Sirocco Factory Site
Sailing Tips
This page is a collection of tips from Sirocco sailors. Please feel free to Email any information you would like to share using the Email link to the left. This may include picture or diagrams if you would like.
Contents
Sailing
VMG - The key to racing land sailers.
VMG stands for velocity made good. VMG is a measurement of the time to cover a distance between 2 points. It is a combination of speed, angle and distance.
Many water sailers are hung up on the idea of pointing angle. After all. Footing an extra 10 degrees in your sail boat may only add half a knot of speed, say from 5.5 to 6 kts. In a land sailer you may increase your speed under the same conditions by half again, say from 10 to 15 kts. For an extra 10% in sailing distance you gain 50% in boat speed. Assuming that all things are equal, sailing an upwind leg you would add a net 40% to your speed toward the mark. That is HUGE. The same goes for down wind. Reaching up can in some cases double your speed. This leads to huge gains on the race course.
Next time you are out sailing experiment with footing off (upwind) and reaching up (down wind). Set and upwind and downwind mark and experiment with your angles. Time yourself between the points and see how you do with different angles. For the gadget minded try using one of the new hand held GPS units. Set your points and watch the VMG. This will give you instant results. As long as your VMG number goes up you are gaining.
Tuning
Traveler Adjustment - For better pointing tie the block on the traveler in the center. Get the line as tight as possible and then use another piece of line to tie the block directly to the seat back. This will allow you to get the boom to center and to close the leech.
Tire Pressure - Keeping your tires to the full 25 psi is critical. Even 2 or 3 pounds below that will show a marked change in speed. If traction becomes a problem, like on wet pavement, then try letting a few pounds of pressure off.
Go to the local tire store and get some valve extenders. It eliminates the need for caps and makes it much easier to attach a compressor to the tire stem.
Suspension Tension - The lighter the wind the less spring pressure you need. If you are running on blades then try going a little tighter on the Suspension than you think you need. Too soft a suspension will cause the blades to cant too far in and skid.
Maintenance
Blade Sharpening - Sharp blades are critical for ice sailing. Sharpening can be done with a diamond file or whet stone. If you don't have a file then try wrapping some 320 or 400 grit wet dry paper around a file and use that to sharpen them. It is important that the paper be around something hard. A rubber block will give and round the beveled edge.
I like to clamp my blades upside down in a vise for sharpening. I turn the vise so that the blade edge is perpendicular to my body. I then wet the paper or file with a little bit of water, brace the file against the bevel and stoke the blade away from me working the whole edge in one long stroke. I do about 10 strokes and then alternate to the other side of the bevel. I continue this until the blade is sharp. Be sure to keep the file in line with the bevel.
Mast Collars - The original factory mast collars used the loop side of Velcro strips to pad the collar. When you need to replace yours try teflon coated tape. This tape is about 1/16" thick and is teflon with a foam backing. It can be ordered from - mcmaster.com
Misc.
- Towing the Sirocco - (From Harold H.) In the area we sail in
we need to move our Siroccos from a hanger to a runway. It is easiest to
assemble them there and then tow them out. The attached pictures show
the towing rig I use. It was easy to make and allows me to tow my
Sirocco behind my car even on a windy day. I tow the Sirocco with the
boom off so the sail can stream down wind.
