Hi all, I picked up a used kit last week and I need some advice on rigging. I went out and played with it in the yard yesterday, and I have a few questions about rigging this sail (the sail is a UP "Ultra Profile" sail, 4.5m^2, from the mid-90s, and it has one camber inducer just above the boom).

Here is where I stuck the pictures:imgur.com/a/iF6B96X

First question, on the top image the top of the mast extends out from the top of the sail (this was the distance it came as). Should the top of the mast be closer to the top of the sail (ie, not sticking out a foot)?

Second question, in the middle image, should I bring the sail in closer (horizontally) to the mast with the black strap?

Third question, in the last two images you can see some ripples in the inside (near the mast) in the middle of the sail, if I rig this thing correctly should those ripples go away?) The top feels pretty taut, but the battens (on the top) are still wanting to ride alongside the mast; I noticed that with more downhaul this diminished, but I didn't want to reef on the thing too hard before I checked in first.

Thank you for any wisdom you are able to impart to me on this.

Generally speaking your mast is too long, however in this generation of sails it was pretty common to have a bunch of mast stick out the top. It will likely work just fine especially if this will be your smallest sail. You definitely need more downhaul. Since this is a pre loose leach era sail you won't be able to judge by the looseness in the upper leach. The material at the boom opening should be very tight & you may have some vertical wrinkles but very little of the diagonal/horizontal you are seeing there. I would figure out what max downhaul will be, then adjust the head cap distance so that the downhaul grommet nearly touches the pulleys - if possible. This will at least keep the C.O.E as low as possible. The tack strap can be tensioned to pull more shape in the lower part of the sail though it may not do much once you have the foot closer to the pulleys. It looks like you may have the downhaul rope twisted so you may want to try different lacing patterns till you find the right one. In your third pic you have the sail outhauled very flat. You will want to ease the outhaul in until you have a nice shape in the sail & battens are rotating around the mast a little. Tension battens till most wrinkles are out of the pockets. Should rig fairly clean & have good power for it's size but will be twitchy with the stiff long mast & quite a handful when overpowered compared to newer sails...

Good luck!

Thanks Gorge, I appreciate it. I figured my boom (4365mm) was the right length for the sail because the sail wants a luff of 4400mm. Do you think that the sail was designed to have the extra foot of mast at the top?

I ordered a longer section of downhaul rope and a hook pulley make the downhaul more organized. If I am reading you correctly, should I leave the battens loose until the sail is completely downhauled?

You need to downhaul that right down to the bottom, the sail is still very loose. Should be no wrinkles at all.

Think about it this way- if the sail has a luff of 430cm and the mast is a 430, there will be no mast sticking out anywhere. Given your numbers, that should be the case for your sail (almost)

There's heaps of good rigging videos on you tube, check them out.

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Mark _australia said..
You need to downhaul that right down to the bottom, the sail is still very loose. Should be no wrinkles at all.

Think about it this way- if the sail has a luff of 430cm and the mast is a 430, there will be no mast sticking out anywhere. Given your numbers, that should be the case for your sail (almost)

Aha, i didn't think of it that way, thank you Mark!

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jonnycat said..

Mark _australia said..
You need to downhaul that right down to the bottom, the sail is still very loose. Should be no wrinkles at all.

Think about it this way- if the sail has a luff of 430cm and the mast is a 430, there will be no mast sticking out anywhere. Given your numbers, that should be the case for your sail (almost)

Aha, i didn't think of it that way, thank you Mark!

Yes, Mark is correct. If your numbers are accurate & the mast measure 436cm & your luff length is 440 then you only have 4cm which is probably taken up by the distance between the mast stop(collar) & pulleys on the extension. So pull it right down to the pulleys.

Its quite an old set up but good condition. To get best tension on the luff ( the front edge of the sail ) remove the UJ and put your foot against the mast and as you pull with your arms, push against it with your foot. Wrap the rope around a screw driver or a harness. Mast should bend a lot more and sail should be nice and tight.
These sails aren't designed to go loose on the back edge like newer sails so look at the seam on the sail just in from the mast and make sure theres no creases.