Mainsail (M-7) Japanese Design 2011 Mens & Womens World Champion!
The M-7 Mainsail is our famous Japanese all purpose design sail used to win the Mens' and Womens' World Championship. The sail is compatible with both the Selden and Super Spar rigs. The M-7 Main is very slightly flatter than the M-9 in the base of the sail and is suitable for light to middle weight teams. The sail comes complete with insignia, sail numbers, battens, class button, ISAF in house measurement, tell tails and sail bag.
M-7
Full Radial (Dacron HTP-165 Square)
GBP £580.00
Euro €696.00
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Mainsail (M-9) Japanese Design 2012 Mens & Womens World Champion!
New in 2012 the M-9 Mainsail was developed utilising lessons learnt from the 470 class in the build up to the London 2012 Olympic Games, where North Sails dominated the 470 class. The M-9 Main is slightly deeper than the M-7 Main in the base. It is an all round sail that won both the Mens and Womens divisions at the 2012 World Championship. Real lightweights should look towards the M-7, other teams should go towards the M-9.The sail comes complete with insignia, sail numbers, battens, class button, ISAF in house measurement, tell tails and sail bag.
M-9
Full Radial (Dacron HTP-165 Square)
GBP £580.00
Euro €696.00
|
Jib (J-12) Japanese Design New!
The new J-12 Jib has been specifically developed for the new class rules allowing leech battens, it is designed to compliment both the M-7 and M-9 Mainsails. The sail comes with window, tell tails, battens, class button, ISAF in house measurement and sail bag.
J-12
Bi Radial (Dacron HTP-165 Square)
GBP £285.00
Euro €342.00
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Spinnaker (S-01) Japanese Design 2011 & 2012 World Champion!
The S-01 is an all purpose design spinnaker that is very slightly flatter than the S-05 spinnaker. The S-01 has been used to win the 2011 and 2012 420 World Championship. The sail comes with sail number, class button, ISAF in house measurement and sail bag.
S-01
Cross Cut
Tejin 6016
  
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GBP £435.00
Euro €522.00
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Spinnaker (S-05) Japanese Design 2012 Womens World Champion!
The S-05 is a slightly deeper development of the S-01. It was used to win the 2012 World Championship and is perfect for teams who like a little more power.The sail comes with sail number, class button, ISAF in house measurement and sail bag.
S-05
Cross Cut
Tejin 6016
|
GBP £435.00
Euro €522.00
|
All prices above "EXCLUDE" local VAT & delivery charges.
Please contact the
420 Experts or your local
North Loft or Agent for additional information and questions about our products.
Introduction
The purpose of this tuning-guide is to give our clients in the 420 class some guidelines on how to get the most out of their North Sails.
Follow the guidelines, but always experiment and try finding your own trim. The weight of the crew, the balance of the boat, the stiffness of the mast together with specific local wind and sea conditions all have influence on the fastest and final trim.
Download our M9/J11 Quick Guide
Mast Step
Measured from the inside of transom to the back of the mast 2830 mm.
Spreaders
The spreaders are the key to setting up the right amount of pre-bend in the mast. Time should be taken to get the right pre-bend settings for your mast. The best way to measure this is to run the halyard from the tip of the mast down to the black band at the bottom of the mast. Then at spreader height measure the distance from the back of the mast to the closest edge of the main halyard.
This should be done with rig tension on, mast rake at base setting (19’11 ½, tension 30), and no chocs.
Spreader length - 470mm
Pre-bend Superspar M7 – 45mm (+-5 depending on weight)
Pre-bend Kappa – 40mm (+-5 depending on weight)
*Pre bend depends massively on your crew weight, as as soon as they go on the wire they will bend the mast substantially. If you are a slightly heavier team reduce the pre-bend slightly and if you are lighter, finding yourself getting overpowered early increase the pre-bend slightly.
Mast Rake
Mast rake is measured by attaching a tape measure to the main halyard, hoisting it to the top of the mast and then measuring to the back of the transom with the rig tension on and NO CHOCKS. To insure the tape measure is pulled to the same place every time, take a measurement from the tip of the mast to the black band.
Rig tension is measured off the shrouds with either a Superspar or new Loos tension
meter, Superspar meter being the first figure and Loos being the second.
| Wind Speed | Mast Rake | Rig Tension |
| 2 - 6 knots | 19'11 1/2" | 29/29 |
| 7 - 11 knots | 19'10" | 29/29 |
| 12 - 16 knots | 19'8 1/2" | 30/30 |
| 17 - 23 knots | 197" | 30/30 |
*As a rule, once the boom is going out of the back quarter, it is time to rake back to your next setting, this will be earlier for lighter teams
** Get the above setting and note shroud position and tension on mast.
Chocks
Ideally carry 3 x 15mm chocks and one half chock.
