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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:18 pm
by Guest
I've just bought a new J109 (hull 260) which I will be racing in NJ & NY next year. I am looking for any items that current owners have changed on their boats to help performance compared with what was delivered with the boat such as halyards, spinnaker sheets, etc
[Posted by: Adrian Begley
]
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 6:55 am
by chris_z
Adrian,
First, welcome to the club, you have a great boat for racing, I am sure you will really enjoy it.
So, are you racing one-design or PHRF? If it is one-design there are not a lot of items that can be "changed" to help performance. Kinda defeats the purpose of one-design, right? If you are racing PHRF, there are two things that we did that helped a lot. First, we replaced one set of the spinnaker blocks with a Ronstan ratcheting block. This allows our spin trimmer to trim the spin by hand without putting it on a winch. Gives him far better feel and control. Second, we use a continuous jib sheet when we use the Genoa, so we do not have to tie two bowlines to the clew. This helps in keeping the clew of the sail from getting caught on the shrouds.
If you are looking to improve performance, the best tip I can offer is to go out and RACE, RACE, RACE!!! We did 53 races on the boat this summer, gotta say we were a lot better by the end of the year. This was our first full year with the boat.
But, these are just my opinions. I would be interested in hearing from some of the top one-design boats on any tweaks they have made to the standard set-up that helps them to improve performance. Guys???
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 1:12 pm
by Guest
Nice tip Chris re: rachet blocks (btw, which did you replace), continuous sheet and of course practice, practice, practice...
Adrian, from our perspective: (1) keep the boat as light as possible (amazing affect on speed & pointing); (2) optimum rig tune based on conditions is critical (see one of the tuning guides for starters); (3) always follow rule number one: HAVE FUN!
[Posted by: Barry
]
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 6:18 pm
by chris_z
I left the aft most blocks the standard, non-ratcheting blocks, and replaced the ones near the primary winches with Ronstans.
I second Barry's comment, keep the weight off the boat. You will be amazed at what a difference it makes.
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 1:50 pm
by Guest
Look forward to seeing you out there next year, Adrian. Burt at Custom Offshore knows the boat as well as anyone, and will get you set up with most of the important extras. We upgraded our primary halyards for the jib and chute, our cunningham, and our jib and chute sheets. Everyone take notice, we will have 6 109s on Raritan Bay in 2006, and 4 regattas that should have one-design starts. It's a nice trip down the East River from the Sound, total about 8 hours. Please come down and race with us.
[Posted by: Mike Brown
]