 2011 Posts: 656

I also have an old Simmer that I'm not sure how to rig.

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

You cannot determine final setting without the outhaul attached. On most sails, that last step pulls the battens back from the mast to just behind, or in NP's case, to the side of the mast.
You CAN determine final downhaul setting without the booms attached.