Heavy Heeling, H-38 seems to heel over a lot

[EdFin]

I have a 2007 H-36 and ordering my boat I was so tempted to get the 38 because of the rear berth but any way when sailing in 15 or more wind I do need to reef for my wife and for the auto to steer the boat properly and maybe play around with reefing the Main.
Look up owner reviews in this forum.
nick

Thanks...
We were very close to a 36 ... but then this came around at a really good price (owner moving cross country) and .. because of the aft berth... and double stern seats, trivial I know... we went this way. Just guessing we were probably right at 15kts... again hoping a bigger heavier boat would handle that a bit better, differently than we were used to with the smaller boat. But... will start playing more with reefing the main. I used to have opposite; big head sail smaller main and we reefed the head sail more often than the main. So the solution should have been obvious to me to start reefing the main and not let it all out like I'm used to

 

[rfrye1]

Ever considered that you're higher off the water in the Hunter than you were in the Catalina? So maybe the sensation of healing is greater? I graduated from a Cat 30 to a H376 years ago. Took me a little while to get used to the Huge main sail. I flatten and or reef early and it makes all the difference. Especially when I have guests aboard who aren't used to life tilted at 15*, and always ask me.."is there anyway we can tipover?"
How many times do we hear that??
Good Luck... Bob

 

[quadrille38]

Hello all,

We just moved up to a 2005 H-38. We're a bit surprised at how much she seems to heel over, even under power making turns there's a very significant heeling action. I figured under power she rolls a lot due to the in-mast furling an having so much weight up the mast versus laterally along the boom.
But under sail, the amount of heeling action is still quite a lot. Not very uncomfortable...but not comfortable either, and a bit annoying. I know the Hunters around that year were made with bigger mainsails vice bigger working jibs; so again maybe this is due to the main? We were hoping with a bigger, heavier, wider boat... we would also have a bit more stability, but that doesn't seem so. The big problem is it's also keeping us from really letting the sails out on good windy days.
Just wondering if anyone could impart some experience they have with bigger Hunters, I know it's all sailor preferences and such, but... any tricks? Thoughts? Experiences... learning curves? It's become annoying in that I'm hesitant to really sail the boat like we used to. I used to crank in the sails on our Catalina 30' and while heeled over... never seemed to be as much as this. Is it a bigger boat issue... and if we were to move up again to 40-42 we'd experience the same or more heeling action???

I have a 2008 38 that was a dealer demo that we purchased new in 2009.
When the dealer was giving us our orientation sail he reminded us that the sail plan is a large main and smaller head sail (110 jib).

If you have the vertical battened main it's even larger.
We were told that with this sail plan you reef the main first, unlike a traditional sail plan where you reef headsail first. He also told us that when the winds get up to around 15 knots you should reef the mail a little. The boat will actually flatten out and pick up speed.

He said that trying to keep that big main up in 15 knots and above causes excessive heel and with the beam and design of the 38 it's like dragging a barn door through the water and the boat will go slower.

Have never noticed it to be more prone to heeling when motoring without sails up.

So reef it a bit, flatten her out and she'll take right off.

Oh and we came from a Catalina 34 so it really did require learning how to sail differently.

 

[quadrille38]

Also just noticed your comment on needing to go up on deck to change the furling winch from free to lock.

I have Never had to do this. The whole point of getting a furling main is to avoid having to go up on a pitching deck to deal with reefing.
Not sure why you'd need to do this. If you keep the furling line (both sides of the continuous look) tight I can't see why you'd need to lock the winch.

 

[seadaddler]

I have 2007 H-36 and with inmast and the small 110 jib it is all about reefing the main,when my wife is aboard and she hates heeling more than 10% and so I do reef more when she is on the boat than when racing with all male crew.
I never go and touch the winch ratchet at the mast and never use a winch to reef.
I find way easy to reefing the main and really don't reef my jib and it is either out or in.
Make some marks on your boom where to reef with 10 and 15 knts of wind.
I reef the main and use the traveler a lot when my wife is aboard which is 99% of the time.

 

[Gunni]

You don't have a "big heavy boat" you have a light flat-bottom boat with a lot of initial stability that you should be taking advantage of. You are overpowered, reef down, put her back on her feet and sail faster. If you have more than a few degrees of weather helm it is time to reef again.

Original sails? Time for a new suit.

 

[JamesG161]

'm pretty sure that in mast furling keeps a lot of weight up high.

Nope.
Most of weight (cloth) is wrapped near the foot of the sail. Note my profile picture. Most weight is within 10 feet of the boom. I can carry my main sail on my shoulders.

Buy 3 cases of your favorite beverages and put them low in cabin and mid ships to add "ballast" to verify my point.

You need to get with someone accustomed to in-mast furling to learn proper use of the mechanism.
Jim...