Solo Tuning Guide by Sailboats Speedsails

The Solo is quite a simple boat and differences in boat speed within the fleet tend to be small. This makes it very important to put some effort into the rig set-up as any small advantage in boat speed will require significant attention to detail.

Mast Position

The distance from the front of the mast at the heel to the outside of the transom at the floor should be 3050mm.

Forestay

With no sail raised push the mast to the back of the gate and adjust the forestay so that it is just in tension. This gives the neutral position.

Conditions	Forestay Setting
Drifting conditions	Ease 1 hole from Neutral
Light airs – sitting to windward	Neutral
Hiking conditions – consistently overpowered	Neutral
Consistently overpowered – racing abandoned	Ease 1 hole (in extreme conditions ease again to 2 holes)

Shrouds

With no sail raised, push the mast forward in the gate. The mast should just touch the front of the gate with the shrouds just in tension. If you have a Selden C Sleeved mast then leave a 10mm gap between the mast and the gate.

Chocks

Conditions	Chock Setting
Drifting conditions	Chock in the gap aft of the mast (reverse chocking) — flattens the mainsail as very slow-moving air finds it difficult to move around a curved surface
Breeze increasing – sitting on windward deck	Chock forward of the mast — straightens the mast and powers up the rig
Very windy conditions	Remove the chock to bend the mast again and de-power the sail

Centreboard

Conditions	Centreboard Position
Very light winds	Fully down, raked forward
Breeze increasing – starting to hike	Raised to vertical position
More and more overpowered	Raised progressively (reduces weather helm and de-powers the boat)

Traveller

In very light conditions the traveller should be in the centreline of the boat. As the wind picks up, the traveller is eased out and more mainsheet tension is used.

Conditions	Traveller Setting
Drifting conditions	On centreline (0mm)
Light winds – sitting to windward	Ease to 50mm
Sitting to windward – consistently overpowered	Progressively eased to 100mm
Consistently overpowered – racing abandoned	Eased to maximum of 380mm

Kicker

The kicker is the most critical sail control when racing. Until you start to ease the traveller just have the slack taken out of the kicker system, using mainsheet tension to control the leech profile. As the wind starts to increase, aim to have the top tell-tale on the leech flying approximately 80% of the time. Downwind this tell-tale should be flying continuously. Above 15 knots use the kicker as a power control — if overpowered put more on, if underpowered let some off.

Outhaul

Conditions	Outhaul Setting
Upwind – very light winds	Eased ¾ inch
Upwind – sitting to windward	Almost to the black band (eased ~¼ inch)
Upwind – hiking out	Out to the black band
Downwind – light airs	Can be left on
Downwind – medium airs	Eased 2 inches
Downwind – windy (overpowered)	Left on fully

Cunningham

This should only be used when you have to hike and the mast begins to bend. In these conditions, some cunningham can be used to remove excessive luff creases. In heavy winds you can pull on the cunningham quite hard to de-power the sail.