The chocks are the major adjustment for controlling pre-bend on the water, and the amount of power in the rig. Placing chocks in front of the mast will decrease the amount of pre-bend and increase the power in the sail. If you place too many chocks in front of the mast you will find the mainsail leech will become very stalled, so remove chocks.
In very light winds, especially in flat water, you want to flatten the mainsail helping airflow over the sail, back chocking (placing chocks behind the mast) can help this. Back chocking has an amazing effect up the whole mast.
Back chocking can also help to stop the mast from inverting when reaching.
Wind Speed | Chocks in Front | Chocks in Back |
2-6 knots | 0 | 1-2 |
7-11 knots | 1-2 | 0 |
12-16 knots | 2-3 | 0 |
17 - 23 knots | 2 | 0 |
Kicker
In light winds pull just enough kicker to take up the slack in the system, the kicker should not be applying any tension to the leech, or you will loose power and close the leech. As the wind increases and you have to start easing the main (when the crew is flat wiring) add enough kicker so that when the mainsheet is eased leech tension is not lost. As the wind increases and the boom is constantly away from the centre-line use enough kicker to control the leech. The sail should not be allowed to twist too much or pointing will be lost and the boat will become hard to control.
Cunningham
This should only be used as the boat starts to get overpowered. When it is very windy
pull the cunningham hard.
Outhaul
The outhaul should be left relatively tight at all times apart from very choppy conditions where looking for more power.
| Wind Speed | Kicker | Cunningham | Outhaul |
| 2 - 6 knots | Eased | Eased | Tight |
| 7 - 11 knots | Remove slack | Eased | Ease approx.
2cm in chop |
| 12 - 16 knots | Control leech tension | Remove creases
as overpowered | Tight |
| 17 - 23 knots | Control leech tension | Pull harder as
more overpowered | Tight |
Mainsail Leech Tension
Use the leech tell tails to indicate how much mainsheet tension should be applied. Most of the time look for the tell tails to be flying about 90% of the time.
Mainsheet Strops
It is critical to get the boom as close to the centre-line in light to marginal winds. This means careful adjustment of the strops and marking them. If the boom is off the centreline then pointing will be lost.
With the new strop system, in very light winds, especially in chop it is possible to get the boom slightly to windward.
Top Batten
In light air push the top batten in lightly. In medium winds more firmly to insure the creases are removed.
Centreboard
In very light wind the centreboard can be raked very slightly forward. As the wind increases set it to vertical (mark) and then as the boat starts planning begin to rake the plate back.
Jib Settings
Sheeting the jib correctly has a major effect over the boat speed of a 420. Therefore it is important to mark the jib sheets to ensure that fast settings can be repeated.
Tie the boat to the trolley and place on a beat. Sheet both the main and the jib and and look at the slot from behind. Look to get the slot parallel all the way up between the mainsail luff and jib leech.
Make sure the jib is in tight, then ease it one inch and pull the windward jib sheet(barberhauler) on quite hard and cleat it. Doing this pulls the clew inboard around 3 inches and creates a more efficient slot shape. With a waterproof pen, mark the jib sheet and barber hauler so that these settings can be referred to once afloat. These will not be the exact positions you want to sheet the jib to, but means that fast settings can be reproduced once found.
Jib Height
Set the jib on the forestay so that the foot of the jib is just touching the deck when jib cunningham is applied.
Jib Cunningham
Pull the jib cunningham just enough to remove the creases on the luff of the jib. When the wind is very strong tighten this as you would with the mainsail (note you do not have to pull as hard).
420 Technique
Good luck on the water!
North Sails boat covers are built to the highest standards and manufactured using top quality materials and hardware. We have looked at each class of boat individually and designed the cover to suit the specific characteristics of the hull, spars, rigging and foils.
Breathable Top Cover
| | GBP £230.00 | Euro €276.00
|
Breathable Bottom Cover
| | GBP £135.00 | Euro €162.00 |
Batten Sets
| Main
Carbon Jib
| GBP £40.00
GBP £18.00
| Euro €48.00
Euro €21.00
|
300mm (12") Sail Numbers & Letters
| | GBP £1.55
| Euro €1.86
|
All prices above "EXCLUDE" local VAT & delivery charges.
To find out more about the materials used in our cover designs please visit our Technical Information page.
Please
contact us or your local
North Loft or Agent to make your order.