Is This Rig Useable?

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588

The sail definitely needs more downhaul to reduce the cupping close to the mast. Also, when fully downhauled, the tack of the sail should be very close to the pulley on the mast extension. If it's hard to achieve full downhaul, use a tool to help in the effort. You know when you over-downhaul because the lower body of the sail will suddenly form an "S", and it will want to flip the lower batten on the wrong side (when tensioned).

Clearly, the battens need adjusting. One thing to remember is that when sails had adjustable batten tensioners, you need have them loose (released) before starting to rig, and then fully tension them as the last step in the rigging process. When de-rigging, loosen them fully upon initiating the de-rig process.

Lastly, tie-off and adjust the outhaul at the clew after fully downhauling the sail.

The sail is an old design that has a high center of effort (COE) to properly rig to boards that had a more forward placed mast track position on the board. It wasn't until 1991-93 until mast track positions were moved to the rear to a position where they are today. Because of the high COE, these older sails had narrow wind range, and once overpowered they become unruly and difficult. Where these older sails really stood out was their low end power. They were well matched to longboards that needed a bit of extra power to get things rolling. At 6.8m, your NPU sail was a bigger than normal sail in the scheme of things. Usually a normal sail (the one that would come with a complete rig) would be in the 5.7-6.3m range.

Overall, would a more current sail be desirable? Definitely yes, but you would need to get both the mast and the sail. I'm sure the the mast in the NPU is as old as the sail.

gregnw44 · Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 783 Location: Seattle, Wa

cgoudie1 · Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 5:57 pm Post subject:

That bottom batten has punched through the batten pocket, or the camber
inducer, if it has one. Tightening it up any more, will just drive the
batten out through the sleeve. Fixing this is almost impossible without an
industrial sowing machine, if the sail is intended to be used without
camber inducers. If the sail is intended to be used with inducers, and
the inducer has had the batten punch through, you can usually repair
that with a little clever plastic engineering, If it was intended to have
a cam and it doesn't, then finding one that fits would be a good idea.
That sail will be seriously twichy in any kind of wind until it's fixed.

-Craig

jandrew7 · Joined: 14 Aug 2013 Posts: 22

jandrew7 · Joined: 14 Aug 2013 Posts: 22

jandrew7 · Joined: 14 Aug 2013 Posts: 22

jandrew7 · Joined: 14 Aug 2013 Posts: 22

mark · Joined: 10 Apr 2000 Posts: 181

Regarding the lower batten that has poked through the webbing. The quick fix would be to use a large needle and heavy duty thread and sew a running stich across the pocket right where the stiching is for the luff sock. You can trim the batten a bit and cut it at an angle so the end is parallel to the stiching.

You can also do an internet search for batten end protector and you will find a two part plastic piece that you can pop rivet to the batten pocket. You may have to shorten the batten several inches because it won't stick quite as far into the batten pocket. If you can't find that part locally send me a PM and I will mail you a couple. I still have a bag of them from when I used to build my own windsurfing sails. They install with 3 pop rivets or you can use 3 small screws. The holes can be made by heating a small nail with a blow torch or on a stove and burning through the sail. I use a set of vise grips to hold the nail and mark the location with an awl.

The sail definitely needs more downhaul and maybe a little more outhaul.

The way the top batten is cupping may indicate that the batten is either not stiff enough or it is in backwards. Make sure that the tapered end is inserted first assuming that the batten is tapered.

jandrew7 · Joined: 14 Aug 2013 Posts: 22

gregnw44 · Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 783 Location: Seattle, Wa

jandrew7 - Thanks for the kind words.
I, like many here, are always willing to help newcomers. But it's a complicated sport, and there's a million variables... and people live in different parts of the country... and many have completely different goals for their windsurfing future. Therefore, it's hard to give specific advice that is truly helpful. If you went to a local shop, a good retailer would ask all the same stuff... he'd know a lot more, with a face to face chat in 5 min than we can here. And he'd know your local conditions.
Anyway... there aren't very many windsurfing shops anymore... so this forum may be all you've got. Maybe you can find some experienced locals... I bet there's some kind of windsurfing club, somewhere within 100 miles of you. You can email with those guys and probably get great info.
More soon !!