I'm prepping my boat for next year's Everglades Challenge. Lot's of people recommend wings for long distance sailing, but I'm hesitant to add weight, windage and complexity to my boat. I notice most wings extend from front beam to rear beam, and I can see the structural advantage to that. When I'm on the wire, I'm always aft, so a large portion of that wing would never be used. I also found that I'd often be in an between sail state, where I could trapeze effectively, but then, I'd be crouching in as the wind would lessen. Part of the solution to that would be to shake out a reef, but at these times, the waves would be huge, and I wasn't confident I could keep my feet in front of me.
Solutions:
Master trapezing. I don't mind spending the time on it, but I don't know if any amount of practice will make this a bomb-proof method when I'm tired, cold and in the dark. There's also that awkward crouch situation where I'm neither extended out but I could use weight further out.
Get some Hobie wings and get on with it. Maybe, but what about half a wing?
Build a smaller wing that is located aft. I'm leaning towards this. Less material, weight and windage, I can hike out incrementally and still use the trapeze wire if I get daring and need to move forward. The idea is inspired by the hiking boards on international sailing canoes, but with the need to adjust weight fore and aft more, and eliminating the sliding board complexity.
https://www.sail-world.com/photos/internationalcanoe/yandy211090.jpg
Dart 18 Wings
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Posted: Mar 31, 2020 - 11:59 AM
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Posted: Apr 01, 2020 - 08:29 AM
Jeff,
I built wings out of Hobie 17 wings (they are cheaper) for my Nacra 5.2. They weight at least 15lbs each. Most of that is my added metal for attaching them. Are you sailing with a crew? Long distance trapeze sailing wears on the feet. One draw back on my setup is they are too low. In a real blow I drag some of the poles. Mine mount into the beams. I am looking at revising to being a top mount with a hinge for faster trailering.
https://www.thebeachcats.…93d06fcda815b802462f659c
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FYC, Nacra 5.2 "Chris's Flyer" & Nacra Playcat & Farrier Tramp
Previously owned: Trac 14, H14, H16, H18, N5.0, G-cat 5.0
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Posted: Apr 01, 2020 - 11:55 AM
a partial wing would be interesting
not sure how you would support all the weight of a person sitting on it, with out a for and aft attachment but i am no engineer
also since your beams have no end caps, and have springs and levers for assembly right there you (at the beam end) would need a different solution than the nacra style wings that actually go into the beam -
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Posted: Apr 01, 2020 - 01:25 PM
I was thinking for the rear support, drill through the beam support and tap bolts directly into the aluminum beam. The forward part could hook into the aluminum channel attached to the deck/hull-deck joint
Long distance racing is solo. Wednesday night racing is with my son, which is pretty casual
Edited by jeff96 on Apr 01, 2020 - 02:40 PM. -
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Posted: Apr 01, 2020 - 02:50 PM
on both my mystere's i have a throughbolt that is the pivot for transit/storage in the up position
it had thick alum tube welded inside the beam at all 4 locations
the compression tube distributes load and reinforces the beam with all the flex the wings add
Edited by MN3 on Apr 01, 2020 - 02:56 PM.
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