1. Roll the sail out downwind.
2. Sleeve the mast. High luff curve makes sleeving difficult, so move to the middle of the mast to make life easier.
3. Apply hand tight downhaul leaving the boom cut out loose to put the boom on.
4. Attach the boom front end.
5. Thread outhaul rope (Sometimes a choice of cringles is given. As a general rule, use the top one if you are tall and using the boom in the top half of the cut out.)
6. Pull outhaul to max which helps downhauling as it pre-bends the mast.
7. Apply full downhaul tension using one of the techniques illustrated.
8. If you have set your extension and boom in accordance with the recommended settings, your sail should now look fairly good.
9. Fine tune your sail to suit the conditions and your preferences and you are ready to go!

• Horizontal creases
• Poor batten rotation
• Heavy and draggy feel
• Narrow power band – too easy to under or over sheet

Too much Downhaul

• Battens pull away from the mast
• Main section of the sail goes too flat
• Leech goes too loose and just flaps
• No drive out of the sail

			[TOP TIPS] Outhaul controls power. Less outhaul = more power

Too little outhaul

• Sail sets with too much fullness and centre of effort will move in response to gusts giving indistinct feel
• Sail gets back-handed in gusts
• Reduced upwind performance
• Difficult to control when windy

Too much outhaul

• Centre of effort is not well located because the sail is set too flat giving indistinct feel
• Twitchy feel – no definite power point
• Lack of power from the sail

Creases usually indicate a poorly rigged sail. However it’s easy to sort out if you remember the basic principle that the creases generally point to the cause of the problem area.

Vertical creases

Pointing towards the batten and indicating not enough batten tension

Horizontal creases

Diagonal creases

Pointing from the luff to the outhaul, indicating that the problem lies with the outhaul. Too much outhaul.

However, don’t get too hung up about creases. Many sails do crease, particularly when under loading.

A well designed and a well rigged sail should:

• Provide instant positive drive to get the board onto the plane.
• The sail should pull from one direct point, making it controllable and easy to handle.
• Flex and breath to absorb gusts and the shock sent into the rig when the board slams into waves.
• Have a wide sheeting angle so power can be controlled by sheeting and oversheeting.
• Rotate easily to help through turns.

How does a sail work? There is a point on the luff where the cloth (luff sleeve) goes from being tight near the top to loose as you move down the luff. If you draw a line from this point to the end of the boom, you find that below this line is the ‘power triangle’ and above it is the part of the sail that can flex and spill the power.

• Downhaul until the leech is floppy to the 3 rd batten down (99.9% of windsurfers don’t put enough downhaul on!)
• Apply approx 1-2 cm of outhaul to most sails
• Battens above the boom should be pulled just away from the mast and rotate easily
• Batten tension should get rid of wrinkles and no more
• Set your boom and extension so there is minimal gap between the sail and the pulley block.

Fine Tuning for light winds

In light winds, we want a sail that pulls us quickly onto the plane and works efficiently once there. To achieve this, go for:

Minimum downhaul setting
Neutral or negative outhaul
Slightly higher boom height

Be careful not to release the downhaul too much. Your sail will pull a lot in your arms but will not get you onto the plane efficiently.

Fine Tuning for strong winds

In strong winds, control is essential. Fine tune your sail in the following way:

Maximum downhaul setting
Positive outhaul
Slightly lower boom and longer harness lines

Fine Tuning for speed

A sail tuned for speed will have masses of controllable power (most likely pulling from the backhand). This is great for reaching terminal velocity, but will not be pleasant for transitions and comfortable sailing, so beware! To break speed records, follow these pointers:

Choose a slightly bigger sail than normal.
Use negative outhaul, particularly if downwind speed is your objective.

Downhaul to near maximum which will make the sail controllable in gusts and increase top speed potential.

Fine Tuning for freestyle

For freestyle, you want a sail that is controllable and predictable.

Choose a slightly smaller sail than normal.

Use reduced downhaul to ensure the leech doesn’t get too loose (which makes the sail less predictable in transitions).

Fine Tuning for waves

Wave sailing set up caters a lot more for personal preference. Downhaul gives a sail control so most sailors tend to favour moderate to high downhaul settings.

If the focus is on jumping, then power is required and outhaul will be reduced to achieve this.

Tuning the mast

Using a mast with a different stiffness rating will alter the performance of your sail.

A stiffer mast is likely to make the sail less forgiving in gusts but can give a little more power in lighter winds. A stiffer mast is usually more suited to heavier sailors.

A softer mast gives the sail more flexibility making the sail feel more responsive and ‘alive’ and is usually the preferred option.

If your mast is too long for your sail, you can actually cut it down (although we don’t recommend cutting more than about 20cm off it). Cutting the length from the top of the mast will effectively increase the masts stiffness whereas cutting the length from the bottom will make the mast more flexible. Beware that this is a ‘terminal’ option and is likely to void any warranty that you may have on the mast! You must also be careful that the taper at the bottom of the mast may prevent your mast extension/base fitting if you cut too much off. You have been warned!