Ullman\Skelley’s J-105
Tip Sheet--2007
Ullman\Skelleys impact on
the J-105 Class has been a sailmaking success story. Five years of
outstanding results in major regattas across the United States has
established U\S as the #1 winning sailmaker of the class. We attribute our
success not only to excellent sail development but also to the fact that we
totally understand the effect of rig tuning in respect to our sails and that
we have been able to communicate that information to our J-105 customers.
In addition to our
comprehensive tuning guide we have gathered valuable bits of information
from our experiences and those of our customers. There should be something
here that will benefit both the beginner as well as the experienced. We
will try to update this tip sheet with new info and pictures as they become
available.
Good Sailing
Max Skelley
us@skelleysails.com
Class Jib
Jib lead position-
Hook a tape measure on the inside of the toggle that attaches the stay to
the stem head fitting under drum at bow and measure back 16’ 1 ½” to mark
your jib track. You will have a good reference point for jib lead position.
This mark, lined up with the center of the jib block should be your primary
jib car position. This measurement can vary up to 1” forward or aft because
the mast lengths and “J” measurements vary from boat to boat.
Trim
tip-
When
the jib lead position is correct. Sailing upwind, the top inside windward
telltale should lift, (break) before the lower two. Have the helmsman
slowly luff the jib by sailing from a close-hauled course to slightly higher
and make sure this is the case. This twist in the upper jib improves the
flow behind twisted mainsail shape and decreases the stall incidence of the
jib. The foot of the sail should appear somewhat flat when the jib lead is
in the correct position. The leads rarely need to be moved from the 16’ 1 ½”
position. The J-105 jib has a very small chord length in the upper area,
requiring very little lead adjustments. Small changes in Jib sheet tension
is usually all that is needed to change jib shape for continually changing
conditions. In very light choppy conditions, many class veterans have been
successful moving the lead aft, keeping the top of the jib very twisted and
barber hauling the clew in 1” to 3”. This powers up the lower portion of the
sail. This technique is easier to use with the full keel model, but has
been used with success in shoal draft models as well.
A)
In very heavy air (20+ knots) the J-105 can become
challenging to steer. Easing the jib sheet is one way to settle down the
boat to a more or less constant heel. When having to ease the jib to a
position where pointing is affected, it is time to move the lead aft, one or
two factory holes. Determine exact lead position by feel of
helm and angle of heel Remember; if the mainsail is trimmed properly, and
the boat is still continually being knocked over by puffs, the lead is
probably too far forward or jib sheet is too tight. Ease jib until pointing
is affected and then drops the lead back until the boat tracks upwind with a
more constant angle of heel.”
Jib Sheet Tension. Jib
sheet tension should be trimmed according to the upper two leech telltales
near top vertical batten. Under 12 knots the Jib should be trimmed so that
the two leech telltales are flying approx. 80% of the time. When sailing in
very smooth water, good helmsmen can get away with telltales flying 70% of
the time. In sloppy shifty conditions, keep tell tales stalled to a very
minimum. “When in doubt, let it out”.
Trim Tips/ 0-12
knots
The
wind strength is always changing therefore your jib sheet tension should
always be changing. The J-105 is underpowered up to 12 knots. The jib
sheet should never be cleated in this condition! Crew weight is not needed
on the windward rail so keep the trimmer at the winch with jib sheet in
hand. Trim in 1/2” increments with winch handle at all times. As the
breeze increases in ½ knot increments, the jib sheet can be tightened,
always keeping the 2 leech tell tales on the verge of stalling. As the
velocity decreases, be quick to ease the sheet or the top leech telltales
will stall quickly. The jib trimmer should always be trying to keep the
leech tell tales just on the verge of stalling to maximize pointing ability.
Over 12 Knots-
Once
the breeze increases over 12 knots, less jib trimming is required, although
easing the jib 2 to 3” for big sets of waves can very effective. At 12
knots all crew should be fully hiked. There should be no one to leeward to
trim the jib. This is where windward sheeting is very effective.
Tip:
windward sheeting allows the jib trimmer to ease the jib for large sets of
waves and for ducking other boats without giving up the crucial weight on
the windward side. Unless your jib trimmer is very light in weight (140 lbs
or under), it is not worth losing the weight on the rail to make small jib
sheet adjustments.
