HI All
Sorry if this has been asked before but i have looked through the forum and havent really found anything that addressed my issue.
I hit a problem when rigging the NP RS4 5.8 sail. this is my first cam sail and Im getting stuck rigging it. Im up to the point where ive slipped the mast over the cams and am downhauling it to get the mast to stick out the boom cut out in the sail. Problem is [it feels like] im downhauling the crap out of the sail but the mast doesnt seem to want to pop out the boom cut out and im just worried about snapping my mast while downhauling it. I know the recommended mast is the NP X9 (100%) but ive got a powerex 430 (40%) lying around and i dont intend to be racing so thought it should be ok.
Im just wondering how much downhaul do you need? should i just try downhaul it to spec. or should i try coax it out by attaching the boom while the mast is still inside the luff pocket and try outhaul it out :S
Any suggestions/help would be much appreciated.
again sorry if this has been covered before.
Thanks for the reply guys,
No this isnt Rubby
and yes i have looked at the rs4 guide. I was just after some personal experiences from people who have used this sail to see how much downhaul you guys are using to get the mast exposed through the boom opening, for instance are you downhauling all the way (434cm) or half way or ...?
Cheers
Hi,
I owned a 7.2m RS6 which is probably quite similar to an RS4. There was little to no difference in the amount of downhaul I had to crank out to get the mast to show in the boom pocket as what was required when downhauling for the second time.
This was with a NP X6 460 mast, not exactly what was recommended for the sail but it worked quite well.
Its a different process for RS sails. The process I was shown and work requires you to just about fully downhaul the sail, fit the boom, give a fair bit of outhaul, release most of the downhaul, fit the cams, fully downhaul the sail.
If you don't give it a fair bit of downhaul the first time its too difficult to attach the boom.
much appreciated guys
Mobydisc i will take your recommendation and try downhauling as much as required the second time and see how it goes. thanks
I have used a 5.8 RS4 for the last year. has been my favourite sail by far, I have tried a powerex 30% mast and also a pryde X3, found the best combo to be the X3 top on the powerex bottom, the powerex bottom is a bit smaller dia and really helps with the cam rotation and the X3 top lets it twist of a bit more but your powerex will work fine, I found you need every bit of downhaul you can put on then some more like floppy leech all the way down to the boom, you will need decent downhaul rope (formuline) to get enough downhaul, have done over 200 k's and 37 knots on mine until i trashed it about a month ago when i done the 37 and spun out crashed and straight through 2 panels, the sail has unreal topend control, i have plenty of spare battens and cams if you ever need any. have replaced it with a KA Koncept (untried) but also have a 6.7 RS4. rig as mobydisc said, it is a lot better to rig than my new KA. ps the formuline rope is a must.
Cheers for that jimbob
Good to know a low carbon mast will take the grunt of the downhaul, i was just afraid id snap my 40% while downhauling the thing 
will give it heaps next time round that i try rig it
I rig my RS4's on x6's,
I find also going to the next size down mast helps as well as it gives a softer mast when stepping down from the x9
Another must have is an x6 mast extension with a die cast pulley block. These come standard with Formuline and mean you can chuck your rig winch in the bin.
I am a big guy and I still needed a rig winch to downhaul my 7.8RSR when using an x3 mast extension, with the x6 it is a breeze and much quicker than using a winch too.
