Playing With control setups on refurbished 29er

[Sheva Linguine]

I bought a used 2016 29er last winter and have been fixing it up in my garage in Milwaukee with some help from a neighbor who also races dinghies. While looking into control upgrades, I noticed a combined outhaul and cunningham setup in a video that looked really efficient mid-race. My crew and I are not planning to travel for big regattas, so we have more freedom to experiment locally. It feels like a neat way to adjust sail shape on the fly without having to run more lines across the deck. I'd like to hear if anyone has tried this in heavy air and whether it makes enough of a difference to justify re-rigging.

 

[Jack O Neil]

I've messed around with a combined outhaul and cunningham on my 29er, mostly in local Milwaukee races. In heavier air, it makes sail tweaks quicker and smoother and it is worth experimenting if you like fine-tuning on the fly

 

[block head]

honestly, combining outhaul and cunningham is overhyped...sure, it's neat for tinkering, but in heavy air it risks slowing reaction times and adds unnecessary rigging complexity mid-race

 

[Sheva Linguine]

I'm thinking of trying the combined setup at our next Lake Michigan practice to see how it handles gusts. We're not aiming for podiums, so if it helps us adjust sail shape more easily and keeps the deck clear, it could be worth a try. I get the worry about making things more complicated during a race. If it slows us down or jams, we'll just switch back to separate controls. Did either of you have trouble releasing the cunningham at the top mark or on a reach?