{"id":3195,"date":"2022-08-26T02:50:57","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T02:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/?p=3195"},"modified":"2022-09-10T06:19:41","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T06:19:41","slug":"accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jboatssouthwest.com\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings\/","title":{"rendered":"Accurate Sensors For Repeatable Settings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"J\/70The applications and benefits of the Cyclops Marine load sensing technology allow professional and amateur teams to better understand what\u2019s happening with rig and control lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Long-time J\/Boats sailor in everything from J\/22s to J\/24s, J\/70s to Santa Cruz 70s, J\/125s to J\/111s, Erik Shampain provides interesting insights on how accurate sensors can help improve repeatable high-performance settings for everyone across the fleet. Erik explains;<\/p>\n

“Every now and then something very cool and helpful comes along to help take some of the guesswork out of our sailing. Enter Cyclops Marine\u2019s Smarttune turnscrew and Smartlink load sensors. Smarttune sensors are used exclusively for standing rigging applications, but the Smartlink sensor can be used just about anywhere. What\u2019s especially cool is that you can see the data they provide in real-time, and you can download all of it to a smartphone to view it on a graph or in other formats. While these sensors might not be race legal in your class (they\u2019re not in the\u00a0J\/70<\/a>), they are immensely useful for training. I used them on the\u00a0J\/70<\/a>\u00a0Midlife Crisis in preparation for the 2021 World Championships in Los Angeles, California.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"J\/70To display the sensor information on our\u00a0J\/70<\/a>, we used a B&G Triton-2 display, which requires the addition of Cyclops\u2019 wireless gateway to the NMEA 2000 backbone of the B&G instruments. The data is compatible with many other instrument brands and can also be viewed using the Cyclops Marine \u201cSmart Fittings Manager\u201d App, communicating via Bluetooth. The App allows you to review, record, graph, and save the data in multiple formats. The graphing function is especially revealing as it shows what\u2019s happening with the rig tension, etc. as you go through settings on the dock or sailing upwind through different conditions.<\/p>\n

For example, we always wondered what happened to the headstay load as we tightened our shrouds, so we put a Smarttune turnscrew sensor on our headstay. We thought if we were to plot the headstay load relative to the number of turnscrew turns above our base setting, the headstay load would graph as a curve. At some upper end in shroud tensioning, however, the forestay would stop getting much tighter. To our surprise, the graph was very linear\u2014 the forestay just got tighter and tighter. So, in heavy air, within the safety tolerances of the mast, we learned we could go with tighter turnscrew settings, producing a gradually tighter headstay.<\/p>\n

The Cyclops Smarttune also reinforced the importance of getting shroud settings correct before the start so that our other settings\u2014 backstay, vang, inhaul, etc.\u2014 stay consistent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another example: the graph clearly showed that the amount of backstay used is relative to how much shroud tension we are carrying. Not enough shroud tension and we had to carry too much backstay to hold the forestay load. Too much backstay and our mainsail got too flat, and so forth. That\u2019s essential stuff to know.<\/p>\n

\"SmarkLinkWe also used the Smartlink to help confirm and quantify what we already knew. When it\u2019s windy, a\u00a0J\/70<\/a>\u00a0vang is often tight when sailing upwind, so we installed a Smartlink Nano (the smallest sensor in the line) on the vang. \u00a0As we ease the main in big puffs, the downward load on the leech is transferred from the mainsheet to the vang, which bends the mast more. That, in turn, affects forestay tension. How much? The sensor quantified that for us. It also quantified how much additional headstay load we could achieve by sheeting the mainsheet harder. All told, that data helped us balance settings and sheet loads as the wind speed went up and down.<\/p>\n

The crew of past\u00a0J\/70<\/a>\u00a0world champions, Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT, took the system a step further by adding wind instrument data into the mix, which allowed them to figure out which settings worked best in certain wind conditions. They were still able to train themselves as to what 8 knots of wind feels and looks like and duplicate proven settings for that wind range.<\/p>\n

