Snipe

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Could you tell me a bit about how you trim the jib through the windrange?

I have found the jib trim to be very important in the snipe.  Pablo and I talk a lot about how best to trim the North jibs so we both have very similar technique.  In light air, our lead-to-lead measurement is around 68cm.  In heavy air we go outboard about 6cm.  We ease the jib simultaneously with any mainsheet ease to keep the slot open.  In heavy air, I have found it best to be in a more bow down mode with both tell tails streaming straight back.  In light air, I keep an eye on the upper leach tell-tail to make sure it is flying 100% of the time, but on the verge of stalling.

Answer by Brian Bissell

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Going over the mast tuning guide things have changed and here is what I see.

My Old Tune
Spreader Length 16.5", Tip to Tip 29.5"

Old Tuning Guide
Spreader Length "The range adjustment for this setting is 15 1/2" to 16 5/8"
Tip to Tip "Range of adjustment on this setting is 27.5" to 30.5"

New Tuning Guide
Spreader Length - "For Most Boats this length is 16 3/4"
Tip to Tip- Starting point 30 11/16" (Between 29 15/16 to 31 1/2" depending on wind)
Then they go through a chart which leaves alot of questions and is a bit difficult to understand.

Reading the new guide I moved my spreader length out 1/4" and spread my tip to tip out 1 3/16"
Am I making a big mistake?

I do think that lengthening your spreaders and spreading them is a good idea to try. At 325 you could use the power. I would check that the mast is straight laterally in the boat when sailing up wind...sight up the back. This would set the spreader length. Bowing to windward too short..sagging to leeward too long.

As far as the sweep look for inversion wrinkles in the main only below the spreaders...I wonder with them being swept a little farther aft that you haven't been able to vang sheet as well in a breeze and the boat is harder to hold down as a result. If the mast is over bending you can't sheet as hard or vang as hard and the upper leech may be too " firm"...maybe a stiffer mast will allow you to vang against it a bit more and then allow you sail with a little more twist and a forgiving groove... I'd give it a shot. The little extra sweep won't stiffen the mast much at all in the lihter stuff so you'll be fine there still. I'd just check the lateral mast straightness and go from them. Let me know how it works!

Answer by Greg Fisher

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I have bought recently a set of Snipe sails 2 x BR-1 jibs and 1 AP-3 . I am one of the few guys still using skipper boat and I want to know your opinion if it need any changes in the boat tunning using as reference the North tunning guide updated by Paradeda.

I use Sidewinder and our crew weight is 150 Kg. We do well in heavy wind, but have problems using this main in very light wind . We are not very worry with our weight because when we use a very straight old main the boat goes well, but we prefer to have only an all round main. I was wondering if the fact that the Skipper has the mast butt higher than the other boats dificults to achieve ( without much tension) the prebend this main needs with lighter winds. Anyway all suggestions will be very well received.

Our tunning for light in cm. is :

Shrouds 6.55 / Rake 6,61 / Spreaders 42,5 / S. Angle 76 / Shroud location 179

With heavy we change the shrouds to 6,38 and the jib lead 5 cm forward and we go really fast upwind.


It sounds to me like the mainsail is setting up too full fro light air. The problem is most likely that the mast does
have enough pre-bend in it for the light winds. You need to have about 2.5 to 3 cms of prebend with the boat on the trailer for the light wind setting. Here are some ideas to try. I would try one at a time and see how it goes. Keep careful notes of your progress:

1) File down the front of the mast butt casting. This will help the mast bend more easily and with the higher floor Skipper this is important. File it down enough so that one the bakc of the mast butt sits on the mast step.
This alows the mast to rock forward and "prebend" in lighter winds.

2) Sail with the outhaul pretty tight in all conditions, even light air. The AP-3 is pretty full in the bottom and easing the outhaul upwind never seems to help.

3) If you can move the shrouds forward on the sides of the boat. This will move the spreaders forward and halp to induce more pre-bend.

4) Get adjustable spreaders and sail with more sweep in lighter winds. Moving the spreaders forward in the breeze will help to stiffen the mast but when the winds drops you need to sweep the spreaders back to "soften the mast". Check the tuning guide for the range of adjustment here.

5) When the wind is light enough that your crew is inside the boat, make sure you move the mast forward .5 cm. This will put more bend in the mast too obviously and help to open the leech of the mainsail which is what is really slowing you down.

Hope these ideas help. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

Answer by Chris Snow

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Shoud the mast pusher/puller be off when sailing in medium wind conditions, or do you "lock" the mast at the neutral position with tightening both fore and aft pusher/puller ?

We "lock" the mast so that when we trim the mainsheet the mast stays put and does not bend too much.

Answer by Chris Snow

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I sail my Snipe on the light side…what can I do to hang on in big breeze?

The first thing you need to remember is that the Snipe, like almost every boat has to be sailed flat to go fast. To be able to keep the boat flat as a lighter crew you will need to depower a bit more than the other guys. Tighten your shrouds a ½ hole or two and keep the mast rake the same to tighten the headstay which will depower the jib. Also be sure to drop the traveller so you can keep both parts of the bridle tight when trimming the main most of the time, this will help keep the headstay tight.. Keep your eyes forward and play the main sheet in anticipation of the puffs so the boat does not heel and go sideways in the puffs. Allow the mast to move forward of the neutral mark as much as needed to depower the main and keep the boat flat.

Answer by Chris Snow