Here is the beginning of the tuning and trim guide I have been developing for myself with the Rocket 22.

This IS NOT a definitive, sanctioned or official tuning guide. I haven’t had the chance to go head to head with other Rockets, and my boat may be slightly different due to small changes that have been made in set up, etc. Given the dynamic state of trim, tuning, and sailing techniques the following should be viewed as my impressions consistent with my sailing style, rather than guide for how to sail the boat. I’ll leave that up to the first Rocket 22 world champion.

It is a collection of my observations and experiences with the boat, and I hope you all will share the same.

I also hope everyone is planning on coming to the Best of the Okanagan this summer to rub elbows, share tips, and have a great time. If you haven’t seen the promotion for the event it is on the Rocket site.

The next phase in this guide will be determining base settings for rake, shroud tension, forestay length, mast jack turns, etc. I am playing with lots of different variables but I think there is light at the end of the tunnel.

This boat is so much fun, because it can be a real challenge in all conditions – but SO rewarding when you nail it. It’s not hard, but occasionally confounding. By this I mean taking a traditional keelboat (e.g. J22) or sport boat (Melges 24) approach only gets you halfway there. It wasn’t until I talked with the 5o5 and 49er guys that the whole thing came into focus…blurry focus. Since throwing my preconceptions out the window I am making leaps and bounds in understanding about how to sail the boat and set it up. I find it a very cool process.

Upwind, the boat is operating in three modes:

Mode 1: 2-8kts we are adequately powered up with the boat being quite weight sensitive.
Mode 2: 9-12 we are already overpowered, but with the right recipe she finds her groove, and the application of some special techniques (like heeling through waves) makes a huge difference in performance
Mode 3: 12-25 doing all that we can to de-power the boat.
Note: I’ve sailed in 25+three times. That’s not fun on any boat, and this is no different although remarkably dry comparatively.

The lack of backstay and mast jack make tuning the boat different than the keelboats I am used to. Normally as the wind comes on we crank on the rig…that doesn’t really work with the Rocket – in fact it is the opposite in some cases. Rig tune at the dock becomes pretty important and the associations of what each shroud is doing needs adjustment.

Sails

The jib

We are asking A LOT of this one little jib. But there are plenty of controls to change the shape. I found it is really important to get the tack low, otherwise the clew height is thrown out of wack.

Jib Halyard

The set up on the boat allows for a ton of range in the halyard tension. I put in enough tension to get the wrinkles just out of the luff. This winter the breeze has been up just about everywhere I have sailed so I have taken to cranking on the jib halyard to round the entry, pulling draft forward. This is helping de-power the sail too…a need that comes on quickly. It is hard to repeat settings without marks on a luff so much of these adjustments are feel/look driven. In the 8-12 range I find that playing the jib halyard is fast.

Jib Sheet

The boat really responds to active jib sheeting. Legs in hiking will make these sorts of changes easy, and should keep the jib trimmers VERY involved in the game. Interestingly, I like to use a leech telltale for the trimmer (leech telltale for the trimmer, luff telltales for the driver). I have placed tape on the top and bottom spreaders to get a better reference point data. Because the clew is so close to the lead block small adjustments make a huge difference. I have found that a very twisted jib (at least matching the mains leech) is quick, and doesn’t backwind the main. I am trimming the bottom of the sail pretty hard and twisting off the top. Again the leech telltale tells the story – but as the wind comes on I sheet hard and if we get stuffed I ease (an inch) and start over. As the breeze comes on I move the lead aft and then ease slightly (two-three inches. Then I move to barber hauling out and sheeting hard again – repeating the process. I have been sailing in big breeze with a luffing main and a hard sheeted jib, but think that easing the jib a bit and keeping the main working might be faster. I am used to using IN-Haulers instead of out-haulers. It might be interesting to see if out-hauling out of a tack and then shifting gears in, on, and forward would be fast. I am treating the barber haulers like the traveler for my jib.

