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Randy’s Thistle
Resources
One thing all Thistle
sailors know is the importance of boat speed. Hours of time and thousands of
pounds are spent on our favorite and we all want to win.
So how do we get that elusive edge?
One thing we should all realize is that as
the wind changes, from nothing to very windy, we must adjust the boat
accordingly. Different sails, hulls and
foils, all need to be adjusted in different ways.
For a starting point, check out these sources:
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Use this if you have Greg Fisher’s sails
for the Thistle |
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Use this if you have Ched Proctor’s
sails for your Thistle |
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Use this if you have Quantum or Sobstad
sails for your Thistle. Sobstad took
over the San Diego Quantum loft. |
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Use this if you have Gus sails for your
Thistle |
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This link has no tuning information, but
they sell sails for Thistles |
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This link has no tuning information, but
they sell sails for Thistles |
All of these tuning sheets are proprietary
information and are reproduced here from the maker’s websites. Each sheet contact information and a link to
the website for pricing, questions, design information, etc. No recommendation is made here for which sails
to use. The best way to get fast in
your boat is to use what your local “hotshots” use and duplicate the tuning
information listed in these guides.
That way, you eliminate your guessing errors from the complex boat speed
equation.
The most important starting point is to
calibrate all controls on the boat properly. This means having an easy to read
scale, one which can be seen easily when racing.
Some of the very best sailors may have the
ability to guess quite accurately most of the settings during a race, but they
will not remember all of the settings all of the time.
What you should be aiming to do is write
down "on the boat", a list of the fastest settings for all controls
in all the wind strengths. Only then can you quickly, accurately and with
confidence, adjust your rig to the maximum boat speed for any change of wind
strength.
For more advanced information, a good source is Sailboat Racing with Greg Fisher. This book was written by Tom Hubbell and
Greg Fisher, the coaches of TCA-Coach, which is held at Thistle Midwinters each
year.
For more information, you
can email me.
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