NORTH SAILS GO BEYOND Melges 20 Guide de démarrage rapide

Melges 20 Tuning Guide

Rev R12 Photo Steve Bernstein, Power Play Action Images

TUNE YOUR SAILS

FOR OUTRIGHT

SPEED

Melges 20 Tuning Guide

Rev R12

The following tuning guide is meant to

be a good starting point when setting

up your Melges 20. Depending on total

crew weight, wind and sea condition and

sailing style you may have to alter your

set up slightly from what is given here. As

you read this tuning guide, write down

any questions you might have and we

will be happy to discuss them in detail

with you. The goal of this tuning guide

is to achieve a rig set up that is fast in all

conditions upwind and down. Your new

North sails are designed with this “all

around” philosophy in mind.

Pre-Race Preparation

One of the most important items you

and your team can do in preparing for

high performance racing is to have your

Melges 20 ready to race. Listed in this

section are just a few items we feel are

critical for success on the racecourse.

TRAILER AND BOAT

Make sure when transporting your

Melges 20 that the keel bulb always sits

perfectly in the keel bed of the trailer. If

the boat is sitting where she belongs on

the trailer you will ﬁnd the bulb resting

perfectly in the keel bed with space in

the keel box both in front and in back

of the keel. Also packing pre-cut foam

between the keel edges / sides and the

keel box will help prevent any movement

of the keel when trailing. It is important

to ensure that the keel ﬁn is not touching

the hull fairing plate prior to trailing. It

is also important to ensure that the boat

stays forward against the bow guide

when trailing.

HULL, RUDDER AND KEEL

Class rules do not allow re-shaping of

these items.

Hull - For traveling to regattas and

general care of your new boat the

investment of our bottom trailing cover

and 1 piece top cover is well worth the

protection it aords.

Rudder - The rudder should always be

removed when not in use and kept in

its padded rudder bag. Remember to

always put away dry.

Keel - We just talked about taking care

of your keel when the boat is on the

trailer. When lowering the keel with the

keel crane make sure you have rinsed out

the keel box along with the keel guides.

Make sure the keel box is free of any lines

or padding. Also, make sure you keep the

boat level when raising or lowering the

keel to ensure the keel ﬁn does not get

damaged.

Launching & Retrieving

Believe it or not this is when most

damage occurs to Melges 20s. When

trailer launching make sure the keel box

is well packed with padding, as the keel

wants to shift as soon as the transom

starts ﬂoating. To ramp launch you will

need to use the keel retractor crane and

just lift the keel about ½” to ensure you

do not damage the hull fairing plate.

Make sure you pad the keel well on the

leading and trailing edges and make sure

you take great care when using the keel

retraction crane.

When using an electric hoist be sure

to keep the boat level or maybe a few

inches down in the bow. Again we

are trying to protect the keel. Also by

holding the bow down just a few inches

we are protecting the spreaders from

possibly hanging up on the hoist arm

as the spreaders pass the arm. Keep in

mind when you lower the bow the keel

ﬁn is vulnerable so care must be taken

not to damage the keel ﬁn. Make sure

you use the aft leg of the lifting bridle

attaching it to the transom to help keep

the boat in a slight bow down attitude

when lifting.

When launching on a hoist it is best to

use the keel retractor crane. Hook the

keel retractor to the lifting ring on the

keel, make sure the lift ring is screwed

all the way in the top of the keel. Take

a tension on the keel lift winch and

securely tie o the winch handle to the

horn cleat. Install the lifting straps to

the lifting pins alongside of the keel

utilizing a luggage tag type install. Also,

install the longer aft lifting strap through

the top rudder gudgeon at the transom

using a rudder pin. When hooking up the

hoist, put one of the lifting straps over

the hook, then the aft leg, then the last

lifting strap. Now when you lift the boat

take care not to hit the spreaders on the

hoist arm. It is best to have the boat at

90 degrees or more to the hoist arm and

hold the bow slightly down to keep the

rig o the hoist. Keep the keel padding

in place until the keel is ready to be

lowered and be sure to always hold onto

the winch handle, keep all body parts

away from keel and take great care when

lifting the keel or lowering the keel.

