This guide is compiled from Michael McNamara’s notes, handed out at the Black Swan S.C. Training Day in April 1998, notes by Nigel Young and by Mark Rushall which have appeared in The Wanderer at various times, and a certain amount of personal experience. Hopefully they will be of use to any Wanderer sailor, whether your interest is racing cruising or pottering. A well tuned rig and a knowledge of sail setting can certainly make you go faster when racing. It can also make the boat easier and more satisfying to handle when cruising or just sailing about.

It helps to have a small amount of equipment, which might include:

These guidelines are not hard and fast rules, just a starting point. Watch how you are going against other boats and experiment, but try only to change one setting at a time. Use your marker pen to calibrate controls, such as the highfield lever, kicker, jibsheets and outhaul. Make notes of your rig set-up measurements, and of sail settings which appear to be successful in various conditions. Keep a sailing diary of races and cruises and note results, incidents, and especially what went right and what went wrong.

If you want to learn more, "Tuning your Dinghy" by Laurie Smith, published by Fernhurst Books is a good read, with lots of pictures.

The sections which follow deal with the suggested set-up for the rig and control settings for different wind conditions.

Happy tuning!

Gavin Barr (W1282, "Thistle").

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