Recently started racing Thursday nights in a club event. Our 1986 31 has a shoal keel, fixed prop and roller furling. Rated at 189. We can hold our own on every leg, except upwind. Off wind we do fine. We must be doing something wrong, any ideas. Thanks
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
T
Tom Madura
Me too
Ed, I can't offer too much advice, because I just started racing this year myself in my '85 H31. However, from my experience crewing on other boats over the years I can tell you that the shoal draft is a definite disadvantage upwind. (I also have a shoal draft and a roller furler). You will never be able to point as high as a deeper keeled boat, and you also get more leeway. BTW - I'm curious about your rating, too. My rating is 168 for what sounds like the same boat! I'm glad I'm not racing you!I'll be interested in seeing any advice anyone else has to offer. Good Luck! Tom "Good Vices"
Ed, I can't offer too much advice, because I just started racing this year myself in my '85 H31. However, from my experience crewing on other boats over the years I can tell you that the shoal draft is a definite disadvantage upwind. (I also have a shoal draft and a roller furler). You will never be able to point as high as a deeper keeled boat, and you also get more leeway. BTW - I'm curious about your rating, too. My rating is 168 for what sounds like the same boat! I'm glad I'm not racing you!I'll be interested in seeing any advice anyone else has to offer. Good Luck! Tom "Good Vices"
D
David Murcott
Just starting
I have a 1984 31 with a full keel. My club gave me a rating of 171. All the rest is the same, roller furling, fixed prop.
I have a 1984 31 with a full keel. My club gave me a rating of 171. All the rest is the same, roller furling, fixed prop.
D
Doug
Sails make all the diff.
We have a h33.5 1988 and also were a little discouraged with upwind performance, also having the bulb wing keel. Our biggest effort to correct was sails. We purchased Kevlar taped UK tape drive bat main (upper two battens full, lower two half) and same in the 150 genny. We can really fine tune them to wind conditions and direction. They are mylar laminate based and can be tightened to a blade and very easy to keep draft forward. The large 150 adds major power in winds up to 15 kts. The super large roach and footless main (our roach hits the back stay on tack)also adds sail sq feet and power. It is not uncommon for us to get up to 6.5-7 knots up wind (confirmed with knot log and dgps sog readings) with all sails up and blowing in mid teens. We could never had done that with the old semi-blown out dacron. Not even close. New sails not only work with the wind better but make fine tune trimming much easier. This also makes for less weather helm. With the old dacron we had way too much rudder to keep in the groove and this acted like a brake, taking off knots, not just tenths. Good luck out there. Doug
We have a h33.5 1988 and also were a little discouraged with upwind performance, also having the bulb wing keel. Our biggest effort to correct was sails. We purchased Kevlar taped UK tape drive bat main (upper two battens full, lower two half) and same in the 150 genny. We can really fine tune them to wind conditions and direction. They are mylar laminate based and can be tightened to a blade and very easy to keep draft forward. The large 150 adds major power in winds up to 15 kts. The super large roach and footless main (our roach hits the back stay on tack)also adds sail sq feet and power. It is not uncommon for us to get up to 6.5-7 knots up wind (confirmed with knot log and dgps sog readings) with all sails up and blowing in mid teens. We could never had done that with the old semi-blown out dacron. Not even close. New sails not only work with the wind better but make fine tune trimming much easier. This also makes for less weather helm. With the old dacron we had way too much rudder to keep in the groove and this acted like a brake, taking off knots, not just tenths. Good luck out there. Doug
J
Joe Bolm
sail trim
your 31 is not much different than my 34. Make sure your pulling the roach around at the top of the main.The main is so big you tend forget about the top half. you can do this by having crew take up on the boom vang on your upwind tack. Dont try to do this after the sail has filled with wind, you wont be successful. If you dont have a vang sheet the main all the way in and trim with the traveler. Good Luck and"GO FAST" Joe Bolm S/V "Exorcist"
your 31 is not much different than my 34. Make sure your pulling the roach around at the top of the main.The main is so big you tend forget about the top half. you can do this by having crew take up on the boom vang on your upwind tack. Dont try to do this after the sail has filled with wind, you wont be successful. If you dont have a vang sheet the main all the way in and trim with the traveler. Good Luck and"GO FAST" Joe Bolm S/V "Exorcist"
J
John
Upwind with a 31
excellent advice so far. I have been racing standard rig Catalina 22s and 25s for years prior to getting my Hunter 31, so I have found a few additional things also helpful. The Standard rig Cats are always slower than everyone else, even against Tall rig Catalinas. Generally, whatever the windstrength, there is an optimum heel angle when further over, is slower for all boats. The 31 carries alot of sail for its size - that why we reef it below 15 knots, so its easy to go over the optimum point of heel (on my 31, maybe 17 to 21 degrees, I suspect each boat is a little different). So that's one additional thing that I think is important. The second is that, even with a shoal draft which I have also, boat speed is more important than pointing with the leader, so don't be afraid to head off slightly , go lower and faster. You then must make different decisions about tacking upwind that the crowd, but with paying attention to learning to read the wind on the water and windshifts, I have passed lots of boats faster with better tacking angles than me. A final thing is to have smooth, crisp tacks with minimal loss of speed . Hope this helps.
