I lost the originial thread ... but on your website it shows a pic from
the foredeck looking up the mast ..... and the genoa shows an extremely
slack forestay with the genoa sagging off to leeward. The Genoa luff
very flat in the middle, hooking/fullness in middle leech area ....
maybe you should keep the tensioner and apply it a little harder to get
a better shape.
A genoa with this shape is going to be slow, will cause excess heel and
the boat wont point worth a damm. Wiith that closed 'slot' due to the
hooked leech ... it *has* to be causing 'backwinding' and rotten
mainsail performance .... which will cause further mal-performance of
the genoa..
Keep the tensioner..

You dont have any tell tales on the genoa. For 'magnitudes' better
sailing I'd suggest going to www.arvelgentry.com and review the
'magazine articles' section: :"Checking Trim on the Wind"; "Achieving
proper balance; & "Sailing to Windward"
Arvel Gentry was the aerodynamicist who was the first to explain how
sail *really* worked and then invented a 'tuft system' so that one can
visualize what is happening and how to trim'/shape according to the
actual conditions, etc.


In article , rhys
wrote:

On Tue, 19 Jul 2005 00:33:07 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

Can anyone give me a reason for keeping this set up on a cruising
boat?

With a split backstay and tensioner, you can tension the mast
appropriately for either down or upwind work, the complexities and
rationale of which you can look up.

It's just another sail control but if it isn't broken, I wouldn't
remove it. I would learn how to use it just I I learned how to use the
cunningham, the barber outhaul and the vang.

YMMV,
R.