A short manual from the International Dragon Association of New South Wales for new owners and anyone wanting to improve racing performance, drawing on advice from World and National Champions and an Olympic coach. It covers hull and keel weight (keel 1,000 kg plus 10 kg, all-up weight 1,700 kg without mast), getting the mast to the 30 kg minimum with no more than 13 kg tip weight, a straight mast, chocking at deck level and the use of the runners and backstay, plus outhaul, Cunningham and vang settings. Later chapters deal with tuning attitude, sail choice and helm balance, race preparation and starting, the division of tasks between the three crew, and upwind and downwind tactics, with a Dragon expected to point about 35 degrees to the wind on the compass above 8 knots. […]
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The first Technical Tip sets out the basic mast checks for a Dragon. Leave the mast step where it is unless you are slow, then try only one hole aft for a light helm or one forward for too much weather helm; with the mast at rest, adjust the ram bottle screw so the ram cleated aft neither inverts nor pre-bends the mast. Set rake at 122 cm from the top of the black band, with 123 cm for windy and 121 cm for light conditions. Mark the ram rope at 1 cm, 1.5 cm and 2 cm of forward mast movement so that pre-bend can be applied repeatably to de-power upwind or to open the top of the main in very light air. […]
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Poul-Richard Høj-Jensen’s routine for setting up the mast and equalising runner tension, given that modern Dragon runners work more or less as a backstay. Set the forestay at 121, put 20 on the uppers and 5 on the lowers with a Loos gauge, then pull on each runner until the gauge on the forestay reads 30 and mark the runner’s through-deck position with tape. With the runners just tight the tape should then be 15 cm above the deck. Sail with the tape 15 cm from the deck in light conditions, 8 cm in medium and at deck level when it blows hard. […]
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A 1998 letter from Jesper Bank to Patrick Gifford setting out his simple, feel-based approach to Dragon rig tuning. He sails with the rig loose – virtually no tension on the lowers and the leeward upper only just loose in 8 knots – keeping the mast straight sideways up to 14 knots and tightening the lowers so the top falls about 8 cm to leeward by 25 knots. There is no runner tension below 6-7 knots (headstay tension comes from the mainsheet), 4-6 cm of forestay sag with three on the rail, genoa halyard set by twist and telltales, and stiff jumpers reading 25 on the gauge 50 cm from the turnbuckle for 1 cm of forward bend with no sail up. […]
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North Sails’ January 2006 Dragon tuning guide, compiled by Lars Jensen, Jørgen Schönherr and Theis Palm. It explains how to measure mast position from station 4, set rake from the forestay mark, mark the runners at 30 on the Loos gauge on the forestay, and tension the lowers so the mast stays straight up to 20-22 knots. It then covers mainsail, genoa and spinnaker trim by wind strength. A settings table for light (0-5 knots), medium (6-16) and heavy (17+) winds gives values such as rake of 120.5, 121.5 and 122.5 cm (Petticrow) and mast position of 83.0 cm (Petticrow) or 81.5 cm (BB). […]
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Two short Technical Tips on the mast ram. Part One shows how to check that the ram is not bending or inverting the mast when it is fully aft: with rake set to 122 cm by the black-band method and runners and backstay released, pull the ram aft, take out the turnbuckle pin, let the mast settle and adjust the turnbuckle until the pin goes back in freely. Part Two explains marking the ram rope at 1, 1.5 and 2 cm forward so that pre-bend can be set repeatably upwind, to flatten the mainsail and de-power in heavy air or open the top of the main in light air. […]
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A late-1940s article by B. H. Coleman, reprinted from Yachting World, on getting the best out of a Dragon. He finds most British boats too heavy, badly trimmed fore and aft, with masts stepped too far aft and crews short of practice; he advises concentrating weight at the forward end of the cockpit, moving the mast a few inches forward to cure hard-mouthed helm, keeping the mast straight with lowers slightly slacker than uppers, and setting runners with Highfield levers for equal tension. He also covers tacking drill, movable genoa leads, hoisting and handing the spinnaker in ten seconds, and the value of practice as seen in Scandinavian crews. […]
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Fritz Segel’s comprehensive Dragon manual, written for its sails but covering the whole rig and boat. A short guide gives Loos PT-2M settings by Beaufort range (uppers from 9–11 LU in light air to 17–27 LU in strong wind, lowers slack until about 3 Bft), shroud positions of 790–810 mm (uppers) and 820–840 mm (lowers) behind station 4, a fixed rake of 1215 mm and maximum runner tension of 16 LU. The detailed chapters explain how to set the zero mast position and mast butt (aiming for 30–40 mm forward bend at 16 LU on the runners), jumpers, mainsail and genoa controls, runner marks and spinnaker trim, followed by a step-by-step rigging procedure, sail selection and care, and a racing-diary tuning sheet. […]
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North Sails’ Dragon tuning guide as last updated on 5 March 2018, compiled by Jørgen Schönherr, Poul Richard Høj Jensen and Theis Palm. Ten mast-trim steps explain how to mark the wires at the black band 80 cm above deck, measure mast position and shroud positions from station 4, mark the runners where the forestay reads 30 on the Loos gauge, and set the lowers so the mast stays straight up to 20-22 knots. An on-the-water table for light (0-5 knots), medium (6-16) and heavy (17+) winds gives the sail inventory and settings for every control, for example rake of 123.5, 122.5 and 122.5 cm (Petticrow) or 120.0 cm (BB), mast position 83.0 cm (Petticrow) or 81.5 cm (BB), and uppers at 14 on the Loos gauge (12 for the stiff Petticrow mast) adjusted by turns. […]
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Petticrows’ twelve-step guide to giving a Petticrows Dragon a standard base set-up, updated in October 2026. It explains how to set jumpers (average 8 on the Loos gauge), mark the forestay 81 cm up the mast and set rake at 122 cm (123 cm light, 121 cm heavy), and measure from the station 4 line to the upper shroud (82 cm), lower shroud (85 cm), forestay plate (104 cm) and mast plate (82 cm), with a J measurement of no more than 186 cm. It then covers mast step position and 0–10 mm of pre-bend, setting the ram bottle screw, and marking maximum runner tension at 32 on the forestay. Summary and rig-tension tables give light, medium and strong wind shroud tensions and ram positions for the Standard mMast, iMast and eMast. […]
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