It is a good idea to put some soap and

water on the keel guide blocks and in the

keel box to allow the keel to seat more

easily. If the keel guide blocks do not line

up fore and aft perfectly, put a body on

the bow or the stern to help tilt the boat

to line up the keel guides.

Deck Preparation

The factory Melges 20 comes ready to

race. There are a few small class legal

modiﬁcations that really help with sailing

the boat.

Melges 20 Tuning Guide

Rev R12

lWith your spinnaker up at maximum

hoist mark the halyard with a black

permanent marker.

lWith your bow sprit fully extended

also mark the tack line/bow sprit

extender line. Make sure that you have

the proper knot tied in the end of the

line to account for it being tied to the

tack of the spinnaker. It is best to tie the

loop with about a 65 mm or 2.5” loop to

prevent the tack of the kite from binding

on the bow sprit end plug.

lThe bow sprit is shock corded to

retract. Ensure that the shock cord is

adjusted so that it is just enough to

retract the bow sprit and not retract with

too much force.

lAttach shockcord from the top of the

forward stanchion to the upper shroud

above the turnbuckle to prevent the

spinnaker sheet from dropping in and

catching on the shroud car.

lApply some number scales to the jib

track adjustment locations. Place these

above where the jib sheet lead comes aft

and above the spinnaker bag sock on the

port side. Number 1 should align with

the traveler car pin when the car is all the

way forward on the track.(front of car

even with front of track)

Practice - Practice - Practice!

It has been said that each mark rounding

can be worth a minute on the course.

Now that is a reference between the

ﬁrst group and the last group of boats.

That is a lot of time and a majority of it

comes at the corners and the ﬁrst few

minutes of a race. Knowing how your

Melges 20 accelerates o the starting

line is something you need to practice.

Sets at the windward mark are critical,

especially if you want to gybe right away.

Having the ability to pass between two

leeward gate marks absolutely requires

that you and your crew understand all

three spinnaker takedowns, the Mexican,

the windward and the leeward. You do

not have to have rock star crews in the

Melges 20 class to be successful; you do

need to have a regular steady crew who

are willing to practice. If we had “Time

On The Boat Meters” you would ﬁnd the

top ﬁnishing boats in our class had the

most accumulated time together sailing

the Melges 20.

We highly recommend the spinnaker

launch system with the retrieval line and

spinnaker storage sock in the cockpit.

The spinnaker take downs become quick,

safe and easy.

Rig Set-Up

MAST DOWN

As the Melges 20 comes almost

completely ready to race straight from

the factory there is very little to do

to prepare your boat and mast to be

competitive. With the mast down, pull

all the halyards down and tie o at the

bottom, also make sure the turnbuckles

are set evenly with similar amount of

threads showing at the top and bottom

of the open body. Another thing we

like to do is tie some light weight shock

cord between the two lower shrouds

around the front of the mast 6”- 8”

down from their attachment points,

also above the lower spreader between

the intermediates and the diamond

stays, and below the port spreader, also

between the Intermediates and around

the front side of the forestay about 12”

below their attachment points. This

keeps the head of the spinnaker from

getting jammed between the shrouds

and mast on hoists and keeps the kite

from getting caught above the lower

spreader on a take down.

Double check the spreader angle and

symmetry: The following process is

performed at the factory when doing the

ﬁnal rigging on every mast. Every mast

is laser straightened so when adjusting

the diamond statys make sure to keep

them symmetrical. We are providing the

process for future ﬁeld checks. Using

an angle ﬁnder, level the mast using the

mast base, check the spreader sweep

by placing a straight edge from tip to tip

on the diamond shroud or use a string

pulled tight.