What would be some applications for other boats? World champion sailor Andrew Palfrey has been using these products on Etchells and 5.5 Meters to help develop accurate instincts for the trimmers on the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the Etchells, the jibs have to go through such a wide wind range that headstay sag, especially in light to medium winds, is critical,\u201d Palfrey says. \u201cWith the Cyclops sensors, we now have a reliable tool to accurately measure headstay load. It is a training tool, as they are not legal for racing in the Etchells. But, they do provide factual information and help develop your eye for determining headstay sag by comparing the sag amount and luff entry angle to a given load. It\u2019s also a great learning tool for seeing the factual effect of differing backstay and mainsheet loads on the headstay.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cyclops products offer the potential of further equalizing performance between professional and amateur teams. With the Cyclops Smarttune and Smartlink and a little time sailing, it could be far easier for amateur teams to match the settings and loads of the professional teams. Top sailmakers share settings and many one-design classes have round table discussions after sailing about what top boats were doing, and with the Smarttune, especially, mid-fleet teams could learn how to achieve proper headstay tension throughout wind ranges, thus ratcheting up their performance.<\/p>\n

The Cyclops products also have applications aboard bigger boats, since you can put them between just about anything. They are often used on blocks and lines to make sure that safe working loads aren\u2019t exceeded. In the 2021 Transpac Race, Pyewacket, first-to-finish, and new 24-hour course record holder, was equipped for this race with outriggers to optimize sheeting angles for their large downwind sails. They didn\u2019t want to go beyond the safe working load for the outriggers, but they also wanted to be pushing the boat as hard as possible and not break anything. Adding a Smartlink to the outrigger down line allowed them to monitor the load in real time, displayed on their B&G instruments. The outriggers never failed. The Smarttune comes in five sizes (from 5\/16 to 3\/4\u2033 thread diameter). The Smartlink also comes in five sizes (from 600kg to 20 tons). The smallest in the line, the Smartlink Nano, is accurate to within \u00b16kg. Both Smarttune and Smartlink are factory calibrated and accurate up to \u00b11 percent of the sensor maximum working load.”\u00a0 Thanks for this\u00a0contribution from Erik Shampain and Sailing World magazine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The applications and benefits of the Cyclops Marine load sensing technology allow professional and amateur teams to better understand what\u2019s happening with rig and control lines.\u00a0
\nLong-time J\/Boats sailor in everything from J\/22s to J\/24s, J\/70s to Santa Cruz 70s, J\/125s to J\/111s, Erik Shampain provides interesting insights on how accurate sensors can help improve repeatable high-performance settings for everyone across the fleet. Erik explains;
\n“Every now and then something very cool and helpful comes along to help take some of the guesswork out of our sailing. Enter Cyclops Marine\u2019s Smarttune turnscrew and Smartlink load sensors. Smarttune sensors are used exclusively for standing rigging applications, but the Smartlink sensor can be used just about anywhere. What\u2019s especially cool is that you can see the data they provide in real-time, and you can download all of it to a smartphone to view it on a graph or in other formats. While these sensors might not be race legal in your class (they\u2019re not in the\u00a0J\/70), they are immensely useful for training. I used them on the\u00a0J\/70\u00a0Midlife Crisis in preparation for the 2021 World Championships in Los Angeles, California.\u00a0
\nTo display the sensor information on our\u00a0J\/70, we used a B&G Triton-2 display, which requires the addition of Cyclops\u2019 wireless gateway to the NMEA 2000 backbone of the B&G instruments. The data is compatible with many other instrument brands and can also be viewed using the Cyclops Marine \u201cSmart Fittings Manager\u201d App, communicating via Bluetooth. The App allows you to review, record, graph, and save the data in multiple formats. The graphing function is especially revealing as it shows what\u2019s happening with the rig tension, etc. as you go through settings on the dock or sailing upwind through different conditions.
\nFor example, we always wondered what happened to the headstay load as we tightened our shrouds, so we put a Smarttune turnscrew sensor on our headstay. We thought if we were to plot the headstay load relative to the number of turnscrew turns above our base setting, the headstay load would graph as a curve. At some upper end in shroud tensioning, however, the forestay would stop getting much tighter. To our surprise, the graph was very linear\u2014 the forestay just got tighter and tighter. So, in heavy air, within the safety tolerances of the mast, we learned we could go with tighter turnscrew settings, producing a gradually tighter headstay.
