JP, Phill and all,
<br>1. I was out yesterday,..a changed the mast rake,..foward one hole on the aft,...funny thing,..it took 2 hole forward on the bow plates to 'tension' it correctly (...the split forwards are not a 1:1 relationship to the aft plates??)
<br>RESULT,....weather helm (...it was 100% neutral before)....do not know if I like or not.....the neutral helm is comfortable,....but I always wondered how close I 'really' was to optimal pointing,..as you can agree, .1 to 2 degree angle on a 30 minute upwind leg is going to add up.
<br>2. The comment I have on the 'big wave' jumping,.....I hit a few yesterday,...there is an area off the North shore where the seas pile up( steep, not a ocean swell),.....upwind , in a big sea(starting at 4+feet crest to trough),..the boat flies off the crest( winds 20ish E),.....no problem,....it is the wind that now 'sees' the bottom of the tramp as a sail too,...this is the problem for me,...I need to keep up the speed to get thru this zone of 'exposed tramp-sail area",.....so bow-down and speed-up,...is essential for me at this point. I usually am around the centerboard for weight placement.
<br>regards,
<br>Bruce
<br>St. Croix
<br>ps. going sailing after work today,...gonna look at this weather helm thing more...??<br><br>