For masts built prior do July 2013: The

upper spreader should measure from the

string to the aft side of the mast track

9.2 cm and the lower spreader should

measure 31 cm.

DO NOT ADJUST SPREADER ANGLE

FORWARD OF 9 cm AT TOP AND

30 cm AT THE LOWER SPREADERS

OR THIS WILL VOID THE MAST

WARRANTY.

Spreader angles too far forward makes

the mast less forgiving and more prone

to inversion with the spinnaker up in

heavy wind.

For masts built after July 1st, 2013

utilizing dyform rigging we use the

following spreader angles: The upper

spreader should be set to 115 mm, the

lower spreader set to 320 mm.

To make sure the spreaders are

symmetrical, use an angle ﬁnder and

ﬁnd zero or level at the mast base, then

check the angle on the port spreader

and then the starboard spreader. Adjust

as needed to make symmetrical and at

Melges 20 Tuning Guide

Rev R12

the same time maintaining the correct

sweep. Make sure that the turnbuckle

adjuster has at least 4 turns onto

the threaded stud. After setting the

spreader angle adjust the diamond stays

so that you have approximately 75mm

(3”) of prebend in the mast and sight up

the tunnel and adjust the diamonds to

make sure the mast is straight side to

side.

Once the rig is ready to step you can

slide the mast aft, place the diamond

stay over the keel and lock in the mast

base to the mast step deck plate. Rest

the mast in the mast support on the

rear mast hold down bunk. Now, attach

the Intermediate shrouds to the outer

shroud cars, make sure the shroud cars

are all the way forward on the tracks.

Also, attach the lower shrouds to the

inner sidestay cars and insure that they

are all the way forward on the tracks.

You will want to ease both intermediates

and lowers out at least ¾ of the way on

the turnbuckles to ease in attaching the

forestay for the very ﬁrst mast stepping.

Set the diamond stays so that there is

approximately 75mm (3”) of prebend in

the mast. By tensioning the diamond

stays you put more prebend in the

rig. The diamonds accomplish two

important tuning tasks. First, they put

prebend in the mast to better ﬁt the

lu curve in the mainsail and set the rig

up to sail in a wide variety of conditions

without needing a backstay. The other

important aspect of the diamond stays

is that they support the top of the mast

when you are ﬂying the Asymmetrical

spinnaker. So, it is important to have

enough tension on the diamonds to

support the mast with the gennaker is

ﬂying. Refer to tuning matrix chart.

Before stepping the mast it is best to

pre furl the jib furler so it is ready to go

before stepping the mast. When furling

the jib it should furl counter clockwise,

so, to wind up the drum turn it clockwise

until the drum has ﬁlled up with the

furling line.

It is possible to step the mast alone but

will be easier if you have some one pull

forward on the forestay as you walk

up the mast. Ensure that the mast

base stays securely locked in the deck

plate and does not come out as you

are walking the mast up. Also, place a

sail bag, or the provided keel ﬁn cover

over the keel to protect the mast and

keel from scratching when raising and

lowering the mast. The spinnaker sail

bag also works well for this or the factory

supplied keel ﬁn cover.

Once the mast is up, attach the Forestay

to the furling tang.

MAST UP

With mast stepped attach a 15M or

50’ tape measure to the main halyard

and hoist to the top and lock o on the

halyard latch.

Check to see that the mast is close to

centered by measuring to the top of the

outer shroud track at the same position

on both sides of the boat. Tighten/

loosen the upper shrouds on each side so

that the mast is centered side to side.

With the main halyard locked in the up

position, measure to the intersection of

the transom and the bottom of the hull.

The measurement should be 9310mm

or 30’6-1/2”. Tighten or loosen the

turnbuckle on the forestay to achieve this

measurement.

