Need help. Regaurding the Beneteau First 38.5 .....Is this a decent club racing boat or a true dog. The next question is, the boat I am looking at has a shoal draft wing keel. Does this boat come only with a wing or is there a fin model. If yes for the fin, how difficult is it to change, as we have shallow water with weeds, weeds and more WEEDs. Is the keel built by Marr's metal??
Beneteau First 38.5 RA/CU
- Thread starter Ropeburn
- Start date
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=2075 surprised it came with a wing keel. I don't thing Mars made the keel. Bene tends to use iron in place of lead. Lead should be a nice ($20k?) upgrade.
MOST First's have lead keels.
The boat is reasonably quick. Its not a racer. Due to funnyness in the rating rules of this time (late 80s early 90s), Firsts of this era were not designed be be raced competitively. That would come back when IMS/IRC finally took hold and allowed Beni to build Firsts that would be competitive and also cruisable. (36.7, 40.7, First 40 etc) around 2000.
The boat is reasonably quick. Its not a racer. Due to funnyness in the rating rules of this time (late 80s early 90s), Firsts of this era were not designed be be raced competitively. That would come back when IMS/IRC finally took hold and allowed Beni to build Firsts that would be competitive and also cruisable. (36.7, 40.7, First 40 etc) around 2000.
Lots of experience on the 38S5. It is lead. Did 6 Macs on on with Shoal keel fin. Boat wouldn't go upwind. Owner had Mars cast 500 lb bulb and it helped a lot. Shoal keel had a very wide chord. Downwind the boat reached like a bandit. Also raced on the 38.5 deep keel in the Mac. Respectable upwind with great downwind performance. Look at the results for this years Chicago Mac. Absolut in 4th place. Only beat by 2 J-88s and a NA 40. Absolut is a deep keel 38S5.
Bottom line is not a great PHRF boat for short W/Ls but definitely good for medium and long distance racing.
Bottom line is not a great PHRF boat for short W/Ls but definitely good for medium and long distance racing.
I wonder if there is a difference in the PHRF rating for a wing keel 38S5 and a deep fin keel. You would think the wing would be a lower rating, but with PHRF, who knows. That NA40 is tough to beat by any boat.
You are both right...............The higher the numerical rating the slower the boat. I wonder how much Mars would charge for a foot to put on this 38S5, and hack off the wing. I have been known to carve a little lead. 4 1/2 foot draft with a wing is bad, and 6 feet fin is a whole lot better. I do not know if Mars would want the wing/keel off to cast and fit on a shoe. Still early for that discussion.
I know Mars will add stability bulbs to keels, but pretty sure they will not add draft. Thats a whole other engineering problem. And a new keel.