I have been racing sailboats for a few years now and one comes to realize that the further you progress and the higher the level of racing, more and more of the rig is constantly being tuned during the race. things such as downhaul and outhaul have been adjustable almost from the start. So how is it, especially with modern windsurfing sails that incorporate the twisting leach concept so drastically, that rarely do we ever see a racer, if ever, using an adjustable downhaul when many armature speed enthusiast uses adjustable outhauls and harness lines. the downhaul tension today is probably the the most important adjustment we can make and changes the power and stability of the sail more then the outhaul could ever dream to, and yet nobody uses it? I saw a couple of guys sailing on RS:X boards today and they all had one rigged, in fact the sails are built for it!

So, does anybody have an idea why nobody uses one of these? Polarbear maybe since you seem to have tons of experience in this discipline of our sport? I looked through the PWA racing rules and couldn't find anything about such a system being banned from use in competitions, the only limitations i found on gear was that the board had to be less then 80cm wide and the sail had to be less than 10m, anybody know what the deal is? :blink:

This is a few examples of what such set ups may look like...

all I can GUESS is: downhaul is intensive. NOT nearly as easy as outhaul. The North extension with the little crank, is that an adjustable downhaul ? That one would make more sense in terms of physics and physical effort. Rarely have I seen someone locally come in and adjust downhaul. Perhaps one way to lossen or tighten leech would be to work at the clew ? Sailworks uses 2 grommets to adjust for wind. Higher one to keep leech tighter and lower one for looser leech and stronger winds. As I said... these are just my non-racer, equipment detail lover comments :)

the north crank system is about as adjustable, comfort and "on the fly" wise, as a regular out haul, you still need to be in the water to make the adjustment. this, you can just pull it on. literally from the foot straps while planning and de-power or power up the rig. next time you rig up your sail, try playing around with the down haul setting a little, it makes a massive difference. on north sails, new ezzy and sailworks sails (quite possibly others that i am forgetting..) there are small indicators where the wrinkles in the head should reach for low, med, and high wind settings. the only way to change those wrinkles without making your sail as flat as a board for the light wind setting (definitely not what you want) is to pull on or let off the down haul. lots of downhaul flattens out the draft of your sail while letting more of the leach twist off thus de-powering your sail. less downhaul gives your sail more draft and tightens up the leach utilizing more of the sail area that your carrying around anyways. personally i almost never have the wrinkles reach the light wind indicator on my sails and i usually plane earlier and pass guys with bigger sails on bigger boards who are the same weight range as i am, who are by the way much better windsurfers then i am :zarbi:

Hey

I've got some questions regarding North Extensions (see link : http://www.north-windsurf.com/en/rig-compo...sions-Overview)

Do they allow to increase & decrease down haul in the water, or they only allow to increase dowhaul ?

I have to admit that I'm having some tuning issues with my 7.5 and 6.5 sails, and I never changed the downhaul in the middle of a session, it`s way too long! I know I should take time do to it sometimes, but having to come back to the shore took forever this summer du to the low water level.

Having the option to change it on the water seems very interesting! Did anyone buy this extension, and if so, did the crank worked fine in the water?

Thanks,

Max

Do you mean the XTR with the little lever ? If so, buy one it is exactly what you need. You can adjust both ways whenever you feel like it. It is so easy anybody can crank a modern race sail so the leech is completly open.

It acts as a ratchet so you can give or take 0.5cm with each click.

I don't have one but I saw it in action and it is impressive. This summer in Mauï it's what the North Sails testing crew was using on BIG sails. Everybody I met who has one (or 2) would never go back to the regular extension.

Je crois que c'est surtout utilisé en formula alors que les gars sont soit au près quasi face au vent ou bien complètement vent arrière. Dans ce cas ça vaut la peine.

Moi honnêtement c'est plutôt rare que j'arrête pour changer le setting de ma voile. Plus souvent qu'autrement lorsque je me sens over j'entre changer de voile; j'aime pas être over :naan: