Benson Sails for Buccaneers
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Tuning Guide
Comments on Benson Buccaneer Sails
Main - Contact us for latest prices
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Because every adjustment affects several others, it will take several
rounds of changes to reach optimum performance. There have been
several builders of this boat, so there is no valid starting
point.
Rig tension:fairly tight. 250 lbs shroud tension is a good
place to start.
Mast rake:start with about 2 deg, but recognize that this will
most likely be changed after other adjustments.
Main Sail
The Benson main is designed with the shape
all built into the sail, and the luff cut to fit the standard mast.
It should assume its optimum shape in medium wind with very little
tension on any of the control lines. Sails from other makers are
typically too full in the lower half and need a lot of outhaul tension
and perhaps some vang (for mast bend) to pull them flatter. The guide
below is for the Benson main in medium wind.
halyard/cunningham: raise sail to full height, but do not
stretch the luff. If you see any hint of a crease parallel to the
mast, then ease controls immediately or you may damage the
sail.
outhaul: upwind the shelf foot should be just fully open.
Tension the outhaul until the center foot just starts to be pulled
towards the boom, and then ease it slightly.
vang: should not be tight in medium air.
mainsheet: pull in the mainsheet until the upper leech telltale
stalls occasionally. The other leech telltale(s) should always
stream.
Jib: This guide is for the Benson Mylar laminate jib with
roller furling. Laminate sails are damaged by folding or creasing.
Never allow the rolled sail to bend while hoisting or dropping sail.
Always roll parallel to the seams for storage.
The lead track should be near the center of the seat. Start with the
fairlead near the center of the track. Adjust the sheet so that the
area near the clew is parallel to the boat centerline. This means
that the air will be exiting the bottom of the sail straight aft. Now
look up at the slot. The rest of the sail should twist off to leave a
fairly open slot between the leech and the mainsail. You should be
able to visualize the air leaving the jib and flowing smoothly over
the main. If the slot is too small, move the fairlead aft, readjust
the sheet as above (clew area parallel to centerline) and look again
at the slot. If the slot is too open, move the fairlead
forward. Repeat several times. Now note the jib telltales as the boat
is slowly turned to windward. It is acceptable either that all of the
windward telltales start to flutter at the same time, or that the top
one flutters slightly before the others. If the top one flutters
after any of the others, move the fairlead aft.
Next sail to windward with minimum heel. Check the position of the
tiller; it should be 2 to 4 degrees to windward (forward end about 3
inches off centerline). If this is not correct, you must change the
mast rake and start over. Neutral or lee helm is corrected by raking
the mast aft; excess weather helm is corrected by removing rake. The
adjustment most affected by changing the rake is the jib fairlead
position. More rake will require that the lead be moved forward and
vice versa. Still you must go through the rest of the tuning
procedure to determine the amount. Once the boat is in balance with
the small weather helm, it will be a pleasure to sail. Note that
weather helm is strongly affected by heel, so try to sail quite
flat.
Very light wind ease the mainsheet so the end of the boom is
over the rail. Sit to leeward and heel the boat until the rail is
quite near the water. Hold the jib clew in hand and try and keep the
slot open.
Heavy wind: Try to keep the boat flat by hiking hard. As this
becomes impossible, try these in the following order: Tighten the vang
to bend the mast and tighten the outhaul, both to flatten the main
(you may need to use the cunningham to move the draft forward, but do
this very carefully). Ease the traveler if one is installed. Ease the
mainsheet early in puffs before heel gets excessive
(anticipate).
Reaching without spinnaker:
Trim the jib to keep all telltales streaming. For a very broad reach
the leeward telltales should be at the edge of stalling.
Trim the main to keep the leech telltales streaming. Use the vang to
minimize twist. Check for correct twist by pulling in the sheet (or
bearing off) and checking whether the upper telltale stalls at the
same time as the middle one. If it stalls later, tighten the vang,
and vice versa. The outhaul can be eased to increase camber, but
remember to retension it for the next upwind leg. You will lose much
more distance by forgetting to tighten it for the beat than you will
lose by failing to ease it for the reach. For a broad reach, trim the
sheet so that the leech telltales are at the edge of stalling but
still streaming consistently.
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/revised June 2002