so today I got my first time with adj outhaul. 7.0m & 112 L slalom board. wind was so so... hit 34 mphish on my gps. anyway....I am not sure if I was using it enough.....or correctly. I was just doing reaches...out and back sort of thing. and I played with it in the beginning . and once the sail felt dialed in I left it alone. even when the wind backed off a bit...I left it alone. probably should have let it out a bit. I find easing the outhaul out is easy ...which makes sense... pulling it in...that was not too bad...but took a bit of effort. almost crashed doing it. Rig almost got away from me.

how often do you guys (and gals) use the outhaul for straight reaches in a somewhat steady wind??

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skyking1231 said..
so today I got my first time with adj outhaul. 7.0m & 112 L slalom board. wind was so so... hit 34 mphish on my gps. anyway....I am not sure if I was using it enough.....or correctly. I was just doing reaches...out and back sort of thing. and I played with it in the beginning . and once the sail felt dialed in I left it alone. even when the wind backed off a bit...I left it alone. probably should have let it out a bit. I find easing the outhaul out is easy ...which makes sense... pulling it in...that was not too bad...but took a bit of effort. almost crashed doing it. Rig almost got away from me.

how often do you guys (and gals) use the outhaul for straight reaches in a somewhat steady wind??

For GPS speed sailing I use the following outhaul adjustment:
- 90 degrees across the wind - outhaul adjusted so the the sail is just touching the boom
- Working to windward to get to the top of the speed run - pull outhaul so sail is 20 to 30mm off the boom
- Deep speed run, 130 to 140 degress off the wind - release outhaul so that sail folds over the boom up to the back harness line

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John340 said..

skyking1231 said..
so today I got my first time with adj outhaul. 7.0m & 112 L slalom board. wind was so so... hit 34 mphish on my gps. anyway....I am not sure if I was using it enough.....or correctly. I was just doing reaches...out and back sort of thing. and I played with it in the beginning . and once the sail felt dialed in I left it alone. even when the wind backed off a bit...I left it alone. probably should have let it out a bit. I find easing the outhaul out is easy ...which makes sense... pulling it in...that was not too bad...but took a bit of effort. almost crashed doing it. Rig almost got away from me.

how often do you guys (and gals) use the outhaul for straight reaches in a somewhat steady wind??

For GPS speed sailing I use the following outhaul adjustment:
- 90 degrees across the wind - outhaul adjusted so the the sail is just touching the boom
- Working to windward to get to the top of the speed run - pull outhaul so sail is 20 to 30mm off the boom
- Deep speed run, 130 to 140 degress off the wind - release outhaul so that sail folds over the boom up to the back harness line

Thanks. Sounds like I need to let it out a lot further for my speed runs.

For reaching do you want the entire sail touching the boom or just the rear portion

I find the right balance and leave it, for interest Hans Kreisel doesn't use one at all.

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thedoor said..

John340 said..

skyking1231 said..
so today I got my first time with adj outhaul. 7.0m & 112 L slalom board. wind was so so... hit 34 mphish on my gps. anyway....I am not sure if I was using it enough.....or correctly. I was just doing reaches...out and back sort of thing. and I played with it in the beginning . and once the sail felt dialed in I left it alone. even when the wind backed off a bit...I left it alone. probably should have let it out a bit. I find easing the outhaul out is easy ...which makes sense... pulling it in...that was not too bad...but took a bit of effort. almost crashed doing it. Rig almost got away from me.

how often do you guys (and gals) use the outhaul for straight reaches in a somewhat steady wind??

For GPS speed sailing I use the following outhaul adjustment:
- 90 degrees across the wind - outhaul adjusted so the the sail is just touching the boom
- Working to windward to get to the top of the speed run - pull outhaul so sail is 20 to 30mm off the boom
- Deep speed run, 130 to 140 degress off the wind - release outhaul so that sail folds over the boom up to the back harness line

Thanks. Sounds like I need to let it out a lot further for my speed runs.

For reaching do you want the entire sail touching the boom or just the rear portion

Depends on you boom width and sail, experiment and find what feels best.

Interestingly when I'm really overpowered, Choco's advice is good, find a good balance, set and forget and concentrate on sailing fast.

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John340 said..

skyking1231 said..
so today I got my first time with adj outhaul. 7.0m & 112 L slalom board. wind was so so... hit 34 mphish on my gps. anyway....I am not sure if I was using it enough.....or correctly. I was just doing reaches...out and back sort of thing. and I played with it in the beginning . and once the sail felt dialed in I left it alone. even when the wind backed off a bit...I left it alone. probably should have let it out a bit. I find easing the outhaul out is easy ...which makes sense... pulling it in...that was not too bad...but took a bit of effort. almost crashed doing it. Rig almost got away from me.

how often do you guys (and gals) use the outhaul for straight reaches in a somewhat steady wind??

For GPS speed sailing I use the following outhaul adjustment:
- 90 degrees across the wind - outhaul adjusted so the the sail is just touching the boom
- Working to windward to get to the top of the speed run - pull outhaul so sail is 20 to 30mm off the boom
- Deep speed run, 130 to 140 degress off the wind - release outhaul so that sail folds over the boom up to the back harness line

wow....that much? the deforming of the sail over the boom doesn't cause any problems ? I know sometimes on my wave gear. ill have the sail out insight wind.and then when wind picks up...and sail starts getting wrapped over boom...the sail feels like ****. until in pull in the outhaul just so it is off the boom (maybe touching ever so slightly. then it feels good again.

btw... I snapped my harness lines....and yet the plastic tubing had little to no wear. yet the line underneath snapped. Dakine comp adj lines . line is approx 5mm or maybe 6mm.

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skyking1231 said..

