File - Canadian Wayfarer Association

Boat and Foils: To the interested observer, your boat appeared to be immaculately prepared in
every respect, especially the foils, which were both glass-sheathed. You were also using the
older, shallower rudder blade. Can you explain your thoughts on foil shape and stiffness, and
perhaps suggest how the efficiency and longevity of Wayfarer foils might be further enhanced?
Before the Worlds I spent a lot of time working on “Cordon Rouge”. I took all the fittings off
during the winter and repainted and revarnished her. All the fittings were checked before being
refitted. It actually took quite a long time and I only finished on the Thursday before the
Nationals. A bit close for comfort!
As “Cordon Rouge” is my third Wayfarer, the fittings are exactly as we wanted. In fact they all
work well and come easily to hand. In the weeks before the Worlds I replaced most of the loadbearing
control lines, halyards, etc. During the winter I modified the plate case to the new
packing-piece rules and got a new Edge glass-sheathed cedar centreboard. Unfortunately, we ran
out of time and the new sheathed rudder blade didn’t arrive in time.
Despite the occasional stall on a screaming reach, I still prefer the old rudder shape as I feel
that the new design has too much frontal area. For the same reason, I think the thinner the
better. There is of course a bit of a worry that it may break! In the last two years we have
broken two of the mahogany rudder stocks and so were glad to hear that the rule on plywood
stocks would be enforced at the Worlds. I use an adjustable extension so that I can alter the
length for different conditions - longer for light weather so that I can sit further forward.
It is very important that the leading edge of the centreboard is as close to the 83º maximum as
possible. Despite checking ours about 40 million times we found that we could have gone down
another degree when it was check-measured at Hayling. The Wayfarer board is very large and is
prone to twisting. That’s why packing the case is so important. It mustn’t, however, be too stiff.
But to actually quantify how much bend and twist to allow is impossible. I suspect that no matter
how stiff we aim for they will still bend...
I did not fill the front of the case to conform to the shape of the leading edge of the plate as I
didn’t feel that it was legal. This has now been confirmed by a ruling of the Technical Committee.
One snag with using a glass-sheathed cedar-cored board is that you must not run aground.
Luckily the Worlds were held at sea and not in Chichester Harbour.
Sails and Rig: Can you describe the shape and construction of the sails (including spinnaker) you
used at the Worlds, and compare them with those you make for other members of the class?
We used a standard main and genoa made in 180 gram HTP squared Polyant Polyester. This is
fairly light but has a good resistance to stretch. The main was actually second-hand, as an inland
customer found the cloth too stiff for him to “read” and so I swapped it for a softer sail. As I
didn’t have time to make another sail for the Nationals I used it there and decided to carry on
with it into the Worlds. Our genoas go well at sea with the sheet slightly eased. Simon is really
good at this and constantly adjusts the tension, keeping the top windward tuft just working. We
sail with all three windward tufts angled up at least 45 degrees. He pretends that this is all
quite an effort and I recently overheard him telling someone that all he really does is to keep
the jaws on the jam cleats “clicking” away. If I hear that, then apparently I’m happy. Hmmm!
There is quite a weight saving in a crosscut spinnaker so we measured in two: a 1-ounce and a ½
ounce. As it happened, we never used the ½ ounce. Normally it takes about 3-4 races to “wear” a
new spinnaker in. So we were lucky I suppose, that the first race, being so windy, did it in one!
After the first race at the Worlds, we kept the rig tension fairly slack even though the genoa
luff seemed to sag more than we would have liked. I actually slack-ened the forestay because it
looked so wrong.
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