\nThe Cyclops Smarttune also reinforced the importance of getting shroud settings correct before the start so that our other settings\u2014 backstay, vang, inhaul, etc.\u2014 stay consistent.\u00a0
\nAnother example: the graph clearly showed that the amount of backstay used is relative to how much shroud tension we are carrying. Not enough shroud tension and we had to carry too much backstay to hold the forestay load. Too much backstay and our mainsail got too flat, and so forth. That\u2019s essential stuff to know.
\nWe also used the Smartlink to help confirm and quantify what we already knew. When it\u2019s windy, a\u00a0J\/70\u00a0vang is often tight when sailing upwind, so we installed a Smartlink Nano (the smallest sensor in the line) on the vang. \u00a0As we ease the main in big puffs, the downward load on the leech is transferred from the mainsheet to the vang, which bends the mast more. That, in turn, affects forestay tension. How much? The sensor quantified that for us. It also quantified how much additional headstay load we could achieve by sheeting the mainsheet harder. All told, that data helped us balance settings and sheet loads as the wind speed went up and down.
\nThe crew of past\u00a0J\/70\u00a0world champions, Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT, took the system a step further by adding wind instrument data into the mix, which allowed them to figure out which settings worked best in certain wind conditions. They were still able to train themselves as to what 8 knots of wind feels and looks like and duplicate proven settings for that wind range.
\nWhat would be some applications for other boats? World champion sailor Andrew Palfrey has been using these products on Etchells and 5.5 Meters to help develop accurate instincts for the trimmers on the water.\u00a0
\n\u201cOn the Etchells, the jibs have to go through such a wide wind range that headstay sag, especially in light to medium winds, is critical,\u201d Palfrey says. \u201cWith the Cyclops sensors, we now have a reliable tool to accurately measure headstay load. It is a training tool, as they are not legal for racing in the Etchells. But, they do provide factual information and help develop your eye for determining headstay sag by comparing the sag amount and luff entry angle to a given load. It\u2019s also a great learning tool for seeing the factual effect of differing backstay and mainsheet loads on the headstay.\u201d
\nThe Cyclops products offer the potential of further equalizing performance between professional and amateur teams. With the Cyclops Smarttune and Smartlink and a little time sailing, it could be far easier for amateur teams to match the settings and loads of the professional teams. Top sailmakers share settings and many one-design classes have round table discussions after sailing about what top boats were doing, and with the Smarttune, especially, mid-fleet teams could learn how to achieve proper headstay tension throughout wind ranges, thus ratcheting up their performance.
\nThe Cyclops products also have applications aboard bigger boats, since you can put them between just about anything. They are often used on blocks and lines to make sure that safe working loads aren\u2019t exceeded. In the 2021 Transpac Race, Pyewacket, first-to-finish, and new 24-hour course record holder, was equipped for this race with outriggers to optimize sheeting angles for their large downwind sails. They didn\u2019t want to go beyond the safe working load for the outriggers, but they also wanted to be pushing the boat as hard as possible and not break anything. Adding a Smartlink to the outrigger down line allowed them to monitor the load in real time, displayed on their B&G instruments. The outriggers never failed. The Smarttune comes in five sizes (from 5\/16 to 3\/4\u2033 thread diameter). The Smartlink also comes in five sizes (from 600kg to 20 tons). The smallest in the line, the Smartlink Nano, is accurate to within \u00b16kg. Both Smarttune and Smartlink are factory calibrated and accurate up to \u00b11 percent of the sensor maximum working load.”\u00a0 Thanks for this\u00a0contribution from Erik Shampain and Sailing World magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3168,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jboats_news_reviews"],"yoast_head":"\nAccurate Sensors For Repeatable Settings - JBoats Southwest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2022-blog\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Accurate Sensors For Repeatable Settings - JBoats Southwest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The applications and benefits of the Cyclops Marine load sensing technology allow professional and amateur teams to better understand what\u2019s happening with rig and control lines.