John340 said..

skyking1231 said..
so today I got my first time with adj outhaul. 7.0m & 112 L slalom board. wind was so so... hit 34 mphish on my gps. anyway....I am not sure if I was using it enough.....or correctly. I was just doing reaches...out and back sort of thing. and I played with it in the beginning . and once the sail felt dialed in I left it alone. even when the wind backed off a bit...I left it alone. probably should have let it out a bit. I find easing the outhaul out is easy ...which makes sense... pulling it in...that was not too bad...but took a bit of effort. almost crashed doing it. Rig almost got away from me.

how often do you guys (and gals) use the outhaul for straight reaches in a somewhat steady wind??

For GPS speed sailing I use the following outhaul adjustment:
- 90 degrees across the wind - outhaul adjusted so the the sail is just touching the boom
- Working to windward to get to the top of the speed run - pull outhaul so sail is 20 to 30mm off the boom
- Deep speed run, 130 to 140 degress off the wind - release outhaul so that sail folds over the boom up to the back harness line

wow....that much? the deforming of the sail over the boom doesn't cause any problems ? I know sometimes on my wave gear. ill have the sail out insight wind.and then when wind picks up...and sail starts getting wrapped over boom...the sail feels like ****. until in pull in the outhaul just so it is off the boom (maybe touching ever so slightly. then it feels good again.

btw... I snapped my harness lines....and yet the plastic tubing had little to no wear. yet the line underneath snapped. Dakine comp adj lines . line is approx 5mm or maybe 6mm.

Letting the outhaul out so the sail bags over the boom, only works when your deep off the wind (> 120 degrees). Across or tight to the wind, it feels like ****. That's why we have adjustable outhauls so we can increase the outhaul and optimise the sail shape. They work best with full race and freerace cammed sails.

I adjust when needed, aiming to keep the rig feeling balanced between hands, and sheeted at the right angle.


Less inclined to play with it in the middle of a race, but if you're a set and forget person, theres really not any point to having an adjustable outhaul. its just more stuff dangling off the boom, for no good reason.


You can pull up in the shallows and make adjustments if you need to. An adjustable outhaul is literally there so you can adjust it on the fly.

Yeah..it will take a little getting used to. 30+ years sailing.never used adj outhaul .

Yeah..it will take a little getting used to. 30+ years sailing.never used adj outhaul .

When you run down wind on a angle to achieve GPS speeds you tend to let the sail sit out a bit ,so not sheeted in like running up wind ,
so with the outhaul system it allows you to belly the sail out to catch the wind better and keep a full sail when running down wind on the big DW angles .
Its a handy tool to have ,and saves jumping off in deep water to adjust a heavy back handed sail which is uncomfortable to use .
Also very handy when the wind drops off ,let the sail out and you have that extra power in your sail to keep on the plane when others are not ,its a great add to your kit ,enjoy the discovery

My relatively inexperienced experience:

So far I've only used it on my 9.0 foil race sail. I feel a difference even with 1cm of movement. I've adjusted it on the foil while flying, and it does make a noticeable difference. I think I notice it more going upwind and with a tighter outhaul, as it makes the sail a bit easier to manage. I belly it out in lighter wind and I think it would make a bigger difference in downwind if I ever get the balls to send it over 22-23kts on the foil.

On a fin I don't have any experience but I would like to try it, I just need to setup my smaller boom for it, and have the right conditions, which will take some time. I've only recently had it in me to really go deeper and well powered in choppy stuff on a fin, and my speeds aren't anything special.

As someone who is more focused on the GPS disciplines, and in particular on speed sailing deep off the wind predominantly on starboard tack, and who rarely uses a sail larger than 6.4m, I settled on a much simpler, one sided setup that deletes a lot of extra complication. 99% of my sailing is on slalom boards and Cammed sails although I do find this setup useful during my rare surf sailing sessions as well.

Pro's:
- Very simple and easy to set up and rig/derig
- I don't need/use any clew pulley (apple core)
- no meters of chord or elastic chord all around the boom
- very easy to adjust when sailing (on that tack) or when I stop in the shallows.

Cons:
- I can only adjust on one tack (starboard) so I must remember to pull it in or release it before I Gybe. This is NOT the best setup for any kind of racing, especially course racing where you really need to be able to adjust on both tacks.

But I have to say that once I get setup for the conditions in a session (it usually only takes a the first few minutes to find the sweet spot), I rarely do much adjustment unless the conditions change, except when I am doing proper upwind/downwind speed runs. It can be very handy in a situation where you don't want to stop, or cant stop in shallow water. For instance, doing a 1hr run and the wind picks up or drops off.

Here is a pic showing my setup - not the clearest, but all I can find at this moment.

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skyking1231 said..
how often do you guys (and gals) use the outhaul for straight reaches in a somewhat steady wind??

In those situations, you almost don't need it. Almost, because you can set it on the fly to what feels right and then leave it alone. When the wind is less than steady, or your angles to the wind are changing, that's when it's great to use it.

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John340 said..

For GPS speed sailing I use the following outhaul adjustment:
- 90 degrees across the wind - outhaul adjusted so the the sail is just touching the boom
- Working to windward to get to the top of the speed run - pull outhaul so sail is 20 to 30mm off the boom
- Deep speed run, 130 to 140 degress off the wind - release outhaul so that sail folds over the boom up to the back harness line

That usage is very similar to mine. "Neutral" for crosswind, "negative" for speed runs, and "positive" for upwind.
I don't have or follow such visual cues, though:
* I'm too busy looking at the water state, and
* The overall wind strength at my sailing sites often does vary enough during a session that my "baseline" crosswind outhaul fluctuates with the wind, and with that, also the upwind and downwind settings.
I go by feel and what numbers I see.