Today the wind was forecasted to increase and then decrease, and that is what it did! My goal was to use one sail and just change out the foil wing as needed.

Started off with Aerotech Freespeed 7.2 sail and AFS W95 foil with F770 cm2 wing, felt okay but not perfect. Then wind picked up and was getting overpowered with 7.2 so put on S670 cm2 wing, did not feel right and was too slow, was using forearms a lot. Figured I needed more outhaul, but on the water in gusty wind and waves the outhaul was as tight as I could get it. Finally went back to shore to take a break. On the beach tried increasing outhaul again, and then I was able to get another 1 to 2 inches with more effort. Went back out with 7.2 sail and S670 wing and it felt good!, hooked in and had control and speed. Wind dropped some and needed some back foot pressure to stay up, so switched back to F770 wing and it felt good too. Wind dropped some more and put on F1080 cm2 wing, it too felt good. Never changed the outhaul. This was using the forward harness line position with short lines so that lines replaced front arm, leaving rear arm for sheeting in/out as needed. So like I learned with Andy Brandt with my 5.8 sail, need more outhaul than I am used to using. I memorized the outhaul setting for the 5.8, but did not use any other sail with Andy.

Note 1 to myself, need to really use effort on land, or standing in water with feet on bay bottom, to be able to get correct outhaul, and then can use the same sail with 3 different size wings, without adjusting the outhaul again. Note 2, not possible to get enough outhaul tension while on the water in gusty conditions and waves (pulleys all work fine).

adjustable outhaul maybe...? I know it's not in Andy's curriculum but I find it invaluable from 9.9 down to 4.5 foiling...

+1 for adjustable outhaul. I use AO on every sail I own, from 8.5 to 4.2. It really increases the range, and you adjust it--well--on the water while sailing/foiling.

With the AO you can also immediately feel the difference of tight outhaul when going high upwind and loose outhaul going deep downwind. It's such a noticeable difference that I don't want to sail without it on my bigger rigs.

AO on everything except wave setups for me.

Adjustable outhaul ever time, a bit fiddly but worth every second, grunt up the sail if you foil into a light wind spot and flatten out when powered up, all the while staying on the foil.

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bel29 said..
adjustable outhaul maybe...? I know it's not in Andy's curriculum but I find it invaluable from 9.9 down to 4.5 foiling...

YES, I have an adjustable outhaul, but was not able to get the last 1-1/2 inches on the water. With the sail laying on the beach, from the front of the sail I leaned over and put one hand on the boom and then grabbed and pulled the outhaul line with the other hand, it took effort but it was a smooth pull.

I had the same boom with adjustable outhaul for my lesson with Andy.

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JonnoR said..
Adjustable outhaul ever time, a bit fiddly but worth every second, grunt up the sail if you foil into a light wind spot and flatten out when powered up, all the while staying on the foil.

We are on very different sails apparently, there is no way I could get that last bit of outhaul on the water with the adjustable outhaul, much less on the foil. FreeSpeed sails were not designed specifically for foiling, but they work great, other than needing effort to get the last bit of outhaul. And in my case it is set and forget, so no need to mess with it on the water!

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Sandman1221 said..

JonnoR said..
Adjustable outhaul ever time, a bit fiddly but worth every second, grunt up the sail if you foil into a light wind spot and flatten out when powered up, all the while staying on the foil.

We are on very different sails apparently, there is no way I could get that last bit of outhaul on the water with the adjustable outhaul, much less on the foil. FreeSpeed sails were not designed specifically for foiling, but they work great, other than needing effort to get the last bit of outhaul. And in my case it is set and forget, so no need to mess with it on the water!

So many questions (such as: "set and forget" is exactly the opposite of what an AO is for...) but that aside: if you need that much effort to achieve the additional outhaul that you need to be off your board despite your pulleys all working fine, surely you're killing the draft of your sail - whatever it is.

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bel29 said..

Sandman1221 said..

JonnoR said..
Adjustable outhaul ever time, a bit fiddly but worth every second, grunt up the sail if you foil into a light wind spot and flatten out when powered up, all the while staying on the foil.

We are on very different sails apparently, there is no way I could get that last bit of outhaul on the water with the adjustable outhaul, much less on the foil. FreeSpeed sails were not designed specifically for foiling, but they work great, other than needing effort to get the last bit of outhaul. And in my case it is set and forget, so no need to mess with it on the water!

So many questions (such as: "set and forget" is exactly the opposite of what an AO is for...) but that aside: if you need that much effort to achieve the additional outhaul that you need to be off your board despite your pulleys all working fine, surely you're killing the draft of your sail - whatever it is.

Yup, killing the draft of my sail so I can pump up on the foil quickly, and then foil with low sail resistance to the apparent wind. The Phantom 4.5 is designed for having a lot of outhaul which also kills the draft making it a very On/Off wave sail and also a great foiling sail for the same reason in higher winds.

sure, but still: if you have to pull that hard, imo you're over doing it; no draft = no sail...

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bel29 said..
sure, but still: if you have to pull that hard, imo you're over doing it; no draft = no sail...

There is plenty of draft on Freespeed and Phantom sails, you can not completely flatten out the draft with outhaul tension, but by flattening out the back half of sail make it great for pumping and more efficient in the air when on the foil.

For each side of AO you have to make sure you are getting a 8:1 multiplication. That is the perfect combination of force and distance for our sailing. We all developed this in formula racing days. I use the Sailworks AO. 2:1 at the buckle, 2:1 at the pulley, and 2:1 at the clew grommet.

4:1 makes for less distance of pull, but twice the force. Usually this force is too much to pull while on the water. So, make it 8:1.

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segler said..
For each side of AO you have to make sure you are getting a 8:1 multiplication. That is the perfect combination of force and distance for our sailing. We all developed this in formula racing days. I use the Sailworks AO. 2:1 at the buckle, 2:1 at the pulley, and 2:1 at the clew grommet.

4:1 makes for less distance of pull, but twice the force. Usually this force is too much to pull while on the water. So, make it 8:1.

Oh, thank you Segler!, that AO system has an extra block compared to my Clamcleat based AO. I only have 1 block on the line, and then the pulleys in the boom tail.