Santana 2023A. (Stock dimensions with a 30' "Tall Mast".) |
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Sail Dimension
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Line
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Mainsail Battens
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During the last few years I've put a few trimming ideas together and I found out one thing works for me. Now it's my turn to tell everyone with emphasize on the best boat around, SANTANA 2023 of course!
First off, use your telltales! Many times I put both sails at what seemed best only to find out that I was able to go faster, reach better, and/or travel smoother after correcting to the telltales. Should you not have any on your sails, put them on, they are well worth the small cost for sailing in winds less than approximately 15 knots! Their operation is described at WB Sails. I highly recommend you bookmark and studying this web page.
This is where allot of cruisers engage the iron-genny, (outboard motor), and head in. For me, I found this time to be one of the most rewarding times as long as I don't need to be somewhere soon. It's perfect to put into practice everything you've read and considered. Think about it! When the winds are steady and near calm, one small adjustment will show up as a large percentage of speed change.
My stock main rig works well, but for less than $15, I made a simple two to one outhaul. At lower winds this little addition generally added 20% to my speed. Surprisingly, the outhaul had little noticeable difference above 5 m.p.h. of wind. Additionally note that my findings are without being reefed.
| Outhaul Adjustments (approximate) | |
| Wind Speed | Air gap between foot of mainsail and boom |
| Puffy | Set for average of lower winds. |
| 0-2 m.p.h. | 4 to 6 inches |
| 2-3 m.p.h. | 3 to 4 inches |
| 4 | 1 to 2 inches |
| 5 | 0 to 1 inch |
| 5+ | A loose 0 inch |
| 10+ | A snug 0 inch |
| 15+ | Have you ever seen a drum skin? |
| 20+ | Return to 5+ setting before you reef the main! |
| *Loosen the outhaul so the mainsail won't prematurely
stretch-out when you forget to relax the main for that trip home! **Do not roll the main when the foot is loose. The sail will become wrinkeled. Use the 5+.setting. |
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Generally you'll want a little baggier mainsail at lower wind speeds and tighter in higher winds.
Without having an adjustable length I found the origional topping lift length to be terrible. Set it for the mast raising gin-pole and it's too short for the boom, set it for the boom and it's to long for the gin pole.
The 2023's all come with fully battened mains and I hope you by now have figured out they are very small.
At least once a year, I have one batten work it's way around the Velcro strap and falls overboard. Becoming frustrated with the 5/8" size, I purchased enough 1" board to replace everything! Now the fiberglass sticks are not able to sneak past the strap. The 1" size is also small and light enough to allow the sail to shape as before without excessively added weight. (Can you see my smiling face! )
As long as there are sailors, there will be a difference of opinions! That being said; I have another method to roll the main my boom. In my use it has proven to be better also.
My method is very simple. After going up to the mast, I just drop the main on the deck being careful not to let the boltrope get fouled by the gooseneck. Then crank the sail onto the boom from the cabin top upwards! (Very easy!)
Be sure the wind is not abeam or the sail will spread out everywhere. While cranking the main from the "deck", a slight rearward push and gentle feed makes the main wrap very neatly on the boom. After doing this, other sailors remarked how neatly everything looked. Anytime another sailor makes a good comment about the S2023's, I feel good! (And we all have had allot of them!)
One thing about me is that I enjoy finding out the reason why "something" happens. We all know about foil-shaped sails, but I wanted to know why travelers are important. Other than what you do and when, no one could tell me what was happening. A typical answer was "...because it does!"
Sailing around one day I looked at the wind flow on the jib. Looked at my tell-tails, I then came up with my reason that seems to make sense. (If you know the TRUE reason or "your" reason, let me know! I might buy into it.)
Over several times sailing, I found that my boat accelerates fairly quick. While sailing straight for a few miles, I decided to walk forward to look things over.
The 110 working jib was fairly tight from the clew to the head. When forward I noticed allot of the wind was being directed downward between the clew and tack. A proportionally smaller amount was going out the clew to head section.
One thing mentioned was to get your crew, (if you have any), towards the rear to lift the bow and get up on plan faster.
What's this, wind blowing downward? Seems to me, that would make the bow lift in a similar fashion as the weight shifting method. That helps the boat act-like it's planning sooner.
The faster you go, the more you should bring the sheet block towards the rear. That creates more tension between the clew and the tack causing more wind to be directed towards the rear. That adds forward push for more speed.
A similar action is happening with the main at the same time. (Yea, I know about the sail shape but this is another way of looking at it.) Should you have another thought, let me know!
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