Rooster Blog Archive

I often get asked the question where should I put the telltales on my sail(s)?Tell Tales inside our telltale pack we pretty much say that there is no right or wrong place to put them - except ideally no closer than 1/3 back from the mast or luff wire. We recommend, for example, the telltales on a Laser sail are placed in triangle formation (so you can average the disturbed air and work out what they are saying) and most importantly, where you can see them! But that is not to say that telltales stuck to the leech at a batten pocket might give you some interesting information. I would suggest that the less familiar you are with a class of boat, the more telltales you should employ to help work out the trickier parts of the sail. Photo by Klaus Selen or Aarne Kuusi Finnish Europe Coach at Spring Regatta Loostrecht Easter Regatta 1985 Taken to the extreme, I was fascinated by the number of telltales on Jyrki Taiminen's Europe Sail at the Loosdrecht Easter Regatta in 1985. This shot was taken before he added even more telltales! It finally resembled a hedgehog rather than a sail - but the pattern of the telltales on the sail was fascinating; a good distraction which was my excuse for him soundly beating me. What, where and why? Leech telltales indicate when the sail is stalled or on the edge of stalling, whereas luff telltales placed strategically at different heights can help you balance the fullness throughout the height of the sail. Some boats offer an in-haul control to adjust the fullness near the mast. I have used this to good effect in a Solo and Europe but they are also used in the Finn as well. For Example: If the upper most luff telltale breaks (drops) on the windward side when heading up, BEFORE the lower telltale, then I would ease the outhaul and pull on the in-haul until they both broke at the same time. Effectively I would be moving the centre of fullness forward at the bottom of the mast to match the centre of fullness position at the top. When you see a leech telltale stalling (falling behind the leech) then your action would be to reduce the amount of effort the wind has to do before it exists the sail. For Un-stayed boats (Europe, Laser, Aero etc.) you would tend to have to bend the mast more to take out luff curve, which in turn reduces the camber in the sail. This makes the leech more open 'relative' to the maximum camber of the sail. If the boat has a low luff curve (very strong mast to the sail) then easing the kicker or mainsheet might release the leech without adding too much excess material around the luff. Basically - time to experiment. Note: the Mark 6 Radial sail sometimes needs more vang to open the leech when sailing to windward. Boats with a stayed rig have much more control over the mast bend and tend to set the bend to match the luff of the sail. You can then ease the kicker or sheet to let the upper telltales open and breathe rather than stall. As a crew with a jib to play, you have ultimate control over the leech with both the angle the sheet is taken and the tension in the sheet. Shallowing the sheeting angle to follow along the foot of the jib will open the leech, whereas sheeting at a tighter angle (towards the leech) will close the leech. I like Adam Bowers description of the 4th corner of a jib - His concept makes you think of the crucial part of the sail that manages the slot between the main and jib. Its safe to say that the more telltales you use to learn your rig and sail the better. Once you are up to speed with the sail, then you can reduce the number to a less distracting quantity. Grab yourself a pack or two of our Teflon® Coated Telltales and have some fun (each pack contains 3 red and 3 green) - The Teflon® treatment helps them from sticking to the sail when wet and improves their 'readability'. Happy Sailing!

Ambassadors  Articles written by our Ambassadors, sailors from the front and the back of the fleet with some interesting views on our sport. Campaigning This will contain campaign reports, articles about how to approach a sponsor with articles about the RYA pathway  and a lifetime pathway - giving some incite into changing from one boat to another.    Boat Maintenance Tips With so much great information generated by our team and our ambassadors, from how to re rig a kite halyard on a Feva, to how to make a Tuck Splice, or how to varnish a carbon mast.    Kit Guide New products, any special offers, hints on what to wear and when, layering guides and much more can be found here.    Technique Tips This might have been called the Boat Whisperer Section.  It certainly has video critiques, blogs and articles written by Steve Cockerill as well as some from our team who have experience in different aspects of the sport.    Tuning Guide As the name suggests you might find a particular tuning guide for a boat - but you may also find articles with suggested updates to your boat that will improve performance.     Blog Archive This contains our Word Press archive.  It is rather slow to load, but the information is priceless. We will be moving blogs across to our new faster platform, updating them where necessary.  It is a mammoth task, but we think its worth it. 

I thought that the Worlds in Perth was going to be my last Olympic Radial event. However 2 weeks into the new year I was informed that the British Radial trials were going to continue and that I was still eligible for selection. With some much needed financial help from my very generous and supportive family, I set about planning my training and racing schedule. After a couple of months of training in Palma it was time for the World Cup circuit to start. Photo: Mark Dadswell/Getty Images AsiaPac My performance at the events was unfortunately pretty average and was no way near good enough to challenge for the Olympic spot. I was disappointed but happy to have seen my campaign through to the end. Ali Young was selected in the Radial to represent the British Olympic Team after an impressive string of performances which included a Gold medal at the recent Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth. I wish Ali the very best of luck in her Olympic debut!I have now decided to hang up my hikers and retire from Radial sailing. The last 8 years have been an incredible experience. I have pushed myself further physically and mentally than I ever thought possible and have been lucky enough to travel the World and have made so many amazing friends along the way.Since making the decision to retire, I have been exploring possibilities for my future. My priority for the moment is to get some cash coming in so I am still looking for coaching work. I have some coaching coming up which I am looking forward to doing to gain further experience. My Laser equipment has been selling really well but I do still have a complete boat and a few bits and pieces left which are advertised on the UKLA website.Another possibility I have already started to explore is the new Women's Skiff the 49erFX which will be in for Rio 2016. I went RS800 sailing a few weekends ago and despite the capsizing and subsequent bruising, I absolutely loved it. This could be the start of a new and exciting challenge! Watching the Olympics always inspires me and I am looking forward to this time seeing it live as well as on TV. I will of course be supporting Team GB but I also wish all my foreign friends good luck!AB