Star 45 Setting Sail on line How To Sail resources

From: "Don Keeney" <1keyknee@281.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:39:26 -0600
Subject: [Star45] Sail Trim

A great place to learn about sail trim and sailing in general.
http://www.sailingusa.info/sail_trim.htm

Don Keeney
Star 45 Class Secretary
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Outstanding recommendation. Wonderful site. full of photographs and all sorts of instructional materials. Pictures of tells and how to read them:)

Another must place to visit (you can try out your sailing skills):
National Geographics Interactive Sailing:

Master rudder and sail to get your boat going as fast as possible no matter what direction youre sailing in-or which way the winds blowing.

Controls available:

Sail Adjuster: Use the left sliding controller to rotate the sail in relation to shifting wind (shown as arrows). When you cross the path of the wind, your sail will swing to the opposite side.

Rudder Adjuster: Using the right sliding controller, steer to port (left) or starboard (right).


Uncle Dave

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Setting up the Strongback

Unfortunately we didnt take any photos of the laminating of the frames or the cutting of the bulkheads from marine plywood. This took roughly 100hrs, and the majority of January, 2009. Richard started keeping track of actual hours and what was accomplished on a "Wooden Boat" calender he received for Christmas. This has been very useful since I am writing this after such a long delay.

February was taken up with gluing approximately one to two half frames each day, as a large amount of the lofting table was taken up during the clamping and drying.

In March, it was time to start setting up the strongback. This is the rectangular frame made of 2x12 lumber, attached to the floor. It will support her and hold everything rigid during the building process.


Extensive bracing is required so that there is no movement of any of the parts. The bulkheads have to be in the correct location since they will become fixed to the hull during the stripping. There was lots of head scratching, interpretation, and double checking of the plans.


A plumb-bob and the DWL (water line) marked on each piece were used to help find the appropriate location of each piece.


Many of the bulkheads were only partial pieces (partitions), and will create the beginnings of interior walls and furniture when she is rolled. Bracing had to hold these structural pieces in mid air, so some of the braces needed to be redone as parts were added. And of course, this is all done upside down so port and starboard can get rather confusing.

The doorway seen below will be the entry into the forward storage/ head area, and sits just forward of where the mast will be.

The small triangles of plywood joining the rib frames at the top will become the supports for the floor.

Braces start appearing at every angle, and numerous minute movements of a bulkhead "just a quarter inch this way or that" ensues. Since Richard has no experience with how any little error in position may develop into a major hassle down the line, perfection is mandatory.

Her bow protrudes into the true garage area, and doesnt have the stem attached yet. The stem is the curved piece that will be laminated up to create the shape of her bow, again from the off sets, and by scaling off the plans.

And the black dog starts to doubt if it will ever squeeze out of the side room of the garage...

thats an 86" wide door and a 10 foot high beam.

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Daves musings about setting up and adjusting sails on R C model Boat

Dry sailing -set up.

Place the model in a stand. Head the model into them wind.

Things that can be moved, and adjusted: Mast step. Mast rake. Boom vangs. Shrouds. stays. Jumper stays. Head stay/jib stay. Sail shape - loose foot. out-hauls.

Attach the sails to the mast.

Set the sail winches in fully trimmed position while allowing sheets to be slack.

Stand the mast with standing rigging attached in the center step position.

Hook the jib swivel into the middle slot of the jib rack. {The jib boom needs to clear the mast.}

Connect the side stays to the chain plates and adjust so the mast is straight and vertical.

Connect the back stay to the back stay fitting.
The jib stay and back stay will need adjusting to set the mast in vertical position.

Move the out-haul of the sails along the boom to give the sails to have some "belly". Pulling the sails out along the boom flattens their shape. The belly (or shape) of the sails will be determined later and the sail shape will be determined by how windy it is.

Where you attach the sheets to the booms will take into account the type and adjustments available for the sail control. The booms should be full out (90 degrees to the center line of the hull) when the SCU is full out and then the booms should be just about over the center line when fully trimmed in. ( I see 10 degrees as suggested angle to center line). The length of jib sheet trimmed and the length of main sheet trimmed is a factor in setting up the sail control so the sails are coordinated properly when sailing. The SCU handles a much longer main sheet than the jib sheet. The use of jib traveler and mainsheet traveler can help position the sails when fully trimmed in. Unless two servos (SCUs) are used a single SCU has the task of coordinating the positioning of the jib and main.

Turn on the R/C and run the SCU.
Test out SCU setting with the sails full out and fully trimmed.

With the mast set up and sails adjusted roughly in position it time to launch and sail.
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Setting Sail on the water.

Before launching TURN on the radio on the boat. I have seen many models set loose to sail with the on board receiver and sail controls not tuned on and very unhappy skippers watching as their model sails away towards the horizon.