excellent advice so far. I have been racing standard rig Catalina 22s and 25s for years prior to getting my Hunter 31, so I have found a few additional things also helpful. The Standard rig Cats are always slower than everyone else, even against Tall rig Catalinas. Generally, whatever the windstrength, there is an optimum heel angle when further over, is slower for all boats. The 31 carries alot of sail for its size - that why we reef it below 15 knots, so its easy to go over the optimum point of heel (on my 31, maybe 17 to 21 degrees, I suspect each boat is a little different). So that's one additional thing that I think is important. The second is that, even with a shoal draft which I have also, boat speed is more important than pointing with the leader, so don't be afraid to head off slightly , go lower and faster. You then must make different decisions about tacking upwind that the crowd, but with paying attention to learning to read the wind on the water and windshifts, I have passed lots of boats faster with better tacking angles than me. A final thing is to have smooth, crisp tacks with minimal loss of speed . Hope this helps.
E
Eric Steege
Book on Sail Shape
Does anyone know of a good book on sail shape that could help us all better trim our sails?
Does anyone know of a good book on sail shape that could help us all better trim our sails?
D
Duane Cady
H31 and sails
I have the original main and the ole 155 furling genoa on my '85 '31 fin-keel and point as well as almost anyone out there. Best speed upwind is @ 6.4 knots sustained - try not to get more than 20 degrees heel or 25 in the extreme. One of the best things I have noticed is that when you tack, dont immediately pinch it right up into the wind -- stay off the wind and get some speed then pinch it up as you trim the genoa in. I have also noticed Im better on port (as far as speed goes) tack than on starboard tack. Now that my water tanks are full, and I have tightenned that lower starboard shroud, I think things will be more equal now. This is a fast boat with any wind forward of the beam. On a beam reach I hit my record speed of 7.5 knots witht he genoa and main - and the genoa is really not too good from that angle. A folding prop and super-clean bottom would probly yield a bit more also. A /real// good book on sail shape and trim is called 'The Art and Science of Sails'. Everything from how they are made to how thay have developed to shaping and trimming. This was a real technical read at first, but the second time through it really hit home for me. Duane
I have the original main and the ole 155 furling genoa on my '85 '31 fin-keel and point as well as almost anyone out there. Best speed upwind is @ 6.4 knots sustained - try not to get more than 20 degrees heel or 25 in the extreme. One of the best things I have noticed is that when you tack, dont immediately pinch it right up into the wind -- stay off the wind and get some speed then pinch it up as you trim the genoa in. I have also noticed Im better on port (as far as speed goes) tack than on starboard tack. Now that my water tanks are full, and I have tightenned that lower starboard shroud, I think things will be more equal now. This is a fast boat with any wind forward of the beam. On a beam reach I hit my record speed of 7.5 knots witht he genoa and main - and the genoa is really not too good from that angle. A folding prop and super-clean bottom would probly yield a bit more also. A /real// good book on sail shape and trim is called 'The Art and Science of Sails'. Everything from how they are made to how thay have developed to shaping and trimming. This was a real technical read at first, but the second time through it really hit home for me. Duane
- Status
- Not open for further replies.