Rigging Basics from an Innovator

With the winter month upon us, there is ample time for boat work to be done in your garage or in the dinghy park. Maybe you can't pull your cunningham on in breeze or maybe your shrouds are still too loose when you're raked to 25'0". If so, you may benefit from this article.

One simple, but sometimes overlooked area in getting your boat ready for next season is using appropriate line material and purchase systems for the venue you expect to sail. When I bought my boat (a 1986 Kyrwood launcher) two years ago, she was rigged for light wind venues and much of her rigging was sorely outdated. Most of the sail controls were lead to the front part of the centerboard trunk, the sheets were thin, the halyards were rusted, and there was a good deal of wire used in the purchase systems. For San Francisco Bay sailing, this posed a serious problem. At each regatta I entered, I was able to get great rigging ideas from the top sailors in our class. The controls on my boat now work smoother than ever before. But there is always work to be done on the 505. The basics are where to start. That was the motivation for this article.

Mike Martin, one the best 505 sailors in the world and one of the most innovative 505 riggers, has been kind enough to share some of his secrets. Over the next several Tank Talk issues, we will detail the rigging on USA8714. In this issue, we're revealing the specifics of the standing and running rigging. Take notes, this advice may help you fine-tune your controls for next season.

In the next issue of Tank Talk, we will dig deeper into the layout of USA 8714 with "exploded" views and Mike's descriptions of some of his most inventive control system, innovations.

Howard Hamlin and Mike Martin
finished second at the World C'ship in Hyannis, 1998

TANK TALK - FALL 2001