Use the follwing setting for masts built

prior to July 2013 with 1X19 shrouds:

You will have to adjust the upper tension

when adjusting the forestay to maintain

a constant tension on the uppers of

250Kg (550lbs) when checking the mast

rake. The upper shroud cars should be

in the max forward position for tuning

at base. The diamonds should read a

tension of approximately 95Kg (210lbs)

when the uppers are set at 250Kg

tension. Now, move the lower shroud

car two holes aft and measure the lower

shroud tension at 130Kg (285lbs) and

sight up the mast on the aft tunnel side

to insure that it is straight side to side.

Dial in the settings to achieve the desired

tensions with the shroud cars in the base

positions.

Be sure to adjust the diamond stays to

this setting with the tension gauge and

to set the uppers and the diamonds to

this tension to check the ﬁnal mast rake.

Finally, recheck to be sure the mast tip is

centered side to side and that the mast

rake is 9310mm or 30’6-1/2”.

For masts built after July 2013 with

dyform shrouds we use the following

base settings using the Loos PT-1 gauge

to check the tensions. Note that dyform

will produce a higher tension reading

for the same tension compared to 1X19.

Set the uppers at 275kg (#39), lowers at

135kg (#28), diamonds at 175kg (#28).

RIG TENSION

he tension on the upper shrouds is critical

to the upwind shape of primarily the jib

and to a smaller degree the mainsail. For

maximum speed it is important to adjust

the shroud car position on the upper and

lower shrouds depending on wind and sea

conditions. The Melges 20 is designed with

Melges 20 Tuning Guide

Rev R12

shroud tracks on ramps to facilitate ease of

rig tune with minimal turnbuckle adjusting.

As the wind increases you can move the

upper shroud cars aft to increase rig tension

and headstay tension. This in turn helps

ﬂatten the jib and depower the rig. So as

you start to get overpowered start to move

the upper shroud cars aft on the tracks.

You will want to be all the way aft by

approximately 16knots of wind. The class

rules allow for purchase on the sidestay

cars to allow the cars to be adjusted more

easily. Visit www.melges.com for the latest

shroud adjustment system set up.

The lower shrouds control the side-to-side

sag or bend of the mast, how much the

mast can bend forward in the middle, and

the headstay sag. We set the lowers so

that when both cars are all the way forward

in approximately 7 knots of wind there is

approximately 10mm of sag in the mast at

the lower spreader.

After you have set up the uppers to the

correct wind speed, sail the boat on both

tacks checking the mast sag side to side

and adjusting the lowers according to

the wind speed. Also, check the mainsail

depth. If the main is overbending or

showing a wrinkle into the mast below the

bottom spreader you either need to ease

o the diamond tension a bit if the breeze

is lighter or pull the lowers aft on the tracks

if it is breezier. This will straighten the

lower mast section and increase headstay

tension ﬂattening the jib. Generally we like

to set up the rig so that the main sets up

fairly ﬂat with the lower cars at base when

we are sitting on the windward side of the

boat. With this set up we can pull the

lower cars aft to power up the main when

needed and not have to pull too much vang

on to ﬂatten the mainsail. Generally, if the

mainsail is backwinding with the jib in max

trim position,(top leach telltale just on the

verge of stalling at times but ﬂowing 100%

of the time) then you need to bend the

mast more to ﬂatten the sail. You can do

this either by tightening the diamonds or

moving the lower shroud car forward. You

will want to just take out the backwinding

in the main and not go too far unless

you are overpowered and are looking to

depower the mainsail further.

Using the North tuning chart at the end of

this guide as a guideline for shroud tensions

in the given wind conditions we then play

the cars to ﬁne tune the power in the boat.

Generally, if you are all the way aft on the

shroud cars and still need to depower

the rig further it is time to tighten to the

next step in the tuning chart. If you are

never moving the cars aft on a beat then

generally, you are too tight and should

loosen to the next step down on the chart.

Note that in heavy wind it is important

to move the lower shroud cars forward 2

holes from your upwind setting prior to

going downwind to allow the mast to bend

forward down low and reduce the tendancy

for the mast to inverse bend with the

gennaker up.

