I still considering my rigging options so I’m not sure how much money I would spend to purchase a pre-made rig. Somedays I think it’s the rig and others it’s my setup. I’m temped though to see how my attempts compare to a professional rig.
I’ve cobbled together a BobAbout system that has worked reasonably well. I think my weakness lies in the setup. It sailed ok the first time out, 5-10 mph winds. The biggest problem was changing tacks. An experienced club skipper adjusted it for me and it sailed better. He also made a few other suggestions.
I freed up some places where the rig was sticking. Second and third time out it sailed very nicely. The winds were a bit lighter, 3-8 mph. It could change tacks easily and sail on any point. I was happy. The submarining was the only performance issue left and that was beyond adjusting this rig.
Then I moved a few pivot points and adjusted tension here and there. Well it sailed poorly again. The winds were up to 8-10 again too with some chop. I tried putting everything back the way I had it but nothing really helped. Maybe I messed it up or maybe the conditions were too harsh.
I need to spend a lot more time learning what the sails are doing and what they are supposed to be doing. Dick also gave me a clue about rudder control. Maybe I was stalling the turn with too sudden of a rudder input. I was trying to snap through the turn when changing tacks. On the other hand, I have a relatively small rudder that I built to only allow 40 degrees of motion either direction. I knew I might oversteer and built some limits into my boat.
This forum and others have been a tremendous help with my learning to sail and build boats. I just need more time to observe and let the terminology sink in, i.e topping lift. Some local club members have offered to get together and talk boats too. I need to find the time to meet. Right now I sail once a week at best and build FatBob in the evenings when I can.
Sorry, John…you’ve come so far so quickly that I didn’t realize how new you are to rigging vocabulary!
A topping lift is an adjustable line that goes from the top of the mast to the aft end of the jib boom. It allows variable amounts of twist to be put into the jib for different wind conditions.
There’s no getting around having to do some study and some experimentation to learn what works. The USOM Construction Guide downloadable from the AMYA site is a good source for lots of stuff that is transferable to Footy building. There are rigging plans around for IOMs, Soling 1Ms, and EastCoast 12s that I’ve seen around. A little surfing should pay off.
There’s a pic of Razor on FootyUSA that shows it in profile in front of my fireplace. I think you could see a lot there with some study. I can post additional pics next week if that would help, and I’ll do my best to answer any questions about my rigs.
It does appear that Feet or whatever they are are pretty finnicky to set up. Anyone with more nowledge than me want to produce a guide on ‘How to Sail and Tune Your Footy’
It is on my to-do list Angus… a few years back I wrore a 10,000 plus word booklet all about getting started in electric flight… tuning a footy should not take that many words… but then again. That was an enjoyable exercise which I would not mind tackling again. Might be interesting to have other experienced input too and come up with a hard copy publication.
For anyone else with these dual interests the ‘Electric Guide’ eventually went online. http://www.mcallisterdesigns.com/Eguide_title.htm A little dated now in it’s lack of LiPoly technologhy but all of the basics are still true.
I’d be happy to co-author, Graham, if you’d like. Typically, December and January are a bit slow (thank goodness…I need more play time) for business, so I could find some time to work on it.
Thankyou Bill H… what may work well is to develop the idea as a series of ‘papers’ or chapters by those of us with some practical experience. At this early stage I am sure that we will have different ideas in some areas and that would be worth reflecting in the publication. Better than writing a ‘commitee compromise’ type of thing. Are you watching Brett?