The main

It is a BIG main. I’d like to see a reefing point (or two) put in, but then again I like this boat for its potential in short distance races (under 200miles).

Luff tension

I am going for max hoist, and in fact would be a fan of a halyard lock, adjusting the tension in the luff with the Cunningham.

The Outhaul

The outhaul controls the main more so here than on most boats I have sailed. It really can be eased off and seems to have major impact of the power of the sail. I ease it to add helm/power. In light air the rounded leech seems to help with pointing, but you can go too far with this allowing air to stack up and stall in the sail. The bottom telltales tell the story.

The mainsheet

I drive the boat with a combination of sheet and traveler and because of that am constantly adjusting them. My sheet range is about 6 inches in most conditions. Again, unlike many keelboats that like to stall the top to promote pointing this boat seems to REALLY like flow. I try to keep flow going ALL the time. Unlike the jib, which seems to like over sheeting in most cases the main stalls early, and when that happens the skinny foils stall. I ease the main quite often. In the big breeze I am carrying a lot of luffing – but because I have dropped traveler I try to sheet as hard as possible. As the sheet is tensioned it acts somewhat as a backstay, you can go too far…and you’ll know when you have☺

The traveler

I play the traveler quite a bit. In the light stuff I bring it up to promote pointing and add a little helm. In puffy/moderate conditions I get a serious workout. In big breeze I vang sheet and drop the traveler.

I rarely change the traveler without adjusting the sheet. Under 10 the traveler brings the boom to centerline and the main is twisted – i.e. LOTS of sheet adjustments, as the breeze comes up play both mainsheet and traveler, but more traveler than sheet. Above 15 the traveler is all the way down, vang on hard, and I am back to using sheet.

Vang

In the light air I have it all the way off, because it impacts the leech and stalls it. Above 15 I pull it on hard so that when I blow the main the whole sail dumps and then comes back on quickly when I need it. At the windward mark it comes off again initially otherwise the boat will not come down in breeze. Off the wind it is the throttle! I have mine run differently so that it can be played better from the back of the boat when on plane.

Steering the boat

I think you could remove the tiller and lock the rudder in place on this boat. Upwind, I drive with the sails and weight as much as possible. The rudder doesn’t really steer the boat that well anyway, so when you try and steer with it you are just creating drag that is getting overpowered by the sail plan. I also have had to go away from my point/feather ways and drive with the bow down. I move forward as far as possible in order to stop the gurgle at the back of the boat (note: DON’T leave the motor on the back!). FYI - I think the tiller could be quite a bit longer and recurved.

Downwind in light air I like to stand and help drive the boat with my weight. Downwind in heavy air I am outboard and steer pretty aggressively with weight AND tiller. It is important to get ahead of the boat because the time from stall to wipe out is VERY short. But once you have a groove going weight will get you where you need to go. I also have two downwind modes. The hot and the deep. Deep starts with LOTS of weather heel. Until the helm goes to lee helm. It is a good skill to learn because it makes heavy air jibes a snap. And then hot. The transition is still being worked out. I sail pretty hot until the 9-11 kts zone. I think we loose in this zone because it is pre-plane and we are about 10 degrees off of symmetrical boats. (NOTE: I fly the A-kite almost exclusively). That said, a wavy 10kts and we can work the waves pretty well and sail just as deep as anyone. Over 20kts I switch to outside jibes, keep the jib out and ROCK AND ROLL. You can sail pretty deep (by the lee) and still plane – then the boat trips. We are experimenting with this as our jibing technique in big breeze. It is scary but we think it works and it is WICKED fast…so long as you don’t mess up.

Just a few other things. I am generally sailing with three. I really like the way that works. I am driving and trimming main, my middle person is working the tweaks upwind and trims the kite while the forward person trims the jib and runs the pit. While I’d love the extra weight on the windward leg, I really like the mobility in the boat and think that in the light stuff we’ll crush.

This is pretty darn fun! When my rig numbers make more sense I’ll forward.