SPEED TARGETS

Speed targets are important on any

keelboat. If you dial in a good feel for a

target speed in all the dierent conditions

you will ﬁnd that your performance gains

will be signiﬁcant.

Upwind targets are more important

than downwind but both will be helpful.

Upwind we have developed the following

target range that we have found to be fast.

An important note is that you need to use

an accurate through the water speedo

and that a GPS based system will not be

accurate enough.

5 to 7 knots of wind = 4.7 to 4.9 knots of

boat speed

7 to 10 knots of wind = 4.9 to 5.1 knots of

boat speed

10 to 13 knots of wind = 5.1 to 5.3 knots of

boat speed

13 to 18 knots of wind = 5.3 to 5.7 knots of

boat speed

15+ = > 5.7 knots of boat speed

Downwind the condition where targets pay

o the most is in the low soak mode. This

speed changes a lot depending on wave

and wind conditions and is best called by

the tactician for each given condition based

on boat to boat performance.

Sail Trim

MAINSAIL TRIM

Because the Melges 20 does not have a

backstay or main traveler it is relatively

simple to trim the main and steer

requiring very little movement by the

helmsperson. Like other boats main trim

on the Melges 20 is keyed o the end

of the top horizontal batten. In light to

moderate air we trim the main so that

the telltale on the top batten is stalled

about 25% of the time (the second

telltale from the top -at the second

batten, is ﬂying 100% of the time). As the

wind increases both telltales will ﬂy all

the time. In light to moderate air the back

end of the top batten should be parallel

to the centerline on the boat, in heavy

air it will be pointed out as much as 30

degrees. With the square top mainsail on

the Melges 20 it is important to not over

trim the mainsail. Twist is your friend,

when it doubt, ease it out to get the boat

going through the water. Also, keeping

Melges 20 Tuning Guide

Rev R12

the mainsail trim soft and very twisted

sometimes in order to sail the boat very

ﬂat can be very fast. It is important to

experiment with given heel angles and

main sheet tension in dierent conditions

to see what is working the best.

Following is an overview of each main

control and how it should be adjusted.

OUTHAUL

The Melges 20 likes to have some power

down low in the mainsail so we like to

keep the outhaul eased about 10-25mm

in from the band In most conditions. In

the heavy air setting we tend to pull the

outhaul out to the band to ﬂatten the

sail, especially in ﬂat water. In rougher

seas it may be fast to keep the outhaul a

bit looser to make the main fuller down

low.

VANG

We use the vang upwind as soon as the

boat is overpowered. At the early stages

of being overpowered we simply snug

the vang to help induce mast bend and

ﬂatten the mainsail. As you become

more overpowered we pull the vang

harder to ﬂatten the mainsail and vang

sheet. Downwind adjust the vang so the

top batten telltale is always ﬂowing, twist

is generally good. Generally the vang

with the slack taken out of it upwind

will be too tight for downwind sailing.

It is a good idea to put a number scale

on the boom next to the vang track

to keep track of fast settings and for

an approximate downwind setting. A

medium vang setting for the oset reach

leg and then a loose setting for the run

provides the best performance.

CUNNINGHAM

We use the Cunningham on the Melges

20 as another one of the depowering

tools. We pull on just enough to remove

any horizontal wrinkles in the sail as soon

as we start to get overpowered. As you

become overpowered experiment with

a very hard Cunningham to ﬂatten the

main, pull the draft forward and twist

open the head. Again, dierent wave

conditions warrant dierent settings so

you must experiment to ﬁnd the fast

setting. Downwind the Cunningham

should be o.

JIB TRIM

Because the jib on the Melges 20 is a

high aspect sail (tall and skinny) it is very

sensitive to small adjustments in jib sheet

tension. Tightening or easing the jib

sheet 1/2” can have a big eect on boat

speed and pointing.

