The National Swallow is not a complicated boat to set up but there are a number of points that need to be about right all the time or you will find yourself going slowly, particularly when sailing to windward.

There are no extra controls such as runners and adjustable diamonds so the tools you have to control your rig are fairly simple but will be different for each boat depending on your set up. Some boats have centre mainsheet tracks, some aft mainsheet tracks and some are vang sheeted with no mainsheet track at all. The trick is to know the sail shape and twist you are looking for in each wind condition and experiment with the tools you have to achieve that.

Mast Rake.

Carolyn Brigg says Marengo’s set up is…. 

Measure top of mast to black Band on mast near boom 8.3m and secure main halyard(Jib halyard set on hook for F3/4) .

Take tape to the middle of the stern it should measure  9.64m or 9.7m (Rig tension measurement 37/38)

Because a Swallow has a long keel, the requirement to set the mast rake exactly is perhaps not quite as important as it may be on a boat with a narrow fin keel. Some boats have tight rigging at all times, others pull the rig tension on with a wire jib halyard and tensioning device.

The fundamentals. 

When sailing to windward, if the mainsail twist and the slot (the gap the wind has to go through between the jib and the mainsail) is about right you will not be far off the pace. The trouble is that both of these require adjustment every time the wind strength changes so the ability to change gear on a variable day is key.

 Mainsail depth and twist.

Sailing upwind in very light wind (Less than 5 knots) the mast needs to be bent to make the main flat but it is also essential to allow the head of the sail to twist open. There needs to be as little downward pull on the boom as possible. Sometimes just the boom’s weight on its own is too much. Some achieve all this by pulling a little backstay on, some utilise a mast bending device pulling the mast forward at deck level. If you have a traveler then pull it right to windward before sheeting the main in.

In medium winds (5-12 knots) utilise all the depth the sailmaker has built into your sail. Take off all those mast bending tools and enable any you have to prevent the mast bending. Start pulling on kicker to stop the top of the sail opening up too much. If you have a traveler, drop it down somewhere near the centreline and start using more mainsheet.

As the wind builds above 12 knots (More or less depending on crew weight) more downward force needs to be applied to the boom to bend the mast and flatten the mainsail. This is achieved by dropping the traveler further down and pulling hard on the mainsheet or if your boat is equipped with a powerful kicker (min 32:1) just pull very hard on that. Keeping the boat on its feet in the gusts is essential and this is easy with the powerful kicker option. Just play the mainsheet. With the traveler option you will probably need to play the traveler. Treat your Swallow like a dinghy. Be quick to ease the mainsail in a gust, whilst retaining its shape and twist. Pulling the foot outhaul out completes the deal. Some people pull backstay on but be careful this does not open the top of the mainsail too much.

Keeping the streamers flying from the leach of the sail is your guide that you have got this about right, particularly in light and medium winds.

The Jib Slot.

For most sailmaker’s jibs the jib sheeting position needs to have the sheet entering the turning block about 2400mm back from the tack of the jib, 400mm out from the centreline and 50mm up from the deck. In light, or strong winds this can be moved back, or depending on your gear setup, moved up. The critical bit is how hard you pull the sheet in, as that is what controls how open the slot is. Too open and the boat will not point. Pull it in too tight and the flow is stopped. As one Swallow sailor used to say. “If the wind don’t flow, the boat don’t go” Develop ways of seeing that this is right. Try to set up so the telltales at different heights break at the same time. Find ways of being able to see the streamers on the leech of the jib towards the top are streaming most of the time. Mark the sheets and set up before the race when someone can go to leeward and view the slot and check where the mark needs to be pulled in to. Even with 2:1 sheeting half an inch on the sheet can make a difference. And of course, all will change in different wind strengths. More sheet load will be required to retain the same slot setup in stronger winds.

So, watch, and feel, and change gear all the time as the conditions change.

Downwind

Downwind there is perhaps less to get wrong with your rig setup but plenty of ways to go slow by going the wrong way. The rules prevent us from altering our mast rake so hanging the rig over the bow is not an option. Over sheeting the main can be slow. Great crews can gain you many boat lengths playing the spinnaker well so look after them well in the bar afterwards! Too much kicker will prevent the top of the mainsail going fully out but too little, in strong winds, will result in rolling to windward.

But.

As ever its best to concentrate hard, go the right way, and at the end of the day its usually the “Nut on the end of the tiller” that is the most important piece of equipment.

MW. Dec 2020