\u00a0 Long-time J\/Boats sailor in everything from J\/22s to J\/24s, J\/70s to Santa Cruz 70s, J\/125s to J\/111s, Erik Shampain provides interesting insights on how accurate sensors can help improve repeatable high-performance settings for everyone across the fleet. Erik explains; "Every now and then something very cool and helpful comes along to help take some of the guesswork out of our sailing. Enter Cyclops Marine\u2019s Smarttune turnscrew and Smartlink load sensors. Smarttune sensors are used exclusively for standing rigging applications, but the Smartlink sensor can be used just about anywhere. What\u2019s especially cool is that you can see the data they provide in real-time, and you can download all of it to a smartphone to view it on a graph or in other formats. While these sensors might not be race legal in your class (they\u2019re not in the\u00a0J\/70), they are immensely useful for training. I used them on the\u00a0J\/70\u00a0Midlife Crisis in preparation for the 2021 World Championships in Los Angeles, California.\u00a0 To display the sensor information on our\u00a0J\/70, we used a B&G Triton-2 display, which requires the addition of Cyclops\u2019 wireless gateway to the NMEA 2000 backbone of the B&G instruments. The data is compatible with many other instrument brands and can also be viewed using the Cyclops Marine \u201cSmart Fittings Manager\u201d App, communicating via Bluetooth. The App allows you to review, record, graph, and save the data in multiple formats. The graphing function is especially revealing as it shows what\u2019s happening with the rig tension, etc. as you go through settings on the dock or sailing upwind through different conditions. For example, we always wondered what happened to the headstay load as we tightened our shrouds, so we put a Smarttune turnscrew sensor on our headstay. We thought if we were to plot the headstay load relative to the number of turnscrew turns above our base setting, the headstay load would graph as a curve. At some upper end in shroud tensioning, however, the forestay would stop getting much tighter. To our surprise, the graph was very linear\u2014 the forestay just got tighter and tighter. So, in heavy air, within the safety tolerances of the mast, we learned we could go with tighter turnscrew settings, producing a gradually tighter headstay. The Cyclops Smarttune also reinforced the importance of getting shroud settings correct before the start so that our other settings\u2014 backstay, vang, inhaul, etc.\u2014 stay consistent.\u00a0 Another example: the graph clearly showed that the amount of backstay used is relative to how much shroud tension we are carrying. Not enough shroud tension and we had to carry too much backstay to hold the forestay load. Too much backstay and our mainsail got too flat, and so forth. That\u2019s essential stuff to know. We also used the Smartlink to help confirm and quantify what we already knew. When it\u2019s windy, a\u00a0J\/70\u00a0vang is often tight when sailing upwind, so we installed a Smartlink Nano (the smallest sensor in the line) on the vang. \u00a0As we ease the main in big puffs, the downward load on the leech is transferred from the mainsheet to the vang, which bends the mast more. That, in turn, affects forestay tension. How much? The sensor quantified that for us. It also quantified how much additional headstay load we could achieve by sheeting the mainsheet harder. All told, that data helped us balance settings and sheet loads as the wind speed went up and down. The crew of past\u00a0J\/70\u00a0world champions, Paul Ward's EAT SLEEP J REPEAT, took the system a step further by adding wind instrument data into the mix, which allowed them to figure out which settings worked best in certain wind conditions. They were still able to train themselves as to what 8 knots of wind feels and looks like and duplicate proven settings for that wind range. What would be some applications for other boats? World champion sailor Andrew Palfrey has been using these products on Etchells and 5.5 Meters to help develop accurate instincts for the trimmers on the water.\u00a0 \u201cOn the Etchells, the jibs have to go through such a wide wind range that headstay sag, especially in light to medium winds, is critical,\u201d Palfrey says. \u201cWith the Cyclops sensors, we now have a reliable tool to accurately measure headstay load. It is a training tool, as they are not legal for racing in the Etchells. But, they do provide factual information and help develop your eye for determining headstay sag by comparing the sag amount and luff entry angle to a given load. It\u2019s also a great learning tool for seeing the factual effect of differing backstay and mainsheet loads on the headstay.