Vareo rigging setup

This video is very specific to my own racing dinghy, a RS Vareo. The opening shots show some Vareos in action. Having said that, some ideas shown here are relevant to many other designs and all show how little details can make huge differences in both performance and ease of handling, even on a mass produced boat

Most daggerboards come with a thick rope handle. I changed to a thin rope inside a 12mm hose for several reasons. I have found that the knots on the thick rope can catch the mainsheet. The hose loop makes it much easier to adjust the board. It can be used as a temporary toestrap. I can easily grab it when scrambling back on board after a capsize.

The spinnaker sheets need to be endless, or, at the very least, have the ends knotted together so you don't lose them. A removable spliced-in link is the best solution. I have them extra long so that when overpowered the spinnaker can flog without being held by a too short sheet. In light winds I knot the ends shorter so it is quicker to get the sail setting after hoisting. BTW ensure that every sheet, halyard and control line is in a different colour!

The mainsheet horse must be tight. It's best to get it as tight as possible with both parts above the rudder fitting. Then it can be tightened further by pulling the lower part below the top rudder fitting.

I changed the through deck hole system to eyebolts as I was tired of constantly changing the traveller rope because of chafe (even though I use dyneema which chafes less than polyester). Bobbles (usually) stop the mainsheet block catching in the eyes. They should allow the block to move the whole width of the transom.

But the big change I made is to have a quick release cleat in the traveller. When released I can use it as an emergency boarding step.

The righting lines are oversize (6mm rope is ample) as I used some scrap rope. They are tied to the spi block loops as that seems to be the best place. When tied to the shrouds I found I tended to sink the bow when pulling on it, rather than right the boat.

Whatever you do, the Vareo rig is pretty wobbly, so I prefer to use lanyards on the shrouds, rather than shackles, to keep it as stiff as I can. (If the mast bends and flexes in a gust then the boat cannot use that power to accelerate). I fitted a through bolt at the hounds as I found one of the rivets had pulled out. The mast is very thin grp at that point.

I have a thick shockcord loop over the tiller. That does three things. It reminds me not to push the tiller over too hard or too fast when tacking. It helps keep the boat on course when hoisting/lowering the spinnaker. It keeps the rudder central when the boat is on its side so that, after righting the boat, it doesn't bear off onto a run and capsize again. Quick release universal joints should always be taped over "just in case".

A centre mainsheet makes gybing very easy as you can pull on the sheet to bring the boom over. You cannot do that with the Vareo (or Laser, Sunfish etc). So most people fit a "gybing strop". Normally that ends with a plastic ring round the mainsheet. But it is better to use a heavy block instead. That has less friction, but more important, the weight means the strop always drops down to the jammer so is easy to grab.

More below in the comments......

Thanks especially to Luke Fisher and the other Vareo sailors who's ideas I copied.

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