Just wondering on what is the best cam tension/pressure on the mast is for rotation and sail profile ?, and if incorrect how would this will make the sail feel.

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AUS718 said...

Just wondering on what is the best cam tension/pressure on the mast is for rotation and sail profile ?, and if incorrect how would this will make the sail feel.

A lot of cam pressure will force heaps of shape into the sail, when sailing it will feel very rigid/locked in rotation would be alot harder, softer cam pressure the sail will feel just like that "softer" and cams rotate better.

Not exactly answering your question, but I find if you can push the cam (not the whole sail) onto the opposite tack while the sail is laying flat on the ground fully rigged, then it's probably about right. If the cam is too tight on the mast, it won't flip over and if too loose it won't stay locked into the new position, but will just float. This seems about right for tension and cam rotation. To adjust add or remove spacers between cam and batten, or cut down batten end of cam.

Was asking the question as last sail I had with the sail in question noticed that the mast sleeve was not tight and the sail had no drive and hard to rotate, 3rd time out on it. When back on the beach found the bottom cam was contacting the mast and the upper two were about 1cm off the mast, obviously this is not good. have since rigged at home and got some pressure on the mast which has tightened up the mast sleeve and cam seemed to rotate better then before need to try it on the water now.

Does your sail match the mast?
Do you have some cam spacers you can insert?

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Windxtasy said...

Does your sail match the mast?
Do you have some cam spacers you can insert?

if your going to use spacers be careful when derigging or you can break battens, a little bit of play isn't a problem, and always remember too let a bit of down haul off and pop the cams off by hand before releasing all the out haul