\u201d The Cyclops products offer the potential of further equalizing performance between professional and amateur teams. With the Cyclops Smarttune and Smartlink and a little time sailing, it could be far easier for amateur teams to match the settings and loads of the professional teams. Top sailmakers share settings and many one-design classes have round table discussions after sailing about what top boats were doing, and with the Smarttune, especially, mid-fleet teams could learn how to achieve proper headstay tension throughout wind ranges, thus ratcheting up their performance. The Cyclops products also have applications aboard bigger boats, since you can put them between just about anything. They are often used on blocks and lines to make sure that safe working loads aren\u2019t exceeded. In the 2021 Transpac Race, Pyewacket, first-to-finish, and new 24-hour course record holder, was equipped for this race with outriggers to optimize sheeting angles for their large downwind sails. They didn\u2019t want to go beyond the safe working load for the outriggers, but they also wanted to be pushing the boat as hard as possible and not break anything. Adding a Smartlink to the outrigger down line allowed them to monitor the load in real time, displayed on their B&G instruments. The outriggers never failed. The Smarttune comes in five sizes (from 5\/16 to 3\/4\u2033 thread diameter). The Smartlink also comes in five sizes (from 600kg to 20 tons). The smallest in the line, the Smartlink Nano, is accurate to within \u00b16kg. Both Smarttune and Smartlink are factory calibrated and accurate up to \u00b11 percent of the sensor maximum working load."\u00a0 Thanks for this\u00a0contribution from Erik Shampain and Sailing World magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jboatssouthwest.com\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JBoats Southwest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-26T02:50:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-10T06:19:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/305fc2f7-20cf-cc24-3c5f-be3df243b5e6.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"574\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"430\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stuart Johnstone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stuart Johnstone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2022-blog\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Stuart Johnstone\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/#\/schema\/person\/77bcb7a5f0ec0fa3acd43f83ef11755a\"},\"headline\":\"Accurate Sensors For Repeatable Settings\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-26T02:50:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-10T06:19:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings\/\"},\"wordCount\":1098,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2022-blog\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jboatssouthwest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/305fc2f7-20cf-cc24-3c5f-be3df243b5e6.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"J\/Boats News & Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2022-blog\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings\",\"name\":\"Accurate Sensors For Repeatable Settings - 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JBoats Southwest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2022-blog\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Accurate Sensors For Repeatable Settings - JBoats Southwest","og_description":"The applications and benefits of the Cyclops Marine load sensing technology allow professional and amateur teams to better understand what\u2019s happening with rig and control lines.\u00a0 Long-time J\/Boats sailor in everything from J\/22s to J\/24s, J\/70s to Santa Cruz 70s, J\/125s to J\/111s, Erik Shampain provides interesting insights on how accurate sensors can help improve repeatable high-performance settings for everyone across the fleet. Erik explains; \"Every now and then something very cool and helpful comes along to help take some of the guesswork out of our sailing. Enter Cyclops Marine\u2019s Smarttune turnscrew and Smartlink load sensors. Smarttune sensors are used exclusively for standing rigging applications, but the Smartlink sensor can be used just about anywhere. What\u2019s especially cool is that you can see the data they provide in real-time, and you can download all of it to a smartphone to view it on a graph or in other formats. While these sensors might not be race legal in your class (they\u2019re not in the\u00a0J\/70), they are immensely useful for training. I used them on the\u00a0J\/70\u00a0Midlife Crisis in preparation for the 2021 World Championships in Los Angeles, California.\u00a0 To display the sensor information on our\u00a0J\/70, we used a B&G Triton-2 display, which requires the addition of Cyclops\u2019 wireless gateway to the NMEA 2000 backbone of the B&G instruments. The data is compatible with many other instrument brands and can also be viewed using the Cyclops Marine \u201cSmart Fittings Manager\u201d App, communicating via Bluetooth. The App allows you to review, record, graph, and save the data in multiple formats. The graphing function is especially revealing as it shows what\u2019s happening with the rig tension, etc. as you go through settings on the dock or sailing upwind through different conditions. For example, we always wondered what happened to the headstay load as we tightened our shrouds, so we put a Smarttune turnscrew sensor on our headstay. We thought if we were to plot the headstay load relative to the number of turnscrew turns above our base setting, the headstay load would graph as a curve. At some upper end in shroud tensioning, however, the forestay would stop getting much tighter. To our surprise, the graph was very linear\u2014 the forestay just got tighter and tighter. So, in heavy air, within the safety tolerances of the mast, we learned we could go with tighter turnscrew settings, producing a gradually tighter headstay. The Cyclops Smarttune also reinforced the importance of getting shroud settings correct before the start so that our other settings\u2014 backstay, vang, inhaul, etc.