The Melges 20 jib halyard is set up on

a halyard lock system similar to the

mainsail. Some adjustment of jib height

may be required using an extra shackle

on the head of the jib. The standard

setting sets the jib so the foot is just o

the deck in light air and just touching

in more breeze as the shrouds are

tightened and is generally a good setting.

Generally in light to medium breeze set

the jib lead so that when lung slowly

into the wind the lu breaks evenly. As

the wind builds you will want to move

the lead aft to ﬂatten the foot and twist

the head of the jib to depower.

It is a good idea to put some numbers

and dashes corresponding to the

dierent jib car positions on the track.

We like to have a dash and number at

each hole that the pull pin plunger will

seat into. The ﬁrst dash and #1 will start

at the 4th hole back from the front end

of the track, at this position the front of

the car will be ﬂush with the front of the

track.

The Base setting for the jib car is #3.

This puts the car in a position where the

aft end of the car splits the second bolt

from the front of the track.

In winds below about 15 knots it is legal

to inhaul the windward jib sheet to

narrow the sheeting angle on the jib.

This is legal to do and is sometimes fast.

It only requires a slight tension on the

windward sheet to make a noticeable

dierence. Take care not to over inhaul

as this will be slow. In light to medium

conditions we inhaul as much as 25mm

on the clew of the jib. It is best to mark

the jib sheets in a way that you can

easily replicate settings from tack to

tack. When in doubt, ease it out! Note:

On the newer jibs we’re ﬁnding that

inhauling is rarely required so take care

when inhauling.

We have placed a telltale on the upper

leech (near the spreaders) of the jib to

help you judge how tight or loose the

sheet should be. The general rule of

thumb is to trim the sheet hard enough

so that the upper leech telltale is just on

the edge of stalling, but never stalled.

Just as with the mainsail it will be easy

to stall the telltale in light air and very

hard to stall in heavy air even with the

sheet trimmed very hard.

JIB CLOTH TENSION

Adjust the small line at the tack of the

jib so the lu of the sail has some slight

wrinkles coming o it. It will be necessary

to change the tension depending on

the wind speed to keep the wrinkles the

same in most conditions. In very heavy

air, tension the lu so that the sail is

smooth. In ﬂat water it will sometimes

be fast to carry some horizontal wrinkles

o the lu.

Melges 20 Tuning Guide

Rev R12

LEECHCORD

Be sure that your leech cord is not too

tight. It is very easy to put a lot of tension

on the cord in heavy air and have it too

tight in light air. The key is to just stop

the ﬂutter in the leach if there is any.

SPINNAKER TRIM

Spinnaker trim on the Melges 20 is much

easier than that of a conventional poled

boat. There are a few tricks that can

make you faster downwind and make

your sail handling easier.

You will want to set up the spinnaker

sheets to always gybe inside the lu

of the kite. So the tack line would be

over the top of the spinnaker sheet as

it comes aft to the kite. When rigging –

“tack over sheet” is your reminder.

Always trim the kite so it is on the edge

of collapsing on the lu, it is not fast to

over trim the kite.

GYBING THE ASYMMETRIC

On the gybe, the fastest method is to

have the trimmer ease the kite as the

boat heads down, then the forward crew

starts to trim the new sheet as quickly as

possible to ﬁll the kite on the new gybe.

This is called the pre gybe and requires

the driver to bear away to almost dead

down wind and wait for the clew of

the kite to be about half way from the

headstay to the side shrouds before

turning onto the new gybe.

MEXICAN GYBE

In heavier wind the Mexican style gybe

works the best. It is also best to sail

with the jib out downwind in planing

conditions. So, the trimmer will want

to trim the jib in so that it is snug, the

driver goes into the gybe straight away,

the trimmer trims the kite in as the boat

heads down, the kite ﬁlls and backs into

the tight jib once the wind hits the kite

and jib on the other tack, trimmer blows

o the sheet and trims the new sheet

as quickly as possible and releasing the

jib sheet as soon as possible. When

performed properly the kite will blow

across the headstay and ﬁll with a pop on

the leeward side.

