Hello to All
Well I had a great day of sailing yesterday and was just curious about something. We were on a port tack along with a Pearson Triton and a Morgan 32. Rhapsody was 5 or 6 boat links behind the Triton and twice that (at least) behind the Morgan. Watching my sail trim and noticing the trim aboard the other boats all sails appeared to be well trimmed (tale tales flying well). After tiring of the dirty air from the Triton (I was to Leeward), I point up a bit and cut behind her to get to some clean air. Well So much for slow boats.....In no time Rhapsody had caught up with the Triton (much to that skipper's dismay) and shortly there after literally flew by the Morgan!!! We left both boats in our wake. The Morgan looked as if it was sitting still, BUT I looked at his tale tells and they were all streaming perfectly....Even the Triton blew by him.
Now I know sail condition (my #1 is new, but the main is a 1984 original), bottom condition (mine new this spring), etc can make a big differance in boat speed, but for a boat that is supposedly slow, we sure left them standing still. I dont suspect that my skills were any greater than the other captains, so I was just wandering what was going on. The Triton skipper, when asked, said he could figure out how I am able to out distance him and I do so a regular basis. the Morgan Skipper was not to talkative afterwards.
Fair winds
Bill
cd25d@rhapsodysails.com
Slow Boats
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Richard Formica
Re: Slow Boats
Hi Bill,
I will offer you my opinion, although I by no means consider my self an expert, so I look forward to other CD owners opinions.
I have a 36 and I consider her reasonably fast. However, by this I mean, it seems I can get to my hull speed without a gale force wind. It seems to me that once the wind speed is up over 10 knots, I can sail at 7 knots without difficulty. Of course when sailing the eastern end of Long Island Sound the current can always make you faster than you are. You do not tell us the conditions you were sailing in or the sizes of the other boats so I think it is difficult to answer directly. However, I thought that for a displacement hull, if there is enough wind to move both boats at maximun hull speed the longer boat wins if the race is a straight line along a point of sail both boats can sail on. Therefore if you always sailed in wind that exceeded that which was necessary to move you at maximum hull speed you would never talk about fast or slow you would be concerned about pointing ability.
I have always thought of a "fast boat" as one that can still move quickly when the wind is light or one that has speed off the wind when in light air. For a boat to do this, and this is where my ignorance may really show, it needs to be lighter with less wetted surface, exactly the boat you would not enjoy being in when it was really starting to blow.
I view my CD in this light. As a former competetive dinghy sailor I hate to go slow, but boats are a trade off. I prefer the heavier boat becuase when it is rough you don't get banged around and I think the CD provides a very stable platform. By I this I mean I feel comfortable carrying more sail area on the lighter days which makes up for the additional weight and wetted surface.
I suspect the conditions you were in where not enough to move the Morgan, a heavy boat with lots of wetted surface, at his hull speed, or his perfectly trimmed sails where a working jib and main not a genoa, in otherwords he could have carried more sail for the conditions. Example, yesterday I was on a friends boat, a Mason 43. We were recording the wind at a consistent 24-26 knots with gusts to 32 on Long Island Sound. A one point we were getting 6-7 knots with Stay sail alone. If there is enough wind any boat will really move.
rich
s/v Inerartity
I will offer you my opinion, although I by no means consider my self an expert, so I look forward to other CD owners opinions.
I have a 36 and I consider her reasonably fast. However, by this I mean, it seems I can get to my hull speed without a gale force wind. It seems to me that once the wind speed is up over 10 knots, I can sail at 7 knots without difficulty. Of course when sailing the eastern end of Long Island Sound the current can always make you faster than you are. You do not tell us the conditions you were sailing in or the sizes of the other boats so I think it is difficult to answer directly. However, I thought that for a displacement hull, if there is enough wind to move both boats at maximun hull speed the longer boat wins if the race is a straight line along a point of sail both boats can sail on. Therefore if you always sailed in wind that exceeded that which was necessary to move you at maximum hull speed you would never talk about fast or slow you would be concerned about pointing ability.
I have always thought of a "fast boat" as one that can still move quickly when the wind is light or one that has speed off the wind when in light air. For a boat to do this, and this is where my ignorance may really show, it needs to be lighter with less wetted surface, exactly the boat you would not enjoy being in when it was really starting to blow.
I view my CD in this light. As a former competetive dinghy sailor I hate to go slow, but boats are a trade off. I prefer the heavier boat becuase when it is rough you don't get banged around and I think the CD provides a very stable platform. By I this I mean I feel comfortable carrying more sail area on the lighter days which makes up for the additional weight and wetted surface.
I suspect the conditions you were in where not enough to move the Morgan, a heavy boat with lots of wetted surface, at his hull speed, or his perfectly trimmed sails where a working jib and main not a genoa, in otherwords he could have carried more sail for the conditions. Example, yesterday I was on a friends boat, a Mason 43. We were recording the wind at a consistent 24-26 knots with gusts to 32 on Long Island Sound. A one point we were getting 6-7 knots with Stay sail alone. If there is enough wind any boat will really move.
rich
s/v Inerartity
Bill wrote: Hello to All
Well I had a great day of sailing yesterday and was just curious about something. We were on a port tack along with a Pearson Triton and a Morgan 32. Rhapsody was 5 or 6 boat links behind the Triton and twice that (at least) behind the Morgan. Watching my sail trim and noticing the trim aboard the other boats all sails appeared to be well trimmed (tale tales flying well). After tiring of the dirty air from the Triton (I was to Leeward), I point up a bit and cut behind her to get to some clean air. Well So much for slow boats.....In no time Rhapsody had caught up with the Triton (much to that skipper's dismay) and shortly there after literally flew by the Morgan!!! We left both boats in our wake. The Morgan looked as if it was sitting still, BUT I looked at his tale tells and they were all streaming perfectly....Even the Triton blew by him.
Now I know sail condition (my #1 is new, but the main is a 1984 original), bottom condition (mine new this spring), etc can make a big differance in boat speed, but for a boat that is supposedly slow, we sure left them standing still. I dont suspect that my skills were any greater than the other captains, so I was just wandering what was going on. The Triton skipper, when asked, said he could figure out how I am able to out distance him and I do so a regular basis. the Morgan Skipper was not to talkative afterwards.
Fair winds
Bill