Halyard Tension—Your
triradial/pentex jib is designed using 3-dimensional shaped horizontal and
radial panels. When new, this sail does not require hard halyard tension to
shape it. Be very careful never to over tension the jib halyard or the
competitive life of the jib can be sharply decreased. Generally we like to
start sailing with hand tight halyard tension, slowly tightening with a
winch handle until just a hint of wrinkles are showing for 0-12 and wrinkles
just disappearing for 12+ knots. The jib halyard tension controls entry
smoothness and to some extent, leech tension. (If you adjust halyard tension
without easing sheet tension, then you have tightened the leech.)
Tip
A). New Jibs can
be sailed first several races with more wrinkles in luff in under 10 knots
of air.
Mainsail
Mainsail Trim. “upwind 0-11 knots”
A: Traveler position- controls
the amount of twist for a given amount of mainsheet tension. We have found
that from 0-11 knots, the leeward side of the traveler car should be even
with the inside edge of the windward seat. With the correct amount of
mainsheet tension, the boom will be positioned between the centerline of the
boat and 6” below, depending on wind and wave conditions.
Note! To check boom
centerline position, have the mainsheet trimmer face aft and line the end of
the boom up with backstay.
Mainsheet 0-11 knots
1-Keep top
leech tell tale flying approx. 65% of the time.
2-Keep aft
50% of top batten parallel to boom.
3-Keep boom
close to center line, never any lower than 6”.
If these rules are followed
under 11 knots, the mainsail will never be far out of trim.
Once the Mainsheet is trimmed
in this general manner, small 2” to 5” incremental charges can often add
tenths to the knot meter. While these 3 rules will keep you close, don’t be
afraid to tinker. The Mainsheet should be eased 3” to 5” when tacking,
accelerating after hitting large sets of waves or when making small helm
adjustments while ducking other boats.
Tip. “Tacking”.
A) When tacking,
ease Mainsheet 3 to 5” as soon as sail starts to luff. Never before! As the
boat travels through the wind quickly move traveler to new high
side. The trick is to get the traveler to the new side before the sails
fill on the new tack. Once the sail fills the boom should be approx 6”
below centerline. As the speed begins to build, slowly bring the boom back
toward centerline by tightening the mainsheet 3 to 5”.
Mainsail Trim- Upwind 10-15 knots
Once the wind velocity builds
to the 10-15 knot range and the boat becomes slightly over-powered, and in
the puffs, the traveler should be played between the light air windward
seat position and 10” below that point. Play the traveler in conjunction
with the mainsheet to keep the boat from heeling in the puffs.
Use mainsheet adjustment for
acceleration and traveler adjustment to control heel and balance.
With the wind velocity in the
10 to 15 knot range, more aggressive mainsheet adjustments are need to keep
the boat up to speed. Where you were making 3” to 5” increment adjustments,
you will now be making 6” to 18” in the fine tune sheet tension.
Note: In this 10-15 medium
range condition, keeping the traveler in the 10” quadrant (car even with
seat to 10” below) allows you to ease the mainsheet, twisting the upper
leech for speed and acceleration, while keeping the lower portion of the
mainsail close to centerline for maximum pointing.
Mainsail Trim- Upwind over 15 knots
Once the wind velocity is a
steady 15 and over, the traveler can be near the middle. In the heavier
wind condition, trim the main to boat speed and pointing relative to other
boats. Again, as the J-105 becomes over-powered much more aggressive
mainsail adjustments are required to keep the boat up to speed. As the boat
pounds a large set of waves or the helmsman over-steers a tack or duck, the
speed can drop more than a knot. This is when an aggressive 2’ or 3’ ease
on the fine tune will get the boat back up to speed quickly. The mainsail
trimmer should be totally focused on the knot meter and the relative heel of
the boat.
Halyard/Cunningham tension
Luff tension should be
controlled by halyard tension whenever possible. Adjust halyard tension so
there is just a hint of wrinkles up and down the luff. Unfortunately, the
class rules do not allow double clutches so there is a slippage problem to
contend with.
Tips.
Both main halyard and jib halyard will slip in over 12 knots. To
eliminate slippage, keep both halyards around self-tailing winches on cabin
top. Main and jib halyards can be adjusted during tacks.
Note: Boats come
from factory with both halyards on port side. You should move jib halyard to
starboard. There is an extra halyard exit on one side that will enable you
to switch halyards.
