Capri 22 How does it race with a bit larger boats?
- Thread starter Spar Trek
- Start date
That's what ratings are for.
The Capri 22 is light with a fin keel (Well some are wings). In light air it will move while heavier boats will struggle. But it doesn't plane so the displacement speed is about all you can expect in a breeze. When I say it doesn't plane I'm ignoring that it can exceed its hull speed surfing down waves and in certain other situations.
With a fair rating the Capri 22 can compete with said larger boats. But you have to prep the boat optimally since PHRF assumes that the boat is race ready. So it has to light (With extraneous weight removed), a clean bottom and good sails.
The Capri 22 is light with a fin keel (Well some are wings). In light air it will move while heavier boats will struggle. But it doesn't plane so the displacement speed is about all you can expect in a breeze. When I say it doesn't plane I'm ignoring that it can exceed its hull speed surfing down waves and in certain other situations.
With a fair rating the Capri 22 can compete with said larger boats. But you have to prep the boat optimally since PHRF assumes that the boat is race ready. So it has to light (With extraneous weight removed), a clean bottom and good sails.
I have a Capri 22 that is new to me this summer. I have raced it a bunch in our local beer can Thursday night races. No ratings involved just a bunch of boats out racing around a triangle coarse made by three navigational buoys. Anyway there are a lot of 38+ foot boats that race that absolutely smoke me. I have kept up to and beat a few boats in the 22-30 range. Unfortunately the smaller guys (under 30’) don’t show up as often so I am left chasing down the big guys which has not gone well for me ha. I’m confident that my Capri would do well if there were more boats out racing with us in that 20-30 range. Oh well I have had a ton of fun getting out there and racing my boat anyway.
The only way you'll be able to compete with those bigger boats is through negotiating.... time, that is. Do some research for your area's Phrf ratings on yours and the other boats in your meets. Most of the other skippers will probaby be more that happy to give you their ratings. (I suggest knowing your boat's beforehand.) Trust me, it's a likely that they are aware of you and know your rating.. The Capri 22 is/was a pretty popular class.
As shemandr comments... clean bottom, fresh sails, unneeded
ballast removed.
I think I rate a 213 or around there. Most boats I sail with are in the low to mid 100's. Again the races are very unofficial, just a bunch of boats that start and 7:30 and race around some nav. buoys then finish where we started. It is rare that a boat uses spinnaker in these races. But I may get a cruising spinnaker to try to close the gap between my boat and the rest of the pack. I am not looking to be up front, but to at least stay with the rest of the boats as long as I can! Regardless I am having a lot more fun with my Capri 22 then I thought I would. Oh and as my brother says we beat all the boats that didn't show up
Our Wed PM's were unsecured, which was why it was more successful than the scored weekend races. Though e unscored race, everyone knew who they would beat, could beat and not beat. Concentrate on boats that are nearest your PHRF (Which is likely Western LIS PHRF). Cover them - you may have to let the faster boats go, Sail in clean air as much as possible and keep your boat going as fast as possible. That sounds obvious but I can't count the number of times I've crewed when the skipper sailed in dirty air because he didn't want to tack. Avoid lapses in concentration and you're lucky to have good crew if can focus on driving the boat.
You can look at it another way, when I race Wednesday nights I’m the only Catalina, so…..
I’m the fastest Catalina in the fleet!
Cheers
I’m the fastest Catalina in the fleet!
Cheers
According to New England PHRF the Capri 22 with wing keel has a base rating of 213. It's 195 with a fin keel. And the base rating can be modified by the local PHRF committee based on the sails you carry and some other reasons. Here is a list of base rating which probably has the boats you want to be competitive with:
Note a C&C 25-1 is 225. You would give it time. Other notables are: Cal 25-2 at 225. Catalina 250 at 216. Catalina 27 207. Hunter25 at 228. Hunter27 at 219. Impulse 26 IB at 132. J 24 at 168. Luders 33 at 213. O Day 25 FK 237. Pearson 26 at 213. Ranger23 at 240. Sideman 25 at 225. Sonar at 168/174.
Find your competition on the list and you can see the time delta and get a sense of how you did.
PHRF New England - Handicapping - Base Handicaps
PHRF New England is an independent handicapping authority whose handicaps are used by fleets sailing on Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts Bay, the Gulf of Maine, and Lake Winnipesauke.
www.phrfne.org
Note a C&C 25-1 is 225. You would give it time. Other notables are: Cal 25-2 at 225. Catalina 250 at 216. Catalina 27 207. Hunter25 at 228. Hunter27 at 219. Impulse 26 IB at 132. J 24 at 168. Luders 33 at 213. O Day 25 FK 237. Pearson 26 at 213. Ranger23 at 240. Sideman 25 at 225. Sonar at 168/174.
Find your competition on the list and you can see the time delta and get a sense of how you did.
1. More sail means a change in your handicap time. Some race rules restrict the sails that can be used. Bigger boats just have a speed advantage. Look to improve your knowledge of winds in your sailing area. Know about any water currents that impact the area. Optimize your boat with good sails and minimal weight.
2. Tactical sailing and smooth boat handling will help to keep you there as long as you can. Just know that the the bigger boats have lower handicaps to provide you with a somewhat more even playing field. Even though they may get to the club house and the beer tap first your being as fast as you can may make your finish top dog and drinking champagne holding a trophy.
3. Having fun is the key. Record your times and review your performance. Beat your own time records race after race and you will be closing the gap.
Regardless of all the factors affecting boat speed, the single biggest factor is waterline length. The longer the waterline, the faster the boat will be all other things being equal.
In theory the PHRF ratings are given in seconds per mile. Thus Boat A with a rating of 200 should be faster than Boat B with a rating of 203 and at the end of a mile long race course, Boat A should be 3 seconds ahead of Boat B. The operative words are "in theory." Nonetheless less the ratings are reasonable estimates of relative potential boat speeds. Small differences in ratings, say under 15 are not all that accurate.
A factor you have no control over is the weather and diurnal wind variations. Most beer can races are held in the evening and as the evening progresses towards sunset the wind speed typically declines, thus the slower boats spend more time in less wind going more slowly than the faster boats. One way to reduce this effect is to use Time-on-Time corrections rather than Time-on-Distance, it helps but doesn't solve the dying wind problem. The bigger boats will always have an advantage.
In theory the PHRF ratings are given in seconds per mile. Thus Boat A with a rating of 200 should be faster than Boat B with a rating of 203 and at the end of a mile long race course, Boat A should be 3 seconds ahead of Boat B. The operative words are "in theory." Nonetheless less the ratings are reasonable estimates of relative potential boat speeds. Small differences in ratings, say under 15 are not all that accurate.
A factor you have no control over is the weather and diurnal wind variations. Most beer can races are held in the evening and as the evening progresses towards sunset the wind speed typically declines, thus the slower boats spend more time in less wind going more slowly than the faster boats. One way to reduce this effect is to use Time-on-Time corrections rather than Time-on-Distance, it helps but doesn't solve the dying wind problem. The bigger boats will always have an advantage.
Yeah, PHRF works best when the ratings are in a fairly close band. Then it's likely they will sail in the same race. If the spread is too much, groups of boats can see a very different race -wind, tide and shifts. Hence the divisional split ups to attempt to achieve bands of similar boats. But you need a larger fleet to do that.
