F18 Decksweeper by 1D

by Editor · Published October 12, 2017 · Updated May 24, 2019

We’ve been publishing F18 Decksweeper Mainsails from Mischa, Goodall, Brewin & Oxo. This is one to the left is from Marton Balazs / 1D Sails.

After some initial tests & feedback Marton has come up with the first in-factory designed foot ” ‘flap’ I’ve seen so far. Till now in the A-Class for ie has been used it but as an add-on.

For this new F18 DS cut (Loft picture below) the flap comes from the original design. This feature its necessary when you apply full cunningham to your F18 mainsail, if not you will get a deformation as seen in some F18 DS first versions. Batten placement is key as we wrote in previous post earlier today.

Below comments from Marton Balazs on his DS design. Plus some virtual wind tunnel tests we did with the Scorpion & his standard & DS sails. More material in the future about the tests. More pics & info on 1D go to fb web / onedesignsails.com
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1D DeckSweeper Main Sail by Marton Balazs
I was working on our DS sail just right after the last Australian F18 Nationals but put it aside as the 1D team sailed normal mainsails at the Worlds. After the regatta, as many requests came from customers as well, I have finalized the first version and launched the first serial production sails.

The first sail got 4th on the Spanish Nationals on a Shockwave.

Due to other projects, I was running lots of analysis and looking for the effect of the gap between the tramp and sail, and how the snuffer disturbs the flow around the lower part of the sail and the interaction with the jib.

After this work, I had a quite good view to decide in which direction to go. I like the version with a boom as the structural studies gave me a more positive view on sails and shapes using it.

Many of our team members told us that we should try the boomless version as well. Now we go for it for the St Barth regatta coming next month.

After talking through the alternatives, we came up with newer dimensions and leech shape. Plus a designed kink which creates a flap on the decksweeper foot. This translate to the DS foot always touching the tramp with zero cunningham and with full cunni as well, without killing the shape of the sail.

We have used this solution on other DS, like on ACat or iFly or even on custom sails for the Flying Phantom. The idea came from the AC wing, with a mylar closing the gap between the pod and the wing.

First, we used another solution, with thicker mylar, now the sail is elongated from its original design/cut.
We will see the results in St Barth next month.
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Standard vs DS Mainsail flow on the Scorpion F18: