Boomless sailing

Apologies if this has been covered before, tried to search the forum and came up with nothing useful after 20 or 30 mins.

I just got my TI a few weeks ago and have only been out twice so far - once in 10-12 knot winds, the other time was 4 knot with very occasional 8 knot gusts. Had a blast the first time, was honestly a little bored the second time.

I have some experience on small dinghies with booms on the mainsails, and I'm wondering if I'm not trimming the TI sail correctly. Anything within 30 degrees either way of a beam reach is a blast. Any more downwind than that, and I can't figure out the right sail position - too much sheet and the sail is making a J shape (which doesn't seem right) and too little sheet and everything just feels underpowered.

Upwind, I'm used to pulling the main sheet almost as tight as possible when close hauled, but that doesn't seem to work on the TI - I need to let the sheet out a little bit and fall off the wind in order to get any speed, even in a stiff wind. Have others had success at 45 degress or more into the wind?

Just to be sure I double checked the owners manual, all of the diagrams who a slight arc to the sail, definitely not the sail shape I've seen downwind. Any pointers or links to previous forum topics would be awesome - thanks!

dan

Did the same thing myself when I got my TI - hauled in the mainsheet too tight when close hauled. Now, I tend to haul in tight as I'm tacking, then ease it back out a little - just as you're doing. Don't think you'll ever get to 45 degrees, I'm guessing I can effectively do ~50.

Downwind, some members are experimenting with all sorts of temporary booms! Here's just one link in the Forum: Flexi-Boom Design

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Cheers, Max ● TI: the "Yella Terra" ● Website: www.MadYakker.com ● YouTube: madyakkermax

Running a line, with an S hook to attach to the sail, out to the ama and back to a cleat installed on each side of the seat is an easy solution. It's called a Barber Hauler. The set up I use does not produce a perfect shape for a run, but it's very acceptable and very low fuss. I keep the two lines in one of the storage nets next to the seat and hook it up anytime I plan to stay on a run for a while. For the AI, a block is not necessary - a simple ring will do, but you may want to use blocks for the larger sail on the AT.

The AT seems to sail a little closer to the wind. For my part, I haven't been able to sail, with speed on the AI, much closer than 70 degrees. I can sail up to about 50 but not very efficiently. Others have shown GPS tracks with better upwind performance, but I'm not sure how they did it. They may have been content to go much slower and/or use the peddles more. Maybe they are much better sailors that I, which is very possible.

Ted

Thanks for the advice - went out yesterday and did a trial sailing downwind with a rope tied to the main sheet through the hole (don't know what to call it) at the back of the amas, in order to pull the mainsheet and clew out wider (sounds like this qualifies as a barber hauler?). I was really satisfied with the results - on a training run I was able to outpace the waves generated by the wind - not sure that's a good metric, but it was a definite improvement!

Starting to think about how I would do it as a full time setup - I think I'd want to go through a block attached to the main sheet, as opposed to attaching straight to the clew of the sail. Is there a standard barber hauler setup that others have used with success on the TI?

dan