Reply To: How much does your mast bend?
Alex,
Your mast seems similar to mine but with a bit more bend at the bottom.
My feelings currently are that I am going to try a much stiffer mast with a good sail that fits. (This is still the most important factor).
I have had soft and stiff masts over time and I prefer slightly stiffer rigs with slightly flatter cut sails, but I cannot just advise that this is the route to take because of many other factors including your experience and style. This why OKs are so good because individuals can find their own route.
I feel that to get good performance out of softer mast, you end up with a fuller sail and this seems to limit the range of the sail (mine is good from just sitting on the side to 3ish upwind and a bit late to plane downwind). The other factor that is important is that it is harder to control a soft rig on a run in a blow.
I used the soft mast at the nationals on day 1 and it was OK on flat water in “just sitting on the side” conditions. When the water became choppier because of the tide I was lacking in power and slid backwards in the fleet. Others were powered up sooner than I was. In a breeze you are always going to have to work hard but I find that the bigger guys with stiffer rigs were climbing up higher than me on the beats and it was very hard to hold a slot off the start line.
The bendy rig also gave me some decent results at Salcombe and a good light weather race at the Inlands.
The stiff mast with a “nearly fits” sail (North) gave me a 7 on day two and a 2 in the light on the last race. I was overpowered in the breeze- I think I oversheeted and a better fitting sail would have helped.
I am always going to have to work hard in a breeze at 74 kilos.
A lot of good guys tell me that they got a mast like yours to go very fast with a decent sail so I can not be definitive and say it won’t suit you.
I also feel that to get tied up with studying what the top boys use can lead you astray. They are at the top because they are very good- they would beat me if they used a bamboo stick with a tablecloth on it! The fashion seems to be for even stiffer rigs at the very top of the fleet but they are very fit people (some of them anyway) and fast sailors.
Certainly a decent al mast with a decent sail that fits is better than a bad carbon with a sail that doesn’t fit.
Other aces will probably now say I am talking b***s but this is how I see it. I hope this helps you. Youe need to get some racing with other OKs to get a feel of how it goes. You are always welcome to South Staffs if you are this way – we can lend you a boat if you want.
Bill
