H 33 sails
Roan I have a 2009 H33 and was considering a bigger fore sail to increase speed in light winds. What exactly did the Hunter Rep tell you that shied you away from the bigger sail?
Sorry for the delay in response. I have been sailing and also at a Regatta my son was competing in. As I said in an above post, he advised me to put the sheets on the outside tracks, not the inside ones ( where I had them on coach roof). My boat came with that option and apparently not all H33s do. I single hand a lot. Thus by putting the sheets in the outside track I go back to the winches aft of the Steering. Do not forget to set the cars according to wind conditions, it makes a difference. This is very convient for tacking also as I do not have to leave the wheel and go to the coach roof winches. The theory is that the outside track gives better sail shape in light winds. I forget the guys name from Hunter but he was the guy who tests a lot of the boats. What he said was that I would probably not get any benefit from a larger genoa and more hassles in light winds as I might have to go up on deck to lift the sail over on tacks and jibes. I remember that well from my last boat with a 170% genoa. I had the local Doyle loft spec out a 130% for me prior to meeting the Hunter rep. ( +/-$2200 USD). There is a Hunter 38 (2006) at our marina that put a 130% genoa on his boat and he is very fast. He also uses a custom full roach non furling main though so I cannot say which contributes to he speed.
As for the furling main with half battens, furling and unfurling is a bit of an art. Clearly the battens must go in completely vertically. It is better to furl in when the sail is not under load, in reality most times when I furl I am tacking under full load when the wind picks up + 15 knots. So sometimes I have to fight to unfurl the next time. That I do by climbing on the coach roof and manually play with the outhaul.
As I sail alone mostly, I like to go out with mostly full tanks of water and fuel. I need the weight as the boat gets tender over 12 knots, even after playing out the traveller.
One key for the furling main with battens is when the sail is deployed, check the tightness of the main halyard. If it slips a bit over time you will have troubles furling and unfurling. Also keep the boom as close to the traveller on the roll bar as possible and make sure your topping lift is not keeping the boom from being horizontal. If the boom has an upward angle to it you will have furling problems. Trust me I know.
I am in the fourth season sailing the boat on Lake Champlain NY and I like to push the boat. I have had some issues this year with the top of the main folding over when I furl. Then when it comes out it is pinched over at the head of the sail. It often needs a couple of tacks and a good wind to get the fold over pinch out of the mast. It is about 3 feet from the top of the sail and above any battens. I suspect that the leech of the sail might have stretched a bit over time and thus I might have to trim off a bit off season. ( I will seek advice from local sail loft).
As for speed, I have reached up to 7.5 knots SOG many times this year. I find I need a steady wind to balance the boat, gusts are havoc. I have also hit low 7+ SOG just flying the gennaker some times. I have the three balde prop which I leave in neutral as Hunter advises. I have a sock so I can handle the gennaker alone. It still gets me mad when bigger cruisers with large genoas pass me in very light winds though. Thus I have started using the gennaker as a genoa sail sometimes. I pull the foot line right down to the block on the anchor and it is almost like a large genoa in those conditions. That is for light conditions only as the boat quickly gets over powered if the wind picks up to 10 knots.
I hope this helps.
ROAN
s/v Adagio 7
H-33 # 327
