Hi, I'm sailing 206 at Brightlingsea. After playing with a kite setup last year, the boat's about to undergo a redecking exercise as the poor old thing is beginning to feel the strain. The hull is still sound though - more than can be said for the driver! Hope to get to the nationals, too. Cheers, D...

Thanks guys, very helpful - it's out with the tape measure once it's stopped howling and raining! And I found the measurements for the Nethercot in the rules - just forgot they were there. So is this still the default AC (give or take a little bit) or has the situation changed with the DC rules? The...

Thanks Steve, I'm trying a donated kites at the moment from a Cherub until I see whether I or the boat can stand the strain (think a new/stronger one will be required over the winter)! The kite looks a bit long in the luff which is why I wanted to see if there is a "definite" measurement. Thanks for...

Nobody with a tape measure? There's a sewing machine burning out its clutch on the start line here.....

A free pair of sailing gloves (my own brand) to the first person with who comes up with some (sensible) dimensions!!! See http://www.sailbag.co.uk

Cheers,

David

Hi all,

I'm playing with spinnakers on my old boat at the moment - does anyone know what the luff/foot/leech length on a medium size kite is, please?

Cheers,

David

Hi Christian,

Aus18 looks very pretty. I'm interested in the auto jib arrangement - can you give any further details?

Cheers,

David

Hi chaps, Interested in how the asymmetric poles operate on Canoes. On the my B14, the pole ran in a tube (as the Canoe) and a smaller ally tube ran up the middle (fixed at the back end) to carry the outhaul string. Do you use a similar system? And is this all connected to the halyard/downhaul, or d...

Hi Alistair, Unfortunately the opens aren't good for me this year - though Oxford ? might be. You could sail here any weekend, though there's nothing special lined up. In the summer we have 2 races on a Sunday at Brightlingsea, 1 on Sat, which might be better. You can see a fixture list on the club ...

Update: First sail yesterday in gusty 4 with newly fitted self tacker and modified rotating mast setup. Well pleased, particularly with self tacker, as it has made the whole business so much easier. Accept the points about backing the jib, but the answer is just to tack better (this is a note to sel...

Hi Jim, It probably will stay put on its own, but the cleat arrangement does allow you to adjust the rotation. Your idea with the jib sheet is an interesting one, so I'll go and burn some more grey cells thinking about it. I have thought about reversing the system, so that instead of pulling rotatio...

I'm familiar with rotating masts from sailing cats - but they don't have a kicker. When they tack, the tension is let off by releasing the mainsheet, allowing enough slack in the system for the mast to go over - and there's a crew there to help if it doesn't. But with a kicker, the forward thrust fr...

Thanks Gareth, I'm sort of aware of the disadvantages, but my boat - in its wisdom - has a carbon rotating mast (the previous owner's invention) which needs to be 'tacked' too. This works by having the boom mounted independently from the mast so that the kicker doesn't lock the rotated mast in place...

Hi all,

I'm looking for a jib track to convert to self tacking - anyone got an old one (it's worth a try) or know where to get one?

Cheers,

David