High is Low

There's been a surface high parked over the mid-Atlantic for the past couple of days. High pressure results is beautiful weather for water skiing, not so good for mothing. I've had my share of low-riding, I really need some good foiling breeze. This afternoon a weak sea breeze filled in around 4:30 and I got a couple of hours in. Nothing spectacular, but the breeze of between 7 and 10 did result in a few foilborne runs. I even got 80% of the way through a jibe, only to fall off before I could get the sail powered up on the other tack.

The one thing I need to do is to put some numbered tape on the mast and vang falls so I can reproduce cunny and vang tension. It seemed just a small variation in tension resulted in big differences in power. I don't have enough time on the boat to just look at the sail and determine if the draft is correct or if the leech tension is what it should be. I know Bora said to put everything on hard all the time, but surely in the light to medium stuff there needs to be some gear shifting.

I'm also a little unsure how much sheet to have operating. I remember at Weymouth looking at Amac's sheeting arrangement - he seemed to only have about a foot before the knot hit the block. Maybe that makes sense in a breeze, but again, I gotta believe in the moderate stuff more sheet in needed. So, here's another question to the mothosphere: How much sheet is available on your setup, for a blow and for the 10 knot stuff? Also, I'm suspecting that most folks use a 3-1 purchase with perhaps dropping to 2-1 in the lighter stuff.

Enjoy Boz Scaggs



Lowdown, by William Scaggs and David Paich (1976)

Baby's into running around
Hanging with the crowd
Putting your business in the street talking out loud
Saying you bought her this and that
And how much you done spent
I swear she must believe it's all heaven sent
Hey boy you better bring the chick around
To the sad truth the dirty lowdown

(Who I wonder who) taught her how to talk like that
(Who I wonder who) gave her that big idea

Nothing you can't handle nothing you ain't got
Put the money on the table and drive it off the lot
Turn on that ole lovelight and turn a maybe to a yes
Same old schoolboy game got you into this mess
Hey son better get back to town
Face the sad old truth the dirty lowdown

(Who I wonder who) put those ideas in your head
(Who I wonder who) yeah
Come on back down little son
Dig the low low low low lowdown

You ain't got to be so bad got to be so cold
This dog eat dog existence sure is getting old
Got to have a Jones for this Jones for that
This running with the Joneses boy
Just ain't where it's at
You gonna come back around
To the sad sad truth the dirty lowdown

(Who I wonder who) got you thinking like that boy
(Who I wonder who)
(Who I wonder who said who I wonder who)
Oh look out for that lowdown
That dirty dirty dirty dirty lowdown
(Who I wonder who ohh ohh)
Got you thinking like that