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S o l i n g Tr i m

by Dave Curtis
written by Matias Collins  on  January 1  of  2001 and read by 2812

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Reprinted from American Sailor, July 1991.

We need to make sure the boat is set up properly. Mast rake is checked by
measuring the amount the forestay length exceeds the mast length. Hold your
forestay along the front of the mast and simply mark the forestay at the point where
the surface of the deck would be. If the forestay is shorter than the mast, the mark
will be on the pennant. We check our rake by measuring the distance from this mark
to where the forestay intersects with the deck. The standard rake setting is 28"-30"
We use this setting for all conditions.
Our spreaders extend straight out from the mast, with no forward sweep. We have
five settings for the fore and aft location of the shrouds at the deck, with a total
travel of 1/2". Even though we use separate tracks for the uppers and lowers, the
cars move together.

0-3 knots Full Forward

4-8 knots Aft 3"

9-12 knots Aft 6" (mid-track)

13-15 knots Aft 9"

16+ knots Full aft

Our shroud tension is measured with the shrouds in the middle location and the
forestay and backstay totally slack: Uppers - 600 Ibs. in all conditions: Lowers - 1/2"
sag at spreader for light air, increasing tension to 600 Ibs. at 18 knots and 800 Ibs.
above 22 knots. Our lower shroud tracks are ramped 1/2" steeper than the uppers

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to give relatively more tension to the lowers as both shrouds are moved aft.

Sail Trim and Rig Adjustment

Up to seven knots, trim the mainsheet hard enough to make the top batten parallel
to centreline. In smooth water and high pointing conditions, trim harder to cock the
batten slightly to weather. In choppy conditions, the batten must twist off slightly.
As the breeze picks up, you will find it necessary to use quite a bit of mainsheet
tension to keep the top batten from falling off. This mainsheet tension when
combined with the backstay should be enough to keep the forestay under control.

In light air, the boom should be set 4" above centreline. Above eight knots, drop the
traveller enough to keep helm and heeling under control. As the breeze increases,
we find best results by increasing mast bend and twist instead of lowering the main
traveller.

Backstay: There are two things the backstay does: Controls fullness in the main and
forestay sag. This is probably the most important adjustment in the Soling. The more
backstay tension the flatter the main, and the reduced forestay sag flattens the jib. I
have my backstay marked at every two inches so I can repeat fast settings and have
the boat ready quickly after mark roundings.

Mainsheet tension: The mainsheet controls the top part of the mainsail. The
quickest and most accurate way to trim the mainsail is to watch the top batten
sighting from under the boom; the top batten should be parallel to the boom most of
the time. Under ideal conditions (fLat water), the top batten can point 5° to weather
of centreline, and when overpowered, it should open from centreline until it
balances the helm.

Boom Vang: Our sails are designed so it is only necessary to use vang in a few
situations. For upwind sailing, I use only enough vang to keep the mast from
pumping, except in heavy air, when I occasionally use rang to reduce helm.

Traveller: The boom should be above centreline until both crew are over the side,
then the traveller should be eased down to reduce weather helm. The traveller
should be played with each puff in over 14 knots, but if the wind is steady, the
backstay should be adjusted to depower the top of the mainsail and the traveller
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kept in the middle. Maximum out should be about 10" in 15-20 knots.

Jib Trim: For top performance in Solings, proper jib trim is paramount. The first thing
to do is make sure you have a leech telltale at the top batten. Trim the jib so this
telltale is always streaming straight back. If it starts to drop or wrap around the
leech, ease the jib sheet a little

For proper jib luff tension, keep slight wrinkles in the luff. Once both of your crew
are mini-hiking, tension the luff more to remove most of the wrinkles.

For Solings with a self-tacking jib traveller system, I suggest placing reference marks
on the aft side of the splash rail. Put these on each side of the boat at 10 inches off
the centreline. Then sail with the jib sheet crossing this mark, except in very light or
heavy air.

The proper amount of headstay sag is about 3"-4". I use the fore and aft adjustable
shroud tracks and backstay tension to control the amount of sag. If you do all of
these things correctly, the jib will contribute greatly to your overall speed and
pointing.

One of the first steps toward optimising windward performance in a Soling is to

maintain the proper crew positions for both heel and reduction of pitching moment.
In extremely light air, one crew should be on the leeward deck with the skipper and
the other crew sitting on the leeward floor. As the breeze increases you always want
to keep the angle of heel between five and ten degrees while at the same time
keeping crew weight as low as possible, especially in chop. It is more efficient to
keep one crew on the leeward floor if it enables the other crew to hike fully.

As a general rule, I usually keep the main trimmed firmly until I need to depower.
The jib trim is more open, with the top batten telltale always flowing. I keep the
boom to windward as much as six inches until both crew are dropped, at which time
the boom is centred.

If you start with the jib tack about 3-3'9" above the deck in light air, progressive
halyard and luff tape stretch will put the tack on the deck at about 15-18 knots. I
usually start out with about 30" of rake, measured along the forestay, and unless the
helm becomes too heavy as the wind increases, I prefer not to reduce rake.

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When reaching with the spinnaker, always keep the spinnaker pole away from the
forestay more than you think is right (never closer than one foot). For proper, heavy
air close reaching, the forward crew should use both arms to pump the guy - twice -
on the waves. Don't forget that unlimited pumping is legal to prevent a broach, and I
don't mean timid pumps either!

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