SPINNAKER SETS

Forward crew pulls the spinnaker halyard

up and the second crew pulls the tack/

pole out. Or, vice/verse, either way

works well.

SPINNAKER DOUSE

There are three types of takedowns:

the windward, the leeward, and the

“Mexican”.

The windward douse is used when doing

a port rounding and you are approaching

the mark on port tack. The “Mexican”

is for rounding a mark to port but your

approach is relatively shallow on a

starboard tack. The leeward douse is for

rounding a mark to starboard while on

starboard tack or when you approach

the mark at a very sharp angle while on

starboard tack and you will have to gybe

quickly around a mark leaving it to port.

For the leeward douse, you can either

grab the lazy sheet o of the clew, or

grab the sheet just above the anti hiking

pad to strap the foot. The helmsperson

then must bear o slightly, the clew

should be pulled in under the mainsail to

prevent the kite from blowing over the

leech of the mainsail, and then the tack

line must be blown o completely. The

halyard should then be fed down as the

crew gather the spinnaker. The key here

is to maintain the tack and foot of the

kite and keep it out of the water, also

watch for the kite blowing behind the

leach of the mainsail.

For the windward douse, the skipper can

sail low, while the crew start to trim the

windward sheet to pull the kite around

to the windward side the forward crew

should blow o the tack to unload the

pressure o the kite. The clew should be

grabbed inside the shrouds and start to

stu the kite in the bag gathering leach

ﬁrst for about 1/3 and then grab both.

Steer under the foot to keep the kite on

the deck.

For the “Mexican”, as you approach

the leeward mark on starboard, the

helmsperson should bear o into a slow

gybe, the trimmer will over-trim the

sheet as the boat gybes to port. Just as

the boat is headed directly down wind

and the mainsail begins to gybe, blow

o the halyard. The spinnaker will blow

against the rig and fall on the deck.

When the sail is 2/3rds the way down

release the tack and stu the spinnaker

in its bag. Practice of these three douses

is vital to success on the racecourse.

SPINNAKER DOUSE WITH TAKE

DOWN LINE

We highly recommend using the take

down system on the Melges 20. This

system adds greatly to the ease and

simplicity of taking the gennaker down.

With this system the entire process

Melges 20 Tuning Guide

Rev R12

is simpliﬁed. The middle crew typically starts to inhaul the

takedown line while counting down 3-2-1 and at zero the

forward crew release the gennaker halyard and the tack line

guiding the lines out so they do not snag. We always ease the

halyard ﬁrst, even on leeward drops. On a leeward drop after

the halyard is eased and the tack released the forward crew

should tend to the foot and tack of the kite to keep it out of the

water. The driver needs to bear away to ﬂatten the boat. The

forward crew can help to stu the last part of the kite into the

sock.

On the set, it is helpful to pull the kite forward to the front

of the sock to help it come out easier. Also, tending the kite

halyard so it runs out freely helps insure a clean set.

CREW POSITIONING

Generally in light wind, you want to sit as far forward as

possible between the stanchions. Keep in mind that you are

not allowed to be in front of the mast. Downwind, you will

want to also sit forward and heel the boat to windward as soon

as you have enough pressure to sail deep. As the wind builds

you want to move the weight aft upwind so the middle crew is

centered on the mainsheet swivel. Downwind when planing

everyone slide aft as far as possible unless you are in marginal

planing conditions. Then it is best to keep the weight more

centered and move the weight fore and aft to get the best feel

in the boat and keep her planing as long as possible.

