MELGES 32 - the Melges 32 Class Association

MELGES 32North Sails One DesignTuning GuideThis guide has been written to get the most out of your newMelges 32. North Sails has been the pioneer in sail development inthe class and will strive to give you any new information thatarises. Please keep in mind that this information is partial. Sailingvenues and conditions vary; you may find slightly differentsettings that work better for you..TUNING THE RIGPrior to stepping the Mast:Heasdstay LengthThis length is measured from the center of the pins at the hounds and the stem fitting andshould equal 42’7” or 12980. The headstays are set at the factory to this length. The othermeasurement to double check mast rake is to pull a 100’ tape measure up the main halyard,latch the ball at the highest setting and measure 52’10” to the bottom corner of the transomat the hull.Mast Butt PlacementThe base of the mast should be positioned 7” measuring from the aft shiny molded surfaceof the main bulkhead to the center of the socket in the mast step plate. Once the mast butt isin position tighten it down to secure it. Check the hydraulic ram for any dirt, or foreignobjects before connecting the hose. Make sure the fluid level is at least ¾ full. You willhave to open the valve on the hydraulic pump to connect the hose.Tuning the Rig• Step One: With slack lowers and intermediates, tighten the upper shrouds to #6 onthe Model PT-3 Loos tension gauge(be sure to place the gauge above the chafeguard on the shrouds or slide the chafe guard up out of the way). It is recommendedthat the upper shrouds be set up at the light air setting with the mast jack all the waydown. That way you can simply go all the way down for light air, or if there is ajack failure, you are closer to the correct settings and can go to turnbuckle

adjustments to continue sailing. Cleat the jib halyard so the shackle touches the railat the chainplates using a light pull. Measure the same spot on the other side of theboat. If the mast is in centered, the shackle will touch evenly on each side. If not,adjust the uppers until it touches evenly.• Step two: Now that the mast is in centered and the upper shrouds are tensioned to 6,it is time to tune the intermediate shrouds. Tighten the intermediates so the slack istaken out and they are hand tight plus 1 turn. Site up the aft side of the mast toinsure the tunnel is straight side to side. Final tuning of the intermediates needs tobe done on the water going to windward.• Step Three: Again sighting up the mainsail track to keep the rig straight, tighten thelower shrouds, to hand tight minus 1 complete turn. Given this tension the resultshould be approximately 1”of pre bend. Check the rig for overall straightness both atthe dock and again while sailing by sighting up the mainsail track. Adjust theshrouds appropriately to get the mast straight. Secure the turnbuckles with theVelcro wrap provided.• The hydraulic ram should be completely slack. Take a plastic or wood ruler andsecurely attach it to the stringer directly beside the mast base. This will be used for areference tool while adjusting the ram under way. Make sure it is secure. Sail bagsand items left loose will knock it out. This needs to be a constant every time youtune. You will be looking at the base of the mast and the marks on the ruler.On the waterChanging BreezesTuning is now complete for 0-6 kts. See the Tuning Matrix below for detailed ram tensioninstructions.The simplicity of the ram allows you to leave the shrouds alone. Now all you will do is adjust theram in increments of “pumps” on the ram.Melges 32 Tuning MatrixWind Speed 0-6 6-10 10-14 15-20 20+Ram Base, 6 on Loos 6 on Loos 10 on Loos 12 on Loos 14 on LoosVang Slack Slack Taught Tight Vang sheetCunningham Loose Loose 50% on Tight TightMain Sheet 5° twist if possible 5º twist, to no twist No twist to 5º twist 10º twist 15-25º twistHarder, but alwaysSoft, upper TTJib sheetkeep top TTSameSameflowingflowingSofter in big stuff,more twistMiddle to 25% Middle to 50%Traveler 50% to weather 50% weather MiddleDownDownForward, luff breakJib LeadSame Flatten foot slightly 2-3 aft of light 3-6 aft of lightevenlyJust pull outSlight Wrinkle inJib HalyardNo Wrinkles No wrinkles No wrinkleswrinkles luffMain outhaul off 2" off 1" Pull to band Pull to band Pull to band25% on whenBackstay None None50% on Maxoverpowered

