Gains " on the run" I meant to say

Hi Richard the extended gooseneck allows the boom to go out further on the run. It is a slight advantage (every little helps as a supermarket says) so worth doing. The biggest gains are in sail settings such as getting the kicker well off and in finding the best wind and waves relative to your opponents.

Yes, they were measured at the 2023 Nationals and my boom band moved about 15mm

Hi Philip, I rigged up a 6:1 because it was an easy thing to do at the time. It is sufficient but I would advise you to go to a boat chandler (or travelling Solo specialist like Chris Brown) and get them to rig up an 8:1 to keep your boat "standard". My 6:1 uses a becket added to the sail block and a mini ball block fixed to the mast luff track underneath the gooseneck which allows a longer downhaul tail to go through the sail block, through the mast block and tie on the becket for 3:1 which is pulled by the 2:1 continuous control line. You can't rig this unless your sail block has a hollow shaft for the becket ( shackle or rope loop), when I bought a North sail I had to post them a block with becket to sew in in place of their standard solid Harken single. You also have to drill two small holes in either side of the mast luff track for a rope loop (4mm control line) that will go through the mast block and leaves the block about 30mm below the gooseneck so it doesn't catch on the gooseneck. A chandler would make a new continuous control line with 4:1 purchase at the mast foot instead of your existing 2:1 and that converts to an 8:1 total downhaul.

Hi Philip, a sail will have two shape components, the overall shape and a luff cut for a particular mast bend ( which depends on the type of mast). I'm 70kg and have a zeta mast. I bought a North L3 (L for lightweight under75kg) just over a year ago and love the combination. I think other sailmakers also have lightweights sails too now. The L is slightly flatter in the lower panels and the Zeta is actually slightly stiffer ( fore and aft?) than the previous bendy masts that were a bit too flexible. Use truck loads of downhaul upwind when overpowered ( you need more than 4:1 downhaul- new boats have 8:1 standard, I rigged up a 6:1) Good luck, Andy Carter

My simple hack is get a professional to supply and fit it, it’s a massively stressed item and you can’t afford a mistaKe, my local chandler was not expensive

PS, I realise there is an email from the Solo Class to us all on 26/6/22 notifying about this, but I only got the message that the RYA doesn’t object to a leech flattener and not what is envisaged.

Hi, if this is to be discussed at the Nationals AGM, could someone please attach the proposal/ current thoughts to this thread?

Hi Ian, the basic guide is the leach telltales, they will all go into reverse flow along the backside of your sail after briefly collapsing from their usual flow out from the sail as you bear away by the lee. It's a strange feeling at first, you speed up and the feel on the mainsheet goes lighter - hold it there. You don't want much kicker, the sail needs to feel light and free. If you sheet in a little the main takes a better shape off the shrouds, the relative wind angle to your heading improves ( you should be going straight towards a downwind mark at a similar speed to those shooting off on the high speed low reach), and you can either ease or sheet in the main by just a few inches to steer the boat. Sit well back as usual and aim to keep it bolt upright until you know how it feels, then you can do fancy dan wave steering/ surfing boosts. I agree with everything Guy has already said, I hope this helps.