The ILCA rules don't actually specify the maximum theoretical mechanical advantage ratio. They do however specify how may turning points (sheaves) you are allowed to use. Once you put a system that is more powerful than a 4:1 on the outhaul, you just end up with stupid amounts of line to pull in - 4:1 works fine with ball-race blocks and a thin dyneema line on the secondary. 6:1 on the cunningham is plenty using a 3:1 (4mm) pulling down on a 2:1 (2 or 3 mm D-12) running through the sail grommet. See the drlaser.org site for details.
Will Richards wrote:
> Once you put a system that is more powerful
> than a 4:1 on the outhaul, you just end up with
> stupid amounts of line to pull in
Absolutely not, I would say. The line is quite manageable even with a cascaded (2 x 2 x 2) 8:1 outhaul system.
Line length becomes an issue only if you consider a non-cascaded purchase system. That's the beauty of using cascades.
In fact, I've been racing with an 8:1 outhaul since day one of the rule changes (similar to the one published on drLaser). It offers fingertip control! A 4:1 on the outhaul is (IMHO) absolutely useless on a standard rig Laser for effortless outhaul adjustments when sailing upwind block-to-block.
If 4:1 were ideal on the outhaul, would Vanguard Sailboats Inc. (the NA Builder) change its outhaul kit (as of the beginning of March 2003) to market a 6:1 outhaul rig instead of its original 4:1 in its Performace Upgrade kit?
I agree with Shevy - the 4-1 was useless on the outhaul in over 12 kts or less depending on how strong you are, we've switched to 6-1, and at least can adjust it upwind up to about 18kts.
You have to pull more line for the cunningham in it's stock configuration, or the same if you change it to 6-1 too, so that should be a non-issue as well...
I spray the end of my boom with some McLube before the morning races and then when I head back out onto the water after lunch (if possible). This works really well for me. Just make sure to put on a lot. You can never use to much.
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