SAIL TRIMUpwindMainsail TrimWithout getting overly detailed, because everybody sails to their own style, the following are basictips for trimming the 3DL main. " Twist is fast ". By this we mean that it is necessary to open up thetop of the leech and maintain flow over the top of the sail. A good rule of thumb is to trim until thetop leech telltale is just stalling and then ease out two to three inches of sheet so that the telltale isflowing again. This is unlike many other one designs that like to have the top batten parallel to theboom in most conditions. In light air the traveler should be pulled to weather.As the breeze builds we need to maintain a balanced helm. Begin by pulling on the backstay toflatten the top of the main. Drop the traveler down in increments of 6" of every 3 knots over 10knots. As you drop the traveler, you need to pull more mainsheet on to tighten the leech andmaintain pointing ability. In big breeze, the top of the main is twisted well off and the bottom 1/3 ofthe main is doing most of the work. If the main is back winding from the jib you can keep the maintraveler closer to the center. If the waves are big it tends to work better to keep the traveler centeredand work the main sheet and fine tune the back stay.Jib SheetThree things control the jib shape: sheet tension, car placement, and halyard control. The sheettension has the most obvious effect, so we'll talk about that first. The sheet controls the leech twistand how far the sail is pulled in. If you look at the overall sail as it relates to the sheet it does twothings. Picture the boat on a close hauled course and the jib luffing, as you pull in the sheet, first theangle of the sail changes, then as the last few inches are tensioned the leech gets tighter. In short, itpulls it in and then down.It is important to try to match the leech profile of the jib to the profile of the lee side of the main.Try to envision how the sails would look from a motorboat trailing behind you. Place marks on thesheet to duplicate settings if necessary.Jib CarThe car placement controls how flat or round the jib is in the lower section of the sail and theamount of leech tension. The farther aft the car is on the track the flatter the bottom third of the sailgets and the less leech tension you can get. Conversely, the farther forward the car the more roundthe foot and the tighter the leech gets. When the lead is at its maximum aft desired position the footof the jib will crease as the middle batten comes parallel with the centerline of the boat. In short,rounder shape delivers more power, a flatter shape delivers more speed. Make marks on the deck tobe able to copy fast settings. Again, this can change with conditions and other variables. Below is arule of thumb:Flat Water = Flat sail. Bumpy Water = full / rounder sail.Finally lets address halyard tension. It very subtly changes the draft characteristics of the sail. Asone pulls the halyard tighter the draft of the jib moves forward and as one eases halyard the draftmoves aft again. In lighter air the halyard tension should be loose enough so that there is a hint of

wrinkling in the luff of the sail. As the breeze builds the halyard must be pulled on harder toeliminate those wrinkles, but not so much that you over stretch the material!Crew PositionWhen sailing upwind in light air you need to move the crew forward and out of thetransom of the boat. This reduces wetted surface and helps with the boat attitude throughthe water. As the breeze builds this is less critical and weight outboard and centeredaround the widest part of the boat is best and aft.DownwindBe sure to power up the mainsail when sailing downwind. Ease off the cunningham,outhaul, and backstay. Adjust the vang so the top batten is parallel to the boom or justslightly open. Be sure not to hook the battens to windward with a lot of vang tension.Remember to let off the vang while rounding the weather mark. This will allow the helmto get around the mark with more ease. KEEP THE CREW ON THE RAIL TILLTHE BOAT FLATTENS OUT!Have a forward crew sight up the mast to check the mast bend and backstay tension. Inlight air keep the crew weight low and forward until you are planing downwind. As youbegin to plane you need to start moving the weight aft in the boat. The windier it gets themore you need to move the weight aft to get the bow up and free up the rudder. Above15 we leave the jib up off the wind and trim it to a soft trim as to not effect the trim of thespinnaker.Spinnaker SetupWhen setting up the spinnaker gear, be sure that the tack line goes over the lazy sheet (thesheet going to the opposite side of the boat). This ensures that the spinnaker will gybe tothe inside, between the heasdstay and the luff of the spinnaker as opposed to around theoutside of the luff of the spinnaker and in front of the boat.Spinnaker TrimLike all spinnakers, the spinnaker sheet should be eased until the luff carries a slight curl.The real trick to flying the sail and having the best downwind performance is to maintainconstant dialogue between the skipper and trimmer to keep pressure in the sail withoutsailing too high and losing sight of VMG (velocity made good to the mark). As a generalrule the boat sails downwind at 125 degrees to the true wind, jibing through 90 degrees.As the breeze builds, it is possible to sail deeper angles while maintaining good speed. Inplaning conditions, keep the boat powered up. Planing and loosing 10 degrees of depthfar exceeds displacement sailing. Remember, when sailing in the deep mode, to heel theboat to windward and ease the sheet out. This rotates the chute out from behind themain's wind shadow, exposing maximum sail area to clear air. Keep the vang softgenerally downwind. Any time you can plane, do so. Be aggressive on crew placementaft. Have any non-essential people aft of the helm. Experiment with this a bit and youwill quickly get the "Feel" for how you can steer without having trouble with sight andfouling the rudder.With all sailing and maneuvers, do what feels good to you. “Tune” with any other 32’syou can find, keep notes on all days you feel fast and also the opposite. If the boat feels

slow or you feel “ out of the groove” revert back to notes and what felt good last time youwent sailing.Tension Gauge Conversion Chart For PBO RiggingTension1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 FiberNominalDiameter6 11 14 17 19 20.5 n/a n/a PBO 1/4"Gauge Reading12.5 18 22 25 27 29 30 32 PBO 5/16"Sail Fast and Please feel free to contact your North Sailmaker withany tuning questions!harry@melges.comandy@melges.comeric@od.northsails.com