Halyard slippage
in heavier air on mainsail and jib is detrimental to boat-speed. Keeping the
mainsail near max hoist (black band) keeps more sail area up high,
increasing performance in light air as well.
As the wind increases to
16 knots and the backstay is being used to de-power and balance the boat,
excessive lower mast bend wrinkles can occur in lower third of mainsail.
Because of the friction of the mast slugs, these wrinkles may have to be
reduced by Cunningham.
Always tension
halyard first to eliminate large wrinkles on luff and then use the
Cunningham to smooth lower 1/3 of luff to just a hint of wrinkles.
In
heavy air the halyard should be eased downwind; just enough to let the draft
move back in the mainsail. Since the halyard winches will be loaded with
spinnaker sheets while sailing downwind, you may not get a chance to tighten
main halyard until after rounding leeward mark. If this is the case, use
Cunningham to smooth luff until tacking and then get halyard tension during
tacks.
Tip.
Mark your
halyards with a magic marker at the box when at full hoist, so you will know
when sail is at fully hoisted without looking up.
Vang
When sailing upwind in a
J-105, the vang should only be used to control leech tension when it is so
windy that you actually have to release the mainsheet in puffs to control
boat. Generally, easing traveler is all that is needed to de-power
mainsail. The mainsheet attaches to the end of the boom, allowing good
control of leech tension with mainsheet alone.
We recommend sailing upwind
with the vang adjusted just so the slack is taken out. This is just enough
tension to keep the boom from lifting in the tacks, which would cause the
upper leech to dump power prematurely.
In very windy conditions, (18
knots +) there have some excellent 105 sailors who have been successfully
vang sheeting upwind by keeping traveler near center and playing the fine
tune sheet in the puffs. Your vang must be very firm to use this technique.
(approx. 5” over snug.) This is a technique learned from dingy sailing and
takes some practice to become effective.
Tip.
Downwind. The
vang should be adjusted so aft 50 percent of top batten is parallel with the
boom. The leech telltale should fly about 90 % of the time. If the vang is
adjusted correctly in chop, you should see the upper leech open slightly
when the boat hits a wave. The vang will have to be adjusted downwind as
wind increases and decreases. Most boats do not pay enough attention to vang
tension when sailing downwind.
Spinnaker
Halyard– Use full
hoist. Always!
Tack line– Should be
eased to the point that the line is vertical or slightly cocked to windward.
It the angle of the tack line (picture) ever starts to go toward the leeward
side, you should tighten until the tack line goes to a vertical position.
Note; to determine tack height the boat must be sailing correct sailing
angle. The maximum height is about 3’. 1 1/2’ to 2 1/2’
are average heights.
Spinnaker Sheet Tension–
The spinnaker sheet should be trimmed as loosely as possible, without
the sail collapsing. The sheet should be continually eased and trimmed,
keeping a constant curl popping in and out of the sail.
In lighter breeze (under
7 knots), you can actually have the sail collapse and sail over it. When
small puffs arrive, your apparent wind can go forward quickly causing the
spinnaker to curl toward a collapse. The trimmer must trim very
aggressively in these conditions, pulling in 1’ to 7’of sheet quickly until
the sail fills and then immediately easing the sheet until the curl
reappears.
The spinnaker trimmer should
stand near the windward shrouds, forward enough to see clew of sail. The
clew of the spinnaker is a good indicator of whether you are sailing the
correct angle. The Trimmer, using feedback from the clew and pressure on
the sheet should communicate with the helmsman about course.
The clew should always be
lifting. If the clew shows any signs of hanging or falling, the trimmer
should immediately coax the helmsman into coming up a few degrees until the
clew starts to lift. Good trimmers keep an eye on the clew helping them
keep the helmsman steering as low as possible and pushing that edge.
Crew
Weight Position– In 8 knots of air and up the J-105 should be sailed
with windward heel. Position the crew just aft of shrouds, closely bunched
on windward side. This windward heel helps rotate the spinnaker to windward
as well as lifting the mainsail higher into more pressure. * As the wind
increases over 14 knots start to move the crew back, just forward of the
forward cockpit. Use the deck winches as a center point for crew weight.
Again, keep crew bunched to windward. * In 20 plus knots, the spinnaker
trimmer should also move back. The Mainsail Trimmer should never leave the
cockpit.
|
