i use my 8.6 overdrive about 3 times a week in anything from 10-20knots and love it. I've always had a couple of different settings, one for anything up to about 16knot then I put on another cm or so downhaul if there's more.

with the extra downhaul it defiantly has less power but at the same time it make the whole setup Inc board seem harder to sail, I've always put this down to the obvious fact that's it's windier and the seas normally rougher.

But recently I've done some experimentation and I've come to the conclusion that the extra downhaul is not helping at all. While it has less power things seem to bounce around more and are twitchy. With my normal lighter wind setting yes there's more power but if I just go with the board settles down much better and once moving everything seems a lot more controlled. You just have to get used to going much quicker.

Last Friday, I sailed a 20+kt NEer at Wellington Point with around 20 other GPS sailor's. The wind gained in strength as the afternoon progressed. I rigged a 6.3 4 camed slalom sail. I was a little under powered at the start of the session and set the downfall eased 10mm from my normal position. The sail felt well balanced. As the wind built, the sail felt more unbalanced. I came in an added 10mm downhaul. Again the sail felt more balanced and my speeds down the bank increased by 2 kts. Two of my team mates did the same, with the same results

It's a good observation,, and your right

If you add to much downhaul, you kind of loose the 'grip' on the leech and the sail can get more twitchy.
Also with the reduced pressure in this area, there is a tendency to rake the sail even more back wards, to get the fin to lift. This then affect the increased back foot pressure, and you can fell even more out of control, as the board is 'less pinned'to the water.

Personally I never touch the downhaul setting when set.
It stay exactly the same the whole season on every sail size.
Light wind, strong wind is all the same.

Much more important is the outhaul setting and the use of the 2 clew positions (if you have them) for different conditions + boom height and track position.

So when you have your fastest downhaul setting, then try tuning the other factors above.

There is no 'right or wrong', but just my observation.
If you rig with to less downhaul tension, then the top speed is limited. You do gain a very minimal advantage in the light wind, but as said above this can be done with outhaul / boom / track setting as well

Limited top speed of the rig was not an issue, my bravery was today.

The symptoms you describe could be too much outhaul more than too much downhaul ? How much more did you pull? usually 0.5 to 1 cm makes a big difference

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powersloshin said..
The symptoms you describe could be too much outhaul more than too much downhaul ? How much more did you pull? usually 0.5 to 1 cm makes a big difference

Outhaul is normally very minimal, just enough really to take up the slack plus a tiny bit

I tend also to agree with the above .
Based on EVOs and V8s .
To much down-haul seem to make the sail feel weak and not a lot easier to control . Im not a fan of too much out-haul , 0 - 2 cm max otherwise the center of effort seems to move around too much .
Two clew positions make a huge difference .
I always used the upper one for more power .
The other day with increasing wind i couldn't be bothered changing down so i dropped the clew eyelet and the boom by a couple inches . Wow what a difference it made . It felt like a size smaller sail . Mabee lost a little upwind ability ?
I rather use a bagged out smaller sail than a flattened bigger one , ( when i say bagged out , crease halfway across at least , max two thirds , no more ) .
ps; Observations from a average skilled heavy person .

also consider that outhaul could be negative, as in no tension. Try setting out haul then pushing sail down onto the boom. See how far down the boom the sail touches. Often you can have the sail touching the boom all the way down to the rear harness line attachment.

A question that I posed on another thread...
is it easier to power up a smaller sail or depower a larger one for any given conditions.
NB same conditions but do I rig the bigger or the smaller sail and adjust Appropriately?
Uncomfortably under done or on the edge over done.
It has been said go big and hang on! Or go home.

from a GPS perspective.

From an energy sapping perspective , a powered up smaller is definitely easier.

My 4.4m Koncept feels amazingly good with moderate downhaul and bagged out outhaul in only 18 knots - 22 knots.

Trouble is in gusty conditions small sails are a complete nightmare.

I tend to play around with downhaul a lot. Less is best when the wind is light but only if you've rigged a sail too small for the conditions.

Regarding Jesper comments of sailing with the same downhaul all the time.

It can be done especially if you are strong,skilled and heavy.

For others,better to play around with the settings!

10 -12 years back at South Beach in Fremantle for the Aust Slalom Championships we had the strongest seabreeze I can ever recall in Perth.

It was gusting to 48 knots on the chart at Rottnest. South Beach started at 25 knots early afternoon then was gusting to 40 knots by the finish.

Jesper was on his 5.8 sail rigged with only moderate downhaul.

I still do not know how he managed to finish even a single slalom race yet he won every
race bar one.

A 3.3m that day would have been a handful for me. Might just have managed to complete a single race!

Rig big or go home. Im no guru but Hangin onto n wrestling the beast is SO MUCH MORE FUN than being under done. I run 9.5lion up to 20kts with it cranked down n out to max spec. Over DH makes the sail Gutless n twitchy. After it tries chuckin me in backwards a few times at max settings i rig smaller sail.

^^^^ , yeah but your water is flat , I'd like to watch you hanging on to a 9.5 in 20 kts on 1.5 m chop.

Imax1, blah blah blah! See how we go when you migrate North.
Back to the sail tuning discussion.

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Imax1 said..
^^^^ , yeah but your water is flat , I'd like to watch you hanging on to a 9.5 in 20 kts on 1.5 m chop.

9.5m is ok in 20knts+ if your on a RB sailing upwind and downwind, in which case you could or would adjust both the outhaul and downhaul for the different points of sail.

Loosen everything off to go deep downwind and tighten it all back up to come back upwind. You might also adjust your harness lines, mast track and centreboard all at same time as you are going around a mark chasing someone or being chased.

^^^ Cammd, Errr thatll be a couple of seasons before i can manage all that adjusting on the fly!

It can get busy around the marks.

Do you use adjustable outhaul, downhaul and harness lines, if not you should on an RB, it will help to give your setup a much bigger wind range and make your sailing more enjoyable because you can better exploit the conditions at any given moment.

Im just able to adjust the CB with power on without falling in . Mast track on the fly forwards is a real challenge , ( back is easier ) . I dont have adjustable out-haul or down-haul . I am however getting better at turning around both ways , baby steps .
Especially now i would like to see someone adjust everything while getting chased going around a busy mark with a 9.5 in 20 + kts and 1.5m swell.
Thats a different kind of skills altogether. And another couple limbs would help.

Cammd, no Adjustable DH yet. Adj OH easy enough. NP Adj Harness is hard to adjust. Mastrack ok both ways.Yes lots to learn...

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Imax1 said..
Im just able to adjust the CB with power on without falling in . Mast track on the fly forwards is a real challenge , ( back is easier ) . I dont have adjustable out-haul or down-haul . I am however getting better at turning around both ways , baby steps .
Especially now i would like to see someone adjust everything while getting chased going around a busy mark with a 9.5 in 20 + kts and 1.5m swell.
Thats a different kind of skills altogether. And another couple limbs would help.

Come to the Nationals at Myall Lakes in January - Raceboard Regatta's are really good fun.

When im more local id love to see what its all about .
Maybe even join in on a beginners race.
ps; just realized its in NSW , it wont be close for me now or later.

here how profi wsurfers tunning downhaul..