Henning 4148
04-07-2005, 03:19 PM
Its a few years now that we (wife and me) sold our 26 ft heavy traditional. (Still miss her) When racing her in club races, normally every boat we overtook would retire immediately, believing they had a very bad day. And it happened seldomn enough. Our challenge was not to win, our challenge was to get around all boys before the tide turned against us and we were left drifting the wrong direction, seeing the next can get smaller and smaller instead of bigger and bigger. The latter was the rule, us making the course the exception, possible only in stronger winds. In one race, another boat got into trouble and send a Mayday, the lifeboat headed for us and asked us what our problem was (on that day we were doing really well, far from being the last boat). We had by far the oldest boat, the heaviest, the only gaffer, not enough sail area for the weight at low winds, a big three blader, a high hull with a lot of windage, long keel and bilge keels to increase whetted surface and drag, every reason to be slow and to accept it as our traditional karma. In one race on a downwind course with little wind, after hoisting a water sail we even hoisted the sleeping bags to get some more speed. Of course we loved our boat, it was roomy, comfortable, good directional stability (tacked well under engine), stood upright in empty harbour basins, good engine once rebuilt, good electric system once rewired and one of the best condition wooden hulls I have ever seen. Double layer glued carvel larch on oak built by craftsmen. We sailed more hours and miles a year than most other club members. On a reach in a force 5 she was even quick and could hold herself against designs 50 years younger. Add a bit of swell to shoulder through and stop the lightwights and we had to slow down to ensure friends could keep up who would sail circles around us in good weather.
Since then, we have chartered every year once or twice and also raced twice.
What we found is, that although we do a decent job of sailing a boat safely from A to B, we are far from being competitive racers. Simply put, not enough skill with modern rigs and light boats.
Now we are looking for a trailerable boat, probably a dinghy, to sail on sheltered waters close by and to learn a bit more about trimming.
There seem to be three possible alternatives:
-open (light) boat with dinghy rig (no backstay), the design is popular and has stood the test of time.
-open (light) boat with yacht rig (7/8 rig with backstay). There are some known problems with the design regarding water in the core material.
-closed (heavy) boat with yacht rig.
Question now:
Which one to take? If we get the one with the dinghy rig, will we be able to transfer what we learn to a yacht rig? Will we get enough "feeling" in a heavier boat, or should we better stay open?
Opinions please!
[ 04-07-2005, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Henning 4148 ]
Since then, we have chartered every year once or twice and also raced twice.
What we found is, that although we do a decent job of sailing a boat safely from A to B, we are far from being competitive racers. Simply put, not enough skill with modern rigs and light boats.
Now we are looking for a trailerable boat, probably a dinghy, to sail on sheltered waters close by and to learn a bit more about trimming.
There seem to be three possible alternatives:
-open (light) boat with dinghy rig (no backstay), the design is popular and has stood the test of time.
-open (light) boat with yacht rig (7/8 rig with backstay). There are some known problems with the design regarding water in the core material.
-closed (heavy) boat with yacht rig.
Question now:
Which one to take? If we get the one with the dinghy rig, will we be able to transfer what we learn to a yacht rig? Will we get enough "feeling" in a heavier boat, or should we better stay open?
Opinions please!
[ 04-07-2005, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Henning 4148 ]