Grand voile à corne
Publié : 04 nov. 2017, 10:23
J'ouvre un chapitre particulier sur le thème de la GV à corne bien qu'il concerne aussi les règles de jauge tant françaises qu'internationales, mais il fait couler beaucoup d'encre et agite les pontons depuis plusieurs mois. J'avais posé quelques questions à Erwin, Upsail Italie, notre importateur. Celui-ci les a retransmises à Weta Marine et voici la réponse de Roger Kitchen:
""" The 9.3 does have a little more luff curve to support the top of the sail to make the square top work efficiently.
Without this the square top would have too much curvature at the top and create drag in the higher wind range.
We have found that the 9.3 does hoist fine as the increased luff curve is not major. Silicon spray and making sure the sail track is washed after sailing would help.
We can only presume that the sailors experiencing these issues are not putting in too much batten tension, especially the top batten, as this could make it difficult to hoist.
We have not had the comment that the sail is too flat before.
As a background the brief of the sail design was to improve the performance in the 5-12 knot wind range but still perform as well or better than the standard sail in 18+ knots.
It is especially suited to regions that mainly experience lighter winds and also for the heavier sailor.
Our racing fleets in coastal Australia, NZ and San Francisco are all consistently in the higher wind range so will mostly race with the standard sail. However we will spend this season trialing the 9.3 in the racing fleets to get a full understanding of the sail and where it fits into the rules.
The sail was designed by Norths Sail's top dinghy square top designer who has wide experience and success in 18' skiffs which are the pinnacle of dinghy sailing.
We have indicated in the draft Weta Class Rules that at this stage we will continue to use the standard sail for OD racing until we get more feedback on the 9.3 in a variety of conditions. We feel that this is the responsible decision to make.
The 9.3 has been tested and been given good feedback by very experienced sailors at Olympic and world championship level.
Before they give a handicap to the sail they first need to get more data and remember that it was designed for the 5-18 knot wind range. Above this wind range they may find double handed is better. It has been very successful in mixed fleets in lighter winds where the handicap is not such an issue.
This coming season we will get some 2 boat testing and publish the results. The testing must come from experienced sailors
as we do not know if the comments are coming in from sailors who are possibly making adjustments and are actually lessening the performance.
We will also publish a tuning guide on the square top.
As far as sail colour is concerned we cannot offer a colour choice or otherwise dealers would have to carry double the stock.
All sails now manufactured have the same blue colour as the new 9.3 sails. The jibs are currently the black trim until the next batch are manufactured which are the same blue colour. To get the sails manufactured at the best price we need to do batches of 50 that is why there is a slight delay until they came through.
As colour seems a big issue owners can easily buy the coloured insignia tape of their choice from a sailmaker and put it on their sail. It is fine under the rules. It is easy to put on. I have attached a mainsail I did recently, it took about 30 minutes and cost about $20.
All mainsails and jibs use the same mylar fabric.
The exceptions are the recreational main, 6.5 high wind main and the furling jib which are dacron.
I hope this helps.
regards
Roger
Les résultats des tests évoqués par Roger seront intéressants à suivre, mais cela ne doit pas nous empêcher d'avancer et de permettre dès maintenant l'usage de cette GV en régate avec un rating particulier, à affiner si nécessaire. Autoriser cette GV en régate sans tenir compte de sa surface supplémentaire enlèverait tout intérêt au classement.
Quant à la couleur on peut la changer: Bonnes méditations!!
""" The 9.3 does have a little more luff curve to support the top of the sail to make the square top work efficiently.
Without this the square top would have too much curvature at the top and create drag in the higher wind range.
We have found that the 9.3 does hoist fine as the increased luff curve is not major. Silicon spray and making sure the sail track is washed after sailing would help.
We can only presume that the sailors experiencing these issues are not putting in too much batten tension, especially the top batten, as this could make it difficult to hoist.
We have not had the comment that the sail is too flat before.
As a background the brief of the sail design was to improve the performance in the 5-12 knot wind range but still perform as well or better than the standard sail in 18+ knots.
It is especially suited to regions that mainly experience lighter winds and also for the heavier sailor.
Our racing fleets in coastal Australia, NZ and San Francisco are all consistently in the higher wind range so will mostly race with the standard sail. However we will spend this season trialing the 9.3 in the racing fleets to get a full understanding of the sail and where it fits into the rules.
The sail was designed by Norths Sail's top dinghy square top designer who has wide experience and success in 18' skiffs which are the pinnacle of dinghy sailing.
We have indicated in the draft Weta Class Rules that at this stage we will continue to use the standard sail for OD racing until we get more feedback on the 9.3 in a variety of conditions. We feel that this is the responsible decision to make.
The 9.3 has been tested and been given good feedback by very experienced sailors at Olympic and world championship level.
Before they give a handicap to the sail they first need to get more data and remember that it was designed for the 5-18 knot wind range. Above this wind range they may find double handed is better. It has been very successful in mixed fleets in lighter winds where the handicap is not such an issue.
This coming season we will get some 2 boat testing and publish the results. The testing must come from experienced sailors
as we do not know if the comments are coming in from sailors who are possibly making adjustments and are actually lessening the performance.
We will also publish a tuning guide on the square top.
As far as sail colour is concerned we cannot offer a colour choice or otherwise dealers would have to carry double the stock.
All sails now manufactured have the same blue colour as the new 9.3 sails. The jibs are currently the black trim until the next batch are manufactured which are the same blue colour. To get the sails manufactured at the best price we need to do batches of 50 that is why there is a slight delay until they came through.
As colour seems a big issue owners can easily buy the coloured insignia tape of their choice from a sailmaker and put it on their sail. It is fine under the rules. It is easy to put on. I have attached a mainsail I did recently, it took about 30 minutes and cost about $20.
All mainsails and jibs use the same mylar fabric.
The exceptions are the recreational main, 6.5 high wind main and the furling jib which are dacron.
I hope this helps.
regards
Roger
Les résultats des tests évoqués par Roger seront intéressants à suivre, mais cela ne doit pas nous empêcher d'avancer et de permettre dès maintenant l'usage de cette GV en régate avec un rating particulier, à affiner si nécessaire. Autoriser cette GV en régate sans tenir compte de sa surface supplémentaire enlèverait tout intérêt au classement.
Quant à la couleur on peut la changer: Bonnes méditations!!