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johnl
Joined: 05 Jun 1994 Posts: 1330 Location: Hood River OR
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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What? I bought a 4.7 for nothing? Maybe I should have invested in a snow plow instead. Still November and I've shoveled out my driveway 3 times now... |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20936
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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Chuckle ... my northern Utah neighbor and I had slightly different philosophies on shoveling. He literally broomed his driveway throughout snowstorms to prevent any accumulation. I got out my shovel only when my driveway got too deep for my raised 4X4 to climb over.
Back on topic ... since I got my Featherlites, I tend to skip at least one or two sails. When my 5.2 is too much, I rig my 4.2 or 3.7. Solution: rig your 5.7 or 6.2 first, then drop to the 4.7. OTOH, I've been known to drop straight from my 6.2 to my 4.7 on my ZX's already, so maybe it's becoming moot; just rig for the biggest lulls and rig down only if and when necessary. I think these things are gonna save me an awful lot of rerigging. The "problem", if it can be called that, is that if one really takes advantage of these things' wind range, the challenge becomes finding a board that remains controllable when these sails go from just powered up to maxed out in big chopswell. I say that because I have yet to overpower a Featherlite; the board or my nerve gets overpowered before the sail even thinks about it.
Mike \m/ |
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johnl
Joined: 05 Jun 1994 Posts: 1330 Location: Hood River OR
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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 2:08 pm Post subject: |
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Out of curiosity, how do you rig yours? I tended to rig my ZXL with a loose leach down to the 3rd batton (first one really didn't count) unless the wind was light then I backed it off a bit. Are the Featherlites similar? or do they reguire a specific rigging? |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20936
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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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Both ZXLs and Featherlites are quite significantly optimized with specific tuning.
The ZXL’s dacron leech is designed to twist off via material stretch rather than leech looseness, and is rigged quite uniquely. Its top panel is all that should show visible slack, and not much, when ready to sail. After owning a few quivers of them and having much tutelage from the NW crew including the sail’s designer, here’s how I tune them after assembling the rig.
1. Yank the downhaul sorta snug.
2. Yank the outhaul sorta snug.
3. Downhaul until I see some slack at the aft edge of the top panel, which I’m elevating off the ground by pressing the mast base down. I wiggle the sail to help me see the “arc” of slack, because we’re not talking about the obvious droop many sails want. That arc between slack and taught should reach about a third of the way from the leech edge to the mast on a 3.2, maybe 2/3 of the way to the boom on the 6.2. Normal downhaul produces no visible slack at the aft edge of the second panel … I can feel just a little slack if I walk up there and feel the edge, but it’s not visible. At that point of DH the last of the wrinkles should just be disappearing from the belly of the sail. I can DH them properly barehanded, or with one hand using a hand-held clamcleat grip.
4. Then I outhaul hard, maybe a couple of inches tighter than neutral -- defined as the point where I start to feel a surge in the resistance from the downhauled sail.
5. Then I doublecheck two things: the upper leech appearance re #3, and the belly of the sail … I kneel by the boom head, place my hands on the battens above and below the boom, and press down the belly to make sure it moves roughly half of the way from dead flat down to the boom.
You’re done. Go play.
Exceptions:
• If I expect huge gusts, I may add a little extra DH, to the point the slack “arc” moves further towards the mast, maybe even to the point I actually see some slack at the aft edge of the second panel in the smaller sizes, in particular the 3.x sizes. The 5.7 and 6.2 will almost never display any visible second panel slack; if they do the ZXL is WAY over-DH’d.
• If the wind shadow is way offshore -- it is fairly often a few hundred yards out, sometimes up to 1,000 yards when the wind goes NW -- and I’m trying to slog a sinker out to the wind under a 3.7 or 4.2, I’ll bag out the OH for maximum grunt then yank it tight when I reach the wind line. (Sounds silly, but worth it for a few hours in huge swell and winds averaging 30+.)
• I like my 3.x ZXLs with a little extra DH and little less OH than #3 and #4. When I can see some second-panel slack and can press the belly maybe 2/3 of the way to the boom side laying on the ground, it handles the lulls better. If my problem is too much wind, I add more OH.
• In all the ZXL sizes, more DH than above reduces the power without hurting handling. If the sun has already set and the wind is going ballistic, or if I’m more worried about huge gusts than big holes and plan to roam farther up or down the river than usual, I will sometimes rig big, add extra DH, and plan on fine-tuning the power level by dropping in and adjusting OH tension. Even then I never see any slack in the third panel; that’s primarily for sails made with non-stretch mylar or Technora leeches, and it discards the advantages of the dacron leech.
The result is huge range for a camless sail, an extremely light feel, marvelous handling, and an excellent balance of power and speed. The optional uber-stretchfree swoosh adds even more stability; by the time my normally rigged 6.2 ZXL starts feeling heavy and cumbersome as I slash the swell fully sheeted in, my 4.7 is well powered.
Then, last spring, the entirely different Featherlite hit the street, and, after trying them, quite a few NW fans and team riders sold their 2010 ZXLs and bought Featherlites. I got my hands on a 5.2 in the fall, and was immediately hooked. Some -- including its designer -- say it sacrifices a little low-end grunt to achieve unlimited top end stability; others say it has even greater low end power despite never finding its top end speed or stability limits.
Here’s how it’s rigged:
1. Snug the OH and DH.
2. DH until the third panel starts to show a hint of slack at its very edge.
3. OH the crap out of it, until two hands pressing moderately on the belly battens depress the belly maybe a third of the way from FLAT to the boom. This sail is rigged significantly more rigidly than the ZXL in every regard.
4. I’m not aware of any exceptions; slacking off the OH to gain some low end power hurts the handling. However, I’ve used only two sizes so far, so that may change.
My impression after several days on the 5.2 is that only the board, not the sail, has a top end control limit, as gusts of 40 simply pulled harder, with zero change in COE. I may have given up a little bit of low end, but it’s surely not obvious. By the time I begin missing jibes because of too much power with the 5.2, almost every other guy there has rigged down twice, to a 3.7. By far its most noticeable feature is absolutely total draft stability with truly exceptional maneuverability. The combination easily warrants its monicker (or monickers; the size label on mine reads “Fickin'lites hand crafted for Isobars in the Gorge.”)
Mike \m/ |
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johnl
Joined: 05 Jun 1994 Posts: 1330 Location: Hood River OR
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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting. I DH my ZXL's more than that and only went with about 1" of positive outhaul (till OP, then I bump it up to the next boom setting). I tended to be sailing a size or more larger than others in lighter winds (5.7 - 5.2), but in higher winds, I sail a size smaller than others (3.7 or 4.2).
From your description it sounds like the downhaul of the Featherlite would be close to what I already use, but with a lot more outhaul. Now if i can just remember all this come spring
Oh yeah, I saw your labels on your sails when I was in the shop the day before you picked them up. But was still surprised at the color |
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U2U2U2
Joined: 06 Jul 2001 Posts: 5467 Location: Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Colorado
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Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 8:50 am Post subject: |
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to your inquiry/my response,(directed to you know who) I think I have the late-ish April fool joke.
Some funny bits on this thread, and perhaps a tip or 2 on Northwave rigging _________________ K4 fins
4Boards....May the fours be with you
http://www.k4fins.com/fins.html
http://4boards.co.uk/ |
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wendywindle
Joined: 02 Jun 2000 Posts: 22
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Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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reinerehlers wrote: | Yellow and pink is perfect.....don't be such homophobes....real men are so secure in their masculinity that they can rock those colours no problem. |
Duh. |
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