The purpose of this Guide

 This Tuning Guide is being developed specifically for the Xenon Dinghy. Its purpose is to explain how the many tuning facilities on the Xenon affect its performance and additionally suggest settings that can be used as a basis for experiment. The greatest difficulty in developing a guide to tuning is the rather subjective nature of the results. It boils down to whether the Helm believes that the Xenon is performing better or worse for a given group of settings in the prevailing wind conditions. It is for this reason that some dedicated crews keep a log of their sailing and note the settings used and the wind conditions. After a period a picture of the best settings for certain conditions begins to emerge. For most dinghy owners tuning is more an art than science. Your comments on this Guide will be helpful, particularly a note of any settings you have used that work very well or those that are very poor.

The three fundamental points to bear in mind are;

1. Your sailing skills are far more important and have a much greater effect on the efficiency of the Xenon than any tuning adjustments.
2. The purpose of Tuning is to match the setup of the dinghy to the prevailing wind conditions. When you have achieved the 'perfect' setup for the wind conditions it is your sailing skills that will produce the results.
3. Finally in all but the very lightest of wind conditions keep the dinghy sailing as flat as possible! If its not flat you are not getting the best out of the Xenon.

The topics covered by this Guide are listed below;