Edgar wrote:

Hey, Walt! .You are a dinghy sailer and you have the time to tweak your jib
_halyard_ every 30-60 seconds???

Yep. It's led back into the cockpit on both sides with a 12-1 purchase
so I don't have to move to reach it. Likewise the vang which is also
tweaked fairly often. Between the two, it's how you "switch gears" to
keep the rig powered up optimally.

When do you get time to tweak your main and jibsheet, not to mention the
rudder and also looking for the next windshift and/or gusts while also
keeping your eye on your opponents?. Plus sitting her out to keep level
etc.?

It's a balancing act. What's most important? Well, all the things you
mention are more important than tuning the rig, and anyone who's
fiddling with strings while ignoring these items is not going to do
well. But it doesn't take much time or effort to reach down and tweak
the rig - well, once you have the centrols installed to make it easy to
do from the cockpit, that is.


My racing has been in lively heavily canvassed 12-14' dinghies and once the
jib is up and the halyard tensioned that is how it remained while other
things occupied my whole time.

I used to sail that way. But once I started tuning on the fly I started
doing much better.

The halyard tension greatly affects sail shape. Take a look at this
picture (not me)
http://www.albacore.org/USA/images/3_MegaWoofPlanes.jpg and observe
the curve in the jib luff - this 'sag' affects the overall shape of the
sail, and the amount of sag is a function of rig tension and wind speed.
Since I mostly sail on inland lakes where the wind is *always* changing
I have to adjust the halyard a lot to keep the jib shape where I want
it. A different boat, more steady wind, and maybe it's not so important...

//Walt