Capri 22 Tuning Guide
08 May

Capri 22 Tuning Guide

Capri 22 Tuning Guide

Thanks for your purchase of North Sails for your Capri 22. We have designed these sails to be fast, easy to use and long lasting. The following tuning guide is meant to be a starting point for setting up your rig. We have developed these settings and instructions in order make your C 22 easy to sail and fast throughout the wide range of conditions.

MAST RAKE

Factory head stay length is 25’5”, Gibb hook to end of stud. Attach toggle on bottom of turnbuckle to the farthest forward stem hole, and extend turnbuckle to max ease setting. This is your light-air rake/tension setting. (Be sure to remove any additional toggles, as these will induce too much weather helm.)

Wind Speed

Upper Shroud Tension

Lower Shroud Tension

Head Stay

0-5

28

18

Max rake

6-9

31

20

Max rake

10-14

+2 Turns

+1 Turn

+10Turns

15-20

+4 Turns

+2 Turns

+20Turns

21+

+6 Turns

+3 Turns

+30Turns

Using Loos Model PT1

Go out and sail this setting to ensure the main sets up smoothly to the rig. If it doesn’t, you may need to make some minor lower adjustments to fit the main sails luff curve with your mast. Be sure to remove the spinnaker pole mast track and substitute a fixed ring. This will allow more flexibility in the lower sections of your mast and allow for a wider range of settings.

HEADSTAY TENSION

These numbers are flat water and steady breeze only. The more wave/swell and breeze fluctuations, the less turns you should put on.

GENOA LEAD POSITION

Remove stock genoa lead tracks and replace with race tracks. These have more holes and provide finer adjustment. Place the car all the way forward for the light air setting. The turning block should be on the trim in until the foot of the genoa touches the upper shrouds with increases in windspeed. If the mainsail starts to over back-wind the mainsail, drop the car back one hole at a time until this problem stops. Be careful not to move the lead back too far as you can lose necessary leech tension and also your ability to point.

BACKSTAY

“A little bit of a properly rigged one of these, goes a long way.”

Since the mast of the Capri is relatively soft, applying backstay can depower the sail plan thus reducing helm related drag and increasing your ability to keep the boat tracking. A 16:1 purchase system is recommended. Synthetic line is not only class legal, but much softer on your mainsail than the factory wire and recommended. The backstay and mainsheet work together between your standard rig settings to handle the inevitable fluctuations in sea state and wind velocity.

CREW WEIGHT

Since there are no limitations on number of crew, or their combined weight, sail with at least three crew to maximize maneuvers. As the breeze builds into the 10-14 range and up, try to sail with additional crew members, or heavier ones. A good minimum racing crew weight is 600 lbs. You may want to be closer to 700 or more if you anticipate winds in excess of 15 knots steady. Try to accomplish this with four to five crew, as any more gets crowded.

AFTERMARKET RUNNING RIGGING IMPROVEMENTS

Recent changes to the Capri 22 Class Rules now allow for changes as long as they are “not used in such a way as to change the fundamental sailing characteristics of the Capri22.”

Some of the bases include:

  1. Windward Sheeting Traveler Car
  2. Racing Genoa Tracks
  3. Adjustable Backstay
  4. Ratchet Spin Sheet Blocks
  5. Ratchet Genoa Sheet Blocks
  6. Adjustable Twings
  7. Main Cunningham
  8. Light Weight Aluminum Spinnaker Pole
  9. Tapered Synthetic Sheets/Halyards/ Control Lines/Backstay
  10. Electronic Mast Mounted Compass