The initial rigging and sail settings are based in getting the model to sail a strait line while close hauled (sails trimmed in) and sailing up-wind.

Properly trimmed the rig will allow the model to sail it self in a straight line with just a minor tendency to "round-up" (i.e. sail itself dead into the wind). If or example you find you are constantly pulling the tiller (i.e. rudder) hard over to pull the model back on course to keep from heading in to the wind your model has weather helm which means your mast and jib must be re-positioned. When tacking if your model stalls into the wind and wont tack? Try different rig setting.

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Setting Sails
The art of tuning the rig on a sail boat is detailed in books written for racing yachts and boats.

"DINGHY SAILS"
by Jeremy. Howard-Williams

"The Best of Sail Trim:
A Selection of Articles from Sail Magazine"

"Sail Trim: Theory And Practice"
by Peter Hahne

My observations and commentary on tuning are from an amateur and are at best suggestions not professional advice.

Observation Number One!!
Model sails that are single panel loose footed sails rely on the shape of the sail established by the gap between the boom and the foot of the sail. Model sails with "shape" sewn into the sail fabric still are loose footed. Also the lift of the boom also factors in determining the shape and performance of the sails.

Hauling a sail into the center line and at the same time pulling down on the sail can flatten the fabric and kill the sail shape. I like to use travelers to position the sail to the desired point near the center line. Then you can set the point of maximum driving force and not wreck the sail shape.

On a big boat the skipper can changer the suit of sails to match the cut of the sail with the wind conditions. In the case of a model a skipper can change where the out-haul is along the boom, light air adding belly to increase the drive, heavy air pulling the sail out further changing the sails airfoil.

The jib and mainsail work as a system. A skipper has all manner of combinations that may be set relating the two sails. If the models did not have jib clubs they could overlap the mainsail. So model sailors have to adjust the "slot" between the jib and the main to get the maximum driving combined air foil.

In heavy air you may want to close the slot and ease the main so that the jib slightly back-winds the main to help the model sail flatter (less heeling).

Dont forget on a model it is easy to rake the mast fore and aft to trim the sailing characteristics to match wind conditions.
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A digital camera can be a terrific diagnostic tool for seeing what is happening on your model. You can look at pictures and spot misadjustments. Bends in mast, wrinkles in sails etc. Does you models mast rake forward down wind? Is the back stay bending the top of the mast. How are the jumper/jenny stays adjusted do they balance the tensions between the jib and the back stay?
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The late Manny Costa of RI always stressed, change one thing at a time to see what changes. He also stressed sailing a pair of models. One model being tuned and sailing against the second to see if the single adjustment improved performance.

Round-Robin racing in pairs is an excellent way to evaluate how your model performs.

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Balance Lugsail Setting up a Downhaul

One of the great pleasures associated with owning a home-built, traditionally-rigged boat is that you can fiddler around with the running rigging for years and years. My old boat is forty years old and Im still altering details of the rig. It is educational, fulfilling, and wholesome activity!

My old boat running home in 30 knots of wind, with the main reefed. Everything in the rig, with the exception of the sail, is homemade and home-designed.

Here are some photos which illustrate the downhaul arrangement that Paul Hernes has developed for his Phoenix III. Control of the downhaul is critically important in getting good performance from a lugsail, and this arrangement allows the downhaul tension to be controlled by a single-hander in a very simple fashion. Additionally, this downhaul is also used to tension the snotter when Paul is using the larger spritsail, so one piece of simple equipment does two separate jobs - and does them both efficiently.

Here you can see the four-part downhaul made up of common polyester braid and two cheap stainless steel vang blocks. Note how the tackle is attached to the rugged mast partner, and the running end passes down through the mast partner........

...and on down to a turning block set low in the boat.

From there, the downhaul leads aft through a hole in the semi-bulkhead and along the centreboard case bed-logs.......

....and terminates in a cam-cleat on the aft end of the centreboard case. This is within easy reach of the skipper and can be tightened or released in a matter of seconds.

This picture shows the simple attachment to the boom. Paul has used a very strong-but-light piece of Dyneema (or Spectra) but for a short length like this anything would do, as stretch would not be an issue. The attachment to the boom can be a loop (as here) or a rolling hitch. The important point is that the attachment can be moved forward or aft along the boom at will, allowing wonderful adjustment of luff and leech tension.

In Pauls arrangement shown in the photos, the boom is simply held close to the mast by the tension of the downhaul. However, there are plenty of other options - in the above drawing is one that I favour as it holds the boom securely against the mast and also allows one to adjust the forward and aft location of the boom with ease.

 I encourage everybody to read widely and to experiment with all sorts of rigging options. If you are not constrained by the rules associated with a racing class, go out and have some fun with homemade equipment - it is cheap, and if you made it yourself you can obviously fix it as well. Usually all you need is some line and a few bits of timber - and your brain!

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