IMPORTANT TIPS FOR SAILING DOWNWIND

IN HEAVY AIR CONDITIONS

lMake sure the rig is set up for the wind and see conditions

lKeep the outer shroud cars max aft

lBig ease on the kite or blow o the sheet in extreme pus

and waves with bow bury

lMainsail sheeted in with vang o or if main is eased have

some vang on

Conclusion

The Melges 20 is one of the most exciting new boats available

today with rapidly growing ﬂeets and excellent one design

racing. We hope all of the tips we mentioned are helpful to

your Melges 20 sailing program. Let us remind you that these

are the most important and obvious helpful hints that we have

provided. Our experts will be happy to go further in detail with

you anytime.

Wind

Speed

(Knots)

Uppers

Track

Uppers

Turnbuckle

Uppers

Tension

Lowers

Track

Lowers

Turnbuckle

Lowers

Tension

(Kg)

Diamonds

Turnbuckle

Diamonds

Tension

(Kg)

Headstay

Turnbuckle Jib Car X sheet

(mm)

2-6 0-7 0 to 1 -1.5 0 +10 1 to 2 0 -25

7-10 0-2 -5 1 to 3 -1.5 0 +10 2 to 3 0-25

8-12 1-3 0 275 2 0 135 0 175 Base 3 0-25

11-14 2-4 +4 3 to 5 0 +8 0 3 to 4 0-25

13-18 3-5 +8 4 to 5 0 +12 0 4 to 5 0

16-20 5 +12 4 to 5 0 +16 0 5 to 6 0

18-25 5 +14 4 to 5 +22 0 6 to 8 0

** Forward Aft mast rake setting +10 full turns on headstay, -2 full turns on uppers, +1.5 turns on lowers

All turns are from base

Shroud track settings are holes showing in front of car

MAST SETTINGS AT BASE

Top Spreader 115 mm - Back of track to straight line from diamonds

Bottom Spreader 320 mm - Back of track to straight line from diamonds

Mast Rake 9310 mm (30’6-1/2”)

Use calipers to record turnbuckle settings at base

Change Lowers/Diamonds per table to minimize mainsail backwind

Flat Water - More Vang

Waves - Less Vang and Less Lowers

TURNBUCKLE SETTINGS AT BASE

Stbd Port

Uppers

Lowers

Diamonds

Headstay

MELGES 20 QUICK TUNING CHART

Tuning table for masts built after July 1st 2013 with Dyform shrouds

Wind

Speed

(Knots)

Uppers

Track

Uppers

Turnbuckle

Uppers

Tension

Lowers

Track

Lowers

Turnbuckle

Lowers

Tension

(Kg)

Diamonds

Turnbuckle

Diamonds

Tension

(Kg)

Headstay

Turnbuckle Jib Car X sheet

(mm)

2-6 0-7 0 to 1 0 -4 0 1 to 2 0 -25

7-10 0-2 -5 1 to 3 0 -3 0 2 to 3 0-25

8-12 1-3 0 250 2 0 130 0 95 0 3 0-25

11-14 2-4 3 3 to 5 0 3 AFT 3 to 4 0-25

13-18 3-5 5 4 to 5 0 5 AFT 4 to 5 0

18+ 4-6 7 4 to 5 0 7 to 10 AFT 5 to 6 0

** Forward Aft mast rake setting +10 full turns on headstay, -2 full turns on uppers, +1.5 turns on lowers

All turns are from base

Shroud track settings are holes showing in front of car

MAST SETTINGS AT BASE

Top Spreader 115 mm - Back of track to straight line from diamonds

Bottom Spreader 320 mm - Back of track to straight line from diamonds

Mast Rake 9310 mm (30’6-1/2”)

Use calipers to record turnbuckle settings at base

Change Lowers/Diamonds per table to minimize mainsail backwind

Flat Water - More Vang

Waves - Less Vang and Less Lowers

TURNBUCKLE SETTINGS AT BASE

Stbd Port

Uppers

Lowers

Diamonds

Headstay

MELGES 20 QUICK TUNING CHART

Tuning Tuning table for masts built prior to June 2013 with 1X19 shrouds

Table des matières

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