Flying Scot

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In light wind (4-6 kts) when flying the chute, should I concentrate on maintaining a bit of curl or keep it full? It seams the weight of the fabric collapses the sail as it curls (i.e. Not enough wind pressure to support it on the fine edge of tuning).

Yes, ideally you'd still want a slight amount of curl as you sail in medium and heavy winds. However, in light winds you really must lower the pole substantially to support the luff and make the spinnaker easier to fly in light winds. A good guide is to maintain a center seam ( the seam that runs through the middle of the spinnaker from the head to the middle of the foot) parallel to the mast. In light winds that will require that the pole be angled down nearly at 45 degrees.

Answer by Greg Fisher

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I've been having some grief when setting/stowing the spin pole during races. Right now when dousing the chute I leave the topping lift and poleguy attached to the pole, disconnect from sail and mast and slide the whole thing back into the cockpit along the cb trunk then forward a bit to keep it out of the skippers feet. Both of us do not like this arrangement and have talked about mounting it along side the boom similar to other performance dinghies we've sailed. Before I start drilling holes in my boom does anyone care to share their secrets for pole management?

Unfortunately it isn't legal to stow it on the boom...can't add more hardware. Most everyone just unhooks the pole from the topping lift and shoves it up forward under the deck. We all have shock cord downhauls that hold the top lift along the mast when not in use. Flying Scot Inc. has this whole setup available and that would make the unhooking and rehooking job of setting the pole a lot easier.

Answer by Greg Fisher

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What are the differences between the Crosscut spinnaker and the Radial spinnaker?

The new Radial spinnaker is more expensive but the advantages are:

1) It's more durable due to the radial construction
2) It allows us to use lighter, more reactive (but more expensive) cloth for better performance in light, puffy, shifty conditions.
3) Since it is a full radial and all the panels are fully shaped, the spinnaker will be smoother and theoretically faster.
4) Since it doesn't stretch as much as the crosscut it allows us to make it fuller and more powerful for downwind sailing knowing that it won't become fuller on a reach.

Having said that, the crosscut is still a very fast sail...the BR1 is just the latest technology and has proven to be quite speedy as well.

Answer by Greg Fisher

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What are the major differences between sailing Flying Scots and Thistles downwind? Does the Scot demand a higher downwind angle than the Thistle?

Basically I think that since the Flying Scot is a bit slower than the Thistle sailing hotter angles unless its really light doesn't gain you much.

I think usually we sail deeper in the Scot and heel the boat to weather more. It really light stuff, however, you have to heat the Scot up to get the chute filled and the boat up to speed. Since the Thsitle is much quicker reacting it does react to the "ups and downs" and changes to wind velocity much more that the Scot. I think you'll sail hotter to get speed and then dive a bit deeper, and quicker, once you have it.

Answer by Greg Fisher

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How the jib trimmer and helmsman work together to keep the boat flat and go fast up wind in a breeze ?

1) when a puff hits it is imperative that the boat stay flat. Usually that entails an ease on the main sheet to keep the boat balanced and on its feet.

2) the skipper will slowly feather up closer to the wind as the puff builds...hopefully he has anticipated and maintains proper balance...at the highest he'll steer in a good sized puff it will not be unusual for the jib luff to actually break (ie "pinch") as much as 18' nack from the leading edge. How far back (how high he steers) is determined by how flat the water is (can pinch more when flatter), how big the puff is and how much speed he was carrying going into the puff.

3) In bigger puffs, and/or a lift at the same time, it is advantageous for the jib trimmer to briefly ease about 3-5" and then quickly trim back in. This brief ease will allow the skipper an easier time in steering the boat into the wind and the helm to balance back up quicker- we are looking for a neutral helm ( no tug or push) as much as possible. Practice is helpful here as too much ease, or at the wrong time can rob the boat of precious power when need the most.

Answer by Greg Fisher

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I can not make my boat point. I am 10-15 % less then everyone else - loose rig- wt app 380lbs.
I have the boat speed just no pointing. Rig is tuned exactly to your guide, and am using your guide for trimming.

Usually pointing issues come from main trim...if the sheet and/or vang are a little too loose the boat won't have the helm (desire) to point closer to the wind. Especially if its blowing hard, or the water is flat, keeping the main in tighter (not drum tight of course) and allowing the luff of the jib to break (feather) as much as 5-8" back from the luff will give an additional few degrees of pointing.

Answer by Greg Fisher

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What is the ideal crew weight for a Flying Scot, and where do I want to place the weight?

I think a perfect all around weight is 425lbs...but of course sailing in breeze or light stuff can effect whether you'd go a little higher or lower.

Normally the skipper sits across from the back of the trunk and the forward crew is just aft of the jib tracks...if a third crew is involved they snuggle in between....

In chop they'll move back about six inches. In light winds everyone will move forward only 6"...no more.

Downwind, the crew slides back a bit...maybe a good foot farther aft than where they'd be upwind in the same condition. When its blowing hard (above 18mph) everyone is looking to climb as far aft as possible without sitting on the aft deck.

Answer by Greg Fisher

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My mainsail has a wrinkle running parallel with the leech. The wrinkle runs all the way from the luff to the foot of the sail. I tried adjusting the boom vang, outhaul and halyard but the wrinkle remains. What do I need to do?

It sounds to me that there could be two issues creating this problem for you. First, as basic as this may sound, I'd check that your battens are in the right way. Sometimes they get switched around and the stiff end is put in first which will create a hard spot as you have experienced.

Unfortunately, sometimes this winkle can be a sign of age in a sail.When the cloth breaks down, the draft moves aft, the leech gets softer and has a difficult supporting...thus the crease. Usually, this doesn't happen until the sail is more than several years old and has some heavy mileage on it.

Its unusual that there could be sail setting issues, especially on the Scot, that could create the wrinkle. In other boats, extreme mast bend, especially sideways, can create a leech support issue, and thus the wrinkle. Usually, though, the sail/mast set up would have to be way out of tune to create a sail distortion problem. Hope this helps...please feel free if you have any other questions...

Answer by Greg Fisher