\u2014 stay consistent.\u00a0 Another example: the graph clearly showed that the amount of backstay used is relative to how much shroud tension we are carrying. Not enough shroud tension and we had to carry too much backstay to hold the forestay load. Too much backstay and our mainsail got too flat, and so forth. That\u2019s essential stuff to know. We also used the Smartlink to help confirm and quantify what we already knew. When it\u2019s windy, a\u00a0J\/70\u00a0vang is often tight when sailing upwind, so we installed a Smartlink Nano (the smallest sensor in the line) on the vang. \u00a0As we ease the main in big puffs, the downward load on the leech is transferred from the mainsheet to the vang, which bends the mast more. That, in turn, affects forestay tension. How much? The sensor quantified that for us. It also quantified how much additional headstay load we could achieve by sheeting the mainsheet harder. All told, that data helped us balance settings and sheet loads as the wind speed went up and down. The crew of past\u00a0J\/70\u00a0world champions, Paul Ward's EAT SLEEP J REPEAT, took the system a step further by adding wind instrument data into the mix, which allowed them to figure out which settings worked best in certain wind conditions. They were still able to train themselves as to what 8 knots of wind feels and looks like and duplicate proven settings for that wind range. What would be some applications for other boats? World champion sailor Andrew Palfrey has been using these products on Etchells and 5.5 Meters to help develop accurate instincts for the trimmers on the water.\u00a0 \u201cOn the Etchells, the jibs have to go through such a wide wind range that headstay sag, especially in light to medium winds, is critical,\u201d Palfrey says. \u201cWith the Cyclops sensors, we now have a reliable tool to accurately measure headstay load. It is a training tool, as they are not legal for racing in the Etchells. But, they do provide factual information and help develop your eye for determining headstay sag by comparing the sag amount and luff entry angle to a given load. It\u2019s also a great learning tool for seeing the factual effect of differing backstay and mainsheet loads on the headstay.\u201d The Cyclops products offer the potential of further equalizing performance between professional and amateur teams. With the Cyclops Smarttune and Smartlink and a little time sailing, it could be far easier for amateur teams to match the settings and loads of the professional teams. Top sailmakers share settings and many one-design classes have round table discussions after sailing about what top boats were doing, and with the Smarttune, especially, mid-fleet teams could learn how to achieve proper headstay tension throughout wind ranges, thus ratcheting up their performance. The Cyclops products also have applications aboard bigger boats, since you can put them between just about anything. They are often used on blocks and lines to make sure that safe working loads aren\u2019t exceeded. In the 2021 Transpac Race, Pyewacket, first-to-finish, and new 24-hour course record holder, was equipped for this race with outriggers to optimize sheeting angles for their large downwind sails. They didn\u2019t want to go beyond the safe working load for the outriggers, but they also wanted to be pushing the boat as hard as possible and not break anything. Adding a Smartlink to the outrigger down line allowed them to monitor the load in real time, displayed on their B&G instruments. The outriggers never failed. The Smarttune comes in five sizes (from 5\/16 to 3\/4\u2033 thread diameter). The Smartlink also comes in five sizes (from 600kg to 20 tons). The smallest in the line, the Smartlink Nano, is accurate to within \u00b16kg. Both Smarttune and Smartlink are factory calibrated and accurate up to \u00b11 percent of the sensor maximum working load.\"\u00a0 Thanks for this\u00a0contribution from Erik Shampain and Sailing World magazine","og_url":"https:\/\/jboatssouthwest.com\/accurate-sensors-for-repeatable-settings\/","og_site_name":"JBoats Southwest","article_published_time":"2022-08-26T02:50:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-10T06:19:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":574,"height":430,"url":"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/305fc2f7-20cf-cc24-3c5f-be3df243b5e6.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Stuart Johnstone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stuart Johnstone","Est. reading time":"5 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